And we’re off again! Launch of new student design competition at University of Brighton

Yesterday was the launch of the “Designing for the Future” competition at the University of Brighton. This is the second year of this competition which follows hot on the heels of the successful student design competition at Collyers’ sixth form college. All part of our mission to encourage designers to consider the challenges of getting older. And we think it’s working. The winning design from the Collyer’s competition went viral on the internet meaning that blogs all over the world were discussing how best to redesign plug sockets for less nimble fingers. Great result!

Nick Gant (Principal Lecturer) and Gareth Neal (Senior Lecturer) are leading the project at  the University which is open to staff and students from the Faculty of Arts and the School of Environment and Technology.

We were delighted that Age UK policy advisor Gretel Jones has agreed to be a judge again. And this year we are also joined by one of the UK’s leading occupational therapists, Maggie Winchcombe OBE, FCOT from Years Ahead. Anne Boddington, Dean of the Arts Faculty at University of Brighton and Philippa Aldrich from The Future Perfect Company complete the judging panel.

We return to Brighton in April for a “Dragons Den” to assess progress and give feedback. The judging will take place in May with the results announced in June.

All very exciting. We are hoping for some new and innovative designs and will keep you posted!