Read more about here.

Well done to Michael, Denis and Isabel!

http://news.sky.com/home/technology/article/16063438

The Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport visited the Innovation Technology Centre during the events that marked the launch of the government’s new broadband strategy.

Speaking at the launch, the Minister said: "We have two mantras which define our broadband policy. One is the 'Need for Speed.' It is going to be absolutely critical that we don't see this as a premium product for the wealthy that live in cities - this has to be transported to those that live in remote communities.

"The second is 'Must be Mobile' because we realise that we need to work on the assumption that most people will be accessing the internet from a mobile device, and so how we get ultrafast broadband networks that are mobile, is a very big challenge."

More details can be found at: http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/newsandeventspggrp/imperialcollege/newssummary/news_16-8-2011-12-3-8

Freaky Nature's poo element is a part of the Wellcome Trust's Dirt Season of events, games and a major exhibition at Wellcome Collection.

Exhibition ends on Sunday, 5th June 2011.

Click here for more information.

The symposium and exhibition marks the fourth anniversary of Design London's funding award by HEFCE and NESTA, and the establishment of one of the first of the interdisciplinary centres for innovation called for by the Cox Review: Creativity in Business. The symposium will bring together industry and education leaders to explore the importance of providing an interdisciplinary educational experience at graduate and postgraduate level, the contribution Design London has made to date the challenges and lessons learnt, and its vision for the future.

The highlight of the event will be our panel discussion, chaired by Professor David Gann, head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Imperial College Business School, with contributions from key leaders Sir George Cox, President of Institution Engineering Designers, David Kester, CEO of the Design Council and George Whitehead, NESTA. The panel discussion will address the future of interdisciplinary education and discuss the vital role design plays in translating innovations in science, technology and into solutions that generate new levels of value for business and society.

This is an invitation only event and for Higher Education instutitions, educational bodies and education professionals. if you would like to know more about the symposium click here.

This special event and exhibition marks the fourth anniversary of Design London, the UK's leading centre for interdisciplinary innovation, established following the Treasury's Cox Review: Creativity in Business in 2006. Over the last three years Design London has been researching and teaching new approaches for high performance innovation and demonstrating their effectiveness with the launch of award winning design led businesses from its incubator. It has not only taught over 1000 postgraduate students in that time, but also helped over 580 businesses through its Design Connection programme to improve their capacity for innovation.

This conference and exhibition will demonstrate new models for high performance innovation and show you how businesses can benefit from Design London's expertise, its learning and the services it offers. The conference is designed for industry leaders who are seeking to transform the innovation capacity of their firms. In crowded global markets, it's evident that technology innovation alone is no guarantee of success. It demands the blending of deep customer insight with technology, and a design-led, interdisciplinary approach is key to this.

We will show you how firms can benefit from this approach and the specific services available to help you, as well as show you examples of best practice. These will include some of the breakthrough companies emerging from our own business incubator.

This is an invitation only event and especially for businesses. If you would like to know more about the symposium click here.

Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) funds scientists and researchers worldwide to explore ideas that can break the mold in how we solve persistent global health and development challenges.  Loowatt’s project is one of over 85 Grand Challenges Explorations Round 6 grants announced today by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

“GCE winners are expanding the pipeline of ideas for serious global health and development challenges where creative thinking is most urgently needed.  These grants are meant to spur on new discoveries that could ultimately save millions of lives,” said Chris Wilson, director of Global Health Discovery at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. 

Click here for more information on this incredible achievement!

Dr Nick Leon - Director, Design London
Susan Searle - Chief Executive Officer, Imperial Innovations
Dr Alex Smeets - Regional Director, Oxford Innovation

Early stage incubators have become very popular, but are they delivering? They mushroom around universities and public research centres and tend to be integrated with business schools and engineering departments. They seek to transform technological innovations into new products or services and raise external capital to generate business returns, but how well do they succeed in this role? What are the chances of success and what problems do incubator managers face in the process? What can incubatees expect in terms of financial and non-financial support? These questions and many more are dealt with in this panel discussion. If you think you might want to enter an incubator or if you want to find out more about them, this is the talk to attend.
Hear our panel's views and offer your own. A reception of wine and canapés will follow the event.
 
Places are limited. Please visit the below link for more information and a link to register.

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/entrepreneurship/events/best-practice-2011/april

Starts October 2011

The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Group is at the heart of what makes Imperial College Business School so special, enjoying strategic partnerships with industry, policy-makers and other academic institutions worldwide. Its research covers the entire innovation process, from knowledge creation to commercialisation.

Its research portfolio involves collaboration with inter-disciplinary centres across Imperial’s medical, engineering and science faculties, such as the newly formed Digital Economy Lab and Design London, a collaboration with the College’s Department of Engineering and the Royal College of Art. As the global academic partner for Microsoft’s Innovation Outreach Programme, the Group works with over 30 of the world’s most innovative companies on collaborative projects.

