Nigel Cross is Professor of Design Studies at the UK's Open University and a leading international figure in the world of design research. With academic and practical backgrounds in architecture and industrial design, he has conducted research in computer-aided design, design methodology and design education since the nineteen-sixties. His current principal research interest is in design cognition, based on studies of expert and exceptional designers. He has been a member of the academic staff of the pioneering, multi-media Open University since 1970, where he has been responsible for, or instrumental in, a wide range of distance education courses in design and technology. For many years Professor Cross was Head of the Department of Design and Innovation at the Open University - a department with one of the strongest research records in Art and Design in the UK. Recent books by Professor Cross include the third edition of his successful textbook on Engineering Design Methods (Wiley, 2000), and he has been a co-editor of books on Research in Design Thinking, Analysing Design Activity and Expertise in Design. His total publications list includes more than 120 items, plus many Open University course texts, broadcasts, etc. Professor Cross is also Editor-in-Chief of the international journal of Design Studies.