Thomas Thwaites

Biography Thwaites studied economics and biology at University College London, followed by a master's degree in Design Interactions from the Royal College of Art i n 2009.

In a nine-month project as part of his MA course, Thwaites attempted to build a toaster from scratch. The project was inspired by a quote from Douglas Adams' 1992 novel Mostly Harmless: "Left to his own devices he couldn't build a toaster. He could just about make a sandwich, and that was it." He published The Toaster Project: Or a Heroic Attempt to Build a Simple Electric Appliance from Scratch, and gave a TED talk "How I Built a Toaster - From Scratch". The tools and artefacts from the project are on display as an installation in the Victoria and Albert Museum, in room 76 "Design 1900 to Now".

In January 2017 he appeared on BBC Radio 4's Museum of Curiosity. His hypothetical donation to the imaginary museum was a history book written in 2222AD, covering the present time.

In 2017–2018 he was a visiting professor in the Industrial Design department of Rhode Island School of Design.

Selected publications