Dr Stefan Lie
Director
Dr Stefan Lie is a product designer and design academic working at the intersection of product interaction, material ecologies and sustainable design. His research emphasises the relationship between humans and materials based on an object’s form, surface and texture, and its resulting contribution to cultures of overconsumption and waste. He has a particular interest in the use of next-generation bio-derived polymers as an alternative to petrochemicals.
At UTS, Stefan is the co-director of the Material Ecologies Design Lab, which brings together studies in material cultures, thinking and futures to explore new design processes that move away from non-renewable towards regenerative systems. He is also a member of Integrated Product Design Research (IPD-R), a collaborative research group based in the School of Design at UTS.
As a researcher, Stefan works extensively with a range of industry partners to identify sustainability opportunities and re-imagine post-industrial waste as the source of new products and materials. Recent projects include a partnership with 4 Pines Brewing Company to create a series of eskies and cool bags made from recycled plastic, dehydrated brewers-spent grain and shredded plastic grain bags; an IPD-R partnership with Street Furniture to reduce the company’s resource footprint through the use of 3D-printed replacement parts; and the design of a compost aerator for Compost Revolution made from 100% recycled materials. In partnership with VisionSearch, Stefan produced a recyclable 3D-printed screen distancing device used in the assessment of vision impairments in research institutes and hospitals; this product is now produced on-demand, resulting in a reduction of plastic waste. Other research partners include, the CSIRO, IKEA, ARUP, the NSW Government, and the NSW Department of Corrective Services, among others.
A former furniture designer, Stefan is known for the iconic Ribs Bench, now part of the permanent collection at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum. He is a former winner of the Good Design Award from the Shizuoka Chamber of Commerce in Japan for his Origami Slippers. Stefan is a member of the Australia Design Centre’s Future Work Think Tank and the principal judge for the Sustainability Design category of the Australian Design Centre’s annual Workshopped Design competition. He completed his PhD at UTS in 2020.
Teaching
Stefan teaches into the undergraduate, honours and postgraduate design courses at UTS. He challenges students to think both expansively and critically about the use of sustainable materials and consider their potential in everyday design practice. In doing so, he equips students with the skills and confidence to test their assumptions, make informed design decisions and take their place as future disruptors in the field.
Supervision
Stefan supervises both master’s by research and PhD students. He has a particular interest in working with students who are passionate about challenging existing conventions in the product and industrial design space with the aim of moving towards a more sustainable future. He challenges students to think about product design sustainability beyond the narrow, systemically constrained context in which it operates today and to position their work as part of a broader paradigm shift that will define the industry of the future.
Stefan is currently the principal supervisor for three PhD students in the Material Ecologies Design Lab and a co-supervisor for two others within the School of Design.