Design of the times

The concepts of ‘design’ and ‘designers’ aren’t well understood in the UK. Talk to a member of the public and their first thoughts are likely to be of fashion. However, even in the technology community, there are many who don’t realise what designers do and how it can benefit their work.

Industrial designers can have a major input on engineering projects, especially when the final goal is a product that people have to use. Now a team from the University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing is trying to bring the benefits of design into a different area: blue-skies science.

The project, called Design in Science, is led by James Moultrie, a design-management specialist investigating how engineering design can help enhance innovation in institutions of various sizes. His team includes Alex Driver, a research associate who spent three years as an industrial designer with Atkins; and PhD student Carlos Peralta-Mahecha, looking specifically at the interaction between design and science