The GSA School of Innovation and Technology podcast

In this special episode, we celebrate the 25-year legacy of the Master of European Design (MEDes) programme — a pioneering collaboration between top design schools across Europe. Hosted by Professor Gordon Hush, we hear from founders, faculty, and alumni about the programme’s origins, its impact on global design education, and the transformational power of studying across cultures.From Glasgow to Helsinki, Paris to Milan, discover how MEDes has shaped generations of designers, fostered lifelong connections, and remained relevant in an ever-evolving Europe. Featuring voices like Norman McNally, Liz Davis, Philip Heidkamp, and MEDes graduates, this episode offers an inspiring look at the value of international design education — past, present, and future.

Perspectives on the increasing role and value of design in a health and wellbeing context from students, staff, and professionals who we collaboratively work with on studio projects and internships. Topics discussed include – how the new programme came into being; collaboration at the heart of learning, research, and practice at the Innovation School; and the value and challenges of working at the intersection of design and health, including future career opportunities.

Mafalda Moreaud is a French designer and researcher who works for the Centre for Civic Innovation at Glasgow City City Council. She graduated in 2020 from the Innovation School’s MDes Design Innovation and Citizenship, having already completed a Masters in graphic design at the Lycée des Arènes in Toulouse. In this podcast she talks about how working at the council allows her to compare public institutions in Scotland and France, and why she came to Glasgow to do a Masters in a foreign language.

Fred Wordie is a critical and service designer based in Berlin. He graduated from the BDes Product Design course at GSA in 2017. His work focuses on how society engages with technology and his projects explore issues such as big data, privacy and virtual consumption. In this podcast he discusses life in Berlin, taking on the capitalist system, and what success means to him.

In this podcast, Kirsty Ross from the Glasgow School of Art and the University of Glasgow’s Professor Nicol Keith talk about the Future Experiences project organised as part of the final-year studies for the Innovation School’s BA Hons Product Design course. Topics discussed include how the project came about and how it provides a future-focused examination of themes such as cancer care and precision medicine, as well as the future of cancer care and collective intelligence. Kirsty and Nicol delve into the collaborative working methods that allow the students to engage with leading experts from a range of professional and academic backgrounds. They also outline how the project benefits and broadens the minds of the expert participants, providing an environment of trust in which creativity can flourish. To find out more about Future Experiences and to see the outcomes from this year’s project, The Future of Cancer Care and Collective Intelligence in the Post-Covid World, follow this link: https://pd.gsainnovationschool.co.uk/fe21/

Struan Stewart studied on the BDes Product Design programme at Glasgow School of Art from 2016-2020. His graduation project and dissertation, completed at home during the enforced Covid-19 lockdown, focused on potential applications for wearable technology in the field of healthcare. Following graduation, Struan was accepted onto the MSc Artificial Intelligence & Applications programme at the University of Strathclyde. Here, he talks about how his interest in wearable technologies informed his decision to transition into AI, and how studying on a Masters programme is a radical departure from the Innovation School’s project-based approach. 

Alexandra Steenbeek studied on the BDes Product Design programme at Glasgow School of Art from 2013-2017. She was offered a place on the course at the age of just 16, having completed high school at the Internationale Schule Frankfurt. She began her studies after taking a year out to work and travel. She was scouted at Degree Show by a creative consultancy Wunderman Thompson and spent three years working there before beginning a Masters in Material and Visual Culture at University College London.