Rate My Professor Simone O'Callaghan

Dr. Simone O'Callaghan is a Senior Lecturer in Design within the School of Humanities, Creative Industries and Social Sciences at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a PhD in art practice-based research awarded in 2012 from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art & Design, University of Dundee, UK, a Master of Interactive Multimedia from the University of Technology Sydney, and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Sydney. O'Callaghan joined the University of Newcastle in April 2016 and serves as Discipline Leader in Design, leading the Interaction Design and UX Major in the Bachelor of Visual Communication Design, teaching undergraduates, and supervising Honours and PhD candidates. She is also the founder and Co-Director of Studio Zed, the School's design studio. Her prior academic appointments include Lecturer in Digital Interactive Art at the University of Abertay (2014-2016), Acting Programme Leader for MSc Product Design at the University of Dundee (2012-2013), Researcher Co-Investigator on the TOTeM project at the University of Dundee (2007-2012), Senior Lecturer in Creative Digital Design at Bournemouth University (2003-2006), and Lecturer in Photography and Art & Design at Stevenson College Edinburgh (2006-2010). Before academia, she worked in industry as Senior UX & UI Designer, Art Director, and Creative Lead for interactive and print projects with clients including Novell Australia, Australian Tourist Commission, Teletext UK, and Young Scot.

O'Callaghan's research employs participatory, interdisciplinary methods informed by human-computer interaction, visual sociology, and ethnography within human-centred design, participatory design, UX, and interactive media to explore people's experiences and tackle wicked problems in culture, society, sustainability, and the environment. Her experimental creative practice merges new technologies with analogue artforms, leading to international exhibitions in the UK, Australia, China, and Canada. She has secured competitive funding, such as £1.39 million from the UK Research Council's Digital Economy fund for the TOTeM project. Awards include the Dundee Visual Artists Award (2016), Orange UK Corporate Sponsorship (2008), Dundee Contemporary Arts Print Studio CATS Award from Scottish Arts Council (2001), and William S Phillips Award (2007). Key publications feature book chapters 'The Shock of the New (Baby): The art of balancing creative practice, academia and motherhood' (2021) and 'Tagged at Dundee Contemporary Arts: How your mobile phone can demystify print-based artworks' (2012), alongside conference papers such as 'Design Beyond Screen: A Primer for Designing Mobile Augmented Reality Storytelling Application' (2024, co-authored with Seengal and See), 'What Design Can Learn from Collaborating with Indigenous Partners' (2024, co-authored with Morgan), '3D Scanned Nature-based Virtual Environment Design: A Hunter Valley Case Study' (2024), and 'The Playable City: Refashioning Spaces Within Urban Social Design' (2024). She has presented at events including Europrix, European Academy of Design, and International Symposium for Electronic Arts.