Dr Ursula Hurley, Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing, recently visited Justin Tomlinson MP, Minister for Disabled People, at the Department for Work and Pensions. Ursula was invited to meet the Minister to update him on her AHRC Connected Communities project, ‘In The Making’, which explores digital fabrication and its potential to improve the lives of disabled people.
The Minister heard about the project’s successful workshops around the Greater Manchester area and expressed interest in its initial findings, particularly with regard to employability and entrepreneurship. The Minister offered his backing for the development of this technology and asked to be kept informed about the progress of this and subsequent projects.
Ursula was joined by Philip Connolly, Policy and Communications Manager at Disability Rights UK, community partners in the AHRC project. Also in attendance was Joe Macleod-Iredale, a postgraduate student in the School of Arts and Media, who worked with the researchers to design and deliver accessible workshops, using the fieldwork as the basis of his recently completed thesis: “3d modelling for the 99%: Enabling the public to benefit from 3d printing and modelling”.
Joe and our project participants will help to present our findings at a celebration event to be held at MediaCityUK in June. Further detail on the project can be found here: http://www.inthemaking.org.uk/