Dean of School and Head of Programme
Vehicle Design Programme
School of Design

vehicle@rca.ac.uk

Sheila Clark
Max Fickel
Louise Kiesling
Jae-Seung Roe
Friedemann Schaber
Lino Vital

Professor Dale Harrow is dean of the School of Design and head of its Vehicle Design programme, a global centre of excellence in automotive design education. With a near 100 per cent record in student transition to professional practice, Vehicle Design was shortlisted for the Queen’s Award for Excellence in Education. Harrow is an international opinion former, commentator and media persona on design and the automotive car industry. He is an award-winning designer, academic leader and researcher. Always keen to raise the intellectual debate about vehicle design, Harrow has lectured internationally on the subject.

Dale Harrow is keen to explore the changing city, technology, the new consumer and new commercial opportunities to develop innovative design solutions within an established design culture. He has been the principal investigator on a major research programme to develop ‘Healthcare on the Move’ with the ‘Smart Pod’ – an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council project in collaboration with the Royal College of Art, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design and four other leading institutions and industrial partners. The project has developed into the redesign of the current NHS emergency ambulance for the twenty-first century, which has been shortlisted for a Victor J. Papanek Social Design Award and nominated for the Design Museum’s Designs of the Year 2012 exhibition and awards.

Dale Harrow has collaborated with many automotive and design companies including Seymour Powell, Pentagram, Yamaha, Honda, Sony and Tefal; lectured worldwide on the subject; and frequently acts as a judge at international events and competitions. In 1988 he designed the Norton paramilitary motorcycle for police use, which led to a national standardisation of specifications. This was followed in 1989 by the Norton Sportbike which won Design Week magazine’s 'Best Product Design' and 'Best Design of the Year' awards. His redesign of the London taxi cab with Pentragram significantly improved access for disabled and visually impaired users, and was awarded Millennium Product status by the Design Council. He has led workshops at the Design Museum and has also acted as a judge at international events, competitions and validation panels. He is frequently interviewed by the media and regularly acts as an opinion former and commentator, recently co-presenting a 10-part television series for the Discovery Channel. BBC Top Gear identified Harrow at the eighth most important person in the automotive industry in December 2003; Autocar magazine recognised him as number 33 of the ‘Top 100 Most Influential Brits’ (May 2004), among a handful of designers; and in 2010 Car Magazine acknowledged him as being among the most 30 senior people in the international motor industry. Harrow has also worked with the British Council to promote investment in UK design in Japan, China and Korea.

Dale Harrow has acted as external examiner to a number of industrial design and vehicle design degree courses including those at University of Sheffield, University of Huddersfield, University of Northampton and Central Saint Martins.