Innovate UK

Silent Designers Episode 7 - Yasmin Ali, RWE

Can design take us to unexpected places?  

In this, seventh episode of Silent Designers, this month’s guest, Yasmin Ali, explores the theme of Net Zero and Sustainable Technologies, discusses the unexpected ways in which hydrogen could decarbonise our world, and reveals the most effective deployments of hydrogen happening in industry today. 

Award-winning chartered engineer, Yasmin Ali, is a Hydrogen Project Development Manager at RWE—a leading supplier of renewables worldwide. She’s also the author of the book Power Up, which looks at global energy systems and the energy transition.

Join us as Yasmin explains the impact of design on her work and her interpretation of the word ‘design’ and what it means to her. 

“For many people, the word ‘design’ conjures up images of fashion or graphic design. I think of it more as a thinking process to come up with a way of solving a problem or achieving something that hasn’t been done before.”  - Yasmin Ali, Hydrogen Project Development Manager at RWE 

 Listen as Yasmin: 

• Explores the importance of habit change in the adoption of hydrogen as a renewable energy 
• Explains how she applies design thinking to enhance her working relationships and communications 
• Reveals why her love of the energy sector and of writing resulted in the publication of Power Up

“It’s interesting to see what happens when you think about design differently and incorporate design thinking to creative problem solving.” - Yasmin Ali, Hydrogen Project Development Manager at RWE

Age Innovators - Episode 1: Language of Care

Introduction to the series

In this new Innovate UK Business Connect podcast series, Age Innovators, we meet researchers and innovators whose work has the potential to support us as we age. Brought to you by the Healthy Ageing Challenge Community of Practice and hosted by Innovate UK, this series spotlights the pioneering innovations being developed to shape the future of our longevity and explores the inspiration behind the work that’s currently taking place.  
 
Episode 1: Language of Care 
 
Can we harness advances in innovation and technology and use them to support the needs of an ageing population? In this episode of Age Innovators, host Julia Glenn, former Innovate UK Design Innovation Lead for the UKRI Healthy Ageing Challenge, talks to Toby Venning and Caleb Adamu, co-founders of care coordination platform, Elate, to explore this question and more. 
 
Bringing intelligent technology into the care market

Developed by Cross Digital Ltd, Elate is an app that aims to help older people and their families navigate the complex world of care in all its forms using technology. 
 
Elate’s co-founders, Toby Venning and Caleb Adamu, have applied co-design principles and the Design Council’s double diamond methodology to develop the app’s intelligent technology which meets the specific and evolving needs of the care sector. 
 
“The catalyst for the project was listening to my own parents struggling to look after both sets of their own parents. Trying to understand their different needs, trying to work out the right care path, understanding the nuances of domestic and domiciliary care—and trying to do all that from a distance.” 
Toby Venning, Elate co-founder and CEO 
 
The language of care 

Working with four user groups, including care providers, paid and unpaid care workers, people in need of care, and those peoples’ families and friends, Elate’s mission is to empower people to live with grace, joy, and dignity.  
 
This is evident in their use of the Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver stages of the double diamond. And their iterative approach has seen the adaptation of users’ language to ensure product specifications are accessible and fit for purpose.  
 
The Elate app enables people to be proactive and design their own care pathway. It frees carers from repetitive paperwork, and enables carers to interact more with the person in their care.  
 
“Improving the welfare of carers is very much at the forefront of what we’re trying to do—making their lives easier in terms of support with planning, assessments, and finding recommendations that best suit the end user’s needs.” 
Caleb Adamu, elate co-founder and CTO 
 
Discover how the sensitivity of Elate’s approach to technological innovation is helping people navigate the different types of care available for family members. And how their co-design process is working to promote both the needs of the person needing care—and their carers—in the care paradigm. 
 
By integrating technology, data, analytics, and user-centered design, Elate is introducing people to personalised technology that’s designed for them and that will design the right sort of care to meet their needs—rather than forcing something to fit. 
 

Silent Designers Episode 6 - Ahmed Wobi, Tonus Tech

How AI and design thinking are helping us live better for longer 

In this, the sixth episode of Silent Designers, Steve Welch and guest, Ahmed Wobi, explore the theme of healthy living and tech.  

Award winning writer, director—and national basketball champion, Ahmed Wobi, is also the co-founder of Tonus Tech. Tonus Tech provides preventative health companies with wearable solutions and AI-driven movement analysis and personalised workout programmes to optimise people's fitness age. 

Ahmed and his team’s focus is on keeping people moving better for longer using sensors and artificial intelligence.  

