Dr Stephen Cummings FDIA
Dr Steve Cummings, an industrial designer and fellow of the DIA has held senior appointments for over 30 years in the bathroom product design industry. In 1976 he joined Doulton Australia as chief designer. Directly following this in 1980 he joined Caroma Industries in the position of Research and Development Manager. His long and enduring relationship has seen his design influence across countless products used by millions of people throughout the world. One would be hard pressed to find an Australian who hasn’t encountered a Caroma bathroom product.
Highly respected amongst the Australian industrial design community, Cummings’ work has focused on remarkable design solutions for Australian and global markets. A pioneer in sustainable product design he has passionately worked on the development and design of products which minimise water consumption and associated drainage systems. He is a recognised authority in his field internationally.
Arguably his most iconic achievement in design was the development of the dual flush WC technology launched in 1993. It has been proven to save up to 67% of water usage in most homes and has been internationally recognised as a groundbreaking Australian innovation.
Highly awarded by his peers some other outstanding design projects created by Caroma’s design team under Cummings’ direction include the development and introduction of the 4.5/3 litre Smartflush toilets together with the Cube 0.8 litre urinal, Cube H2Zero waterless urinal (also a finalist in the international INDEX: Award) and most recently the 2011 Australian Design Awards best in category winning Flow shower head.
Cummings’ body of work continues to be admired by many industrial designers including Paul Charlwood, former national director of the DIA commented, "It is a great achievement for a designer to have such a long standing career guiding the design and development of a company’s product range over 30 years. The success of Steve’s work is a shining example of Australian design innovation: beautiful, long lasting, highly innovative and environmentally conscious – something we all strive for."
In 2001, Cummings was conferred with the degree of Doctor of Environmental Design (by research thesis) by the Faulty of Environmental Design at the University of Canberra.
An active member of the design and engineering community he generously devotes his time and extensive knowledge to various Standards Australia Committees, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) standard committees and is an associate of the Institute for Sustainable Futures at UTS.
