The Importance of the Human Element in Creative Research
Professor Paul Egglestone’s office is a glass box in an open plan office, splattered in neon-coloured, hand scribbled drawings and big ideas. He explains with a laugh in a welcoming voice, “that’s how I’ve made use of the novelty of a closed-in office”.
Egglestone has a background in entrepreneurship, media production, videography and design, but his current creative project is building a School. It’s a project he is incredibly passionate about; designing and coordinating the School of Creative Industries. He is taking on the logistical challenge of moving 3000 students, researchers and academics to a brand-new city campus from the outer Newcastle suburb of Callaghan, and building a School based on creative collaboration; commissioning researchers to work with scholars from other disciplines and industries.
This approach, Egglestone said, provides the opportunity to test creative problems across multiple skill sets, languages, approaches and world views. “Gone are the days of the solo genius, it’s all about teamwork and collaboration”.
He described his recent research project developing drone technology to monitor Koalas in their natural habitat using LYDAR, thermal and image tracking. His team were able to fly over the forest canopy identifying heat spots that could be Koala’s, in what he described as the “Great Australian Koala Search”.
The project required a trans-disciplinary team of environmentalists, technologists, drone pilots and IT engineers working with academics. It was then expanded further to include the community, by allowing anyone to sign up on a mobile device to have access to every frame they shoot to help identify the Koalas.
Egglestone believes the technology will advance in future years using machine learning and artificial intelligence, but he is passionate about keeping people at the centre of any of his projects, stating “I never ever EVER want to remove the human element, there have to be people involved”.
Author: Patrick Tappouras
