UK Initiative to Assist Companies Design Successful Products for the Marketplace - News Item

QinetiQ Nanomaterials Ltd, a wholly-owned QinetiQ subsidiary established to develop bulk nanometric materials, is one of nine operations selected by the Design Council to showcase the Humanising Technology project.

This initiative will demonstrate how the timely use of design can help companies translate science into solutions that connect with users’ needs and succeed in the marketplace. It is also designed to help them avoid creating products that do not take off commercially, no matter how exciting the science behind them may be.

The initiative will see Design Council teams of design experts visiting Qinetiq to help identify areas in which design could be used at an early stage to drive the business forward. The Design Council will continue to support all the companies in the initiative for a three-year period as they develop and implement design led initiatives. Findings and lessons from the project will be shared with other firms throughout the sector and new, practical tools will be evolved to allow the emerging technology businesses to identify when and how to use design for maximum effectiveness for themselves.

‘We anticipate this programme helping us across our business from production, to improve and enhance our technical operations, through to the development of new nano intellectual property covering a range of diverse technologies from automotive to energetics, oil and gas to medical devices,’ said Mike Pitkethly Commercial Director of QinetiQ Nanomaterials Ltd.

‘Businesses behind emerging technologies too often fail to link their science to the needs of end users,’ explained Ellie Runcie, Project Manager of Humanising Technology. ‘The Sinclair C5 was a classic example of this. The project will help UK companies use design in order to avoid repeating such mistakes.’

Posted March 2003