SIG:
Importance of creativity and design to R&D
Chair: Professor John Clarkson,
Cambridge Engineering Design Centre
Tuesday 27 June 2006, 1:30pm
The Royal Society, 7 Carlton House Terrace, London SW1Y 5AG
- Chair: Professor P. John Clarkson,
Director, Cambridge Engineering Design Centre
- Catherine Connolly, Economist, Strategy Unit, DTI
- Chris Thomason,
Business Imagineer, PDD (replacing
David Humphries at PDD, as previously advertised)
The meeting will begin with a presentation by the chair, followed by
a recent DTI paper which sets out in detail the vital importance of creativity
and design in driving business performance and the UK economy. The second
presentation will review key factors that have to be considered in planning
and developing a well designed product, to ensure the benefits and value
of a product are fully maximised and utilised by the customer.
After the presentations there will be a general discussion led by Professor
Clarkson with the audience on the issues raised.
The Panelists
- John Clarkson
-
John Clarkson was appointed director of the Engineering Design Centre
in 1997 and a University Professor in 2004, having returned to the University
in 1995 following a seven-year spell with PA Consulting Group's Technology
Division. At PA John was Manager of the Advanced Process Group and gained
wide experience of product development with a particular focus on medical
equipment design and projects for the Ministry of Defence. His research
interests are in the general area of engineering design, particularly the
development of design methodologies to address specific design issues,
for example, complex systems design, medical equipment design, inclusive
design and the use of knowledge-based systems in design. As well as publishing
over 250 papers, he has written a number of books on medical equipment
design and inclusive design.
- Catherine Connolly
Catherine Connolly is a senior economist at the Department of Trade and
Industry. She led the team that produced the DTI Economic study, Creativity,
Design and Business Performance, written in parallel with the Cox Review.
Work for the study also involved commissioning a series of ‘think pieces’
on design and creativity by leading academics in this field. Prior to joining
the DTI, Catherine worked at HM-Treasury, Deutsche Bank, and the Reserve
Bank of New Zealand.- Chris Thomason
Chris
is the Business Imagineer for PDD, one of the UK's largest product and
service innovation consultancies. He heads up PDD's Innovation Discovery
area which assists organisations to identify and develop innovative new
business opportunities.
He specialises in using creativity to identify and develop growth opportunities
in the business environment. He has lived in Southern Africa and Australia
for a number of years before recently moving back to the UK. He is a Chartered
Engineer with an MBA and first became involved in the art of innovation
12 years ago while turning around a manufacturing business he had purchased.
Further information
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