Review Statement

Peer-review

This manuscript has successfully undergone a rigorous internal review to ensure clarity, accuracy, and consistency across all chapters. Furthermore, three external expert reviewers have offered their expertise and impactful feedback. The authors express their profound gratitude for this invaluable support, which has greatly enhanced the quality, depth, and relevance of the book.

Reviewer of Chapters One and Two: Dr Laura Montano. Lecturer in Humanitarian Engineering. The University of New South Wales – UNSW Sydney. Sydney, Australia.

Reviewer of Chapters Three and Five: Dr Leandra Rhodes-Dicker. Lecturer in Chemical and Environmental Engineering. The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology – RMIT University. Melbourne, Australia.

Reviewer of Chapters Four and Six: Dr Scott Daniel. Associate Professor in Humanitarian Engineering. University of Technology Sydney. Sydney, Australia.

Case Studies and Identity of People

The authors used case studies and examples as pedagogical material, some inspired by real-life situations and others entirely hypothetical. This approach allows the authors to introduce sensitive ethical topics for discussion with students in a critical manner. Names of people, places, and events have been altered, fictionalised, or created for illustrative purposes and should not be assumed to represent real individuals or circumstances. In certain cases, the editor modified photographs, such as anonymising faces or applying a cartoonised effect, to illustrate actions whilst avoiding the identification of individuals, places, or sensitive contexts.

English Proofreading 

The editor conducted a review of each chapter using Grammarly AI premium licence to support the English proofreading process, primarily for spelling and grammar checks. All suggested edits were critically reviewed and finalised by the author to ensure accuracy, maintain academic integrity, and preserve alignment with the textbook’s objectives.

Images, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and other AI-assisted Tools

All images in the book are open access and/or have permission to use. All photos owned by the author have been modified. As previously noted, to anonymise faces and prevent uncontrolled recognition of subjects, the author applied a cartoonised effect to each photo using Gemini AI, the free version of LoveArt, or the paid version of the photo editor BeFunky. This ensures that the author retains 100% ownership of the resulting images. The modifications using AI tools were carried out under the following prompt instructions:

“I will provide a photo that contains recognisable faces. I need to modify this photo specifically for educational purposes. The person’s face must become completely unrecognisable by transforming the image into a cartoon or sketch style. Ensure it still captures the original context and the essence of its message, suitable for an academic setting. The purpose is to illustrate collaborative learning activities in a textbook while protecting privacy.”

Due to the people-centred nature of this textbook, all image edits illustrate actions while avoiding the identification of individuals, places, or sensitive contexts.