Neil Smith is Head of Industrial Design at Northumbria University, UK and has been involved in Higher Education teaching at Northumbria for the past 25 years. He has also worked for over 30 years within the product design industry, leading design and development projects both in-house and as a consultant.

His work has spanned small consumer products to capital goods and technical systems furniture. In his professional career his work has twice won a prestigious IF award, been twice shortlisted for the national Design Council awards, as well as the company receiving a Queens Award for Export. Also winning for the University the 2004 ‘Best Knowledge Transfer Partnership Award’ (KTP) as lead academic supervisor.

He has acted as academic supervisor on five KTP programmes, and has had numerous patents and design registrations granted in his name.

Much of his work for the University has been with the development of design thinking and cross-disciplinary practice within SME’s through such mechanisms as the KTP programmes but also with other project collaboration with both National and Multi-National organisations.

Neil has worked to develop a clearer understanding of the role that the School of Design can have in the community and has been responsible for the development of a number of key partnerships for the School and the wider University. He has developed the Schools portfolio both as an academic and as practitioner and has been at the heart of the development and facilitating the MA/MSc Multidisciplinary Innovation programme.