BIO

 

PIP SHEA, PhD

I’m a Snr Product Designer and Team Lead at CSIRO Data61 with a PhD in Media and Communication (2014). My design practice spans 25 years, and is shaped by periods as an academic researcher, artist, and community development practitioner.

Mid-90s to 2009
I began working in digital in the mid-nineties. During this time I worked as a designer for the ABC, Triple J, SBS, and EMI Records. I was also involved in Community Cultural Development practice, working to integrate digital technologies into the lives of young people. During this time I participated in several Australia Council initiatives, including: an artist residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts (Canada); a professional development trip to India to research open source software; and, an emerging producer role at the Next Wave festival. I was also invited to speak at the 2008 Alfred Deakin Innovation Lectures.

2010 to 2017
In 2010, I undertook doctoral research into the ethical implications of the internet on Community Cultural Development practice. During this time I worked as a researcher the University of Sydney, Queensland University of Technology, Queen’s University Belfast, and the University of Ulster. I then became heavily involved in involved in grassroots makerspaces that facilitated digital fabrication and other forms of DIY making: notably as 1) a director of Farset Labs, a hackerspace and technology charity in Belfast, and as 2) a researcher and writer on a European Union Special Project investigating creative practices in and around Fab Labs in Spain, Ireland, and the UK, and as 3) a researcher at Monash University investigating the makerspace context in China.

2018-2021
In 2018, I began working with the Victorian Government to research and design digital products: namely in the areas of social housing and health.

2022—present
In early 2022 I joined the CSIRO’s Data61 Engineering and Design Research Group as a Sr. Product Designer. In August 2023 I also became a Design Team Lead. I’m currently working to transform and scale scientific processes using AI, robotics, and other emerging technologies within Data61's Science Digital program.

CONTACT

Email: pip at pipshea dot net

Twitter: @pip_shea