Lady Rachel Cooper OBE is Distinguished Professor of Design Management and Policy at Lancaster University. She conducts applied and theoretical research into people, products, places and their interactions.

She is Academic Lead for the N8 universities on Urban Living Research. She was a member of the 2014 Blackett review on the Internet of Things, and a Lead Expert for the UK Government Foresight programme on the Future of Cities. She is currently on the Academy of Medical Sciences Working group addressing ‘the health of the public 2040’ and a member of the International Council for Science Scientific Committee for Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment.