Six Monash University projects across the Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture and the Faculty of Information Technology have been honoured by this year's Australian Good Design Awards, one of the world's most respected design competitions celebrating excellence across design, innovation and impact.
Monash researchers from MADA and FIT (L to R) Dr Dion Tuckwell, PhD candidate Jacqueline Johnstone, Dr Alex Waddell and Research Fellow Dhruv Basur at the 2025 Australian Good Design Awards.
The winning projects span health, education and creative technologies, including an online toolkit improving prescription opioid safety, a program upskilling frontline healthcare workers, principles and tools to support better public health, accessible technologies helping children and people with disabilities engage in STEM, an interactive hospital STEM play space, and an initiative reimagining classroom design for modern teaching and learning.
Led by researchers from both faculties, the projects demonstrate the power of human-centred design to solve real-world problems and improve lives across communities.
One of the winning projects, the Opioid Safety Toolkit, co-designed and developed by Dr Alex Waddell from the Faculty of Information Technology's Action Lab in partnership with Monash Addiction Research Centre, is a freely available online resource empowering consumers to use prescription opioids safely. The toolkit has been accessed more than 80,000 times and is now being promoted by almost 2,000 pharmacies nationwide.
"Through the toolkit, consumers are initiating life-saving conversations with their healthcare professionals and embracing safer opioid use behaviours, including obtaining naloxone from pharmacies as part of overdose prevention efforts." Dr Waddell said.
Two projects co-led by Associate Professor Leah Heiss from Monash Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) were recognised for transforming global public health and frontline healthcare innovation through co-design.
The Foundations of Medical Technology platform, developed in collaboration with Safer Care Victoria (SCV), Monash Institute of Medical Engineering and the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions, equips healthcare workers with innovation skills to tackle persistent challenges in patient safety and equity.
Associate Professor Leah Heiss led the co-design process, bringing together over 65 clinicians, consumers, and researchers, while Monash Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences (MNHS) clinician and entrepreneur Associate Professor Khoa Cao led its development with MIME.
Nearly 300 learners, including doctors, nurses and allied health professionals, have completed the program since its launch in July 2024.
"By equipping healthcare workers with innovation skills, we're building capability where it matters most — on the frontline," Associate Professor Heiss said.
Associate Professor Khoa Cao said "Clinicians are natural problem-solvers but often lack the frameworks to design solutions. This course bridges that gap, empowering them to transform everyday frustrations into real healthcare solutions."
The second winning project co-led by her, WHO Design Principles and Tools to Improve Use and Impact of WHO Guidelines, worked with stakeholders from 15 countries to improve World Health Organization guidelines so they are clearer, more accessible and easier to apply in local contexts.
The resource is available to 194 WHO member states to improve the impact of WHO health guidelines.
"Despite high trust in WHO guidelines, their implementation has often been low. The Principles and Tools support guideline writers globally to make them usable and relevant for local communities," Associate Professor Heiss said.
Two further awards recognised projects led by Associate Professor Kirsten Ellis from the Faculty of Information Technology's Inclusive Technologies Group.
The TapeBlocks project reimagines how electronic circuits are taught, using large colourful blocks and conductive tape so that people of all abilities can independently build and experiment with technology.
"TapeBlocks have enabled people who never thought they could make circuits to confidently create, experiment and learn," Associate Professor Ellis said.
In collaboration with PhD candidate Jacqueline Johnstone and the Monash Assistive Technology and Society Centre, Associate Professor Ellis also co-led the Starlight Express Room project, which reimagined a hospital playroom as a screen-free, space-themed creative environment.
More than 500 children co-developed glowing planets, rocket ships and galaxies during hands-on screen-free technology workshops to transform the Starlight Express Room environment.
"The project shows how collaborative, creative technologies can foster joy and agency for children in clinical settings," Ms Johnstone said.
From healthcare and STEM to education design, Monash's creative excellence continues to shape learning environments. The Making Space: Empowering Teacher Practice project was led by MADA lecturer Dr Dion Tuckwell and long-time collaborator Dr Fiona Young, founder of architecture_with.
Developed with Evelyn Scott P-10 School, the project helps teachers co-design and adapt innovative Learning Environments (ILE's) to better support teaching and learning.
"Making Space represents a big shift in education by supporting the move from traditional classrooms to dynamic, flexible learning spaces," Dr Tuckwell said.
Monash's success at the Australian Good Design Awards highlights the University's commitment to design that creates measurable impact.
Across the six winning projects, Monash researchers have shown how thoughtful, inclusive design can transform healthcare, inspire creativity and reimagine the spaces where people live, learn and heal.
