Research groups
The School of Design Innovation is home to a number of forward-looking research groups. Find out what they do and see some of their work.
At the School of Design Innovation, we have a number of research groups known as Design Research Innovation Labs (DRILs). These labs receive support from government, industry, and externally funded grants to produce a wide range of commercially viable and discipline-specific research outputs.
The work we do in these groups helps to push design research forward while engaging with a variety of social issues and needs.
Find out more about the research focus, methods, aims, and objectives of each research group.

C.R.I.S.I.S.
The C.R.I.S.I.S. research group supports design-led responses to sustainability challenges impacting Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.

Data.Mine
Data.Mine is a research cluster at the School of Design Innovation that deals with innovation in data generation, retrieval, analysis, and presentation.

MADE
MADE is a research stream at the School of Design Innovation which focuses on multi-material printing.

More-Than-Human
More-Than-Human is a research stream at the School of Design Innovation that focuses on designing with, and for, non-humans.

Smart Interactions
Smart Interactions is a research cluster at the School of Design Innovation which combines expertise from multiple design and technology disciplines.

Social Design Lab
The Social Design Lab positions social and cultural issues as highly relevant in contemporary design research.

Virtual Worlds Lab
At the School of Design Innovation’s Virtual Worlds Lab, staff and students explore ways to create interactive digital experiences using emerging technologies.