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Andrew Little Lecture: Innovating for the Future

At a Glance
Date: Thursday 27 January 2011
Time: 4pm to 5pm
Location: Digital Laboratory Auditorium
Open To: Everyone
Cost: Free
Summary: A lecture from Professor Raymond Oliver of the University of Northumbria on the convergence of biology, polymers and electronics as vital co-operative drivers for enhancing ambient assisted living.
Abstract

The 21st century will be the century of materials: by 2100, it will be understood how to manipulate and control both the nanoscalar and molecular manufacture of materials. Innovation at the interface between materials, electronics and biology therefore is probably the most important area of applied research for the foreseeable future and will be a central technology theme for new industrial systems. It will enable and enhance a huge range of consumer and healthcare related product applications which in turn will lead to greater integration and increasingly invisible ‘smarter’ material devices and systems ‘around the body’, ‘on the body’ and ‘in the body’. The talk will focus on the convergence of biology, polymer material science and electronics which will be driven increasingly by the needs of the individual and by communities.

At Northumbria School of Design, we aim to address how social innovation can drive technological innovation through the powerful combination of D:STEM, the integration of creative design with science and engineering. At the forefront of this work is the creation of the P3i Interdisciplinary Design Research Studio and the planned activities within it will be described.

Raymond Oliver

Professor Raymond Oliver holds academic positions at Northumbria University and the Royal College of Art, and is also a Director of Arrow Science Consulting. Prior to this, he was an ICI Fellow working on bio-nanomaterials and process technology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a member of its working groups, on 21st century Industrial Systems & Manufacturing and the Future of Design for Society & Industry on Nanoscience & Nanotechnologies.

Light refreshments will be available from 3:45pm.