Join us as Ahmed explains how his academic medical background helped him apply creative design thinking to the early discovery stages of his formative research areas. How AI is enabling academics to manipulate large data sets – lowering the threshold for early exploration and encouraging greater experimentation. And the impact his experiences as a national basketball champion have had on his career. 

“When you play sport at a formal level, you have to be able to make quick decisions and know how the members of your team will react. That translates to life in general but also to academia, entrepreneurism, and design, because there’s an iterative process in going back to concepts, in trial and error, and then in testing what works and what doesn’t.” 

Ahmed Wobi, Co-founder of Tonus Tech 

Listen as Ahmed shares: 

·         The positive implications AI tech holds for our better health and fitness  

·         Why it’s crucial to embed people from diverse backgrounds into early stage design processes  

·         The importance of user-focused design 

“Design processes? They will take you on interesting journeys...” 

Ahmed Wobi, Co-founder of Tonus Tech 

Industrial Energy Transformation Fund Podcast - Episode 6: Decarbonising the Chemicals Industry

In episode 6 of the IETF podcast, Jenni McDonnell MBE sits down with Simon Proctor from Mitsubishi Chemicals UK and James Findlay from Esseco Group.

We explore the challenges faced by the chemicals industry as it strives to achieve the ambitious target of net zero emissions. Our conversation delves into the innovative strategies both organisations are looking to adopt, supported by the IETF. Join us for this discussion on the chemical sector's journey towards sustainability, unraveling the transformative measures shaping its commitment to a greener future.

Guests:

Simon Proctor | Head of Project Puma - Mitsubishi Chemicals UK

James Findlay | Financial Controller & Company Secretary - Esseco Group

Find more information, and earlier episodes, at https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/news/industrial-energy-transformation-fund-podcast-series/ 

Industrial Energy Transformation Fund Podcast - Episode 5: Decarbonising the Ceramics Industry

Welcome to episode 5 of the IETF podcast, where we have the privilege of hearing from Guy Armitage of the York Handmade Brick Company and Stephane Vissiere representing Wienerberger.

In this episode, we discuss the unique challenges that the ceramic sector collectively faces as it moves towards the ambitious goal of achieving net-zero emissions. Our discussion also delves into the innovative strategies these companies are hoping to implement with support from the IETF. Join us for this insightful discussion of the ceramic sector's path to sustainability.

Guests:

Guy Armitage | Managing Director – York Handmade Brick Company 

Stephane Vissiere | Wienerberger 

Industrial Energy Transformation Fund Podcast - Episode 4: Decarbonising the Food & Drink Industry

In this episode, we speak to Calvin Winch from Britvic and Andy McKnight from Heineken about the decarbonisation journey faced by the food and drink industry.

Our podcast takes a deep dive into the many challenges that the food and drink sector faces as it moves towards achieving net zero emission targets. We explore the advantages of having an engaged public aligned with the 2050 net zero goals, how it has spurred a shift in consumer preferences towards companies committed to reaching them. Additionally, we discuss the pivotal role decarbonisation plays in the fabric of both companies and the innovative strategies employed to bolster the resilience and sustainability of their operations.

Guests:

Calvin Winch | Senior Project Manager – Britvic

Andy McKnight | Principal Project Manager – Heineken

Silent Designers Episode 5 - Mark Price, Biohaviour

What role can design play in our journey to Net Zero? 

In this fifth episode of Silent Designers, we explore the theme of net zero and sustainable technologies with guest, Mark Price. 

A professor of Aeronautics at Queen's University Belfast, Mark Price is also the co-founder of Biohaviour, a research initiative exploring bio-inspired rules for innovative engineering design. 

Biohavior aims to bring bio-inspired concepts and ideas into the realm of engineering design and cloud-based manufacturing within a single fully integrated environment. 

“I’ve found that the decisions that design supports are absolutely critical, not just for products, but for businesses and organisations as a whole and beyond.” 

Mark Price, Professor of Aeronautics at Queen's University Belfast  and co-founder of Biohaviour

On making things better and making things differently

Join us as Mark explains how the challenge of Net Zero has driven a shift in his thinking beyond his background as a systems engineer in the aircraft industry to his discovery that design thinking can help us challenge requirements, lessen constraints, and open up new paths to innovation.

“When you innovate as an academic your inclination is to peel everything back, layer by layer and put foundational principles in place as you learn about the different frameworks. But it’s only then, as you begin to learn about a system, that you can open up different avenues of thought and start to explore new opportunities.”

