"Ageing populations and budget cuts mean devising a new social contract. So why not use real designers – it's worked in Finland," says Justin McGuirk in a recent Guardian article. McGuirk explores the "nascent discipline" of strategic design in providing not only the solutions to social problems but also the means of implementation.

The chairman of British Design Innovation (BDI), the national representative organisation of the Industrial Design profession, has made a public appeal for increased collaboration between engineers and Industrial Designers for the greater good of the UK economy.

Industrial Design professionals, students and design enthusiasts have until 31 March to submit their project entries for BraunPrize 2012, the international competition for innovative product designs. Under the slogan “Genius design for a better everyday”, this year's BraunPrize concentrates on the increased relevance of well-designed products that help improve all aspects of everyday life by focusing on fewer but better solutions to help us live our lives. With this in mind, BraunPrize 2012 is looking for i

In a design collaboration with mechanical engineer Gary Peplow, BDI member Nick Dearden harnessed the power of the internet to demonstrate the visual business case of their Deardens Jupe expanding table – and received over 22,000 thousand hits, including commercial sales enquiries from trade and private buyers.

British Design Innovation (BDI), the UK’s representative organisation of Industrial Designers involved in product, service and interaction design, has voiced its support for the Design Commission's call for the creation of a national design strategy in the UK.

National BDI director Phil Gray flew the flag on behalf of BDI and the Industrial Design sector at the inaugural BIP Asia (Business of Intellectual Property Asia Forum) in Hong Kong on 2 December. The event attracted nearly 800 IP professionals and government officials to discuss present and future developments in Asia’s IP market.

The Land Trust is launching an international competition to find the most inspirational design and funding team to create a new visitor destination and public open space at the former Cronton Colliery in Knowsley, Merseyside. The competition is in two stages; the deadline for Stage 1 submissions is Wednesday 15 February.

The Design Commission has launched its inaugural report, Restarting Britain: Design Education and Growth, an exploration and statement on the relationship between the UK’s world-leading design education system and economic growth in the 21st century.

Safe seat is the latest addition to the range of products designed for Magrini by Creactive Design. The product eliminates the uncertainty of leaving a child unattended, outside or on the floor whilst attending to another baby.
Creactive Design progressed the Safe Seat from concept generation; through a development and model-making phase and then into production.
As with all the products Creactive have designed for Magrini, the Safe Seat complies with the latest European safety standards.

There’s no better way to obtain new clients than through personal recommendation, so BDI member Hyphen Design, the Bethnal Green-based product development consultants, has launched its Hyphen Ambassadors Referral Reward Scheme.

Thermo Fisher Scientific (Cambridge) have launched their latest instrument, the iPRO 5000; designed with the team from Creactive Design.
Funtionality is key to the success of the instrument. The low height provides simple loading and unloading of the top mounted autosampler, while the two doors at the front of the instrument offer generous access to the serviceable components.
The striking blue branding detail on the right door is also a soft touch grip for the more frequently used door.

BDI member Sorcit, the Nottingham-based product design, sourcing and prototyping consultants with offices in China, has created a collapsible water butt that not only enables householders to install a comprehensive water conservation system simply and easily, but also uses ‘smart’ materials to define its USP. The HUGO water butt system was a triple award-winner at Glee, the annual trade show for the garden and leisure industries, and was awarded Best in Show.

The European Pricing Platform, the independent body focused on widening the scope of pricing as a strategic competitive advantage in a wide variety of industries and sectors, has announced the European Best Pricing Master Thesis Award 2012. Closing date for submissions is 09.00 hrs (CET) on Friday 31 August.

Having consulted UK manufacturing, the government has significantly improved the Research & Development Tax Credits scheme, and will also be introducing a 'Patent Box' scheme to help companies profit further from Intellectual Property they create. Find out how you can benefit from these two initiatives

To coincide with the government’s innovation and research strategy for growth, the Design Council has published Design for Innovation, a document containing facts, figures and practical plans for growth.

Jonathan Ive, the Industrial Designer behind Apple's iMac and Macbook computers and the iPod, iPhone and iPad, has been knighted by HM The Queen in the New Year’s honours list for raising the standards of Industrial Design and championing British talent abroad.

Designers have only a few weeks left in which to enter the 50th D&AD Awards. Categories include branding, digital design, graphics, outdoor advertising, packaging and product design. The entry deadlines are 1 February (professional) and 9 March (student).

