October 15, 2021
Dr Mazin Bahho
The Research and Innovation Centre has begun a Q&A series with EIT researchers.
Here is what Dr Mazin Bahho, Senior Lecturer – Design / Spatial, at EIT’s IDEAschool has to say:
1. How long have you been a researcher?
I was engaged in research by creative practice for some time, but I became active in academic research in 2012 when I started my PhD study at Victoria University in Wellington
2. Why do you enjoy doing (quantitative and qualitative) research?
Research is a tool for building knowledge and facilitating learning. I think research must be of high quality in order to produce knowledge that is applicable outside the research setting and helps make a difference. On another note, the activity of research helps me develop critical thinking to better understand the world around me.
3. What research have you done recently or are currently working on?
I have recently completed writing a paper about zero energy renovation projects and how to get the users involved? By their nature, renovation projects are complex and multi-layered as they often deal with architectural, cultural, and social values as well as aspects of energy efficiency and finance.
4. When and where has or will this be published?
The paper is now submitted to be reviewed and if successful will be published in Urban Planning which is an open access online journal published by Cogitatio Press based in the Netherlands.
5. What has been your most significant research project?
Apart from my PhD thesis, I am very pleased with my research work on reflective teaching where the teacher’s position is to find opportunities to consider the role of creative processes and technical knowledge in developing workable situations. This research was a case study with the empirical material consisting of investigations based on the designing process of a sustainable building project by a group of students.
6. What difference has it made/what impact has it had?
The original paper abstract was presented at the Whangaungatanga ITP Research Symposium at EIT in 2019 and later I was approached by Scope Journal (a publication by Otago Polytechnic) to write the full paper. After publication I put the paper on the Research Gate website (a European commercial social networking site based in Berlin) and in August 2021 it achieved 100 reads, which made me very happy.