James Molkenthin

Two Loughborough University Design School graduates have made it onto the prestigious Design Council ‘70 Ones to Watch’ list.

The list – part of the Council’s 70th anniversary celebrations – features the names of 70 new and emerging designers chosen for their outstanding vision, ambition and potential to contribute to the UK’s reputation as a leading design nation.

Ross Kemp and James Molkenthin, who both feature in the list, beat off competition from hundreds of other new designers, impressing a panel of influential judges with expertise spanning the breadth of the design sector.

Ross has also subsequently been selected as one of Design Week’s Seven Designers for the Future.  The UK’s leading design website picked its favourite seven designers from the 70 identified by the Design Council.

Ross graduated in 2011 with a degree in Industrial Design and Technology. He is the inventor of Asap, an electric powered one-person water craft for beach lifeguards that can be solar charged.  It offers a more financially viable and sustainable rescue craft than a jet ski and is in the process of being developed to manufacture level. Ross is also currently a member of The Studio, a facility based at the University campus which provides access to resources, expertise and knowledge to help Loughborough graduates develop sustainable businesses.

James graduated in 2014 with a degree in Product Design and Technology. During the course of his studies he developed ‘The IUNGO Circle’, a series of appliances for the blind that communicate via Bluetooth with a smartphone.  His flagship product is the IUNGO Kettle, which captures the water’s temperature and volume to enable it to send push-notification alerts to the user when the water has boiled. The app can turn the device on or off and displays usage statistics.

Speaking about their success Professor Tracy Bhamra, Dean of the Loughborough Design School, said: “We are delighted that two of our graduates have made it onto the Design Council ‘70 Ones to Watch’ list and with Ross’s continued success in the Design Week ‘Seven Designers for the Future’. This is testament to their incredible talents as emerging designers and highlights the high calibre of graduates coming out of the School.”