Jenny Tillotson

Dr Jenny Tillotson is a Senior Research Fellow in the School of Fashion at Central Saint Martins College of Art & Design, Visiting Scholar at the University of Cambridge, Fellow of the Royal Society of the Arts and a STEM Science & Engineering Ambassador. She received her PhD in Printed Textiles from the Royal College of Art and BA in Fashion Communication from Central Saint Martins.

Her research investigates the growing art and science of 'Scentsory Design®', a term she has coined which exists at the cross-over of three main disciplines: the developing knowledge and utilisation of nanotechnology and ‘miniaturisation', the science of smell and how it affects the human brain and senses, and thirdly the emerging field of ‘Wearable Technology'. The research seeks to break the tradition of scent delivery through the development of computerised scent-output systems worn on the body for fashion and ‘wellbeing' applications in ‘Emotional Fashion'.

Tillotson has exhibited internationally, published in both science and design journals, won numerous awards and consulted for NIKE and Unilever. In 2006 she was nominated for a ‘FiFi' Award for breakthrough progress in the fragrance industry. Prior to her academic work she was a fashion stylist in the media. Her interest in ‘Emotional Fashion' originally stems from work experience in the healthcare sector and offering emotional support to people living with HIV and AIDS. She gained commercial experience working for Charmed Technology Inc, a spin-out company form the MIT Media Lab commercialising Wearable Computers and Mobile Devices during the dot come era.

As an entrepreneur in the global technology cluster of Cambridge (UK), she is currently establishing a design-led Wearable Technology company called Sensory Design & Technology with Professor Andreas Manz, a pioneer of lab-on-a-chip. Associated with the Instititue of Biotechnology in the Department of Chemical Engineering & Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge, the company is commercializing eScent®; a timed/controlled therapeutic device that dispenses fragrances in response to user driven stimuli and also working on a Knowledge Transfer Fellowship with Philips Research.

She comes from a family ancestry of 19th century printing techniques (Tillotsons & Sons) and soap (Lever Bros) in Bolton Lancashire. Her goal is to fuse 21st century 'Printed Electronics' with 'Scent Bubbles' to pioneer a new field of ‘Printed Electronic Perfumery' that improves the Quality of Life for Women.

Jenny's research centres on finding and applying novel ways of creating responsive fashion, textiles and jewellery, by changing the experience of fragrance to a more intimate communication of identity. Using the olfactory sense as a communication tool, with a particular focus on the relationship between aromas and emotional well-being, her research investigates the interface between the arts and biomedical sciences, around new emerging technologies and science platforms and their applications in the domain of health and well-being.

As a practitioner her research topics include: employing emerging technologies with the ancient art of perfumery to create novel olfactory experiences in textiles that are not as passive as current capsulated capsule systems; intelligent fabrics inspired by neurobiological delivery mechanisms found under skin; controlled-release delivery of precisely metered sensory ingredients (e.g. fragrances) in response to user-driven stimuli in design-led wearable technologies; development of ‘holistic' textiles to deliver stress-reducing aromas with mood-enhancing properties.

Recent exhibitions include:
- ‘Bugs Bazaar', Craft and Design Gallery, January 2009, Millennium Gallery, Sheffield
- ‘Exploring Innovation', ‘Well-being At Work' exhibition, July 2008, Royal College Of Art, London
- ‘eScent®', RCUK Business Plan Competition, October 2008, Chelsea Football Club, London
- ‘Smart Second Skin', ‘Touch Me' exhibition, June 2005, Victoria & Albert Museum and the Wellcome Trust, London

Research Projects

• Smell The Colour Of The Rainbow
• eScent®
• Smart Second Skin

Publications

- Design & Scent 2008
Design & Scent', co-author Ben Hughes in book ‘Design & Emotion Moves' published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing', edited by Pieter Desmet, MariAnne Karlsson, Jeroen van Erp for the Design & Emotion Conference, Hong Kong Poly University ISBN 13: 978-1-4438-0016-7

- Fashion Fluidics 2006
‘Fashion Fluidics' CCIS (Communication In Computer & Communication Science) "Transdisciplinary Digital Art: Sound, Vision & the New Screen. Digital Art Weeks and Interactive Futures 2006/2007, Zurich, Switzerland and Victoria, BC, Canada, Selected Papers. Adams, R., Gibson, S., Müller Arisona, S. (Eds.), Vol. 7, 2008, Springer ISBN: 978-3-540-79485-1

- Scent Whisper 2006
‘Scent Whisper', Institute of Engineering Technology (IET) MEMS Sensors & Actuators seminar, paper co-author Prof A.Manz & Dr G.Jenkins, page 97- 104 ISBN: 0537-9989 ISBN: 0-86341-627-6

- Scent By A Wireless Web 2005
Wearable Futures Conference, Publisher University of Wales, paper: ‘Scent By A Wireless Web' ISBN:1-899274-34-0