35 Women Driving Material Innovation

UNSW SMaRT Centre Director Prof Veena has featured in a story and list of the world's foremost 35 women driving materials innovation, published by materials and design platform Tocco.

Tocco says: 

In a climate-conscious era, materials are more than mere building blocks – they are catalysts for change. Around the world, women visionaries are leading a quiet revolution in material innovation, redefining how we design, produce, and relate to matter itself. 

These pioneers work at the intersection of science, craft, technology, and sustainability, proposing radical alternatives to extractive systems. From laboratories and ateliers to construction sites and rural communities, they are leveraging everything from fungi and algae to bamboo and recycled waste, proving that materials can be grown, regenerated, or reimagined to heal our planet. 

This is not a token list, but a necessary reframing: as the world faces unprecedented ecological pressures, women’s diverse perspectives and holistic approaches are shaping a new ethics and aesthetic of making – one grounded in circularity, local context, and respect for living systems.

The following 35 profiles celebrate these material changemakers. Each entry highlights who they are, what they’re transforming, and why it matters. Individually, they’ve invented sustainable textiles, revolutionary building components, and bio-based alternatives that challenge business-as-usual. 

Collectively, they are raising global material literacy and empowering communities, from the Global South to the high-tech West. They remind us that the future of design is not about flashy trends, but about materials imbued with purpose and place. In their hands, matter becomes message – and a means to build more symbiotic futures for all.

Tocco story

Tocco says of Veena: