Leon steps in as Design London chief

Design London, the interdisciplinary innovation centre, created by the Royal College of Art, Imperial College London and the Tanaka Business School (DW 30 May), has appointed Nick Leon as its director. Leon, a former director at IBM and director of urban programmes for ICL’s Think Play Do, will take up his post as head of the £5.8m centre on 1 October.

Jeremy Myerson, Professor of design studies at the RCA, says, ‘Nick brings with him knowledge and contacts, an understanding of design, as well as an in-depth knowledge of engineering and innovation techniques.

There’s no point in having a well-known figure from the design community. The idea is to get design thinking integrated into engineering and business.’

The Design London management team has also appointed Professor Bruce Tether as research director.