Sir Jony Ive has cemented his place in history as one of Britain’s most iconic designers of the 21st century for his role in crafting products such as the iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPad and MacBook during his time as Senior VP of Industrial Design and Chief of Design at Apple until 2019. Since leaving Apple, Jony now resides as Chancellor of the RCA and, in partnership with HRH Prince Charles, launched the Terra Carta Design Lab as part of the Sustainable Markets Initiative.

Dr Nadia Danhash has been the Director of InnovationRCA, the Royal College of Art’s start-up incubator for 14 years. Alongside this role, she supports the access to finance at ImmerseUK, is a Trustee at the Institute for the Future of Work (an independent charity), is a Commissioner at the Future of Work Commission, and is a Non-Executive Director at Kodama. Nadia also founded the RCA’s Angel Investor Club and has a BSc in Biochemistry with Applied Molecular Biology, a PhD from the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology, and an MBA in Business Administration and Management from Imperial College London.

Prof. Stephen Russell is the Director of the Nonwovens Research Group and the Centre for Technical Textiles at the University of Leeds. His core research includes the manufacture and structure-property relationships of engineered textile materials and nonwoven assemblies. He is a member of the peer review college of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and an Editorial Board member of The Journal of The Textile Institute and the Textile Research Journal. In 2005 he founded the Nonwovens Innovation and Research Institute, a spinout specialising in the industrial development of advanced nonwoven materials.

Anne Toomey is Head of Textiles at the Royal College of Art. She is a Textile, Colour and Materials specialist with international experience in research-based design, manufacture and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Art. She has worked to bridge the gap between Design and STEM and to adapt design methodology through an integrated STEAM approach to propose products and services for people-centred well-being solutions and has contributed to securing £3.48M funding during the last 5 years from sources including EU, Hong Kong Government’s General Research Fund, HEIF, and industry R&D with Philips, Unilever and Burberry.

Irene is an angel investor and start-up operator with over a decade of experience in running incubators and accelerators such as the European Commission's Horizon 2020 cleantech calls and EIC Accelerator (€10 billion budget). She has invested in 30 climatech companies and mentored over 80 by supporting them raise £50m+. Irene is an expert on the circular economy and next-generation materials, and is pursuing a PHD at UCL, holds a 1st Class MSc in Environmental Technology from Imperial College, and a double 1st Class Hons in Business and Economics from Northeastern University and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

Cat How is CEO, co-founder and Executive Creative Director of global branding agency How&How. Cat studied at the University of Bristol and Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design—where she was awarded a First with distinction in MA Communication Design. She has worked as a journalist for The Guardian, The Observer and the BBC; and as a graphic designer in agencies around the world.

Cat founded and sold an e-Commerce business as well as a coworking company alongside her husband, Rog How. They co-founded How&How in Spring 2020.

Cat was a Creative Business columnist for Computer Arts Magazine; and has spoken on design, entrepreneurship and creativity at Web Summit, World Economic Forum as part of the UN Global Compact / Global Brain (Davos), Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design and the London College of Communication.