Rick Bennett, Senior Lecturer, Head of COFA Online Since 1998, Rick Bennett has undertaken continuing research investigating online collaborative creativity (OCC) between distanced artists, designers and theorists worldwide. Having established numerous online and global creative projects through a succession of research grants, COFA is now a leading player in online visual communication practice and theory research.

Ian McArthur, Associate Lecturer, COFA Online ~enrich Coordinator With over 25 years experience as designer and educationalist Ian has worked in leadership roles in Australia and South East Asia including Program Director of Graphic Design and Multimedia at La Salle DHU International Design College, Dong Hua University, Shanghai, PRChina. In 2000 Ian received the NSW Education Minister’s Award for Excellence in Teaching which acknowledged his contributions to vocational education.

Simon McIntyre, Associate Lecturer, COFA Online Course Coordinator Having completed a multidisciplinary Bachelor of Design at The University of New South Wales, Sydney, the last decade of professional practice has seen Simon designing, producing and teaching digital and interactive media. His speciality of interactivity and user interaction has led him to work collaboratively with colleagues on several online projects, and in 2003 he joined the newly formed COFA Online unit at UNSW as a full time member of academic staff.

Karin Watson, ~enrich Online Lecturer, Karin received her Bachelor of Architectural Studies Degree at the University of Cape Town, South Africa and a Bachelor of Architecture (F/C Honours) Degree from UNSW. In 2003 she joined COFA’s School of Design Studies as a part-time tutor in Environmental Design and Design Studio, and as of 2006 she is the Course Convener for UNSW’s Faculty of Built Environment OutThere! Elective Program. Karin teaches the COFA Online Creative Thinking Processes Course which was initially prepared and taught in 2005 by Associate Professor Emma Robertson, subsequently becoming our most popular online course.

Zoja Bojic, ~enrich Online Lecturer Zoja graduated in art history in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and studied general literature with theory of literature, and classical philology (ancient Greek and Latin with Ancient Slav and Sanskrit). She taught art history at the University of Delhi 1989-1993. Since 1994,Zoja has been working as a journalist and art reviewer for several Australian and international publications. Zoja also has a PhD in Art History from the Australian National University.

Zoë MacDonell, ~enrich Online Lecturer Zoë MacDonell is a graduate of the College of Fine Arts, University of NSW. She is the author of the online course ‘Textiles: Tradition and Technology’ and is a practicing textile artist and designer. Zoë exhibits regularly on a national and international level e.g. Berlin, Munich, Tokyo and Seoul and has received numerous awards for her work including a Special Achievement and Highly Commended award from the Powerhouse Museum (2005), and the New Design award for Studio Based Practice from Object Galleries (2002).

Andy Polaine, ~enrich Online Lecturer In 1995 Andy Polaine [www.polaine.com] co-founded of award-winning new-media agency antirom [www.antirom.com] in London and has worked with clients such as the BBC, the ABC, Levis Strauss and Co. and The Science Museum. Andy visited Australia in 1999 to travel, lecture and get a tan. Charmed by the lifestyle he moved to Sydney and started the interactive department of visual effects company, Animal Logic [www.animallogic.com]. Andy left Animal Logic in 2001 and is was a Senior Lecturer in Interactive Media at UNSW's College of Fine Arts and Head of the School of Media Arts until he moved to Germany in 2006. He also works as a freelance designer and writer. He writes a column called Foreign Policy for Desktop magazine [www.desktopmag.com.au] and occasionally for other publications. He has lectured, spoken and performed in various countries around the world. Andy has just finished a temporary position as Professor of Design for New Media environments at the Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany [www.uni-weimar.de].

Bonita Ely, ~enrich Online Lecturer Bonita's interest in other cultures began when she was ten years old and began writing to a pen pal in Japan. This opened a door onto a culture that has continued to fascinate her. At present Bonita is working on an installation of video and drawings for an exhibition in Performance Space, Sydney in May. Bonita's own artwork includes photography, video, drawing, painting as well as sculpture, performance and installation. She also enjoys writing, travelling and getting to know people well.

