Wearable and washable computers which could be used for medical and military purposes are one step closer after a prototype garment which integrates electronic micro-devices into the core of yarns was produced by Nottingham Trent University.

The real time tour, designed at Nottingham Trent University for the Galleries of Justice Museum, allows visitors with physical impairments to experience of the lower levels of the gaol, which they would otherwise miss out on due to design and age of the building.

Co-Innovate is a two year European Regional Development Fund supported project to bring together the internationally renowned work of Brunel’s School of Engineering and Design with London-based small and medium sized enterprises to make a significant impact in innovation and new product development in the region.

World-renowned London department store Liberty has snapped up a fabric design by a recent graduate of the University for the Creative Arts (UCA)*.

Inspired by the achievements of the British Olympic team, we imagine an ideal future in which the Industrial Design community and academia work together for mutual benefit. And although collaboration has flourished in some areas, we look at how BDI is taking the initiative to bring the two closer together.

Four final year B.Eng students at Brunel University* took on a design brief from leading global water technology provider Xylem in a new initiative aimed at promoting closer links between industry and academic institutions.

Scientists at Nottingham University* are using new funding to engineer nanotechnology that could transform the global healthcare industry.

Design students at Nottingham Trent University* have piloted a new module aimed at better aligning graduate skills with the design industry. The module was developed by the University and Design Industry Partnership, a BDI initiative, and the results will inform a career study resource to be rolled out across the UK.

In an article in New Design Alistair Williamson, BDI National Board Director and MD of Lucid Innovation argues that industrial designers and universities can make better use of public money by working together.

BDI National Board Directors Gus Desbarats (Chairman) and Stephen Green (University Design Industry Partnership) will be taking part in the Design Council's 2012 Design Summit on June 26, giving BDI a double opportunity to influence outcomes. The Summit, entitled ‘Who Do We Think We Are?’, will examine the role of designing and making as a vital component in rebalancing the economy and generating sustainable growth.

BDI is delighted to announce that Stephen Green has been appointed to the national board to represent the organisation’s University Design Industry Partnership (UDIP). Stephen has worked in the commercial consultancy and higher education sectors throughout a 30-year career in design and branding, and is MSc Integrated Product Design programme director at Brunel University*. League tables rank Brunel’s product and Industrial Design programmes as being among the most successful in the UK.

Design students at Nottingham Trent University* will be the first to pilot an industry module devised by members of BDI’s University Design Industry Partnership (UDIP) initiative. The new module will help the students to understand how design and commerce interact and inform the content of a career study resource that is to be rolled out across the UK.