Dr Emma Luke is a designer, maker, and academic with over 20 years’ experience in industry and higher education. A co-program manager of the Master of Design Technology and Innovation at RMIT University, she leads research and teaching in wearable technology, Meditech, co-design, and generative AI in design practice.

Emma began her career as a watch designer at a global brand, later founding independent jewellery and accessories labels and exhibiting at Paris and Melbourne Fashion Weeks, with her work featuring in international magazines such as Vogue. Completing her PhD in 2022 on holistic wearable technology, she developed a design framework for embedding enchantment, longevity, and personalisation into post-digital artefacts. 

As co-director of the RMIT Wearables and Sensing Network, she has secured over $1.5M in competitive research income, leading collaborations across universities, industry, and clinical partners. Recognised as an emerging female leader in design and technology, Emma advocates for women in STEM and has mentored high-achieving graduates into awards and PhD scholarships. She judges the Victorian Premier’s Design Awards and continues to shape the future of wearable and AI-driven design.

Thom Luke is an industrial designer, entrepreneur, and academic with over 15 years’ experience leading design, business-building, and innovation projects across industry and higher education. Founder of Threshold Design and a founder of Slipping Realities, his practice spans future mobility, aerospace, medtech, and advanced manufacturing.

Thom has built a career at the intersection of radical innovation, business development, and generative AI adoption. He has led projects from advanced air mobility infrastructure and aerospace R&D to bespoke architectural and product design solutions. His consultancy, Threshold Design, has delivered high-profile projects for government, industry, and startups, while cultivating multi-disciplinary teams that thrive in experimental and high-pressure environments.

Currently completing his PhD at Swinburne University’s Aerostructures Innovation Research Hub, Thom investigates how generative AI transforms radical innovation in product development. His research explores how AI tools augment designers and key interpreters during the early, fuzzy phases of innovation — the metaproject stage where meaning and direction are defined. This work positions him at the forefront of understanding and shaping human–AI integration in industry practice.

Beyond academia, Thom is a lecturer in design innovation, prototyping, and advanced manufacturing at both Swinburne and RMIT University. He has a deep passion for business building and collaborative R&D environments, Thom thrives at the frontier of technology and design, where emerging tools, creative teams, and ambitious ideas converge. His work continues to ask not only what AI can do, but what radical new directions it can unlock for industry, culture, and society.