No other group in Europe has such inter-disciplinary depth, contacts and published research in innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Design pathway has been a core component of the School’s MBA programme for several years, ensuring the Group has an impact on the commercial success of SMEs and global corporations by engaging students in real projects that are built in to the learning process. The Imperial MBA has been recognised in the 2011 Financial Times Global MBA Rankings as 4th in the world for Entrepreneurship.
 
Now, we are pleased to announce the launch of a new full-time MSc programme which channels this expertise into a programme designed for new or recent graduates looking to launch their career in innovation-led organisations.
 
In today’s challenging global economic environment, there is a pressing need to understand how to manage the introduction of the new technologies, systems and services that are vital for opening up new business opportunities. But, managing the creation, delivery and capture of value from innovation is a complex process, requiring broad-based skills and knowledge. The MSc Innovation and Entrepreneurship has been designed to meet this need.

This will be as relevant to an individual looking to work in a large organisation as to an entrepreneur planning to start their own business.
 
We are recruiting outstanding graduates who are seeking a conversion programme from any other discipline than business or management and are passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship. Hence, rather than trying to attract a large number of applications, we are envisaging to target those potential candidates that have more chances of being offered a place in the new Masters.

http://www3.imperial.ac.uk/business-school/programmes/msc-innovation-and-entrepreneurship/

“Harrods believes that Zara Gorman’s bold designs are truly original and make a style statement.”

http://www.harrods.com/womenswear/harrods-launches/zara-gorman?utm_source=go

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financevideo/8326132/James-Dyson-China-and-India-turn-out-20-times-more-engineering-graduates-than-UK.html#disqus_thread

As Sir George Cox stated in the the Cox Review of Creativity in Business:
"We need business people who understand creativity, who know when and how to use the specialist, and who can manage innovation; creative specialists who understand the environment in which their talents will be used and who can talk the same language as their clients and business colleagues; and engineers and technologists who understand the design process and can talk the language of the business."

 Multi-disciplinary education, including designers learning and working alongside MBAs, engineers and others, was highlighted by Sir George Cox as being a key way to support innovation in the UK. The Multi-Disciplinary Design Network was formed by the Design Council to explore and enable multi-disciplinary education and professional practice. The Cox Review recommended the establishment of centres excellence of multi-disciplinary education, called Cox Centres, and Design London was one of the very first to be established and is supported by HEFCE and NESTA. To read more about the event – click here

http://www.monodraught.com/latest-news/?p=540

Congratulations to the team!

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/news/101124.htm 

The show is a culmination of 10 years of work by Dr Torres, who has collaborated with Professor Paul Luckham, Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemical technology, to create a seamless material called Fabrican Spray-on fabric. The technology enables designers to spray liquid material directly onto the body, using aerosol technology, which dries instantly to make innovative clothes that can be washed and re-worn.

On Friday, after much anticipation, StickSafe/KwikScreen, SeaBoard, SOS Locks and Zara Gorman were selected to join the Design London Business Incubator.  All the presentations and ideas were of an amazingly high standard, and the judges had a difficult time deciding the winners.  Ultimately, however, the final ventures were selected after exhibiting compelling reasons for investment.

Along with a stake of over £200,000 Design London will be investing, the winners will have access to mentoring, executive education, support and advice in raising additional finance, and managed space and associated support.

Click here for more information.

Click here for more information.

Click here to learn more about the 3 day programme that runs from 22 to 24 September.

View full article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/yourbusiness/7733783/Sir-James-Dyson-backs-kitchen-taps-to-save-lives-and-launches-2010-competition.html

Min-Kyu Choi of Made in Mind beat out a collection by the late Alexander McQueen and a social housing project design from Mexico to win the Brit Insurance Design of the Year Award. Antony Gormley, who presented the award to Min-Kyu described the plug as a device that "shows intelligent, elegant and inventive design can make a difference to everyone's life."

View full article at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts_and_culture/8572146.stm

Design London in partnership with Living Labs Global invite you to a one day symposium on how innovation in services and mobility contribute to creating sustainable cities. The event coincides with the launch of a new publication showcasing how cities are exploiting digital technologies to enhance their sustainability, and to transform the nature, value and effectiveness of public services.

Join us for this day of knowledge sharing and discussion plus meet the leading practitioners, service providers and academics who are shaping the future of this domain. 

Our keynote speaker is London's Westminster City Council, a leader in the exploitation of digital technologies, wireless broadband networks, and mobile solutions who will share its vision of the Well Connected City and its experience to date, as well as the challenges still to be overcome. You will hear contributions from International organisations such as Arup, Ferrovial, IBM and RATP- Paris Transport Company, plus specialist application providers, who will showcase their capabilities and emerging services. 
This not to missed event will demonstrate new ways for you to connect communities, business and public services to build not only a sustainable city, but one that thrives.

