Dr Rafael Gomez

Associate Professor Rafael Gomez, Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia, is founder and head of the BMW Group + QUT Design Academy, based at QUT, Brisbane. The Academy is a partnership between BMW Group in Munich, Germany and QUT School of Design in Brisbane, Australia. It is a design hub for advanced learning, cutting-edge research and R+D projects focused on the application of emerging technologies including virtual reality, augmented reality, artificial intelligence, autonomous systems and robotics among others. Dr Gomez spearheaded this partnership over many years and oversees academy operations including program structure and management, personnel recruitment, internship program, PhD and MPhil projects, commercial research project collaborations, R+D initiatives, research grant applications, and external engagements. He is also Study Area Coordinator for Industrial Design at QUT, is a prominent researcher in the field of emotional experience, wearable tech for medical/health applications and emerging technologies and has developed frameworks for emotional experience currently being used by global industry leaders such as BMW to better understand peoples’ evolving emotional experience with devices, interfaces, services and systems. In addition, Dr Gomez brings over 15 years’ industry experience as a designer for small, medium and large enterprises across aviation, construction, medical, government and consumer electronics.