August 26, 2015

Introducing our Innovation Hub Summer Residents

The Innovation Hub, our collaboration with Fab Lab London, is a space where circular economy ideas can be investigated, tested and developed. This summer we’ve flung open the doors of the Lab to four young designers, providing machine time and workshop space for them to work on their projects and prototype circular economy solutions:

Safia Quereshi, along with her colleagues from Studio[D]Tale, is developing a sharing economy solution to ‘coffee on the go’ in London, which seeks to address the vast annual waste stream created by disposable cups.

Sheroy Katila, a self-confessed ‘workshop addict’, is a product designer and current Innovation Design Engineering Masters student at the RCA who jumped at the opportunity to spend time in the Lab. Sheroy is interested in ‘developing bonds between user and product that outlive the creator of the bond’, and is using his time in the lab to experiment with 3D printing and develop a project inspired by his involvement in a Hackathon last year.

Sophie Zajicek is a weaver and RCA graduate. During her Masters she was involved with a project which developed a 3D weaving machine and has since become increasingly interested in the potential for creating 3D structures, inspired by weave techniques, which use mono-materials and produce less waste than a loom. She is taking this opportunity to access the Lab kit and develop her ideas.

Eleanor Tran, a Product Design Engineering student from Loughborough University, is investigating the challenges of recycling and recovering materials from shoes. She is using the Lab to prototype her ideas for solving these challenges through changes to shoe design and construction.

We’ll be hearing from each of them in turn about their projects, so keep your eyes peeled!

In the meantime, if you have an idea for a product or service for the circular economy and could benefit from some time in the Lab, get in touch with lucy.chamberlin@rsa.org.uk.