A maker-researcher and designer, Ian has worked in both practice and academia for more than 30 years. He started his career as a designer and maker of furniture, and developed an interest in sustainable design in the late 1990s. He has published numerous papers on sustainability, creativity, and design education, and while in Detroit has been involved in the curation of several exhibitions on the role of creative practice in addressing climate change. Ian has undertaken numerous commissions and exhibited work across the UK (including at London Design Week and the Lighthouse in Glasgow), China and the US. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and holds a PhD from the University of Edinburgh: his thesis explored making as knowledge.  Having lived and worked in Edinburgh, Scotland, for almost 20 years, he relocated to Detroit in 2019.