CNR Christmas seminar

Speaker: Prof Cathy Holloway .

Academic Director and co-founder of the Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDI Hub) and Senior Lecturer (Associate professor)  at UCL’s Interaction Centre

GDI Hub exists to accelerate disability innovation for a fairer world and Cathy’s research revolves around supporting this aim. GDI Hub is part of a partnership which has grown out of the Paralympic Legacy to pool expertise to tackle the issues faced by society in realising the Sustainable Development Goals. In two years GDI Hub has helped to secure over £15m in funding with a current research portfolio of over £5M.

Prof Holloway’s research revolves around accessibility and innovation, and this naturally crosses traditional discipline boundaries including those of transport, rehabilitation, computer science and entrepreneurship. Her research portfolio includes the development of new prosthetics for both the UK and lower income countries; the use of the Internet of Things to automate the creation of city-level accessibility maps for wheelchair users in Delhi and London; and the development of inclusive innovation methods. All of Cathy’s work has an ethos of co-development. Prof Holloway has published over 80 peer-reviewed papers and  leads the academic arm of the new flagship programme of the UK’s Department of International Development – AT2030 – a £10m programme to transform access to assistive technologies for disabled people living in resource poor communities through innovation.

Prior to joining UCL Cathy worked as a Research and Development Engineer for Medtronic. She is a former Japan Society for the Promotion of Science fellow, and has delivered a range of keynotes and discussion pieces including to the British Council in Tokyo, the World Health Organisation and at the Paralympics in Rio. Prof Holloway is also a Director and co-founder of two social enterprises – Movement Metrics and the GDI Hub Community Interest Company.