ZHANG Wanlin

Assistant Professor at the School of Design, Southern University of Science and Technology. She is a cross-disciplinary design researcher whose work focuses on culturally significant design, design for sustainability, and digital humanities. She holds a PhD in Design from Lancaster University, UK, and MA degree in Design Science from Hunan University, China, and BA in Industrial Design from Central South University, China. Her previous research contributes to Located Making project, which is a collaborative three-year project funded by the UK Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Newton Fund. Also, she previously worked as Assistant to the Cultural Exchange project at Lancaster University. Her ongoing projects investigate how computing technologies and data-driven design approaches can facilitate innovation within cultural and creative fields. She has published almost 20 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and conference papers, and these include The Design Journal, International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, IEEE, EAD conference, IASDR conference, and CUMULUS conference. She also serves as a reviewer for several leading international journals and conferences in culture and design fields. In addition, as a designer and design researcher, she was involved in several design projects and funded research projects, and she has research and commercial experience in user experience research, product development and project management. Her previous design works were awarded at the national, provincial, and municipal levels and were granted patents. More information can be found at https://resilientculturedesign.github.io/

Selected Publications:

Zhang, W., Walker, S., and Evans, M. (2023). ‘The Located Making framework’ for Sustainable Enterprise. In Zsolnai, L., Walker, T., and Shrivastava, P. (eds.) Value Creation for a Sustainable World. London: Palgrave Macmillan. (In Press)

Walker, S., Evans, M., Zhang, W.*, and Humphreys, P. (2022). The Located Making Framework for Supporting Craft Maker Enterprises in China. The Design Journal. 25(6), 976-996. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2022.2112856

Zhang, W., Walker, S., Evans, M., and Bennett, J. (2021). Inheritors of the Yellow River: The Relationship of Heritage Making Practices to Cultural Self-confidence in China. International Journal of Anthropology and Ethnology, 5(4). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s41257-021-00045-6 

Zhang, W. (2021). Design for the Sustainment of Traditional Making Practices: A Research Study in Central China. The Design Journal. 24(1), 137-147. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14606925.2020.1835232 

Zhang, W., Walker, S., and Mullagh, L. (2019). Craft and Sustainability: Reflections on Design Interventions in the Craft Sector in China. In: International Association of Societies of Design, Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Manchester, UK, 2nd-5th September, 2019. Manchester: Manchester Metropolitan University. Vol.2, pp.326-338. ISBN:978-1-910029-60-2. 

Zhang, W., and Walker, S. (2018). A Values-based Direction: Overcoming an Imbalanced Relationship Between the Designers and Craftspeople. In: CUMULUS Association, CUMULUS Conference Proceedings Wuxi 2018: Diffused Transition and Design Opportunities. Wuxi, China, 31st October-3rd November,2018. Wuxi: Jiangnan University. pp.63-74. ISBN: 978-952-60-0092-3. 

Zhang, W., Hu, Y, and Ji, T. (2017). Technology-driven Design for Environmental Public Service [数字技术驱动下的环境公共服务设计研究]. Packaging Engineering [包装工程], 38(10): 55-61. (In Chinese) 

Zhang, W., Cho, E. J., Jiang, Y., and Guo, Y. (2016). Community-based Research for Innovation and Design: In the Case of Qinghai, In: Proceedings of 22nd International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS), Lisbon, Portugal, 13-15 July, 2016.