Paul Rodgers

Paul was Professor of Design Issues at the School of Design between 2009 – 2016.

Paul A. Rodgers is Professor of Design at the University of Strathclyde, Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management (DMEM). He holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Design from Middlesex University, London, and a PhD in Product Design Assessment from the University of Westminster, London.

Prior to joining the University of Strathclyde, he was Professor of Design at Imagination, Lancaster University (2016 – 2020), Professor of Design Issues at Northumbria University School of Design (2009 – 2016), Reader in Design at Edinburgh Napier University (1999 – 2009) and a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Engineering Design Centre (1996 – 1999).

He has over 25 years of experience in product design research and has led several research projects for UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), and design projects funded by the Scottish Government and The Lighthouse (Scotland’s National Centre for Architecture, Design and the City). He is the author of more than 170 papers and 14 books including The Routledge Companion to Design Research published in 2015, which has recently been commissioned for a revised and updated edition. His design books have been translated into several languages including Spanish, Italian, Chinese, and Taiwanese.

His current research interests explore the discipline of design and how disruptive design interventions can enact positive change in health and social care and elsewhere. From 2017 to 2021, he held the post of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Priority Area Leadership Fellowship in Design where he initiated a number of projects under the Design Research for Change project that highlighted the positive and wide-ranging social, cultural, environmental and economic impact design research plays in some of the most complex and challenging issues we face both in the UK and abroad.

The Design Research for Change projects Rodgers oversees tackle a range of significant and complex challenges such as developing design tools and processes that will support people living with dementia to live high quality lives, designing policies and systems that ensure educational rights are met, and designing methods for producing more sustainable food practices. Currently, he is the Series Editor for Routledge’s Design Research for Change book series – https://www.routledge.com/Design-Research-for-Change/book-series/DRC

In 2014, Professor Rodgers was the recipient of an Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Design Research Fellowship that carried out research in collaboration with Alzheimer Scotland exploring how design thinking and action can contribute to the design and development of a range of enhanced products, services, and systems for people living with dementia. Professor Rodgers’ research continues in the broad areas of developing design interventions in health and social care contexts where disadvantaged groups of people are often overlooked.