Maja Kecman is a Senior Associate at the Helen Hamlyn Centre where for the last three years has been working in their Patient Safety Group, a multi-disciplinary design research team that works closely with the NHS, industry and other research institutions.

Maja holds a Masters degree in Industrial Design Engineering from the Royal College of Art and an undergraduate degree in Manufacturing Engineering from Cambridge University. Her designs have won numerous awards including first prize in the Helen Hamlyn Design for our Future Selves Awards and she was also shortlisted for British Female Inventor of the Year in 2006.

At the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Maja has worked closely with DePuy, Johnson & Johnson, on the complete redesign of their orthopaedic instrument kit and is currently leading a project for the Department of Health on Design for Patient Dignity. In addition to working at the Helen Hamlyn Centre, Maja provides consulting services to several companies, most recently Pharmasol. She is currently developing her personal project, a self-administered smear test kit, to take it to proof-of-principle trials at the Manchester Infirmary in early 2010.