Ms Fiona Dowling

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Role:

Technical Team Leader - Fabrication

Department staff:

ACE - Art and Design

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Qualifications:BA (Hons), MA
Position:Technical Team Leader - Fabrication
Department:ACE - Art and Design
Telephone:+44117 965 6261
Email:Fiona4.Dowling@uwe.ac.uk

About me

I am the Technical Team Leader for the Physical Fabrication area at Bower Ashton City Campus, leading a team of technical instructors supporting students with making skills across a number of areas, including metal, wood, ceramics, casting and enamel. My role includes elements of Teaching & Learning, developing workshop content and creative resources, overseeing Health & Safety, and the day to day running of a technical area and managing a team.

I am also a Designer/Maker with a background in Surface Pattern Design and Digital Fabrication, specifically laser and CNC cutting, 3D printing and digital embroidery, and have previously run my own business The Laser House offering laser cutting and digital design services.

Materials lie at the heart of my personal and professional practice, both working to better understand their properties, connotations and environmental impact, and exploring how to combine and contrast different materials and processes in new and interesting ways. Recently I have been investigating crossovers between digital and physical techniques to recreate textures and patterns found in the natural and urban worlds around me.

I am currently leading on the Bristol Materials Network project - a partnership between UWE, KWMC The Factory, and other Bristol-based companies and individuals - with the aim of sharing knowledge, resources, events and opportunities around materials literacy and sustainability, alongside exploring the development of physical and digital collections of materials and objects across the city and beyond.

I am also passionate about wellbeing, and am currently delivering a series of creative wellbeing sessions for UWE staff alongside Rachel Davis, as part of the Creative Collective, funded through the Health & Wellbeing Innovation Scheme.

In my previous role at KWMC The Factory, a digital arts charity and community makerspace, I managed the Skills Development Programme, designing and delivering a range of inclusive training and volunteering opportunities supporting development of digital design and making skills, business skills for start-ups and growing businesses, and transferrable soft skills for further education and employment.

Area of expertise

Digital Design, Co-Design, Making, Laser & CNC Cutting, Materials Investigation, Accessibility & Inclusion, Creative Leadership, Coaching

Publications

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