Our Team
Scutoid Design was founded in 2023 by a mother-and-daughter pair, Dr Divya Atkins and Mitali Atkins. Between us, we bring together experience from fields well outside design — including software engineering — alongside a grounding in product and industrial design from Central Saint Martins. That mix of technical and creative backgrounds shapes how we work: rigorous where it needs to be, and unafraid to take inspiration from nature where it doesn't.
We don't work in isolation. From subcontracted designers who partnered with us, to the engineers and researchers we've collaborated with on grant-funded and R&D projects, we lean on outside expertise wherever it sharpens the work. That openness to outside perspectives runs alongside something closer to home: our own multicultural heritage, with ties stretching from Bath to Bangalore, which shapes how we think about materials, craft, and design as much as any formal training does.
About our name
[ˈskjuː.tɔɪd]
pronounced SKOOtoid
Our company was named after a shape most people have never heard of. The scutoid was only identified by scientists in 2018, hiding in plain sight in the structure of epithelial cells, doing its job efficiently for millions of years before anyone thought to name it. Inspired by this story, and its beautiful link to the founders' passions for nature and good design, this name felt like the perfect fit.
The scutoid is also a small example of a much bigger idea — that some of the best design work has already been done, if you know where to look for it.