Rhea Thomas is an award-winning product designer and social innovator whose interdisciplinary practice bridges design, technology, and social impact. She grew up in a coastal town, where she saw how climate change, pollution and waste affected everyday life. This experience shaped her interest in sustainability and continues to motivate the work she does. It is a big part of why she founded Seasprout, a bio-design venture that turns seafood waste into regenerative materials for new products and circular systems. Alongside her entrepreneurial work, she designs and builds digital products at E.ON UK as part of the Growth Studio. She focuses on creating innovative ventures that help households move closer to a net-zero future.
Her work has been showcased by the BBC, exhibited internationally, and has won awards, including the Arts Foundation Futures Award ’24. She served on the World Design Organisation's Young Designer Circle ( 2023-25). She has been recognised as a Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeeper for the UN SDGs and as a UNHCR Young Champion for Refugees, highlighting her long-term commitment to climate and humanitarian innovation.
She holds a dual MA/MSc in Global Innovation Design from the Royal College of Art and Imperial College London. She has lived and worked across India, Japan, New York and London, which gives her a global perspective on how design and technology can create impact.
You can get in touch with Rhea via e-mail at trheathomas@gmail.com or connect with her on LinkedIn.
HONORS:
Youth Delegate - SDG Summit 2022
United Nations General Assembly at UN HQ, New York
World Design Organization, Young Designers Circle
Contributor from 2023 – 2025
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Goalkeeper 2030
Nominated in Sept 2022 during UN Global Goals Week, New York
UN Women UK Delegate - 2024
68th session of the Commission on the Status of Women
The Art Foundation Futures Award 2024
Regenerative Design Fellow
UNHCR Young Champion for Refugees
Innovator from Oct 2022 - March 2024
EDUCATION:
2021 - 2023 (MSc) Master of Science, Global Innovation Design
Imperial College London (MA) Master of Art, Global Innovation Design
Royal College of Art (Ranked #1 Art and Design University worldwide) + Pratt Institute, New York | Exchange Semester; Aug - Dec 2022 + Keio University Graduate school of Media Design, Japan | Exchange Semester; April - July 2022
2014 - 2018 (BDes) Bachelor of Design, Product Design MAEERs MIT Institute of Design, Pune
WORK EXPERIENCE:
Seasprout Innovator & Founder July 2023 - Present
E.ON UK Customer Research Lead | Growth & Innovation Studio June 2025 - Present
Design4India, An Initiative by NASSCOM & Facebook Product Experience Designer July 2018 – April 2020 Product Designer Dec 2016 – Feb 2017
INNOVATION FELLOWSHIPS:
Undaunted - The Greenhouse ClimateTech Accelerator Seasprout April 2024 - May 2025
Hakwood Center for Future Thinking (Week-long Creative Residency) Funded by The Francis W Reckitt Arts Trust Cotswolds, July 2024
WeInnovate - Imperial Enterprise Lab Little Chronicles Jan - June 2023
Unite 2030: Camp2030 Innovation Lab for Climate Action, New York, Sept 2022 Youth Delegate Programme (Cohort 3) Online, Dec 2020 - April 2021
TechQuatier Impact Challenge Data Driven Sustainability LearnEd March - June 2021
MENTORING:
Innovate<Her> Ambasador Mentor Aug 2024 - Present
Diana Foundation Social Action Accelerator Programme Sept 2023 - Present
Unite 2030 Mentor & ‘Ideas to Action’ Mastermind Lead Aug - Nov 2021
TALKS & WORKSHOPS:
World Design Congress 2025 Designing with Nature: When Nature is on the Team | Panellist London, 9-10th Sept 2025
London Design Festival 2023 Women in Design engineering | Panellist London, 16th July 2023
Royal College of Art Made in London | Workshop Facilitator, London, June 2023
World Bank Youth Summit 2023
Local solutions driving global impact | Lightning Talk Washington DC, 25th – 26th May 2023
United Nations 2022 SDG Media Summit | Youth Delegate New York, 9th Sept 2022 Global Climate & SDG Synergy Conference | Youth Delegate Tokyo, 20th – 21st July 2022
Youth SDG Summit for the UN SDGs Changing the world with one Idea | Panelist Online, 22nd Sept 2021
Ideas to Action: Design Thinking | Workshop Facilitator Online, Feb 2021 Designing education for the post pandemic world | Talk Online, Feb 2021
AWARDS:
2025 SME News, Greater London Enterprise Awards (2025) for Seasprout
2024 The Art Foundation Futures Award - Regenerative Design Fellow Seasprout, Nominee - Green Concept Award
2023 Seasprout, GUCCI x Arts Thread Global Design Graduate Show Shortlist Little Chronicles, WeInnovate - Imperial Enterprise Lab (top 25 startup - 6 month entrepreneurial competition) Design for Good Certification
2022 Decibel, Winning Team - RCA Grand Challenge in partnership with Logitech and Oculus Calm Quilt, Semi-finalist - Mayor's entrepreneur Recipient of the JASSO Scholarship, Keio University Graduate School of Media Design
2020
LearnEd, Winning Team - SwissNex NexHack Edtech hackathon
EXHIBITIONS:
Seasprout was exhibited at: London Design Festival 14th – 22nd Sept 2023 RCA2023, Truman Brewery London 13th – 16th July 2023 Summer Show, Imperial College London 27th June – 2nd July 2023
Shrimpak was exhibited at: Spring Show, Imperial College London 16th – 19th Feb 2023 Open Studios: Work in Progress Show, Royal College of Art 3rd – 4th Feb 2023
Aria was exhibited at: Spring Show, Imperial College London 25th Feb – 2nd Mar 2022