Mine for life
Design for independent living
Design an assistive technology product or equivalent that can be made through additive manufacturing using a consumer-driven & people-centred design philosophy.
Download brief - Mine for life
View further reading and resources
Award information
A cash award supported by Enabled by Design and Loughborough University and the opportunity to have the winning design additively manufactured at Loughborough University.
Value: £2000
Enabled by Design is a social business run on a not-for-profit basis for the benefit of its community. Enabled by Design is a community of people passionate about design for all. We believe that good design can support people to live as independently as possible, by helping to make day-to-day tasks that little bit easier. Enabled by Design was inspired by co-founder Denise Stephens’ experiences following her diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) in 2003. In April 2008, Enabled by Design was chosen to take part in the first ever Social Innovation Camp. A weekend long competition, Social Innovation Camp, brings together people with ideas of how to solve specific social issues, with web developers, designers and those with business expertise to develop online solutions to real world challenges. At the end of the weekend after a Dragons’ Den-style pitching competition, Enabled by Design was awarded first prize as the 'project with the most potential'.
The Loughborough Design School was formed in August 2010, bringing together the complementary strengths of Design and Technology, Ergonomics and ESRI. This represents a significant and thriving body of activity at Loughborough, and brings together 42 academic staff; 35 researchers; 50 PhD students; 13 technical staff; and 12 administrative support staff. complementary through the merger of the Department of Design and Technology, Department of Human Sciences (Ergonomics) and the Ergonomics and Safety Research Institute (ESRI). The Design School brings together teams of staff with world leading reputations for their research, teaching and collaboration with industry, commerce and the public sector.
Design activity is undertaken beneath a broad umbrella of interdisciplinary provision which does not recognise particular disciplines as boundaries but seamlessly links them to provide solutions, research and teaching already recognised as world-leading by governments, industrialists and employers. This distinctive approach reflects the strength of design-related activity across a particularly broad spectrum, ranging from product styling to engineering design, nurturing the development of existing strengths in design ergonomics, transport safety, technology, sustainability, environmental ergonomics, design practice and education.
The Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufaturing Engineering at Loughborough University is on of the biggest Departments of its kind in the UK. The Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering has an international reputation for being at the forefront of technological innovation and for maintaining extensive links with industry. Our graduates are testament to our success, helping to provide industry with the skills and knowledge to give them the competitive edge required to succeed in the 21st century. Our industrially focused research enables us to work with some of the world’s most renowned engineering companies and helps us to generate around £5million in external research contracts each year. In addition to holding a prestigious Queen's Anniversary Prize, we host two of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council’s prestigious Innovative Manufacturing Research Centres.
Judging panel
Susan Brumpton FRSA, Chief Executive MERU (Chair)
Philippa Aldrich, The Future Perfect Company
Michael Anastassiades, designer
Kenneth Grange RDI, Kenneth Grange Design
Dr Diane Gyi, Senior Lecturer, Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University
Richard Hague, Professor of Innovative Manufacturing / AMRG (Additive Manufacturing Research Group) Head; Director, EPSRC Centre for Innovative Manufacturing in Additive Manufacturing, Loughborough University
Dr Samantha Porter, Senior Lecturer, Loughborough Design School, Loughborough University
Denise Stephens, Co-founder, Enabled by Design
Further reading and resources
Presentations
'Mine for life' presentation by Denise Stephens, founder of Enabled by Design, at the RSA Tutor Briefing Day, held on 20th September 2011.
Organisations, websites and other resources
Enabled by Design
Design For All Education and Training
This resource was originally developed by the RSA for design students, their tutors, professional designers, design managers and policy makers. It is now hosted and developed by EdeAN (European Design for All e-Accessibility Network). As well as key contextual information and examples it provides comprehensive information on the strategies, tools and methods needed to develop design solutions that put people at the centre of the design process.
The Center for Universal Design
Exemplars of universal design, universal design history etc.
Helen Hamlyn Research Centre
The HHRC provides a focus for people-centred design and innovation. Its multi-disciplinary team undertake practical research and projects with industry to advance an approach to design within the RCA that is people-centred and socially inclusive. It has a special research focus on design for inclusive design, patient safety, and workplace design.
RICAbility
Included on the RICAbility (Research Institute for Consumer Affairs) website are their consumer reports - factual and user-focused guides based on user tests by disabled and elderly people and on other original research; information on inclusive design; and their report ‘Meeting the needs of older and disabled consumers: guidelines for product design and testing’, which provides information about designing mainstream consumer goods so that as many people as possible can use them easily, whatever their age and ability.
Universal Designers and Consultants
This US consultancy has a useful resources section
Universal Design Network and the Global Universal Design Educator's Online News
Newsletter and network based in USA.
access2go
Provides information on accessible places.
Centre for Accessible Environments
The Centre for Accessible Environments gives information on how the built environment can best be made or modified to achieve inclusion by design.
Usability First
Focus on website design.
The Usability Methods Toolbox
Usability methods – organised into four categories – inquiry, inspection, testing and related techniques.
Supporting Self Care - A Practical Option
Summary review of 2005 report issued by the Department of Health.
Books
Herwig, Oliver. (2008). Universal Design: Solutions for a Barrier-Free Living. Basel: Birkhauser.
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