In this episode, we are delighted to talk with Dawn Foxall and Roy Ballam about the recently released paper commissioned by the Textiles Skills Centre, 'Unravelling the Fabric of Textiles Education'.   As we seek to move the subject forward, building from the bottom up being our approach at the Association, we need to carefully look at where textiles fits into primary and secondary education. Our view is that we want to keep textile education within design and technology, a position that is...

In this conversation, we follow Gordon Fraser, Co-founder of the Marloe Watch Company, on his journey from a difficult school experience to co-founding a successful British-designed watch company.   With his Co-founder Oliver, whom he met online, the two founded The Marloe Watch Company and produced their first two watches without meeting (and living in two different countries). As the company grew, Oliver was the first to 'give up the day job' and concentrate 100% on the success of their...

In this episode, we are in conversation with Claire Holman, modelmaking professional and lecturer at Arts University Bournemouth. We follow Claire's journey from a fairly nomadic start as her family moved first to Zambia and then to England, closely followed by Scotland as her father's work dictated their journey. This was followed at age sixteen by Claire leaving school and taking on a YTS course (if you are old enough, you know. If not, a government initiative to direct young people into...

This episode sees us in conversation with Sophie Hague - 2022 RSA Student Award winner and UX Designer. Sophie found school difficult, not so much academically, but she found it over-stimulating, crowded and overall, just not an enjoyable experience. The one exception to this was design and technology lessons, where she enjoyed the 'open-endedness' of problem-solving activities and just 'clicked'. As she progressed on her learning journey, Sophie found out just how she liked to learn....

Denim jeans have become an integral part of modern-day life.  The majority of us own at least one pair (I personally have to confess to seven)! But how are these garments made? At what cost to the environment? And when they reach end of life how many of us give proper thought to where our once-loved products end up? Josh Myers is on a mission to turn these discarded garments into aesthetically beautiful products that see the material being given a second life, good news for the environment,...

Amanda was somewhat destined to work in fashion from an early age. Influenced by her grandmother, who placed her in front of a sewing machine at age eight, she quickly learned how to use the machine and how to make her own clothes. Her grandmother's throwaway comment, having made her own dress only a short time after being introduced to the sewing machine, stuck, and Amanda's journey into the fashion industry was set.  A combination of sheer determination, ability, grit, and, it has to be...

In this first podcast of 2024, we are delighted to be in conversation with  Reianna Shakil, UKRI Young Innovators Awards 22/23 Winner | Multidisciplinary Designer | Founder + Director of Studio ZRX. In this conversation, we cover Reianna's journey from school through how she overcame problems when her funding ran out part way through her sixth form course and then how she had to find ways to manage her way through her degree, being diagnosed with Combined Type ADHD part way through her...

So that was 2023!  Twenty-four episodes of Designed for Life were recorded and published over the course of the year, fulfilling our promise of at least one podcast every two weeks. In these pods, I have been fortunate to speak with a wide range of innovators, founders, designers, engineers, academics, teachers and students, and here in this (admittedly longer than usual podcast), we pick out some of the best moments of 2023 and put them in one place for your listening delight. I would like...

Where was the first music concert you ever attended? Who was the artist? Who did you see this artist/band with? And finally, how did you feel as you left the gig? If you are like me and love your live music, these are questions that will roll off the tongue. For me, it was the Police. I was fifteen years old and with my best mate from school, the gig was at Hammersmith Odean, and it left me buzzing and wanting more! In this podcast, we are in conversation with Becky Pell. Becky is a sound...

How many of you reading this have fond childhood memories of reading the Beano? I am guessing many of you could name most of the characters from the Beano now; some of you may still have Christmas Annuals tucked away somewhere in the loft. Well, the good news is the Beano is still alive and well...in fact, it is in rude health.  So when I received an email asking if I would like to speak with Alex Harris (BBC Teach) and Mike Sterling (Creative Director at Beano...although he also has another...

This is part two of a two-part mini-series in which we explore the development of the design and technology curriculum offer at Hethersett Academy in East Anglia. If you have not yet listened to part one, I suggest you go back and listen to this first, as there is something of a sequence.  In this episode, we follow on from our conversation with Kate Finlay, Head of Department and Trust Curriculum Lead by talking with students, parents, the design and technology staff and the Headteacher. ...

In the second of our focus podcasts within a specific school, we are delighted to bring you 'Designed for Life' in conversation with Hethersett Academy in East Anglia.  The intention within these podcasts is to provide listeners with a complete 360 journey around the design and technology department in the school, with interviews and thoughts from students, teachers, parents and senior leaders. From these conversations, you can piece together the value of the subject to the curriculum within...

