NYEIN,
WHO MAKES
COOL
STUFF

Nyein Chan Aung
PhD Industrial Design
Industrial Designer, Design Researcher and Artist 


ငြိမ်းချမ်းအောင်

ပါရဂူဘွဲ့  | စက်မှုထုတ်ကုန် ဒီဇိုင်း

စက်မှုထုတ်ကုန် ဒီဇိုင်နာ | ဒီဇိုင်း သုတေသီ နှင့် ပန်းချီ
အနုပညာရှင်

e-mail: nyein@uglykid.org
phone: + 61(4) 2192 1838


︎︎︎︎︎


Note: No great artist toiled alone, nor did they arrive fully formed. My heartfelt thanks to my wife, son, parents, family, friends, colleagues, clients and partners and countless others for your support, guidance and patience. Without you, there's nothing below this line.

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Quick Stats

• PhD in Industrial Design.
• A$ 25.58M total value of grants awarded.
• 94 commercialised or realised designs.
• 31 patents and design registrations granted.
• 17 international awards & recognitions..
• 11 academic research outputs.
• 5 public art commissions.
• 1 permanent museum acquisition
  

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Brief Biography

Dr. Nyein Chan Aung is an industrial designer, design researcher, and artist. As the Program Director of Imaging Technology Design Research at Monash University’s Design Health Collab, Nyein leads groundbreaking imaging design projects, including a mobile brain CT scanner for stroke emergencies and self-screening airport security checkpoints. Drawing from his experiences in Myanmar, the United States, and Australia, he tackles design challenges with a unique user-centered approach. His humanitarian focus, inspired by his upbringing in Myanmar, is evident in all of his work.

Nyein completed his Industrial Design PhD in 2018, where he designed an aircraft cabin that improves sleep for economy class passengers. The resulting design is patented in five countries and is in the permanent collection of the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

Throughout his time in industry and in academia, Nyein has won numerous awards, including the Good Design Award (2021), Creative Victoria's Creators Fund (2020), and the Melbourne International Arts Festival Art Trams (2019 Launch Tram), as well as the TEAGUE PhD Design Research Scholarship (2015) and the Carl Nielsen Professional Development Award (2007).

As an artist, Nyein blends design, craft, and quirkiness to create whimsical yet captivating pieces with graphite, watercolour, and ink.

Airport Screening Reimagined

2022 — Ongoing

Micro-X and Monash University, with US Government Agencies and other technology partners are developing a new self-screening checkpoint. This system transforms the airport security process into a more efficient and dignified model. Passengers control their own screening, similar to automated checkouts, which increases automation and reduces manpower needs. The system integrates on-person screening and baggage screening into a single portal, allowing for parallel screening.

Each portal occupies only 1/20^th of the space of a traditional lane, enabling flexible deployment and better use of space. This reimagined checkpoint aims to reduce congestion, enhance security, and improve the passenger experience by shifting to a modern, automated screening process.

Monash Design Health Collab, in partnership with Micro-X, is designing a lightweight CT scanner for integration into standard road and air ambulances. This revolutionary scanner aims to provide early stroke diagnosis at the point of care, significantly improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

The scanner weighs one-seventh of conventional CT scanners and uses only one-third of the radiation. It leverages Micro-X’s Electronic X-Ray tube technology to provide high-quality, three-dimensional CT images, allowing for rapid diagnosis of ischemic and hemorrhagic strokes and enabling faster and more accurate treatment. The compact and lightweight design ensures it can be easily integrated into standard road and air ambulances.

Writing Melbourne

2021

Comissions for the 2021 Melbourne Writers Festival to reflect life in Melbourne. The illustrations consider three aspects: the narrator, 'Melburnians' (humans and animals) and Melbourne itself. You can see vignettes of Melbourne residents playfully co-existing with the narrator, while being enveloped in the iconic sights and scenes of the city."

Deployable Palliative Care Rooms

2019 - Ongoing

Dr Nyein Chan Aung and Dr Thinn Thinn Khine, are developing an innovative design solution to improve end-of-life care. This project features a fold-out bed and shelving unit with an integrated communication module, allowing standard hospital rooms to be converted into comfortable palliative care spaces. The communication module provides digital access, charging, and storage, enhancing connectivity and support for patients and families. Supported by Creative Victoria and Monash University, this design aims to offer a more compassionate and practical approach to end-of-life care, ensuring a better experience for all involved.

The Late Supper Art Tram

2019 — 2020

The Late Supper is an interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper. Instead of Jesus Christ with his apostles, the illustration features unknown customers enjoying dinner at Melbourne’s renowned Supper Inn Chinese restaurant, capturing the diversity, community and culture of Melbourne.

Repose

2015 - 2018

Repose is an aircraft cabin that improves the inflight sleep of economy passengers through cabin design instead of seat design. Its central feature is a lateral sleep interface that turns the most dreaded seats in the economy cabin into the most desirable seats without affecting the cabin passenger capacity.