Mark Price, Professor of Aeronautics at Queen's University Belfast and co-founder of Biohaviour

Listen as Mark shares:

• The understanding of foundational principles that can open up new avenues of thought 
• The potential of bio-inspired systems to create new products, processes, and systems 
• How design thinking can help us reach Net Zero

And discover how the incorporation of design thinking in one’s own practice demands a high level of self-reflection and questioning.

Click here to read the transcript.

Click here to watch the episode on YouTube.

Click here for the rest of the Silent Designers series.

Silent Designers Episode 4 - Tom Inns, Cofink

What role does design play in our healthcare systems?  

In this fourth episode of Silent Designers, our guest Tom Inns explores the theme of healthy living and technologies. Tom is the director of the consultancy, Cofink, a visiting Professor at the University of Strathclyde, and a coach on the Innovate UK Design for Growth programme. 

Join us as Tom explains his fascination with the role design can play in helping the silent designers within healthcare teams understand complex challenges, undertake the necessary phases of discovery, and innovate to deliver change.  

“Each time I run a project I learn as much as the team about nudging and evolving our processes, tools, and methodologies. How we can push the boundaries and make collaborations happen.” 

Tom Inns, Director of Cofink 

Tom shares: 

• The powerful impact of design thinking approaches and ethnography in healthcare settings 
• How mapping out a visual ecosystem of healthcare pathways creates a fantastic focus point for collaborations 
• The real-life impact of healthcare innovation—in trumpet form 

Want to learn how to apply design thinking to your own work? 

In the second half of this episode, Tom also shares three simple yet fascinating new ways of looking at the world and how you can introduce design thinking into your own practice at work.  

“If you take these three little pieces of mental gymnastics on board, you'll be motoring when it comes to design and systems thinking.”  

Tom Inns, Director of Cofink

Episode transcript: https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/KTN-Silent-Designers-Tom-Inns-Episode-4-Transcription.pdf

Read more: https://iuk.ktn-uk.org/news/silent-designers-podcast-series/ 

Silent Designers episode 3 - Marie Williams, Dream Networks

What happens when you bring children as young as seven together with businesses, senior designers, and architects and ask them to design a space to play? 

The third episode of Silent Designers explores the theme of Knowledge Transfer and Design with guest Marie Williams — Chartered Engineer, Design Lecturer, TEDx speaker, and Founder of Social Enterprise, Dream Networks. 

Join us as playful engineer, Marie Williams, explains what took her from a career in innovation across aerospace, nuclear fusion, and software engineering to launch a social enterprise, Dream Networks and her drive to address the need for more equitable access to play areas in socially deprived areas. 

Marie explains: 

·       The impact of design on social or environmental value 

·       How children approach co-design and design thinking opportunities 

·       The importance of context and equity in effective knowledge transfer 

“I think about one in eight children in the UK has no access to a garden and relies on public play areas. However, the data reveals that many of these children live in deprived areas that don’t have play spaces. So that's when design is the catalyst for change and a response to more than an economic need. It can be our response to growing social and environmental needs and problem sets.” 

Marie Williams is a playful chartered engineer, design lecturer, TedX speaker, and CEO of Dream Networks.  She founded Dream Networks in 2016, and has collaborated with businesses, schools, and communities to co-design and build engaging play spaces in economically deprived communities worldwide. To date, Dream Networks has adopted sustainable design practices to create inclusive play spaces for over 60,000 children in the UK and Africa.  

Click here to read the transcript.

Silent Designers Episode 2 - Cat Drew, Design Council

The second episode of Silent Designers explores the theme of Net Zero and Sustainable Technologies with guest Cat Drew, Chief Design Officer at the Design Council. Cat shares how, in her role, she’s bringing together the very best knowledge, practice, and frameworks about how to Design for Planet and sharing that knowledge with designers, innovators, commissioners, and policymakers. 

“The Design Council’s vision is for a regenerative world for all. The way we’re way going to get there is for people in the design sector—all 1.79 million of us—to Design for Planet and help us make the shift from a consumer to a regenerative society.” 

Join us as Cat explains: 

• The vital role people-centred design plays in the adoption of sustainable technologies, 
• The importance of ‘new-to-me’ innovation on the path to Net Zero 
• How she made the transition from policymaker to ‘Silent Designer’ 

An expert in Systemic Design, Cat started her career as a policymaker working across government and writing strategies for Number 10, the Home Office, and the Cabinet Office. Combining her 10 years of experience in Government with an MA in graphic design, she co-founded the UK Government’s Policy Lab. Cat has also held leadership positions in Uscreates and FutureGov, where she led programmes to make public services more user-centred and systemic in addressing local homelessness challenges. 

Click here to download the episode transcript.