Rate My Professor Michael Dickinson

Michael Dickinson is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Creative Industries at the University of Newcastle and a researcher affiliated with the Centre for Organic Electronics. He graduated from the University of Technology, Sydney, with a degree in Industrial Design and completed a Master of Design by Research at the University of New South Wales, with a thesis titled 'The Design of a Static Concentrating Photovoltaic Roof Tile'. His career includes designing consumer products, utilizing design skills in television and theatre production, and working at the Centre for Photovoltaic Devices and Systems in the School of Electrical Engineering at the University of New South Wales. At the University of Newcastle, in the former School of Design, Communication and Information Technology—now part of the School of Creative Industries—he is responsible for teaching design theory subjects. Dickinson contributes to interdisciplinary efforts, including the Interdisciplinary Machine Learning centre, where he is listed as a Senior Lecturer.

Dickinson's research specializations encompass the relationship between designer, user, and object; the use of 'story' as an alternative mechanism for reflection on the silent language of objects; biomimetic design; and organic photovoltaic technologies. Key publications include 'Development of a Biomimetic Robotic Bear: Or is a Bare Bear Bearable?' (2009, co-authored with Peter Turner), which explores bringing bear-like biomimetic features to robotics; 'An Ink-Composition Engineering Approach for Upscaling of Organic Solar Cells with High-Efficiency Retention Factor' (2020); 'The Role of Surface Energy Control in Organic Photovoltaics' (2019); conference contributions such as 'The ‘Story’ as an Alternative Mechanism for Revealing the Silent Language of Objects', 'HyKim: Development of a Robot Bear Bringing the Strength and Robustness of a Bear’s Biomimetic Features to a Robot', 'Design: A Harnessing of Unintelligible Causes', and 'A Re-assessment of Design Thinking through the Experience of Jury Duty in a Murder Trial'. His practical impact is evident in Printed Solar technology developed at the Centre for Organic Electronics, deployed to power Coldplay concerts in 2024—where he addressed challenges in mounting solar cells to stadium seats using mesh fixings for optimal solar exposure—and supporting the epic solar Tesla challenge. Dickinson described witnessing Printed Solar at a Coldplay concert as a 'once-in-a-lifetime' experience and the most amazing achievement of his career.