Presenters

Peter Childs, Professor of Engineering Design, Imperial College and Marco Aurisicchio, Lecturer in Engineering Design

Anthony Dunne, Professor and Head of Department, Design Interactions, Royal College of Art

Bruce Tether, Professor of Design and Innovation, Design London, Imperial College

Lucy Kimbell, Clark Fellow in Design Leadership, Said Business School, Oxford,

Simon Blyth, IDEO and Julien McHardy, Lancaster University

Discussant

Jeremy Aynsley, Professor of History of Design, Royal College of Art

Organisers

Anne-Laure Fayard, Visiting Scholar, Design London, Imperial College and Assistant Professor of Management, Polytechnic Institute of New York University

Bruce Tether, Professor of Design and Innovation, Design London, Imperial College

Exhibition

The workshop is complemented by an exhibition, Investigatio, presenting a phenomenological exploration of research through the presentation of different research projects

Exhbition design by Chiara Bello
(Hockney Gallery, Stevens Building, Royal College of Art, London).

Link to essay by Anne-Laure Fayard here.

Exhibition leaflet available P1 and P2.

Investigatio Please click above to see all of the photographs

Further reading

Article written for NYU Poly

Working with the London Development Agency, its Design Connection events programme of workshops and seminars has reached over 300 of London’s small and medium size businesses (SME), and its public outreach programme of STIR lectures has been attended by over 3500 people in just over a year.

View full article at: http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=1343545863

From a stall at a music festival in 1998, Innocent has become an awarding winning international brand with revenues of over £76 million. The creative culture of Innocent extends to its entire workforce and enabled it to remain true to its core brand values throughout this transformation. Dan told the story of how Innocent started, and made it to the top three fastest growing companies in the UK. He focussed on the importance of design and creativity in building and managing a business, how design and creativity can be used on a tight budget, and how to organize your company for innovation.

Design Connection, which forms part of Design London's business outreach programme,  was proud to host Dan Germain, Head of Creativity and Design at Innocent drinks. From a stall at a music festival in 1998, Innocent has become an awarding winning international brand with revenues of over £76 million. The creative culture of Innocent extends to its entire workforce and enabled it to remain true to its core brand values throughout this transformation. Dan told the story of how Innocent started, and made it to the top three fastest growing companies in the UK. He focussed on the importance of design and creativity in building and managing a business, how design and creativity can be used on a tight budget, and how to organize your company for innovation.

You’re bright, able and creative. And you’re always coming up with new ideas. But do you turn your ideas into reality? And do they make you money? If not – why not?

Every business person or entrepreneur knows that ideas mean money and that money means business. So to generate ideas, you must either become very creative yourself or surround yourself with people who are creative. But creativity alone cannot sustain a business. 

For success, an idea has to be fully exploited and that requires business skills. Unfortunately, the skills for creativity and commerce often appear to be at loggerheads and that makes life difficult when business success seems to require robust ideas that have been developed appropriately.

This session can help you to balance creativity and business acumen for maximum success. It covers the commercial context of how to apply innovative approaches to practice and creativity and also indicates how to implement creative methods in order to generate and sustain your business opportunities most effectively.

Some people believe that problem solving is a hit-or-miss affair involving more luck than judgement. But there is a tried-and-tested framework and a toolbox for inventive problem solving that makes the whole process more predictable and assured. It is called TRIZ.

TRIZ is the Russian acronym for the Theory of Inventive Problem Solving. Its origins go back to 1946 when a Soviet engineer, Genrich Altshuller, proposed that the evolution of technical systems was not a random process but that it was governed by certain objective laws. 

After several years of study and reviewing over 200,000 successful patents, he and his colleagues identified particular trends and inventive principles in innovation. These findings are now embedded and used in the TRIZ process

The TRIZ process can help you to identify problems, solve contradictions, use available resources effectively, and understand the paths of technical evolution and development. In this way it provides a framework and a toolbox for inventive problem solving. This session provides a brief introduction to TRIZ as both a process and a philosophy.

Do you need to generate concept solutions in science, technology, creative writing or product or service design? Morphological analysis may help you do it quicker and more effectively.

Morphological analysis is a matrix-based technique that was originally developed by the Americans to assist in research programmes and the acquisition of aerospace technology during and following the Second World War.

Today, morphological analysis is used in a wide variety of fields including science, technology, communications and design. This session will describe the principles of the technique for generative activity and its value and limitations in the conceptual phase of a project. The session will involve your participation in tackling problems using morphological analysis.Do you need to generate concept solutions in science, technology, creative writing or product or service design? Morphological analysis may help you do it quicker and more effectively.

Creativity is a valuable attribute – in both our personal and professional lives. And developing and nurturing it can be extremely important for success. But do you know how to do that?  And what is creativity anyway?

Creativity is the ability to invent or develop something new that has value and we now recognise that there are environmental, personal and organisational factors that can enhance it. In fact, there is a wide range of creative methods that you can use in both your personal and professional life to enhance your creative and generative activities.

This session will explore the environmental factors that can boost your success in undertaking creative tasks or generating new ideas and solutions. It will also introduce you to the scope of creative methods and processes that can assist in generative activity. In addition, it will outline the principles of brainstorming and elementary brainstorming practice. This will involve your active participation in group activities during the session.