Revo's Heritage multi-format digital radio – designed by award-winning product design consultancy Dekode, a member of BDI – is featured in the Let it Live television campaign currently being aired on BBC Television.

BDI member C-Tech Innovation, the Chester-based innovation, science and technology consultancy, demonstrated its latest ohmic heating technology at the recent opening of the company’s expanded R&D facilities. Guests included local businesses, HEIs and the chairman of the Science & Technology Select Committee at the House of Commons.

The $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE is a global competition to revolutionise healthcare through the development of handheld mobile devices that give consumers instant access to their state of health. Teams will develop technology innovations in areas such as artificial intelligence and wireless sensing that enables medical diagnoses independent of a physician or healthcare provider.

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) invites innovative UK technology companies in the Machine to Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) sectors to join a trade mission to Chongqing, Shanghai and Wuxi on 19-23 March. Opportunities in China include IoT operation platforms, RFID, Smart applications and sensor and supporting technology.

Munich Creative Business Week (MCBW) takes place on 7-12 February in the Museum for Egyptian Art (Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst), a prominent and attractive new building in the heart of Munich’s art zone. The international event will include a special exhibition “mcbw moments – thinking spaces for design”.

BDI director Professor Phil Gray, co-chair of UDIP (University Design Industry Partnership), gave a “one-day roadshow” presentation to the Life Science Faculty at the Open University on 31 January as part of BDI’s outreach initiative to engage with universities. He demonstrated how early Industrial Design interventions can influence the research process towards relevant successful outcomes.

The second Product Design + Innovation Conference will explore how product designers can drive economic growth. Chaired by Kevin McCullagh, director of Plan, the two-day conference for industrial designers boasts a heavyweight speaker line-up that matches last years’ acclaimed programme. “To my knowledge there is no other conference that links the big economic questions of growth and re-industrialisation with product design and strategy,” said McCullagh.

BDI member Innovation Stream, the electronics and technology development company based at University of Sussex, developed the ultrasonic Mermaid-id man-overboard alarm in a collaborative partnership with client First Light Solutions. Now the product, which successfully pitched for investment on BBC Two’s Dragons’ Den television programme, is to be launched into the leisure marine market.

BDI member C-Tech Innovation, the Chester-based innovation, science and technology consultancy, is leading one of nine new research and development projects to develop the next generation of environmentally-friendly chemicals. The scheme aims to support projects that will create innovative processes to generate high-value chemicals through biotechnology. Innovation Norway is providing additional funding of £400,000.

Alan Wall, who has succumbed to cancer, was one of the pioneers of Industrial Design consultancy in the UK. A founder director of Buxton Wall Product Development, he worked alongside a host of leading Industrial Designers and influenced many others throughout his working life.

Whatever your proposal entails, it makes sense to consult reputable professionals first. BDI member companies can provide you with far wider services than simply the development of design ideas. Complemented by high-level expertise in technology and manufacturing and observing industry best practice and strict client confidentiality, they create, develop and deliver to market innovative commercial solutions for all industries through collaborative product, service and interaction design.

“Experience Design” is the theme for the Electrolux 2012 Design Lab student competition. Electrolux invites Industrial Design students and 2011 Industrial Design graduates to draw inspiration from professional experience creators (chefs, architects, interior designers, hotel designers etc) to design home appliances that will provide a fuller sensory experience. This could be through state-of-the-art technology or through a clever blend of textures and surfaces.

The Chicago Athenaeum has announced the winners of the 2011 Good Design Awards. Submissions were received from thousands of designers, manufacturers and businesses in over 50 countries for the prestigious awards, which honour worldwide product design innovation, vision, sustainability and the competitive design edge. Winners include the French-manufactured Dassault Falcon jet by BMW Group DesignworksUSA to the Zefiro380 High-Speed Train designed by Bombardier Transportation in Germany.

Edinburgh-based BDI member Shore Design has completed the design and development of a next-generation interspinous device for client QSpine. The company, which specialises in all aspects of the spinal market, approached Shore Design for a product that was more than just an interspinous spacer, requiring a dynamic stabilisation system that worked in both flexion and extension. The result is the QSpine dynamic spinal stabilisation device.

Entry is now open for the IET Innovation Awards, bestowed annually by the Institution of Engineering and Technology. The entry deadline is 31 July. Last year’s IET Innovation Awards attracted a record 420 entries from around the globe, each demonstrating different innovations encompassing a broad range of industries.

