Decha Wigneshwara: Monash Graduate Wins Australia’s Top Design Award

Monash Bachelor of Industrial Design graduate, Gusti Bagus Chanakya Wigneshwara (known as Decha), has been named the 2025 Graduate of the Year (GOTYA) national winner in the Interact – Higher Education category by the Design Institute of Australia. The award recognises his creative excellence across three innovative projects.

For the Bali-born designer, it marks a turning point.

“My designs were once confined to the classroom — now they’re on a national stage,” Decha said. “It’s exciting, but it also comes with a responsibility to use them to promote sustainability in design.”

From Communication to Industrial Design

Decha began at Monash in 2023 intending to study Communication Design. But an elective in Designing for Sustainability sparked his interest in Industrial Design. His first project, Refilm—a system for recycling film canisters—introduced him to mentor and Monash Design alum India Macpherson, who encouraged him to explore product design, UX and prototyping.

“Product design was out of my comfort zone,” he said. “With India’s encouragement I learned new skills and realised Industrial Design might be the one for me.”

The Award-Winning Work

Decha’s winning submission featured:

• Refilm – a circular economy system to collect and recycle film canisters incorporating a physical dropbox and app interface.
• Beeon – a speculative public installation educating people on the importance of bees, featuring a giant flower sculpture, pollination gardens, AR displays, and an animated mascot, Bobee.
• Wonderward – a digital platform amplifying emerging designers through interviews and open-source projects.

His final-year capstone, Beeon, was a highlight.

“I loved learning sculpture, AR, animation, and spatial design. It brought so many disciplines together. If this was the type of work that I did for the rest of my life, I’d be thrilled.”

Image: BEEON

Mentorship and Collaboration

Mentorship was pivotal. After India’s early guidance, Decha worked with Industrial Design Program Coordinator Dr Giorgia Pisano on his capstone. In what he calls a “full circle moment,” Giorgia had once taught India in the same  ‘Sustainability and Social Impact Stream’. She later nominated Decha for the GOTYA.

“Both India and Giorgia inspired me to believe I could be an industrial designer,” Decha said. “Giorgia also connected me with experts in different design fields and nominated me for the GOTYA— that support was fundamental to my success.”

Studio-based learning also shaped his journey. “Industrial Design is so collaborative — there’s a lot of testing, interaction and group work. Most of my friends came from these studios.”

An internship with Design lecturer Dr Chuan Khoo further expanded his experience, contributing to Lumogram, an interactive kit showcased at Monash Open Day 2024.

The GOTYA Process

From 135 national nominees across four categories—Use, Space, Interact and Convey—Decha was shortlisted in the top 25% before being named state, then national winner in Interact.

Image: Decha receiving his GOTYA award

Design Philosophy and What’s Next

For Decha, design is about love.

“Love translates to empathy. Industrial design is deeply human — it’s about care. With the bee project, I had a love of nature, a love of bees and a desire to share that with people. That connection shapes a better design.”

Now working part-time at Coco Republic while applying for full-time roles, Decha sees his Monash training as versatile. “I consider myself a multidisciplinary designer. These skills are transferable everywhere.”

His advice to aspiring designers:

“Spend time thinking about what kind of designer you want to be and don’t compare yourself to others. In the words of Tyler the Creator — think like a child, edit like a scientist.”

Reflecting on Monash, he credits the first-year exploratory structure and supportive teaching culture:

“If you don’t know much about design, you’ll leave Monash loving it, with a clear sense of where you fit.”