Rate My Professor Ian Wong

Ian Wong is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Design, Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture at Monash University. An award-winning industrial designer, collector, curator, and director of EJO Design, he brings over twenty-five years of professional practice experience. Wong holds a Bachelor of Arts in Industrial Design from RMIT University, awarded in 1986, and a Graduate Certificate in Tertiary Teaching from the same institution in 2009. His career began at John Westwood Design Associates, followed by roles as design manager for Outerspace Design and Silvan Australia. Notable designs include the RMIT University Ceremonial Mace, brain-scanning equipment, Antarctic sleds, and million-dollar high-speed agricultural sorting equipment. The pak range for Silvan Australia, introduced with the trukpak in 1989, continues in production and is described as the 'hills hoist' of rural Australian farm life, with most Australian farms using his products. Additionally, a paediatric nebuliser developed with the Monash Industrial Design Centre in Kunshan for VAPO has become a market leader in China, installed in over 850 hospitals and delivering more than 100 million doses.

In 2012, Wong joined Monash University to establish the Master of Industrial Design program at the Southeast University-Monash University Joint Graduate School in Suzhou, China, serving as Program Director. He founded the Monash Art Design and Architecture Industrial Design Centre in Kunshan in 2017 and was appointed inaugural Creative Director of the Alastair Swayn Legacy Showcase in 2021. His research centers on Australian design history, underpinned by The Ian Wong Collection, a research archive of over 2,900 objects. Wong has curated extensive exhibitions, including Health by Design: The Future of Healthcare (Melbourne Design Week 2024), ICONS Australian Design (Perth Design Week 2023), Light, Colour, Humanity - The Alastair Swayn Legacy Showcase (2023), Victorian Premier's Design Awards Showcase (2021), and Everyday Australian Design (Shepparton Art Museum 2021). Key outputs include Everyday Australian Design: Functional design from the Ian Wong Collection (2021), I-CONIC Australian Design (2019), and apps such as BlackBOX (2015-2021), Innovators (2017), and EVERYDAY (2020). Awards encompass the Monash University Most Outstanding Contribution Award (2023), GOOD DESIGN Gold Winner for I-Conic Australian Design (2021), AGDA Award of Merit (2022), Premier's Design Award Finalist (2016), and induction into the Design Institute of Australia Hall of Fame (2023). As a Fellow and national councilor of the Design Institute of Australia, and President of Melbourne Movement, Wong has led funded projects and delivered public lectures, significantly advancing industrial design through practice, education, and curation.