AHRC Research Networking Project

I am currently running a research networking project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to try and help improve the health and well-being of people living in rural communities in India through the establishment of a multidisciplinary international collaboration and the application of user-led design research methods such as ‘design thinking’.

Key collaborators in the project are the Department of Electronics and Communication Engineering at Amrita School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Coimbatore, India; Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Kochi, India; Amrita Kripa Charitable Hospital, Wayanad, India; the Centre for eHealth and Care Technology at the University of Agder, Norway; and the Cardiff School of Art and Design at Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Participating in ‘Trauma Pack’ Development

I am currently involved in a seven month project to develop a production ready version of the Trauma Pack to meet the needs of the International Committee of the Red Cross. The aim is to make the Trauma Pack available for deployment in large-scale humanitarian emergencies. The work is supported by the Wales Life Sciences Bridging Fund.

Participation in Tiree Techwave 4

We took a group of product design students up to the Tiree Techwave at the end of October 2012.  The Tiree Techwave is  ‘a hands-on making and meeting event exploring the edges of technology’.Tiree is a remote island in the Hebrides of Scotland.

The aim was to see if the change of a physical and social environment has an effect on the student’s ability to learn new design skills and to explore new design ideas.