Technology Strategy Board launches £7m fund tomorrow at the Enabled by Design-athon, a two day ideas and product prototyping-fest for people with disabilities

1. PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release: 01/11/2012
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Technology Strategy Board launches £7m fund at the Enabled by
Design-athon, a two day ideas and product prototyping-fest for people
with disabilities!
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The Government’s Technology Strategy Board (TSB) will be launching its £7m additive
manufacturing (3D Printing) competition at the Enabled by Design-athon event in London
tomorrow, being held in partnership with design leaders IDEO and sugru and hosted by
Ravensbourne.!
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Over 100 designers, manufacturers, hackers, and assistive product users from the Enabled by
Design community attending this two day ideas and product prototyping-fest will be among the
first to receive the full details of how to enter the TSB competition. !
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In this two day event (Friday 2 – Saturday 3 November 2012 at Ravensbourne), teams will
design and build prototypes that demonstrate how products can rapidly be designed and built
with people for people, personalising products to better fit with people’s lives and their needs.
A movement for accessibility for the masses, the event will continue Enabled by Design’s work
to mainstream products that work for as many people as possible, including those with
disabilities and older people.!
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TSB expect to make grants of between £50k to £750k for projects that help overcome some of
the factors that have prevented a rapid expansion of this game-changing technology. They cite
these barriers as: high cost, inconsistent material properties, lack of applicable industry
standards, unexpected pre-and post-processing requirements and the failure to exploit the new
design freedoms offered.!
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Robin Wilson - Lead Technologist, Technology Strategy Board, says: “We’re particularly
keen to attract new entrants from the design and “maker” communities who wouldn’t normally
look at manufacturing competitions and we know many of these people will be attending the
Enabled by Design-athon.!
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“Enabling these individuals and small companies to partner up or subcontract with some of the
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2. more established design, manufacturing and 3D printing companies is one of the challenges
we are hoping to overcome.” !
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Denise Stephens, Founder, Enabled by Design, says: “We’re extremely proud and excited
that the Technology Strategy Board has chosen the Enabled by Design-athon to launch its
competition briefing document. I know there are a lot of people who are eagerly awaiting these
details and people coming to our event will be the first to have the opportunity to gain further
insights into the competition.!
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“We’re passionate about Design for All and feel that 3D printing technology will take accessible
design to the next level through customisation of new and existing products, better supporting
individuals’ needs. So a competition supporting the uptake of additive manufacturing in new
areas is something we’re keen to see.”!
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ENDS!
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Notes to Editors!
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1) The Enabled by Design-athon is a two-day event, being held at Ravensbourne, a higher
education institution innovating in digital media and design, in Greenwich Peninsula, London,
on Friday 2 and Saturday 3 November 2012.!
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2) At the event, teams will design and build prototypes that demonstrate how products can
rapidly be designed and built with people for people, personalising products to better fit with
people’s lives and their needs. The team are creating a movement for accessibility for the
masses so that mainstream products work for as many people as possible, including those
with disabilities and older people. The event will challenge people’s preconceptions of assistive
technology, showing how products can be personalised, purposeful and beautifully designed
too.!
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3) Speakers at the event will include Tom Hulme, Design Director IDEO and Founder
OpenIDEO, and James Carrigan, Co-Founder sugru and Fixperts, among others. The full
agenda can be seen here: http://enabledbydesign.org/2012/10/enabled-by-design-athon-
whats-on-the-agenda/!
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4) For more information about the event and find out how to get involved:!
Website: http://enabledbydesign.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/enabledbydesign
Twitter: @enabledby
Email: lucy@wearefuturegov.com
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5) Details of the £7m Technology Strategy Board CR&D (Collaborative Research and
Development) competition “Inspiring New Design Freedoms in Additive Manufacturing /
3D printing” are now up on the Technology Strategy Board competition website. It opens for
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3. registration on 3 December 2012 and the briefing / consortium building event is on 11
December 2012 in London. http://www.innovateuk.org/content/competition/inspiring-new-
design-freedoms-in-additive-manufact.ashx!
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6) Additive Manufacturing or 3D printing is a process of building an item from a digital model
made through computer aided design (CAD) software using a materials printer. The item is
made by the printer adding layers of materials together to create the desired form, rather than
removing chunks of the material, as is usually the case in traditional manufacturing. The
process allows people to produce items on relatively affordable equipment and could even be
used to create bespoke products in the home.!
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7) Enabled by Design http://enabledbydesign.org Enabled by Design is a social business and
community of people passionate about design for all. They 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.!
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8) Technology Strategy Board (TSB) http://www.innovateuk.org The Technology Strategy
Board is the UK’s innovation agency. Its goal is to accelerate economic growth by stimulating
and supporting business-led innovation. Sponsored by the Department for Business,
Innovation and Skills (BIS), the Technology Strategy Board brings together business, research
and the public sector, supporting and accelerating the development of innovative products and
services to meet market needs, tackle major societal challenges and help build the future
economy.!
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9) Partner organisations supporting the Enabled by Design-athon, in addition to TSB, are: !
• IDEO http://www.ideo.com/uk IDEO is an award-winning global design firm that takes a
human-centred, design-based approach to helping organisations in the public and
private sectors innovate and grow. We identify new ways to serve and support people
by uncovering latent needs, behaviours, and desires. We envision new companies and
brands, and we design the products, services, spaces, and interactive experiences that
bring them to life. We also help organisations build the creative culture and the internal
systems required to sustain innovation and launch new ventures.
• Ravensbourne http://www.rave.ac.uk Ravensbourne is a university sector college
innovating in digital media and design, with a vocationally focused portfolio of courses.
• sugru www.sugru.com sugru is the exciting new air-curing rubber that can be formed by
hand. Developed by a team of product designers and materials scientists, sugru’s
patented technology is unique in its combination of hand-formability, self-adhesion and
flexibility when cured.
• FutureGov http://wearefuturegov.com FutureGov are digital innovators, drawing on
their design, technology and change skills to help identify social challenges and work
with users to define and deliver solutions.
10) A range of hi-res logos and images are available on request. Press are welcome
to attend the event - those wishing to do so, please register your interest with
denise@enabledbydesign.org to ensure entry.!
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