Talking sense: what stops designers understanding scientists?

September 11 2000, Imperial College London

As part of Creating Sparks: Where Science meets the Arts — the 14 day British Association Millennium Festival — the DTI Foresight Ageing Population Panel, Research into Ageing and the EPSRC funded research consortium on inclusive design* held an event which brought together designers, researchers and scientists in an important discussion

The event tackled a key issue: improving the quality of life of older people through better design for everyone.

• How could that be achieved through more effective communication between the scientific and medical research community and design and industry?

• With a focus on understanding of the ageing eye, researchers and designers presented their work and discussed how they could benefit from each other's expertise.

Chaired by:

Sir Stewart Sutherland, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh

Speakers included:

Professor Ian Grierson, University of Liverpool

Professor Usha Chakravarthy, Queen's University and Royal Victoria Hospital Belfast

Dr Bob Thompson, President of the Macular Disease Society

Graham Pullin, Designer, international multi-discipliary design company, IDEO

Dr John Gill, Chief Scientist, RNIB

See full programme

* The i~design consortium brings together: The Design Council; The Engineering Design Centre, Cambridge University; The Design for Ability Unit of The London Institute; The Helen Hamlyn Research Centre, The Royal College of Art.