Dr Jane Scott is a Newcastle University Academic Track Fellow (NUAcT) in Living Textiles. Her research is located at the intersection of programmable materials, knitted fabric design, textile technology and biology. As a textile specialist her research challenges the established understanding of smart materials for architecture; applying principles derived from biology to the development of environmentally responsive textile systems composed of natural and sustainable materials.

Before joining Newcastle University, Jane was a Senior Teaching Fellow in The School of Design at The University of Leeds and held a Visiting Research Fellowship in biomimicry at Central Saint Martins (2016-2020). She completed PhD through the Textiles Futures Research Centre at Central Saint Martins, where she developed Programmable Knitting. In 2016 this work was awarded the Autodesk ACADIA Emerging Research Award by the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA).

Her work has been exhibited internationally; in 2019 Bioknit Pavilion (in collaboration with MuDD Architects) formed part of the public interventions at Design Junction, (London Design Festival) and in 2018 Growing Medium was exhibited as part of Material Innovation in the North at The Baltic (Gateshead). She has presented research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The Pompidou Centre, The Design Museum, London, The University of Michigan, and the Microsoft Research Centre, Cambridge.

During the NUAcT fellowship Jane’s research will focus on the potential to design with biology using textile fabrication processes. She will develop a new generation of living textiles for architecture; knitted fabrics that adapt their properties in response to environmental stimuli, acting as a programmable interface to maintain a healthy environment in buildings.