Rate My Professor Paul Rodgers

Professor Paul Rodgers serves as Professor of Design in the Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Strathclyde. He earned a PhD in Product Design Assessment from the University of Westminster and holds undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Design from Middlesex University. Previously, he was Professor of Design at Imagination, Lancaster University, and Professor of Design Issues at Northumbria University. His academic career emphasizes advancing design research through innovative methodologies and interdisciplinary applications.

Rodgers specializes in design-led interventions for healthcare and sustainability, including co-designing solutions for people living with dementia to reduce hospital admissions, developing sustainable NHS theatre garments and reducing pharmaceutical waste, and exploring emotional experiences in design education. He leads major projects such as Design HOPES, a collaboration supporting greener NHS practices with £3 million funding, and AHRC-funded initiatives like Flourishing for the Future: Caring for People Living with Dementia and NHS Flourishing for the Future. From 2017 to 2021, he held the AHRC Design Priority Area Leadership Fellowship. Rodgers has authored and edited key publications, including 118 Theories of Design[ing] (2021, co-edited with Craig Bremner), Product Design (2011, with Alex Milton), Research Methods for Product Design (second edition), and serves as series editor for Design Research for Change (Routledge). Recent works encompass CAREWorld: a design mapping tool for future care visions (2025), co-design approaches to sustainable theatre garments (2024), and analyses of design start-up ecosystems (2026). He contributes to editorial boards of The Design Journal, Journal of Design Strategies, and Designing Journal, and has been recognized as a finalist in Scotland's Life Sciences Awards for sustainability, invited speaker at the World Design Congress, and member of the REF2029 Sub-panel Chairs Shortlisting Panel. His scholarship has over 3,300 citations, impacting design for health, sustainability, and education.