Iain McKinnon Access Consultants was one of only three shortlisted in a UK wide design competition run by the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) to design a new and innovative pool lift to help take disabled swimmers in and out of swimming pools.

The Flexi-Pool Lift™ is a unique and innovative mobile pool lift. It comprises a base unit onto which three different attachments can be fitted to accommodate the widest possible range of end user needs.

Iain worked to develop inclusive product design while at Buro Happold. He established collaborations with academia and in particular the Product Development Partnership (PDP) programme at the University of Strathclyde to facilitate this exciting work.

Iain wrote design briefs and mentored final year students to develop innovative products that would work well for disabled and older people. Projects included:
• a new manual fire alarm call point that was easier to use for disabled people than existing solutions (shown below)
• an accessible supermarket checkout counter that was easier to use for wheelchair users
• a manual wheelchair glass holder that allowed manual wheelchair users to hold a drink and manoeuvre their wheelchair at the same time

Following the success of his final year university design project, Iain was offered a six month contract with marine equipment manufacturer Lewmar (04/05).
Iain was responsible for the continued design and development of his patented flat blade marine anchor design. This involved sketching, CAD design and development, prototype building and testing and design optimisation.

Iain studied International Product Design Engineering on an exchange year at the Hanzehogeschool in Groningen, Netherlands (01/02) and was selected to undertake a five month industrial placement at Philips Domestic and Personal Care (DAP) in Drachten, Netherlands working on new electric shaver concepts.