We’re delighted to announce this year’s eclectic line up of speakers. From stroke research to skydiving, from supporting the sense of self to salutogenesis, our speakers will help you jump right into the heart of the design and health community.
Dilys Price OBE – Tue 4th Sep 14:15
Over the last 30 years Dilys Price has championed services to improve the lives of people with disabilities. She was awarded an OBE for Services to Special Needs and Education in 2002 in recognition of her innovative work, which has included the development of the Wales Sports Centre for people with disabilities and the foundation of the Touch Trust Charity. This charity, hosted in the Wales Millennium Centre is world renowned for movement education for people with autism, dementia and profound disabilities.
In addition to her many achievements, Dilys is an inspirational speaker and will be recognised by many through her television appearances where she is perhaps better known as the holding the Guinness World record as the Oldest Female Sky Diver. Aged 85, she has completed over 1,130 jumps and has raised tens of thousands of pounds for charity.
Charlotte Bright – Tue 4th Sep 14:45
Charlotte Bright
Charlotte Bright is Deputy Director at the UK Department for Health and Social Care and is currently leading on the Ageing Grand Challenge. She has worked on social care reform and delivery for a number of years including in the Department, in Cabinet Office and as part of the secretariat for the independent Commission on the Funding of Long Term Care, chaired by Sir Andrew Dilnot. Charlotte also has experience of working on emerging sectors and disruption in the UK Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, as well as having been a Deputy Principal Private Secretary. Prior to joining the civil service, Charlotte worked in consultancy and in social research.
Patrick Bonnett – Tue 4th Sep 14:45
Patrick Bonnett is Development Director at the National Innovation Centre for Ageing located at Newcastle University. He has worked widely across the applied research and innovation arenas for over 30 years in organisations ranging from small technology start-ups to internationally recognised translational research laboratories.
He is particularly interested in the construction and operation of innovation environments – physical and virtual; their organisational structures and functions and how they operate at regional, national and international scales. Over recent years he has developed a particular interest in deep collaboration co-location models where innovation and research assets sit alongside ‘users’ of such research expertise to drive open innovation, commercialisation and economic growth.
Patrick is Vice Chairman of the UK Science Park Association, a Board member of the Association of Innovation, Research & Technology Organisations (Airto), a Professor of Practice in Innovation Environments at Newcastle University and acts as an Advisor to Government on the Ageing Grand Challenge.
Professor Jayne Wallace – Wed 5th Sep 14:00
- Prof Jayne Wallace
Jayne Wallace is Professor of Craft and Wellbeing the School of Design at Northumbria University. Her work explores the potential of design and digital technologies, jewellery and the act of making to support sense of self across a range of human contexts.
An appreciation of how jewellery acts as a very personal medium for people grew during her studies at Sheffield Hallam University, and through her research she has championed the potential for digital technologies to extend this personal meaningfulness for people. Now she investigates how making can be channeled in research methods with people to support sense of self and resilience in a number of challenging contexts.
She is currently principal investigator on the Enabling Ongoingness research project funded by the EPSRC. The project centres on working firstly with people who have a life limiting illness, are living with an early stage of dementia and or who are bereaved. The project seeks to design, develop and deploy a series of objects with digital capabilities that offer new ways for individuals to create and curate meaningful content in order to support sense of self and relationships with others. The aim is to reconceive how our digital content can be reappropriated to give agency to people and make the use of digital media meaningful in relation to mortality.
Jayne co-founded the Research Through Design conference (RTD) with Joyce Yee in 2013 and co-founded the new 2018 Journal of Jewellery Research (JJR) with Roberta Bernabei and Sandra Wilson.
Gavin Munro – Wed 5th Sep 14:45
Gavin Munro was born in 1975 in the UK. His love of nature began early, but developed while he spent long periods immobile following corrective surgery on his spine. Gavin’s art instincts were always strong, but were developed further during his time at Art College (Chesterfield) and Design School, (Leeds Metropolitan), supplemented by an informal Cabinet-Making apprenticeship, work on Historic Building projects, and as an Eco-Builder, then Gardener in the USA.
In 2005, he began the Grown Furniture project, combining with Web Design and gardening, and in 2012 launched the company under the name Full Grown.
The project challenges notions of health and healthy living through examining our relationship to nature and manufacturing/pollution, and exploring healthier ways of being and growing.
Gavin now lives in Wirksworth, Derbyshire, with his wife Alice, and their full-time boss, Lina-the-lurcher.
Full Grown Ltd
By making subtle changes to the natural world, we aim to produce beautiful objects, efficiently, in the most elegant and symbiotic way we can.
Full Grown grows trees into useful and beautiful shapes. Initially concentrating on furniture production, we aim to redefine beautiful design, mass production of everyday objects, combined with the strong forces of Nature.
Full Grown believes that combining these ancient techniques with modern ideas and technology bring about a beautiful cooperation between Nature & Humanity, harnessing the miracle of photosynthesis with a kind of Zen 3-D printing. Early estimates indicate that even in this nascent form, this method uses a quarter of the carbon cost a traditional chair needs to be made, ultimately with the aim to part of regenerative agriculture. The positive effects of phytoremediation mean that there can even be a useful by-product of previously contaminated land.
Sue Walker – Thur 5th Sep 14:00
Sue Walker is Professor of Typography in the Department of Typography & Graphic Communication at the University of Reading. Her research interests are in the history, theory and practice of information design, and in the graphic aspects of language. Recent work includes leading a UK Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded project that is considering how space can be used in community pharmacies to increase understanding of the dangers of antimicrobial resistance (IDAPPS); and co-editing Information design: research and practice (Routledge 2017), a volume that draws attention to this user-centred field and its application in many areas including health, education, business and government.
A long-standing research interest has been in Isotype, particularly work children’s information books, and on health communication. She is a keen advocate of collections-based research, and in the use of material from the past to inform current debate.
Previously at Reading she has served as Head of Department (Typography & Graphic Communication 1997–2007); Head of the School of Arts and Communication Design (Fine Art, Film, Theatre and TV, Typography) 2004–7); Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities 2007-2011). She served as a sub-panel member for the UK’s Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2008, for Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014, and has been re-appointed for REF 2021.
Gary Hickey – Thur 5th 14:45
Gary Hickey is a Senior Public Involvement Manager at INVOLVE, established by the UK National Institute for Health Research to support active public involvement in NHS, public health and social care research. Gary is responsible for INVOLVE’s work on co-production in research and an international patient and public involvement network. He led a team of people to develop our ‘Guidance on co-producing a research project’.
I have over a decade of experience working in health and social care research, including public and patient involvement, within a university setting, and over a decade’s experience of working in research and project management within public sector organisations, both in the UK and overseas, on ethics and corruption.