Jason Mitchell
Lecturer, Industrial Design
Jason is a researcher and principal investigator across health and wellbeing projects, exploring products, systems, and services for the intervention of complex problems within hospitals, and the wider health ecology. Jason works collaboratively across disciplines and with health care partners to create positive impact for a range of stakeholders.
Jason is a co-founder of Fab Lab Wellington, an innovation space where designers and makers explore and test ideas using a range of digital fabrication tools. His interest in digital fabrication informs his work with the replication of lost artifacts for Te Papa Museum, and his professional experience as a boat designer.
Jason is a Lecturer teaching across the undergraduate Industrial Design programme, and also enjoys supervising postgraduate students in the MDes programme. His teaching bridges traditional practice with disruptive technologies in the design process.
-
Expertise
Product design, boat design, transport, health, wellbeing, commercialisation, digital fabrication, technology, 3D printing.
-
Recent research successes
Sleep in the Future (2020-2021)
Jason was a principal investigator in the design of interventions for the problem of sleep quality for patients in a hospital environment. The project was a collaboration with the Auckland District Health Board, the Sleep/Wake Centre and the College of Health. A baseline study measured environmental disturbances alongside patient sleep surveys, and through a series of co-design workshops solutions were identified and further developed in an ongoing process. The outcome generated IP for the commercialisation of solutions to create meaningful impact for patients and clinicians.
Cold Chain (2021-2022)
The ‘Cold Chain’ is the temperature management of pharmaceuticals across their lifecycle. Breaches in the cold chain occur through technology and human error, resulting in the destruction of millions of dollars of medicines and vaccines annually. The Cold Chain project is a collaboration with Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand investigating the processes and practices of cold chain management and designed solutions to mitigate the problem and help to guarantee the efficacy of medicines. Initial seed funding was awarded through the 2021 Innovation Award provided by Massey Ventures and Kiwinet. Jason is a principal investigator on the project and worked across strategy and planning, as well as the design, prototyping and testing of solutions.
Tilt (2021-2022)
Tilt is a product that aids focus and learning for neuro-diverse individuals. Tilt is a collaboration with Visual Anthropologist and ADHD expert Dr Ruth Gibbon who discovered that many people respond to learning and focus through movement, whereas current learning environments are designed for stillness and students are often punished for disruption. In response, Tilt was developed as a way to encourage movement in the lower body while maintaining the ability to use the hands for task related activities. Tilt is in the early phase of commercialisation and aims to have a positive impact for neuro-diverse learners.
-
Qualifications
- Master of Design (Massey University)
- Bachelor of Design (Hons) (Massey University)
- Diploma in Exercise Science (Central Institute of Technology)
- Ideas to Market Entrepreneurship Programme (Stanford University)
