A sliding doors moment put Tyrell Siew on the path to his PhD

Early in 2020, when the world was shutting down in what was to become the COVID-19 pandemic, Tyrell Siew was visiting his family in Australia. The day before he was due to depart, he called his manager in China and asked him if he should take his return flight. The response – “Stay put and see what’s going on.”

That call and the global restrictions that dictated many people’s lives for almost two years meant Tyrell had to get a job in Australia. Fortunately, his years of experience as an industrial designer in the car industry allowed him to secure work with a mining company designing extraction equipment. There, he worked on bespoke designs for equipment ranging from hand-held devices to three-storey high mining equipment.

“It was an eye-opener because until that point, I had been designing for aesthetics on the outside, but this time, I was designing something that needed to be functional and, at the same time, aesthetically pleasing.”

Right time, right place

After moving into design consultancy work, Tyrell met some of his current colleagues from Monash’s Art, Design, and Architecture.

“While consulting on a project for MicroX, I discovered an opportunity to do a PhD in industrial design with the support of a scholarship at Monash University’s Mobility Design Lab. I had thought about doing a PhD before but didn’t have the luxury of being able to give up a full-time income to complete it.”

Initially, Tyrell was told his application for the Brian M. Davis Industrial Design Scholarship was unsuccessful. “They informed me that there was a more suitable candidate, so I continued my consultancy work. What I didn’t know was that one of my supervisors, Robbie Napper, decided because there were two excellent applications in the year I applied, he would ask if the following year’s scholarship could be brought forward.” Luckily for Tyrell, the Brian M. Davis Charity Foundation agreed to this unusual request and awarded two scholarships for the same commencement year.

A way forward from tragedy

Sparked by the number of food delivery rider fatalities and casualties in the gig economy, the focus of Tyrell’s PhD is founded on empathy and experience.

“At one point, there were four riders killed in three months during the pandemic lockdowns. I was really affected by these tragedies, and I felt the struggle this group of people were going through. I wanted to use my industrial design experience to look at how to improve their livelihoods by providing a safer vehicle. Their work is conducted in a dangerous, high-risk environment where they need to navigate a congested city space, follow their GPS for directions, keep the food upright and arrive at the customer’s house with a big smile on their face, hoping for a good rating.”

Changing gears

The move from full-time employee to full-time PhD candidate has been a paradigm shift for Tyrell. “It allowed me to pinpoint the research gap and identify the root cause. This takes time you don’t often have in the commercial world because you’re focused on getting the product to market before your competitors, using a limited set of resources.”

Through his research, Tyrell has identified several variables that could contribute to a safer work environment for these riders. “A lot of the research to date has been in the social science area and algorithm studies, but I’m concentrating on the specifics of the vehicle design and the regulation of e-bikes, which most riders use.”

During his first year, Tyrell shared his findings with VicRoads and discussed them at conferences. “The reception has been really positive, and I’m keen to see the outcome of the work VicRoads has been doing about refining the regulation of e-bikes.”

Next steps and opportunities

Once Tyrell has completed his research and designs, his next step is to build a prototype. The Brian M. Davis Industrial Design Scholarship includes a materials allowance in addition to the stipend, which is ideal for the Studio-PhD mode of Tyrell’s project. “I will be able to build and refine safer e-bike designs using Monash’s extensive fabrication facilities. It’s also something we’re looking to partner with industry for, with the potential of commercialising the final version.”

With his eye on creating a safer future for food delivery riders, Tyrell is optimistic that his PhD research will make a difference for this group of gig economy workers. “I hope that when I’ve completed my PhD, the output will make a valuable contribution to a group of people who often undertake a risky job because they are desperate to earn money.”

“I also anticipate that my career options will expand commercially and academically. The industrial design world has very few people with PhDs, so I will always be grateful to the Brian M. Davis Charitable Foundation for my scholarship.”