Since November 2010 I have been a Full-Time active RTE Academic member of the highly regarded Loughborough Design School (now SDCA), undertaking and leading 4* Design research. I have led people, projects and budgets well, and dealt with legion unexpected occurrences, managing towards the best possible outcomes. I have mentored staff, enabled students (taught and research) to challenge themselves and close the gap between their potential and their practical day to day reality. My annual appraisals rated my performance across research, teaching and enterprise criteria at Excellent/Exceeding Expectations for most of those years. I have established a reputation as a leading light in curriculum development and teaching approaches, particularly for Design Students. Electronics, Embedded Systems & Technology. Transforming technical prototyping and design fabrication capability. Contributing to and Leading PGT curriculum evolution: MSc Integrated Product Design (Brunel); MSc Integrated Industrial Design (Lboro). I have lived interdisciplinarity on a daily basis. Most recently I instigated, prepared, constructed and delivered the DSP853 Design for AI Products Module as an MSc option. The first teaching of that practical AI/ML technology of its kind in the School, 5 members of staff asked to be enrolled as part of a strategic training policy within the School.
I am an active member of the Additive Manufacturing Research Group at Loughborough leading the Printed Electronics research in the DReAMLab. Also an active (cross-School Transdisciplinary) researcher contributing to the work of the Energy & Materials Lab in Chemistry for a number of years, collaborative research with Mathematics and Engineering particularly in a sustainable manufacturing context. He has made significant contribitions to research across Printed Electronics, Sensors (IoT), Energy Sources, Sustainable Product Design & Manufacture. Prior to the (current) 12 + Years at Loughborough, he spent 10 Years at Brunel University, including roles as Director of the Cleaner Electronics Research Group (Pioneers in Printed Electronics) and Deputy Head of Design.
Jan 2016-ongoing As Printed Electronics Group Lead, I augmented the DReAM (Design Research for Additive Manufacturing) Laboratory with equipment, facilities and researchers to conduct 4* research in the areas of Printed Electronics and Additive Manufacturing with functional electronic materials.
Edge Computing Applications (TinyML) are more recent additions to my Research landscape.
30 Years developing Curriculum and teaching Electronics, Embedded Systems in a Product design Context. Supervised legion UG and PG ID/PD Major Projects over the years.
Currently:
- DSB007 Electronics, Programming & Interfacing (Year 2 BSc PD&T)
- DSC006 Applications of Mechanics & Electronics for Design (Final year BSc PD&T)
- DSP859 Integrated Industrial Design Major Project (MSc IID)
- DSP853 Design for AI Products (MSc IID, MSc UX)
Printed, Peeled Electronics (Patent IP)
PI: Darren Southee: EPSRC Impact Accelerator Award (IAA)
Industry Collaboration with GEM/ Sun Chemical to progress TRL Level of my IP
Selected for School REF 2021 Impact submission. WO 2017/077115 Flexible (Peeled) Electronics Patent DJ Southee et al
EU FP7 Funded:
POWERWEAVE (Development of Textiles for Electrical Energy Generation and Storage)
Darren Southee Loughborough PI: £34,998 Contributed to Brunel University WPs in energy storage materials and structures for fibre forms. Named Co-Inventor on PCT Patent EP2965334A1 Supercapacitor
Organic & Printable Electronics Association (OE-A is a working group within VDMA – the largest industry association in Europe) I instigated and authored Loughborough University’s successful membership application. Now Membership Director– invited Chair of Flexible Power Storage Chapter for the Organic & Printable Electronics (OE-A) European Roadmap (submitted to the European Commision 2020).I was invited Chair of the Flexible Power Storage Whitepaper Chapter submitted to the European Commission 2023.
Feb 2020:
As lead of the Printed Electronics Group
I instigated & led this collaborative (Cross-School) Project, “3D Nixie PE 2020 / Printed AC Electroluminescent (ACEL) Display” within my Printed Electronics Group at Loughborough
World’s first functional fully Printed Nixie Tube Electronics Demonstrator submitted to the OE-A (Organic and Printable Electronics Competition). judged and exhibited in March as part of LOPEC 2020 in Munich (went online)
March 2011:
Designed & fabricated a functional Brain-Computer-Interface with TV Client-imposed time constraints & received Guinness World Record Certificate! As demonstrated on The Gadget Show.
2003-03 to 2013-07 | STEM Ambassadour public engagement including two invited speaker events at “Inspiring Engineering talks”, where 16-19 year olds were invited from all parts of the UK.
