Matthew Harkness

My name is Matthew Harkness and I am an emerging designer, researcher, and academic from Calgary, Alberta Canada. I’m in the final year of my practice-based PhD at the University of New South Wales School of Art & Design in Sydney, Australia. My research draws on Actor-Network Theory and Participatory Design to critically examine 3D printing technology and its role in maker culture. From a sustainability perspective, my work uses Critical Making and Speculative Design tactics to interrogate how 3D printers support wasteful, exclusive, and exploitative maker practices. Through material experiments, my design work includes waste plastic and bioplastic materials, ceramics, electronics, and repurposed objects.