Hosted by the RCA Materials for Living Hub and the Materials KTN Materials and Design Exchange (MaDE), the conference aims to bring together designers, scientists, artists and humanities people working with materials research and innovation to talk about how they work cross- or trans-disciplinarily, the challenges and tools they’ve found for working collaboratively, and the ways they find inspiration in their work with materials.

The conference programme will feature plenary talks by Sir Richard Friend, FRS, Cavendish Professor at the University of Cambridge; Anna Valtonen - Rector at the Umea Design Institute and former head of Design Research & Foresight at Nokia; Mike Davies, CBE - architect at Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners; and Susanne Kuechler - anthropologist and Professor of Material Culture at UCL.

Visitors will also get the chance to see a materials exhibition by the RCA’s students and recent graduates, as well as opt-in for two special visits on the day after the conference