About me
Research background and focus: Dr Gomez is co-founder, design strategist, researcher at OceanBrowser Ltd. and an honorary senior lecturer at the Save Sight Institute, University of Sydney. She undertakes applied design research in educational practice with Bridging Design Prototypes (BDP). With a PhD in design from Swinburne University of Technology (Australia) and a bachelor in graphic design from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana (Colombia), her contributions to educational practice have informed research and development of new concept products for preschool concept mapping and online medical study. Together with an informal research network, she is researching educational resources for algebraic reasoning in early primary education. Her work promotes cutting edge research that enables the emergence of innovative areas of practice within early childhood and online education.
Research through teaching and supervision: Dr Gomez currently supervises postgraduate students in the areas of visual design, inclusive design, social design, and online medical education.
As an assistant professor, she has lectured and supervised master students of mixed engineering and design backgrounds on human-centred design methods (including the BDP approach). These methods were used to conceptualise, design and implement information systems for innovative practices in education, welfare, government, energy and manufacturing. Student research activities were undertaken in collaboration with user communities and small organisations (SMEs and/or production technology researchers).
As a guest lecturer, she has taught on topics raging from educational design to human-computer interaction in Australia, Colombia, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, and the USA. She has prepared lectures upon request for universities and professional organisations on topics including identity and gender, design and early childhood education, elearning, and early product development.
Research outputs: Her publication topics and venues are multidisciplinary and relevant to human-centred design methods (participatory design, co-design, user-oriented design, user-centred design, inclusive design, human-computer interaction, interaction and interface design). Her publications, publications under review and in progress contribute knowledge to the areas of human-centred design, inclusive design, visual impairment, strategic design, prototyping and entrepreneurship, and educational practice (concept mapping, elearning, and the transition to early algebra). Click to access publications.
Funding applications span areas such as smart learning technologies, entrepreneurship & prototyping, early childhood education, early mathematics, inclusive education and design. During her assistant professorship role, she attracted funds from the Danish Ministry of Higher Education and Science as well as Young Enterprise Denmark.
Multidisciplinary research and networks: Dr Gomez has research project experience in academia and professional practice. At present, this experience is being built through her business activities at OceanBrowser Ltd., strategic collaborations with clients, an honorary appointment, and postgraduate supervision. It has also been strengthen through memberships in a funded EU Network (JamToday), Nordtek, two Erasmus teaching mobility grants, membership to scientific research and conference committees, and writing publications in collaboration.
Prior to her current appointments, she was assistant professor at the University of Southern Denmark in Denmark (2012-17). She worked in multidisciplinary software projects such as the award-winning Proyecto Ludomatica in Colombia (1998 - 2001) as well as the CmapTools project in the United States (2001-2003). In New Zealand, she intermittently worked for the University of Otago in diverse research and professional capacities between 2008 and 2012.
