Latest news from Loughborough University

18 Jun 2015

Fulbright Fellow asks 'Why Design Simultaneously Unites and Divides Us' in public lecture

Dr Christopher Mattson will be exploring the concept of how the word ‘design’ has the power to unite, and yet, simultaneously divide.

The lecture, to be held June 24, will examine design at five different levels of abstraction. These levels are constructed based on hundreds of past projects and dozens of interviews with design professionals in industries ranging from satellite to sausage design, and spanning from Italy to China, America to Brazil.

The talk aims to provide the audience with content that can be used to better build multidisciplinary relationships, whilst appreciating the diversity of design specialisations often needed for impact in the world today.

Dr Mattson is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo Utah, USA. He is currently on sabbatical at the Loughborough Design School working with the sustainable design research group as a 2014-2015 Fulbright Fellow.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 and is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs. It awards approximately 8,000 grants annually and the program currently operates in over 155 countries worldwide.

Dr. Mattson earned a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in New York in 2003. He was a mechanical design engineer 1996-2000), and global director of engineering (2004-2006) at ATL Technology.

Dr. Mattson has been a member of the AIAA Technical Committee on multidisciplinary design optimisation since 2003. He is an NSF CAREER awardee, and was given a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientist and Engineers (PECASE) from President Obama in 2012. He holds multiple US patents, and he is the recipient of ASME’s 2015 Ben C. Sparks award for his educational work in building a strong senior design experience for BYU students.

The lecture is free to attend and will be held in the Design School at 5pm, finishing at approximately 6pm.

To confirm your attendance, click here or contact Justine Sanders E: J.Sanders@lboro.ac.uk T: 01509 222481

Notes for editors

Article reference number: June News

Loughborough is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines.

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme, putting it among the best universities in the world, and was named University of the Year in the What Uni Student Choice Awards 2015. Loughborough is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’ and is in the top 10 in England for research intensity. It was 2nd in the 2015 THE Student Experience Survey and was named Sports University of the Year 2013-14 by The Times and Sunday Times. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Loughborough has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes.

In 2015 the University will open an additional academic campus in London’s new innovation quarter. Loughborough University London, based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, will offer postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities.