Dr Timothy Whitehead graduated from Loughborough University in 2010 with a first class BA (Hons) in Industrial Design and Technology. During his degree Timothy designed a water bottle for developing countries, which filtered and sterilised water within two minutes. This design won a number of awards including the UK Dyson Award 2010, Silver in IDSA IDEA Award, Finalist in INDEX: Design to improve life award and a Core77 Award and was featured on the BBC World Health Show and Radio 5 live. This invention and interest in the design of products for Developing Countries led Timothy to work for the Centre of Vision in the Developing World where he assisted in the design and development of spectacles for young people in India.
Having seen first-hand the challenges faced by designers in this context Timothy embarked on a PhD within the Loughborough Design School to research factors required for creating long lasting, effective products for people living in Low Income Economies. Timothy received his PhD in 2015, which resulted in the creation of a set of tools for designer and NGOs. During his time a researcher, Timothy continued to carry out a number of contracted design projects and taught 3D CAD to undergraduate Industrial Design students.
In 2015, Timothy accepted a lectureship within the School of Design at De Montfort University, specialising in Digital Product Design within the Product Design group. Timothy is looking to continue to develop his research area and teach undergraduate students CAD.