Catherine Ince replaced Sandra Smith as Project Lead responsible for the object and public engagement strands of the project in 2019. Catherine is Chief Curator, V&A East. The V&A East project will create two interconnected sites in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London – a brand-new museum at Stratford Waterfront, and a new collection and research centre at Here East, both opening in 2023. Until November 2015, Catherine was a Curator at the Barbican Centre where she produced major survey exhibitions and publications including The World of Charles and Ray Eames (2015), Pop Art Design (2013), Bauhaus: Art as Life (2012) and Future Beauty: 30 Years of Japanese Fashion (2011). Prior to joining the Barbican, Catherine was Curator, and subsequently Co-Director, of the British Council’s Architecture, Design and Fashion department where she organised international touring exhibitions and collaborative projects about contemporary design and architecture, and commissioned the British Pavilion at the Venice Biennale of Architecture. see less

As project co-lead, Kati is responsible for the data strand of the project. As Head of Digital Media and Publishing at the V&A, Kati leads content development across digital and print, and explores ways that technology can help improve the visitor experience – both online and in our buildings. Having worked in the design industry for 19 years, Kati brings a human centred design approach to her work, and has led award-winning work in the redevelopment of the V&A digital estate. Kati graduated from Durham University with a joint honours in Geography and Anthropology, and holds an MA in History of Design from the V&A/Royal College of Art. see less

Sandra was responsible for the object and public engagement strands of the project. As former Head of Conservation and Technical Services she had an overview of the risks and vulnerabilities of collections and the way in which these can be mitigated to ensure that even the most fragile can be studied, displayed and sent around the world on loan or as part of tours. With over 30 years of experience in the care of collections Sandra has an extensive overview of materials within museum collections, and encouraged her team to find innovative solutions preservation, presentation and access to collections; the Conservation team have won several national awards for this work. Sandra graduated from The Institute of Archaeology (UCL) with an honours degree in Archaeological Conservation and Material Science, and is an accredited member of the Institute of Conservation (ACR Icon), and Fellow of the International Institute of Conservation (FIIC) and Society of Antiquaries (FSA). see less

Appointed as research fellow in 2018, Cara will review existing, and explore potential, object access and engagement opportunities at the museum - with a view to improving collections access. Part of the work of her fellowship is to look beyond the museum world for inspiration in formulating and modelling innovative ways of designing open storage and object delivery mechanisms for V&A objects. Cara has a strong interest in material culture and interdisciplinary research. In 2017 she gained her PhD from the Department of Drama, Theatre and Dance at Royal Holloway, University of London. Here she was a postgraduate member of the Centre for GeoHumanities, an interdisciplinary initiative responding to the growing interdisciplinary engagement between geography and arts and humanities disciplines. Previous to this, Cara graduated from Royal Holloway with an MA in Cultural Geography and holds a BA (Hons) in Human Geography from the University of Exeter. see less

Appointed as research fellow in 2018, Julian will review current museum practices and explore new technologies and innovative data configurations. Julian’s area of interest and expertise is concerned with the way digital technology changes, and challenges, the spaces publics operate within. The work on this project looks beyond the museum world to investigate the way data impacts on society and culture. Julian was previously researcher in residence at the award-winning Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester and holds an MA in Museology and a PhD in digital heritage from the University of Manchester. see less

Matilda is exploring future audience trends and new ways to increase the social relevance and reach of the V&A's collections. Matilda has worked in public programmes in museums and galleries for more than 15 years including Tate, National Portrait Gallery, Royal Museums Greenwich and the V&A. Her roles have involved broadening and deepening engagement with collections, often working closely with artists, designers and makers to engage new and hard to reach audiences. Matilda works internationally, developing programmes and knowledge exchange, most recently with museum professionals in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, Russia and China. She trained as an artist at the University of Oxford / Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art  and was a postgraduate at the Jan Van Eyck Akademie, Maastricht. She co-edited with Dr Linda Sandino, Artists Work in Museums: Histories, Interventions and Subjectivities (Wunderkammer Press, 2013).  see less