In the third instalment of our case study series we are looking at the Royal College of Art, the world’s top university in art and design, with an award-winning business incubator InnovationRCA. Read more about participation in MTSC:
The RCA’s vision for the future is to marry creative arts and design with science and technology, in order to drive innovation and sustainable growth and tackle global societal challenges – for example, future cities, future transport, healthcare and ageing.
Healthcare is an area which has been prominent within the RCA research and knowledge exchange portfolio, as the importance of human-centred design in medical innovation is increasingly recognised.
Dr Sina Sareh, Reader in Robotics and Design Intelligence and Academic Leader for the RCA Robotics Laboratory, adds to this sentiment: “By bringing in design elements at the very earliest stages of research and development, you increase the chance for acceptability of the technology for human use and I think there is an increasing body of evidence to support this view.”
That approach is writ large in the projects of the five RCA ECRs that have been supported by the programme. Two of those ECRs, Lucy Jung and Laura Salisbury have now launched fully-fledged companies that have attracted significant external, private investment.
“The experience with MTSC changed everything for the venture. It provided critical opportunities for understanding what is involved in entrepreneurship that has ultimately contributed to where we are today.”