Network Director: Professor Peter Lansley, BSc, MSc, PhD, Professor of Construction Management, University of Reading which he joined in 1984 after 14 years as Director of Building Industry Research at Ashridge Management College. Since then he has been Head of the Department of Construction Management & Engineering; Dean of the Faculty of Urban and Regional Studies; Director of Social Science Research for the University; and, latterly, Pro-Vice-Chancellor. 
   Since 1997 he has assisted EPSRC in the development of the EQUAL initiative and has chaired its EQUAL panel. He is particularly involved with facilitating a stronger interdisciplinary community of researchers with an interest in the needs of older people and disabled people.
   Recent EPSRC awards, located in the Research Group for Inclusive Environments, include: as Principal Investigator - EQUAL: Meetings for the Emerging Community (GR/M99149), and as Co-investigator with members of King’s College London - Introducing Assistive Technology into Existing Homes of Older People (GR/N33218).
   His major long-term interest, helping construction firms improve their performance, has led to a range of research, consulting and training activities and 200 books, papers and articles, largely concerned with human and organisational performance in the construction industry, innovation and bridging the gap between research and practice. 
   He is one of the few construction academics to have received a major innovation award, in this case for the development of the internationally acclaimed AROUSAL simulation system. He has advised national and international bodies on organisational and management development issues and governments, most recently that of the Netherlands, on the evaluation and assessment of research and innovation programmes. 
   He was a member of the UK 1996 RAE assessment panels for Town & Country Planning and Built Environment research and is acting in the same capacity in 2001 for Built Environment research. For many years he has served on the Main Board of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB), where he has special responsibility for the CIB Working Commissions and Task Groups involved the needs of older people and disabled people.

Network Co-ordinator: Verity Smith, BA Sociology, MA Rural Social Development. An Academic Fellow at University of Reading, where she has worked for 10 years. Originally trained in social work, she has 17 years experience in field and residential social work, also management in Social Services Departments. She then worked for 2 years as a community development worker in Africa, followed by completing an MA in Rural Social Development. 
   Her subsequent varied work at the University of Reading has included co-ordinating Masters courses, lecturing on communication, groupwork, teamwork, gender studies, facilitation and training methods. She has co-ordinated and taught on many short courses and workshops, both at the University of Reading and in Asia and Africa. 
   On research, she was involved in setting up a project with Oxford University and East African Universities on the effect of climate change on farming and poverty.
   She is a firm believer in networking and the contribution of good administration towards its effectiveness. In addition, she is the carer for an elderly,  handicapped parent.

Professor Anthea Tinker, ACIOG, King's College London - an expert in social policy with a particular interest in housing as well as the application of technology to ageing. She acted as an EU expert on Ageing and Technology, a consultant on housing for the OECD and she is a Council member of the International Society of Gerontechnology. She chairs the Advisory Group for the ESRC programme of research on Growing Older: Extending Quality of Life.

Dr Diane Gyi, PhD, MSc, SROT, MErgS is a Research Fellow in the Department of Design and Technology, Loughborough University. Her PhD and MSc are both in the field of Ergonomics and she is involved in a number of research projects concerned with health, disability and design. Diane was an Occupational Therapist for seven years and has experience of working with older and disabled users both in hospitals and the community. She has contributed to RIEA (Royal Institute of Economic Affairs) panels, is a member of UKIID (United Kingdom Institute for Inclusive Design) and Loughborough University’s TAURUS (Third Age Unit for Research into Usability and Safety) network.

Professor Kevin Morgan, Gerontology Research Unit, Loughborough University, working extensively within collaborative, multidisciplinary teams, he has developed a specialised interest in the assessment of wellbeing and quality of life among older people, and has an international reputation for ongoing research into relationships between physical activity and health and wellbeing in later life. Working with NHS service providers and Social Care agencies his current projects include: the design of residential care settings (in collaboration with the Department of Architecture, Sheffield University; funded under the EPSRC EQUAL programme); the psychological treatment of late-life insomnia in primary care (in collaboration with the Institute of General Practice, University of Sheffield; funded under the NHS Health Technology Assessment programme); and the electronic monitoring of 24-hour sleep-wake patterns among dementia sufferers living at home (in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry, Leicester University). He is also collaborating on projects funded by ESRC, MRC, the NHS Executive, and national charities. With the aim of fostering and supporting initiatives in inclusive design and assistive technology, he has recently helped establish the Third Age Unit for Research into Usability and Safety (TAURUS) at Loughborough University (a collaborative network of ergonomists, researchers, designers, and engineers).

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