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Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê to lead new Global Disability Innovation Hub

5 September 2016

Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, launched on Saturday the world's first Global Disability Innovation Hub, which will be based at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.

Professor Nigel Tichener-Hooker, Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Dean of Engineering, speaking at the launch It will bring together the world's best academics, disability experts and designers to improve the lives of the world's one billion disabled people through technology, co-design and innovation.

Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê will lead the team responsible for the long-term development of the Hub which will have a permanent home at the new Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê East campus.Ìý

Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Engineering) spoke on behalf of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê and its partners at the launch.

The Hub, to be based initially at the London Legacy Development Corporation, launched with:

· A new website calling on people to join its online community and share ideas and innovations from across the world;

· Over ten projects, many developed by teams involving Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê researchers, already delivering and testing new ways of disrupting traditional thinking on disability;

· Plans to launch a Master's programme,Ìý sponsored PhDs, and multidisciplinary research projects being developed by academic partners;

Professor Paola Lettieri, Academic Director for Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê East, said:

"The Global Disability Hub is a great example of the new and exciting activities that we are planning for our new campus at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, which break down the conventional barriers between research, education, enterprise and public engagement, and are innovative in the approach that integrates them."

The Hub emerged from work at Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê, led by Catherine Holloway (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Interaction Centre), into finding practical uses for the latest research on disability and innovation. An example of a project being supported by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê is the development of an app that allows wheelchair users to plan accessible urban routes.

The establishment of the Hub was spurred by a Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Grand Challenge award led by Dr Maria Kett (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Epidemiology) that allowed over 150 people from across the disability communities and academics across the Hub institutions to work together on a week of daily 'hacks'. They designed transport for disabled children in Zimbabwe and developed methods for visually impaired people to navigate the Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê East campus.

The Hub partnership is led by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê and Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, with Loughborough University London, UAL's London College of Fashion, alongside partners including Leonard Cheshire Disability, the Victoria and Albert Museum, Sadler's Wells Theatre, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design at the Royal College of Art and a range of disabled peoples' organisations and local and international community groups.

The Hub is co-directed within Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê by Professor Nora Groce (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Epidemiology). It will work with teams including theÌýAspire CREATe centreÌýand theÌýÏã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Institute for Healthcare Engineering.

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Professor Nigel Titchener-Hooker, Dean of Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Engineering

Contact

Margaret-Anne Orgill

  • Margaret-Anne Orgill

Ìý Ìý Email: M.orgill@ucl.ac.uk Ìý Tel: 07572 602345