BDI member David Morgan Associates (DMA), the award-winning luminaire design consultancy, is to present its new Radiant 3D LED Flex linear system on stand M32 at the ARC Show, the architectural, retail and commercial lighting event being held at the Business Design Centre London from 29 February to 1 March. DMA recently installed 350m of Radiant 3D LED Flex linear lighting in a concert hall in Azerbaijan.

The Third International Pro Carton Design Award honours new unrealised design ideas in cartonboard applications, and is open to students. Participation is free of charge to anyone undergoing training. The official closing date is 5 February.

BDI member Greenwich Design, the London-based strategic branding consultancy, has rebranded Shell Gas (LPG) UK to AvantiGas, following the national utility company's acquisition by American‐owned UGI Corporation. Greenwich Design delivered the comprehensive start-up brand programme – from devising the company name and designing the identity to creating the website, vehicle livery, press ads and sales literature – in just eight weeks.

National BDI director Professor Phil Gray is to represent the Industrial Design profession at a major gathering of national business, government and university representatives on 23 February. 'The Next Steps for UK Research and Innovation' will bring key government policymakers together with business sectors that rely on research and stakeholders from universities to discuss the future of research and innovation policy in the UK. The event is hosted by Westminster Business and Higher Education Forum.

In a bid to deliver the first offshore “solar farm” in the world, BDI member Pauley launched its innovative marine solar cell technology to great acclaim at the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi last month. Pauley’s Marine Solar Cells (MSCs) are hybrid solar and wave energy generators with the potential of establishing offshore photovoltaic power generation.

The Technology Strategy Board is to invest up to £5m in collaborative research and development that encourages innovative solutions to some of the higher-risk challenges facing the UK aerospace industry. A further £1m will be available from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) for projects with a significant high-quality academic research component. The competition opens on 13 February and compulsory expressions of interest must be submitted by 21 March.

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council has presented a trophy to British Design Innovation (BDI) in recognition of their support for HKTDC's Think Asia, Think Hong Kong promotion http://www.thinkasiathinkhk.com/en/index_en.htm last September. More than fifty Hong Kong partners and British organisations took part in the week-long event to demonstrate the businesses opportunities available to British companies utilising Hong Kong as their preferred strategic partner.

The 2012 edition of the R&D 100 Awards marks a milestone: The 50th anniversary of the technology awards known as “The Oscars of Innovation.” The editors are now accepting entries for this year's awards. Winners last year included a differential scanning calorimeter, a phased array radar panel and a bridge constructed from recycled plastic. Entry deadline is 16 March and the competition is open to industry, academia and government-sponsored research from any country.

The Design and Technology Association is calling for support to ensure policymakers are aware of the value of Design and Technology (D&T) in the National Curriculum, following publication of ‘The Framework for the National Curriculum – a report by the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum review.’ This recommended that D&T should be removed from the National Curriculum and become part of the Basic Curriculum. The Design and Technology Association believes this to be a serious mistake.

The Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl) seeks ideas, knowledge and innovations to maintain a winning edge for the UK’s armed forces. Dstl works with the best people with the best ideas around the world, from very small companies to world-class universities and huge defence contractors. Together they develop technologies based on deep and widespread research to support UK military operations now and in the future.

Winter is the peak season for boilers breakdowns in the home due to blockages in the condensate pipe, which result in a failure of central heating systems and hot water supply. In a collaborative partnership between Nottinghamshire-based heating engineer Adrian Morley and BDI member Canard Design, the product design and engineering consultancy came up with a solution within one year that retails at £89 but could save homeowners and fitters thousands of pounds in repair bills.

The French marque Renault will be visiting four UK university campuses with their two seater Twizy in February to promote a student design competition based on the 100% electric runabout . The lucky first prize-winner will receive enough money to cover a years’ worth of tuition fees. The competition ends on 20 February and winners will be announced on 16 April.

The Sign Design Society is to hold an international conference on signing and wayfinding at the University of Greenwich on 11 April. "Dateline London: The world is coming" is aimed at planning and wayfinding professionals, and will discuss how London will cope with the challenge of hosting the London 2012 Olympics.

Nano4Design Workshops are hosted by the Nanotechnology KTN, who are following up their successful Nano4Sport inaugural event with a Nano-enhanced Textiles workshop in London on 28 February. The workshop highlights key developments in embedded electronics, smart materials and surface coatings technologies that enable interactivity and protection from moisture, shock and wear-and-tear.

