Rob Aley is an Industrial Designer who moved away from the corporate design world to use his design expertise in areas of pressing social need such as poverty reduction and disability.

He has lived and worked with disadvantaged communities in Kenya and India and over recent years has worked for the technical international development organisation Practical Action - formally ITDG  which works with poor communities throughout the world. ITDG aims to demonstrate and advocate the sustainable use of technology to reduce poverty in the developing countries. Design has for a long time been used as a tool in the work of ITDG.

Rob Aley is a member of The Cardiff Group  which investigates relationships between design and development and is a Trustee of the development charity Advantage Africa. He currently works as an independent consultant.