The partnership between Ryan and Storey was formed after Storey heard the scientist talking on Radio 4’s Material World programme.� It has organically grown into a dynamic working relationship and the pair have now been given funding by NESTA (National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts) to provide a blueprint for collaboration for universities around the globe. Here's how it all began:

Day 1 Tony is loud and likes Rugby. Helen is quiet and likes Bikram yoga. Day 2 Tony was a teenage communist who wrote poetry and painted. Helen did ballet but hung about with skinheads who cut off her bun. Day 3 Tony is a scientist here at the University of Sheffield. Helen is an artist, designer and Research Fellow at London College of Fashion. Day 4 Tony used synchrotron radiation to look inside molecules - like you do. Helen designed unusual dresses by looking inside the minds of women. Day 5 Tony worked very hard and was made a Professor at the age of 35. Helen worked very hard for Valentino and then began her own award-winning fashion business. Day 6 In 2002 Tony gave the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures on the science behind the stuff we take for granted. In 2004 he was made an OBE for "services to science". Day 7 In 1996 Helen was awarded a prize to design a 27-piece collection that was inspired by biology, (the first 1000 hours of human life) called Primitive Streak. This changed her life. Three more science/art projects later she got stuck... Day 8 Tony dragged science students into art galleries to see how the materials used influenced the work. A lifelong fan of The Clash he knew not to confuse Art and Style. Day 9 In 2005 Helen heard Tony on the radio talking about materials chemistry. She rang him and provocatively asked, "Can a bottle have consciousness? Can it know that it is empty and change its physical behaviour to get rid of itself?" Tony did not laugh. Until he put the phone down. Day 10 Helen visited Tony and his colleagues here in Sheffield. They all began to talk. Helen was questioning everything they knew and how they applied it. Day 11 Tony told Helen that in a lifetime a European throws away 20 tons of plastic. It's made from oil and is buried sunshine, and in three generations it will all be gone. (Next/All)