Jonathan Rez , ~enrich Online Lecturer Based in Sydney, Jonathan Rez has been working in visual communication over the past 8 years or so. Currently working with an Environmental Graphics Design consultancy focusing on strategy, planning and design of visual information in the built environment. When not playing around with typography, Jonathan is fascinated by the potential of design to create meaningful human experiences in the built environment. At times, the two collide. Jonathan wrote the course Visual Identity in the Built Environment and has been teaching it at COFA, UNSW since 2003

Kim Dng Jun, ~enrich Online Lecturer Kim finished his BA and BA (Hons) degree in 1996. Subsequently, he developed a keen interest in visual culture in print media associated with various kinds of contemporary visual cultural theory. Kim attempted to integrate the critical phenomenon of visual culture in the Sydney Morning Herald and The Bulletin (1890s to 1990s) with theoretical analyses of visual grammar and visual communication theory, at the College of Fine Arts, the University of New South Wales, where he received his Master of Design in 1998. Kim's research interests centre on semiotics in visual culture with visual grammar, visual rhetoric and visual communication theory and its practice in the print media; cultural studies and design movements. Kim Joined COFA Online teaching in 2003. He is supervising postgraduate students who are studying in the Bond University's Master of Design program. He also has experience as a tutor at the UTS (University of Technology, Sydney).

Emma Robertson, ~enrich Online Lecturer Emma was born in Scotland, but went to school in Guyana and Baghdad, before studying design at Glasgow School of Art. After her honours degree she went to Manchester to complete an MA, specialising in textile design. As part of the research for the thesis Emma worked as a designer in the Swiss firm Jakob Schlaepfer in St Gallen, producing fabrics for the fashion/couture industry in Europe. Emma won and worked on several large scale architectural textile installations in the UK, including the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice, and the boardroom for Coats Patons world headquarters. Emma is currently an Associate Professor in the School of Design Studies, and her passions are drawing and creative thinking processes.She wrote a chapter in the new book The Creative Edge on the Top Ten Inhibiters in Creative Thinking (2007).

Britta Campion, ~enrich Online Lecturer Britta is a press photographer who has worked across a broad range of publications in Sydney. She is currently working with News Limited as well as making freelance contributions to other publications that have an editorial focus. Having first picked up a camera at the age of 8, photography quickly became her passion in life. The mediums ability to reveal insights into what it means to be alive in our world remains a constant intrigue to her. Britta has been researching the area of Visual Sociology over the last three years and is interested in the potential of the photographic image to contribute to a greater understanding of the society in which we live.

Paula Dawson, ~enrich Online Lecturer Mostly Paula is known for making the world’s largest laser transmission holograms which are of large interior architectural spaces. Her PhD in fine arts is also on the topic of large laser holograms however her undergraduate study was in more traditional media such as drawing, painting and sculpture. Over the past eight years Paula has been teaching drawing to students from undergraduate to PhD level at COFA. Drawing forms an important component of the previsualisiation her holograms. In the last couple of years Paula has been making cast bronze mirrors similar to the ones made in ancient Roman times. These works feature embossed holograms in the mirror so when you look into the mirror you see yourself and also a hologram image. Her most recent art work uses a hologram of a drawing made to create a light field around a figure. If you would like to see this and other works go http://www.pauladawson.com.au

Dr Pem Gerner, ~enrich Online Lecturer Pem is an architect-planner with a PhD in urban design. He has practised extensively in Australia and overseas in planning and urban design and taught these subjects at several Australian Universities to both undergraduates and postgraduates. He is co-editor of Cityscape an email-distributed journal designed to provide links for all practitioners in the built design fields so they may keep in touch with innovations and issues of concern. He believes that of all the design disciplines associated with the built environment, urban design is the most comprehensive and integrative in assisting society to better fashion it’s cities and towns. He is opposed to specialist ‘silo-type’ disciplines with their thinking and designing in isolation, and believes cross-disciplinary involvement is the only way forward in this complex society. In this regard he has backed his beliefs and is qualified and professionally practised in music, literature and environmental science.

William Burdis, ~enrich Online Lecturer William has been in the cgi industry for the past 8 years - and "creative production" for as long as he cares to think. He took a course in Creative Digital Technology at Cumbria College of Art and Design when the internet didn't work like we know it now. It did however give him access to the SGI machines that enabled William to create his first short character driven piece. He started out in the 'real world' (!) at Framestore in Soho, working on many projects (Dinotopia, Alice in Wonderland, Walking with Beasts etc) as a creature TD. A quick walk across the road then took him to places like Mill Film (Harry Potter) and MPC (Troy) and then a Big Silver Bird that took me across the water to Animal Logic (Happy Feet) as a Lead Lighting Artist, and to Bris(ImNotEmo)bane for next generation console games (HellBoy).

For further information please contact the ~enrich co-ordinator ian.mcarthur@unsw.edu.au