Citi has partnered with the Financial Times and INSEAD to sponsor the FT/Citi Ingenuity Awards: Urban Ideas in Action, a global program to recognise ingenious solutions to urban challenges in the fields of education, energy, healthcare and infrastructure. Entry deadline is 31 March.

Industry professionals, students and schools have until 27 April to enter the Starpack Awards 2012. Now in their 53rd year, the Starpack Awards recognise innovation in packaging design and technology and are open to packaging and design professionals, students and schools. Hosted by the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3), the event recognises innovation, promotes best practice in packaging design and champions consumer needs while supporting the environment.

A one-off £2m funding competition for technology-inspired innovation is to open on 12 March for small and micro companies working independently or in collaboration with a partner. Projects can last up to four months and are eligible for grants of up to £25,000. A briefing event for potential applicants will be held in London on 20 March.

In this 15-minute RSA lecture from BBC Radio's Four Thought series, Gerard Darby argues that creativity is just as vital in science and engineering as it is in art and drama, but that the present education system is undermining it and is in urgent need of reform. He highlights some novel approaches, and explains why this matters for the individual, for our wider society and for the economy.

BDI member Renfrew Group International, the Leicester-based Industrial Design consultancy, has delivered the Meditrox 100, a powerful new and innovative hospital sanitiser, in a collaborative partnership with client Steritrox, who developed a patented system capable of removing airborne and surface-borne infection from a hospital ward or operating theatre quickly and efficiently.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), one of the world’s top-rated universities, has announced free courses which can be studied and assessed completely online. An electronics course, beginning in March, will be the first prototype of the online project, known as MITx. The interactive course is designed to be fully automated, with successful students receiving a certificate. MIT says it wants MITx to “shatter barriers to education”.

The Make it in Great Britain Challenge is a nationwide competition that aims to identify innovative British pre-market products, processes and concepts. Winning entries will form part of this summer’s Great British Manufacturing exhibition at the Science Museum London.

The list of things that contain rare earths is almost endless, from smartphones and hybrid vehicles to cordless power drills and cruise missiles – they’re one reason why so many electronic devices have become so small. But over the next decade China, which supplies 97 per cent of the world’s rare earth needs, is expected to steadily reduce exports in order to protect supplies to its own industries, which already consume about 60 per cent of the rare earths produced there.

The James Dyson Award 2012 is now open for entries. THE BRIEF: design something that solves a problem. THE PRIZE: £10,000 to you and £10,000 to your university department. ENTRY DEADLINE: 2 August 2012.

Former CBI director-general Richard Lambert has said in advance of the 21 March Budget that the government must commit to retaining the research and development (R&D) tax credit scheme. All of the UK’s major competitor countries have a tax credits scheme, and the CBI is worried that the UK will lose business abroad if the programme is scrapped.

Designers have until 10 April to enter the second Core77 international design awards, with an early-bird discount deadline of 13 March. Entries can be submitted online. Categories for the New York-based awards include consumer design, DIY, furniture and lighting, interaction, interiors and exhibitions, packaging, service, social impact, strategy and research, transport and visual communication.

Hosted by Good Design Australia, the Australian International Design Awards set an international benchmark of design excellence and quality in products and services and are recognised as the country's major design and innovation assessment and promotion vehicle. Deadline for entries is 30 March.

The Technology Strategy Board and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles are to invest up to £25m in collaborative R&D and demonstration projects that will accelerate the commercialisation of low carbon vehicles. Low Carbon Vehicles: the road to market will encourage a reduction of costs in the supply base and a faster adoption of new technologies. The deadline for expressions of interest is 28 March.

In a collaborative partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant Services (NHSBT), BDI member Renfrew Group International, the Leicester-based Industrial Design consultancy, has designed a completely new type of user-centred phlebotomy chair that enhances the blood donation experience for donors and phlebotomists alike. The Donation Chair is now undergoing national trials in NHS phlebotomy clinics and mobile centres.

BDI member Greenwich Design, the London-based strategic branding consultancy, has implemented a global signage project for client HSBC.

The Industrial Design profession’s national representative organisation in the UK has appealed for designers to band together a share a new ‘common interest’ platform. British Design Innovation (BDI) is concerned that product, service and interaction designers will lose ground to other countries and rival sectors if they don’t all work together much more closely in future.