Intelligent Mobility Design Centre

Established as a world leader in the field of vehicle design and research, and with Professor Dale Harrow as Centre Director and inaugural Chair of the Hyundai Kia Laboratory, the IMDC is a multidisciplinary research centre with a design-led, human-centred approach at its core. The Centre focuses on new ways of designing, influencing new behaviours and developing new methodologies and mobility typologies that address societal issues.  

The IMDC operates at the intersection of design disciplines, at a time of radical change in modes of mobility – in technologies, but also in the commercial, social and cultural models with which they interact. Where previous university and corporate research has tended to focus on mechanics, engineering solutions to perceived problems and iterative developments leading to incremental market advantage, our track record in this area has demonstrated that the problem is much more subtle and complex, and requires human-centred approaches which are design-led. 

Previous research has tended to concentrate on the movement of objects, whereas the urgent need is to re-focus on the journey, the experience, the design of services and systems, and the complexity of the infrastructure and interactions that mobility in modern advanced societies entails. 

The Centre builds on Professor Dale Harrow’s successful research in autonomous vehicles, the design of the new emergency ambulance and a new taxi for London. 

Applications for PhD Positions Now Open

The Intelligent Mobility Design Centre welcomes applications exploring mobility within our core research themes of Automotive Transitions, People and Places, and Humanising Technology. Research topics could include but are not limited to the design of experiences and behaviours for driverless and shared rides; alternative vehicle types and typologies; understanding car culture paradigm shifts; end-to-end journeys; Inclusive design; the interplay between mobility and urban design; exploration and creation of mobility experiences informed by human psychology, human factors principles, and human centred design. We would welcome applications from candidates across disciplines including design, engineering, science and the arts. The PhD positions will commence in September 2019. Further information is available here.