Mario Minichiello

May 27, 2021 - 18:00PM Chicago CST
May 28, 2021 - 9:00AM Sydney AEST
‘We are not machines’; creating a Research and Development centre that focuses on the qualities of Human creativity, imagination and empathy in solving societal problems at a time of chaos and the rise of machine intelligence"

The machine thinking revolution has not just replaced jobs, it has changed our sense of purpose, leading to questions about the prominence of humans in the world, the nature of society, and even the future of our species. This existential crisis has given rise to chaos as humans turn their physical strength and intelligence to heap destruction on themselves and the ecosystem that supports them.

FASTlab is an interdisciplinary response to these challenges. Through the use of human creativity, we are starting to do things differently, to try to deal with the randomness of these increasingly chaotic complex systems, and to use design research and creativity to develop speculative prototypes and experiences, to apply design critical thinking and imaginative problem solving.


Professor Mario Minichiello is Co-Director and founder of the ‘Future Arts Science and Technology Laboratory’ (FASTLAB) at the university of Newcastle NSW Australia. Mario is an experienced leader in international Higher Education and Research. As well as a practising artist and designer- With a strong creative Industry background as a practitioner, creative thinker and problem solver. He has enabled many individual graduate careers, as well start-ups and spin out companies. He is the only visiting Full professor in art and design to be appointed to a major Teaching hospital and to a research medical centre to help resolve issues in human behaviour.

How to Access the Speaker Series

The Imagining Futures Speaker Series is a Research Network Membership benefit. Anyone with a Research Network membership can access to complete series. So too can anyone with a conference registration in 2021. If you’d like to sign up just for the speaker series, please select an Audience Pass (for your next Research Network conference) and with this, you will receive the details on how to attend.

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