Designer, educator, researcher
Programme Director for Industrial Design
"Matt has an intuitive and deeply intellectual understanding of what makes 'good design', which he dispenses effortlessly. He listens to others and values considered opinion, but at the same time has a strong sense of purpose."
Chris Hill, Solve 3D
"I was contemplating dropping out halfway through the year. This module is why I didn’t. I think Matt is one of the best academic teachers I’ve ever had. He made me want to learn and inspired creativity. He reminds me of what everyone thinks Google offices are like – but as a person. I struggled with my attendance this year but I don’t think I ever came back from a session feeling as though I hadn't achieved anything that day."
Anonymous student feedback
"For his sustained contribution to industrial design teaching in the School. His willingness to turn stones, which others would leave unturned, in the interest of driving improvement in the education of our students. Matt’s commitment, forward thinking and leadership are widely appreciated and respected across the School."
Dean's Award for Most Valuable Contribution to Teaching
My name is Dr Matt Sinclair, and I am Programme Director for the BA (Hons) Industrial Design programme at Loughborough School of Design and Creative Arts, responsible for delivery to more than 450 undergraduate students. I am a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, (FRSA), and a member of the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) Peer Review College. I currently hold the position of
external examiner for the MA Global Innovation Design programme at the RCA / Imperial College, and I am the School’s representative within Cumulus Association. I have previously been a visiting tutor on Masters degree courses
at the Royal College of Art, Central St. Martins and Birmingham Institute of Art and Design, a guest lecturer at Umeå Institute of Design (Sweden) and Tecnológico de Monterrey (Mexico), and a Masters thesis advisor at Aalto University (Finland) and Savannah College of Art and Design (USA).
My research is broadly situated within the field
of Responsible Design Futures, generating speculative, plausible, scenarios that challenge
the ‘preferable’ futures advertised by those invested in the technological status quo. I am interested in the future of manufacturing - of products that cannot yet be made and the effects these will have on users and other stakeholders. By utilising research methods from the discipline of User
Experience Design, my work places users /
consumers / citizens / people at the centre of movements for change. I use observational research, design probes, co-design workshops and conceptual provotypes to reveal insights for the development of fictional scenarios, personas
and stake-holder journey maps. In my teaching I am a consistent advocate of an experience-focused approach to design, a perspective that is grounded in an understanding of design practice established through 20 years experience as a professional industrial designer, design manager and creative director.