Invited Speaker ( Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering) Big Bang Balloonist 2011 EdExcel
Current:
Fay Claybrook PhD: Enhancing Patient Specific Diabetic Foot Insoles through Customised Additive Manufacturing for Improved Cushioning Properties. Supervisors: Dr Mazher Mohammed, Dr Darren Southee.
Ahmad Muzammil Roslan PhD: Artificial Intelligence-Aided Design: Investigating the Implications of Artificial Intelligence on the Design and Development Process. Supervisors: Dr Patrick Pradel, Dr Darren Southee.
Completions:
Naomi Howard PhD June 2024 PhD: An Investigation into the Mediated Control of Evaporative Self-Assembly in Carbon Nanoparticle Suspensions Supervisors: Prof. Andrew Archer (Mathematics), Dr David Sibley (Mathematics), Dr Darren Southee, Prof. Upul Wijayantha (Chemistry)
Umur Cicek, Apr 2024 PhD: Smart Personal Protection: Integrating Additive Manufactured Printable Electronics Supervisors: Dr. Andrew Johnson, Dr Darren Southee.
Paulo Luis Mar 2023 PhD: Flexible Screen Printed Supercapacitors (Co-Supervisors Dr George Weaver, Prof. Upul Wijayantha)
Ryan Middlemiss Apr 2021 PhD: Materials, Processes, and Ink Formulation for Viable, Manufacturable Passive & Active Printed Electronics (Co-Supervisor Prof. Upul Wijayantha (Chemistry))
Kevin Badni June 2020 PhD by published works (Adviser): The effective use of 3D data in Visual Communication
Jack McGhee Mar 2020 PhD: Conducting Metal Oxide Materials for Printed Electronics (Co-Supervisor Prof. Upul Wijayantha (Chemistry))
Alessandro Carelli Dec 2019 PhD: Guidelines for the design of privacy management tools for smartphone devices Supervisors: Dr. Matt Sinclair, Dr Darren Southee.
Daniel Kraszewski July 2019 PhD: Design Strategies for the Exploration of Product Meaning in Meaning-driven Innovation (Co-Supervisor Dr. Matt Sinclair)
Dona Subhashi Yashodha Jayathilake Dec 2017 PhD: Sustainable Manufacture of Transparent Conducting Oxide Supervisors: Prof Upul Wijayantha, Dr Darren Southee.
Nicola York July 2017 PhD: The Impact of Printed Electronics on Product Design (Co-Supervisor Dr Mark Evans)
Lou Ke June 2016 PhD: Design-oriented New Product Development Strategy in Chinese Small and Medium Enterprises (Co-Supervisor Dr Erik Bohemia)
Mary Beth Privitera July 2015 PhD (P/T International): Enabling Collaborative Medical Device Design Supervisors: Dr Mark Evans, Dr Darren Southee.
Nov 2010 PhD (P/T) – Understanding design impact: a new framework for understanding the potential of design and enhancing future professional practice, Stephen Green (Staff), 1st Supervisor until my departure.
Oct 2008 M.Phil – Design and application of a contact barcode reader, for use on low-visibility printed conductive patterns, Julian Wood (as Paperworks EU RA) Brunel university.
July 2008 EngD (Environmental Technology) with RPS Ecoscope: Improving the Efficiency and Accuracy of Nocturnal Bird Surveys through Equipment Selection and Partial Automation”, Ljubica Lazarevic.
July 2005 PhD - An investigation of the electro-mechanical behaviour of electrically-conductive yarns and knitted fabrics, Verity Parker Brunel University.
Other:
2014- 2020 Played a significant role in the successful Loughborough University EPSRC CDT- Embedded Intelligence application bringing a Design perspective to the table and the Design School into the PhD cohort arena (55 funded PhDs)
External Examiner Appointments (UG & PGT)
MSc Advanced Manufacturing Systems Brunel University 2022 – Present
BSc Product Design Nottingham Trent University 2016 - 2020
MSc Integrated Product Design Brunel University 2014 – 2018
BSc (Hons) Product Design Engineering Edinburgh Napier University 2013 – 2016
MSc/MA Innovation Design Engineering Double Masters Imperial College London (Royal College of Art) 2010-2013
Product Design (Industry)
1992(Commercial success)
TA320 Logic Analyser for TTi Ltd (UK)
Innovative use of Xilinx FPGA reduced cost to 1/3rd of that for a comparable performance Logic Analyser
1987 (Commercial success)
TD201 Digital Storage Unit for Thandar Electronics Ltd
Low cost adapter gives digital storage capability to analogue oscilloscopes