In this episode, we are delighted to be joined in conversation by Jenny Body CBE.  This episode was recorded in front of a live audience at Aerospace Bristol on the morning of our annual awards ceremony on the 13th of October this year. The recording was made almost within touching distance of Concorde, an aircraft that Jenny had the privilege of working on some years ago. Jenny Body is a British Aerospace engineer and former President (the first ever woman to hold this post) of the  Royal...

In this episode, I was delighted to be in conversation with Jennifer Campbell, Managing Director of Giles Agency Hong Kong.  In the pod, we track Jen's journey from rural Berkshire through the discovery that her natural penchant to quickly strike up conversations with people, together with an ability to sell and the tenacity to hang on in there when sales didn't go as planned, could actually become a career.  A move to a large agency in London (she wasn't aware quite how big a deal this was...

This podcast was recorded in front of a live audience at The Royal Grammar School, Newcastle. This is the first of a series of live podcasts to come as we take Designed for Life on the road to meet not only our stunning guests but also teachers, students and their parents. In this podcast, I was fortunate to be in conversation with Charlotte Chapman, CEng. MIMechE. Charlotte is a project manager at Royal IHC. In the pod, we follow Charlotte's journey through school to decide between a love...

Larry Sullivan is a serial entrepreneur, business founder, angel investor and social philanthropist. In this podcast, we track Larry's journey from humble beginnings growing up in Essex to a sudden awakening to academia in sixth form, leading him to be the first in his family to attend university.  A chance conversation led him to travel to America during his summer break with BUNAC https://bunac.org an experience that he feels offered as much, or more, to his personal development than his...

The joy of this podcast is that through it, we get to talk with designers, engineers and innovators at the very peak of their game and often informed by years or even decades of experience. At the same time, we have spoken with people at the very start of their careers, and are privileged to explore how they are shaping themselves and their careers for the future. In this episode of Designed for Life, I am privileged to talk with Joshua Bruce, Aeronautical Engineering undergraduate, Mission...

Ben Edmonds is a designer, inventor, entrepreneur, engineer and self-confessed 'tinkerer'. In this episode, we follow Ben from school where aged twelve and asked what he wanted to do when he grew up; he answered, "I want to be a lead designer for Dyson".  Almost twenty years later, that's exactly what he did,  becoming a Principal Designer at Dyson. But Ben's story is oh so much bigger than that. He has sold or donated almost every possession he owned twice as he upped sticks to start life...

In this episode of Designed for Life, we speak with Ifeoma Noelin Okolie. Ify is a Chartered, FSEng (SIS) Certified, Product Safety Manager, Choral Singer, Poet & Abstract Photographer.  Ify has 13 years experience delivering innovative state-of-the-art safety engineering solutions across a variety of safety-critical industries, where she has held various leadership positions.  She devotes her time in and outside the workplace to sharing lessons learnt from her ‘Triple Minority Career’ as...

In this latest episode of Designed for Life, you get to meet the Young V&A’s first designer in ‘The Shed’, Clara Chu.  The Young V&A opened its doors on Saturday, 1 July 2023. Young V&A is a powerhouse of creativity for the young, from infants to early teens. It is a national museum dedicated to children and young people, a place to imagine, play, create, debate and design for tomorrow. Clara is the first designer placed within the Young V&A for a six-month term. Clara is a...

In this latest podcast, we are in conversation with Alex Knight, award-winning founder and CEO of the amazing STEMazing initiative. The best way to introduce you to STEMazing's mission and work is to take this quote directly from their website: "STEMAZING is a Call to Action to collectively amplify the voice of women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths so we can create a more diverse and inclusive STEM future". In the podcast, we track Alex's journey from school to a successful...

This is the second part of a two-part series of podcasts, and the first of its kind recorded live in a school. We are excited to be able to bring you what we plan will be a series of spotlight sessions focused on D&T departments nationally. If you have stumbled across this episode without listening to Part One of the mini-series, I politely suggest you go back, as sequencing is quite essential.  Baysgarth School is a Co-educational secondary school located in Barton-on-Humber, North...

This is the first in a two-part series of podcasts and the first recorded live in a school. We are excited to be able to bring you what we plan will be the first in a series of spotlight sessions focused on D&T departments nationally.  Baysgarth School is a Co-educational secondary school located in Barton-on-Humber, North Lincolnshire. The school was formed in 1975 through the merger of Barton Grammar School and Beretun Secondary Modern School. The school moved into new buildings within...

In this episode, we follow Gill's journey from church school, where her dad was the local vicar and knew 'everyone', through to training as a structural engineer, a job that Gill loved and thought she would work in for the rest of her working life.  As a young graduate engineer with a degree in applied geology and engineering, Gill took the first tentative steps into the adult world, testing, monitoring and evaluating the structural integrity of concrete structures and piled foundations....