Rachel Armstrong innovates and designs sustainable solutions for the built and natural environment using advanced new technologies such as Synthetic Biology – the rational engineering of living systems – and Smart chemistry. She is a fascinating keynote speaker, challenging perceptions, presumptions and established principles around the building blocks of life and society.
She creates open innovation platforms for academia and industry to address environmental challenges such as carbon capture & recycling, smart ‘living’ materials and new approaches to sustainable design. She has been nominated for a Katerva Award in Urban Design as the designer of the smart chemistry in a team of visionary practitioners for the Hylozoic Ground installation.
A charismatic and passionate person. I feel as though she addressed the issues and was able to identify with the audience.
Birmingham City University
Rachel encourages and designs change as well as promoting new transferrable ways of thinking ‘outside the box’ that enables others to develop innovative environmental solutions. Her approaches are outlined in her forthecoming TED book on Living Architecture.
Dr Rachel Armstrong graduated from the University of Cambridge with First Class Honours. In 2009 she embarked on a PhD in chemistry and architecture to pursue her long standing passion for evolutionary processes and environmental impact. Continuing in the academic field, Rachel is a Professor at Newcastle University in experimental architecture.
Rachel has an optimistic view of our relationship with technology, which she considers to be the way that our ideas are embodied and implemented. Core to her practice is the belief that new ways of thinking can drive innovation and generate technology that can help us overcome seemingly impossible problems to create a better future for ourselves.
She was awarded a TED Fellowship and then a Senior TED Fellowship the same year, and has an international platform that enables her to connect with a range of audiences, sharing her broad knowledge and experience.
Rachel is a member of the RESCUE “Collaboration between the natural, social and human sciences in global change research” Working Group, an interdisciplinary body of European experts making recommendations to the EU for strategic investment for interdisciplinary/scientific research of climate change. She was also part of the TARPOL report for the European Commission Research – Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and Biotechnology.
Her Nature Opinion was published in 2010. She believes that synthetic biology could offer innovative sustainable approaches to the built environment.
Rachel Armstrong is an innovative and charismatic keynote speaker on innovation, CSR, sustainability and technology.
For further information or to book Dr. Rachel Armstrong, please call us on +44 (0)20 7607 7070 or email info@speakerscorner.co.uk
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What people said about Rachel Armstrong
I find her very inspirational and impressive. Her optimistic perspective gave the audience hope for a better future.
The Building Information Centre (YEM)
Dynamic, engaging delivery..professional and thought provoking.
Science City York
Extremely interesting content, however maybe to complex - high level for non-academic audience. Practical examples of ramifications for future buildings, society etc would be very useful to illustrate concepts
Johnson Controls
Having worked with Rachel now a few times, I can thoroughly recommend her as a speaker. She has everything a conference producer needs.
Director of Seminars at Eco Build, Grand Designs Live, Clerkenwell Design Week
One of the most interesting projects I have ever worked on, you worked so hard and passionately on this.
Futures Specialist, Consumer Vision, NOKIA
Dr., Rachel Armstrong first came to my attention at the Picnic conference, a high profile event in Amsterdam featuring leading thinkers and practicioners in the fields of design, technology, science, media and entertainment. There she delivered two brilliant lectures in two different contexts: one was about the need for interdisciplinary scientists and designers. This was for a selected group of Dutch top students from over the whole country, The second speech was her main speech in the conference hall for the prime audience of the Picnic event. Here, in a very stimulating 20 minutes, with absolute clarity and dazzling command of her material, she took the audience through territories of knowledge and research practice where 'no-one has gone before' . This 20 minute brain frying trip left the audience not only with the sensation that they had made sudden leap of 15 years into the future, but also with new concepts, categories and sensations by which to coherently approach and productively turn over notions as varied as environmental degradation, urban planning, evolution, and industrial engineering. A combination of different aspects convinced me to try and engage Dr. Rachel Armstrong to exhibit, to speak and conduct a masterclass at the TransNatural event.
One main aspect was her abilty to speak engagingly and clearly to people from different levels of professional experience without having to compromise in any way the complexity of her subject matter. The second one is of course her specific interests and ground breaking practice of developing autonomous technologies that are modelled on life like processes, and that are environmentally harmless though extremely powerful. My expectations were, needless to say, very high. I hoped for similarly exciting lectures, groundbreaking ideas and the general sensation of intellectual renewal that I had experienced during the first two lectures I saw her deliver. Dr. Rachel Armstrongs performance at TransNatural was without any reservation outstanding. She exceeded any reasonable expectations that a first time member of her audience could have had, but since I had a taste before, I knew what was coming. The reactions of the audience (among whom some of the most advanced design thinkers, a couple of established and highly critical visual artists, some established technicians from the most reputed research institutions of the Netherlands) closely resembled my own at my first encounter with her work. I am very much looking forward to new occasions that would justify me to ask Dr. Rachel Armstrong to again to come and speak, and share her amazing insights and research practice.
Programme Manager of Virtual Platform
I invited Rachel Armstrong to give a speech in the context of an international brokerage event about Clean Technologies, in the session about Energy-Efficient Buildings which I was chairing (see more about it under www.meet4cleantech.eu). As her field of research is relatively vast, and not directly focusing on the topic of the session, she took an active part in discussing in details the elements of her research that would be the most pertinent for the audience, in particular the industry (half of the participants were from the construction sector). She gave a brilliant talk, supported by multimedia and artistic graphics of an amazing quality, bridging architecture, design, chemistry and arts in a truly inspiring style. Both academic and industry participants were captivated by her presentation, which perfectly matched the expectations I had as well.
National Contact Point (NCP) ,Information and Communication Technologies, Euresearch Head Office
We always enjoy working with the most visionary and inspirational people in the industry.
Design Director, IKEA
This project was really taken to the next level thanks to Rachel's global visionary input.
Brand Manager Impulse - Unilever
I wanted to thank you once again for your wonderful presentation. You inspired me is so.
Material Composition Manager - Herman Miller Inc
Rachel was very easy to work with and demonstrated a clear interest in the subject that was being discussed at the conference.
British Council for Offices
Rachel was a fantastic host for our Annual Awards, she handled a difficult audience and helped make the evening a great success.
Environment Analyst
