| SWINBURNE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY
DIGITAL FRONTIER
ABOUT US
INTRODUCING THE PROJECT
Long Subeng | Tinjar
​
About this picture
A girl was waiting for her parents to return from the farm.
​
Photo
Copyright © 2016 Raine Melissa Riman
All Rights Reserved
​
Population movement and economic forces are rapidly displacing traditional practices and historically significant sites in rural Sarawak.
​This project investigates whether mobile media technologies can assist in the maintenance of local and indigenous knowledge through sustainable cultural tourism enterprise and developing a mobile storytelling application that can be used to engage tourists in three rural communities.
​Using mixed methods approach we are:
​
-
producing baseline of the social and cultural factors that influence technology adoption to inform the development of appropriate technologies,
-
developing and trial technologies for storytelling production and distribution,
-
determine the impact of digital media technologies, mobile storytelling and geolocation on local economies; be it formal or informal economies
THE TEAM
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ellie Rennie
PhD (QUT), BA, Hons (Melb)
​
Deputy Director
Institute for Social Research,
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne.
​
Expertise in the areas of indigenous media and digital inclusion. Her research areas include media policy and community communication, with a current focus on indigenous broadcasting and broadband in remote Australia. She was Chief Investigator of the recently completed ARC Linkage project Home Internet in Remote Indigenous Communities, working with three industry partners. She has published two books: Life of SYN: A Story of the Digital Generation (Monash University Press, 2011) and Community Media : A Global Introduction (Rowman & Littlefield, 2006). She is involved in a number of academic and community associations and is Vice President of the Community Broadcasting Foundation.
Dr. Christine Horn
PhD(Swinburne), MA (UNIMAS), BA (Hons) (LMU)
Postdoctoral Researcher
Institute for Social Research
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
​
Her background is in communication, media and graphic design. Has carried out research for her PhD in Sarawak’s indigenous communities between 2010 and 2013. She taught design and photography at Monash College and was a lecturer with the School of Computing and Design at Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak.
Gregory Wee Lik Hoo
MA (NU), BA (UWinnipeg)
Senior Lecturer (Design)
Faculty of Business and Design
Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak
​
His research focuses on the search for a Malaysian cinema, and for a Malaysian visual identity in comics, animation and digital creative content. His cartoon illustrations and comics have been published locally. His most recent achievement includes the production of a 13-episode animated series for TVi (Astro Channel 180). Also the founder of the "Story of Kuching" on Facebook.
Wilson Suai Anak Moses Jantan
MCompSc (UPM), BCompSc (Hons) (KUTKM)
Lecturer in Multimedia Design
Faculty of Business and Design
Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak
​
Started his academic career in Swinburne Sarawak in 2006, teaching Multimedia Design at Faculty of Business and Design. He has taught numerous subjects within the field of Multimedia Design in various levels and programs, among others, Interactive Design for Games and Web Applications, Interactive Design for Web and Technology, 2D Animation, Group Research Project, Individual Research Project as well as Multimedia Technology.
Simpson Njock Lenjau
MSc (Curtin), BA (Hons) (Swinburne)
Research Associate (Miri)
Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak
​
His background is in Project Management and previously attached with Sarawak Energy Berhad. He represents the communities in Baram and liases with the community leaders for our fieldwork practice.
Professor Sandra Gifford
PhD, MPH, MA, BA (Hons)
Professor of Anthropology and Refugee Studies
Institute for Social Research
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
​
Former founding director at the La Trobe Refugee Research Centre at La Trobe University. Her background is in medical anthropology and her research has addressed ethnicity, migration, settlement and health in Australia. Her current research focuses on settlement, wellbeing, policy and practice among recently arrived humanitarian migrants in Australia with a particular focus on young people. She has expertise in ethnographic longitudinal studies using a mix of methods from standardised surveys and in-depth interviewing to digital media, film and participatory art based methods.
Dr. Rowan Wilken
PhD (Melbourne), BA (Hons) (Swinburne)
Senior Lecturer
Institute for Social Research
Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne
​
Rowan Wilken is a Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer in Media and Communications at Swinburne University. His interests include mobile and locative media; social and spatial theory; old and new media; theory and practice of everyday life; and domestic technology consumption.
Raine Melissa Riman
MEnvSc (UNIMAS), Bsc (Hons), Dipl (UiTM)
Research Associate
Swinburne Sarawak Research Centre for Sustainable Technologies
Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak
​
A new addition to the research team. Previous experience includes fieldwork interpreter for University of Copenhagen-UNIMAS Joint Fieldwork SLUSE Program and a Community Communication Director for a natural resource firm. Her background is in environmental science and heritage conservation.
Aurelia Liu Mei Ying
BA (Hons) (Swinburne), Dipl (OneAcademy)
Higher Degree Researcher (HDR)
Faculty of Business and Design
Swinburne University of Technology, Sarawak
​
Aurelia Liu is a UI/UX designer and researcher with technical background and professional experience in the digital advertising industry. A technology enthusiast, she dabbles in game, website and mobile application designs. Currently, she is doing her Masters degree by research on interaction design for a collaborative platform to collect digital heritage stories.
Adeline Laong Lusat
BSc (Hons) (UMS), Dipl (UiTM)
Freelance Project Enumerator & Interpreter (Fieldwork Basis)
​