Sonja Duric
BBuiltEnv (Interior Design)
Registered Building Practitioner
Director of Interior Design, Hames Sharley
Sonja’s 20+ years of experience has focussed on Concept Design, Project Coordination, Project Initiation and Focus Group facilitation. She brings a recognised capability for facilitating galvanised consensus amongst diverse stakeholders developed across her career in the industry. Sonja has developed a Covid Planning guideline for workplaces. She has a passion for research and evidence-based design.
Her education includes a Bachelor of Built Environment (with Hons) with a major in Interior Design from QUT with the final year completed at the School of Interior Architecture, UNSW. Upon graduating, Sonja qualified for the Golden Key Honour Society. Over the last two decades she has devoted her energy to professional practise. In 2016 she joined the industry advisory panel for the RMIT College of Vocational Education.
Sonja is leading The Working Brain research team in investigating neurodiversity and mental health and how, as designers, we adapt our built environments through sensory design interventions to enable success and inclusion.
Suzi Wedd
BArch
Associate Interior Designer, Hames Sharley
Following 6 years of architectural experience, Suzi ventured into interiors focusing in workplace design and has practiced for some 20 years in both Sydney and Melbourne.
Additional to a core experience in workplace, her experience has been across broader sectors of commercial projects such as housing, retail, financial and health care. Suzi’s extensive industry experience is focused enthusiastically on creative design solutions delivered with a collaborative approach. Particular interests are that of the changing social nature of workplace design and the evolution of wellness, sustainability and social inclusion.
Jessica Margiotta
BID
Associate Director in Interior Design, GroupGSA
Jessica is passionate about delivering creative spaces to her clients that enhance and elevate cultural and brand experiences. Her varied experience delivering projects for clients in multiple industry sectors has enabled her to ensure that she generates creative workplace solutions that specifically address each client’s needs. During each project, Jessica forges a strong collaborative relationship with client and consultant teams, ultimately leading to repeat business with key clients.
Dion Wee
BDes (Digital Design), ADipScr&Med, DipIntDigMed
Associate Graphic Designer, Hames Sharley
Dion has a background in marketing, storytelling and communications design. Having worked as a freelance designer on a variety of campaigns for a variety of clients, including Honda, Nickelodeon and Monash University, he has extensive experience with working in diverse teams. He is a designer who revels in the details and likes to cross his ‘T’s and dot his ‘I’s.
Collaborators
Winnie Dunn
PhD, OTR, FAOTA
Distinguished Professor, University of Missouri
Department of Occupational Therapy
Dr. Dunn is a Distinguished Professor of the Department of Occupational Therapy Education at the University of Missouri. She is an internationally known expert for her studies about sensory processing in everyday life. She received her occupational therapy and a special education graduate degree from the University of Missouri, and her doctorate in applied neuroscience from the University of Kansas. She has published more than 100 research articles, book chapters and books, and has spoken around the world about her work. She is the author/ co-author of all of the Sensory Profile measures, which capture people’s responses to sensory events in everyday life; these assessments have been translated into dozens of languages and are used for both professional practice and in research programs. In 2014 Dr. Dunn completed the update and standardization research on the Sensory Profile 2, to ensure that researchers and professionals in practice have the most current evidence to support their decisions.
She has received the top honors in her field, including the Award of Merit for outstanding overall contributions, and the Eleanor Clark Slagle Lectureship for outstanding academic contributions; she is a member of the Academy of Research for the American Occupational Therapy Foundation and has received the A. Jean Ayres research award. She has also received a Kemper Teaching Fellowship for her outstanding educational approach. In 2013 she received an Honorary Doctorate from A.T. Still University of Health Sciences to acknowledge her contributions to knowledge development in the health professions. She has written a book for the public about her research entitled Living Sensationally understanding your senses, which has been featured in Time magazine, Cosmopolitan magazine, Canadian Public Radio and the London Times newspaper among others. In July 2009, Living Sensationally received the Seal of Excellence from the Children of the New Earth magazine for parents, professionals and other care givers.
Andrew Eddy
Co-founder, Untapped
Autism Advocate
www.untapped-group.com
https://www.neurodiversityhub.org/
Andrew is a senior finance professional with extensive experience in the public sector and in professional service firms. He also has significant governance experience in the education sector.
Andrew is a founder of Untapped, a social enterprise focused on developing a sustainable neurodiverse employment ecosystem to increase opportunities for autistic individuals, thereby realising their untapped potential.
Untapped is also driving the Neurodiversity Hub initiative which is about facilitating neurodiverse university and TAFE students becoming more work-ready and increasing their chances of securing a job and a career. It is also an opportunity for employers to partner with the Hub and better understand and access this cohort’s talent.
Vlatka Duric
Clinical Psychologist
Dr Vlatka Duric is a Psychologist with Masters in Clinical Psychology and a PhD in Psychological Medicine for which she received a full scholarship from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia. She has been a representative on major scientific bodies and a principal investigator on several competitively funded research grants. Her interests are the application of gold standard psychological evidence to practice helping people achieve positive change in their quality of life so that they can confidently live their best life and contribute to their community. Her career highlights include a first author publication in Lancet Oncology, working as a clinician in Norway and Oman, and a clinical observership at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York. Nowadays, Dr Duric’s focus is mainly as a full time clinician (working with currently serving and veterans and their families). In her spare time, Dr Duric likes to spend quality time with her family and enjoying any creative pursuit.
Other Contributors
Alex Macdonald, Ian Piggott, Kate McCann, Michael Edwards, Pavel Ornelas, Tracy Lo.
Past Contributors
Natalie Viola, Kylie Lord, Nick Leong.
