Designed for Life

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 university experience alone. 

This podcast has taught me that entrepreneurship can be taught, and skills can be improved and fine-tuned, but that entrepreneurial spirit is carried within people born to work for themselves and create a new business entity. Larry's first business saw a gap in the market and successfully met a need; this later led to the creation of COINS Global https://www.coins-global.com, a company that Larry led and nurtured for over two decades before recently exiting "in the right manner". 

Larry Sullivan is a successful businessman, no doubt, but what differentiates him is his desire for business to "be a force for good". He views business as an essential tool to help make the world a better place and, over the years, has put his money where his mouth is in this respect and continues to do so. He founded the Coins Foundation in 2006 (now Leolion Foundation) https://www.leolionfoundation.org and, through this, has worked with carefully selected third-sector partners, including Habitat for Humanity https://www.habitat.org and PEAS https://www.peas.org.uk

Several books and links are mentioned in the podcast, including:

• How much land does a man need - Leo Tolstoy 
• Post Corona from crisis to opportunity - Scott Galloway
• Eat the Rich - P.J. O'rourke
• The fortune at the bottom of the Pyramid - C.K Prahlad
• The Bottom Billion - Paul Collier
• Freebird Films - https://www.freebirdfilm.tv/
• Future of capitalism competition - https://www.borntoengineer.com/future-of-capitalism-competition-new-tech-startup-competition

If you want to see the difference Stepping Stones school has made to the lives of young people who attended, please do check out these alumni case studies https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1-rDCXeAPfJe78WV6XFt4Glx93IowIMp&si=cFVMvRaDPgRhSc0R

I have known Larry for years and not only enjoyed recording this podcast but learned from it. I hope and feel you will, too. Let us know what you think!

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 44 Youth Advisory board member and founder of the Young Engineers Summit.

There is an often-voiced mantra that, in life, 'we should all strive to be the change that we want to see; this is a shortened version of a quotation from Mahatma Gandhi, shown in full below:

 "We but mirror the world. All the tendencies present in the outer world are to be found in the world of our body. If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. This is the divine mystery supreme. A wonderful thing it is and the source of our happiness. We need not wait to see what others do.”

~ Mahatma Gandhi

Joshua has seen a world that is unfair and uneven in the way that it distributes wealth, knowledge and education and in the way it nurtures and utilises knowledge, and instead of sitting and waiting for others to make the change, he is doing his own bit to change the opportunities presented to young people worldwide.

These podcasts are an absolute privilege and a joy; this one is full of action, hope and belief...please do find an hour to sit back and listen to Joshua's story and if you can help him, either with funding for the next stage of the Young Engineers Summit, or otherwise, please do reach out, either through the contacts below or contact me at the Association at [email protected]

Instagram: https://instagram.com/joshuabruce__?igshid=OGQ5ZDc2ODk2ZA==

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabruce/

https://myjoyonline.com/young-engineers-summit-harnessing-transformative-power-of-stem-to-change-lives/ - Young Engineers Summit Article

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 elsewhere in the world. Left one job four times...yes, four times. And we talk as he prepares to set out on a new and exciting adventure.

So grab some time to yourself (this is a little longer than some pods but there was just too much that was good to cut the conversation any further), and enjoy Designed for Life - In conversation with Ben Edmonds.

A statement from Ben:

"I've spent a lifetime creating, making, building, testing and iterating anything and everything. Having gone through the whole school system and seen my own children in schools, I know that students don't need any more time focussed on following instructions. Working with a friend of mine with a decade of teaching experience, it's our belief that we should be helping children to SOLVE PROBLEMS, and that's what Inventor Club is all about. It could be as simple as moving unknown boxes up a step or solving the world's energy crisis. Either way, we want to encourage teachers, students and parents to think creatively and have a license to fail in order to ultimately solve problems and create new, exciting solutions.

Our mission is to create as many innovators & inventors as possible. That starts with good quality D&T lessons, where it is OK to experiment and where the prototypes and the journey are just as important as the outcomes. Lessons where every student creates their own solution and not just the same product. 

We understand that teachers are extremely time-poor, and that’s where we come in. We can provide schools with high-quality and well-thought-out challenges that allow for creativity and encourage multiple solutions to solve the same problem. 

 We’re launching a new website purely for Inventor Club where all our challenges, resources and newly created schemes of work will be made available. Please also follow us as we document all of our innovations and journey on our social pages. 

www.innovationben.com 

www.inventorclub.co.uk

www.Facebook.com/InnovationBenPage

www.Instagram.com/InnovationBen

Regards

Ben

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 a Black, Female and Artistic Professional in Engineering and tech and de-bunking gender-career biases. Ify lends her voice to EDI and STEM campaigns by raising awareness of the importance of role models, adequate representation at all levels of leadership and the role of a diverse workforce in achieving the trifectas of high performance, market dominance and business longevity. 

She is a Keynote Speaker, Foundation Governor, REACH Employee Network Chair and UN Women UK Delegate (CSW).

I thoroughly enjoyed this conversation and I think you will too, so take an hour for yourself, pour a tea/coffee, find a quiet space and a cosy chair and enjoy Designed for Life, in conversation with Ify Okolie. 

PS. Look out for a very special input from Ify towards the end of the pod. I'll say no more...

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 London-based multidisciplinary artist and designer. She creates work that re-
imagines everyday, mundane objects in our domestic world, mixing mass production with the handcrafted. 

Visionary and colourful pop accessories challenge what we wear on our bodies, not only textiles but everyday household objects we take for granted, such as a mop, a kettle and a toothbrush. Clara’s exploration of up-cycling questions the prominence of fast-moving consumer goods, blurring boundaries between ‘high’ and ‘low’ forms of culture through humorous transformations. Her practice helps change the perception around waste in the form of fashion accessories, workshops and installations.

In this podcast, we explore how Clara has reached this point in her career,  what this six-month placement means to her, and what she hopes to offer to the young people who will get the opportunity to observe a designer in action and work with her through a series of planned workshops. 

Please check online for dates she will be open to the public for workshops, demonstrations or show and tell. 

https://www.vam.ac.uk/event/PD4qJqOWoO/yva-meet-the-designer-in-the-shed

Visit the Young V&A Cambridge Heath Road, Bethnal Green, London, E2 9PA.

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:

In the podcast, we track Alex's journey from school to a successful career as an engineering consultant.  We explore the passion to make a difference that drove Alex to leave her role and follow her heart to set up STEMazing.

This is an episode that you will not want to miss. Alex is making a real difference to the perception and reality of women engineers nationally and has aspirations to grow this impact on an international stage.

So get those earbuds in and listen to Designed for Life in conversation with Alexandra Knight CEng, FIMechE,  FWES.

Some information about STEMazing and the Inspiration Academy:

Look out for the launch of our Autumn/Winter round of the 2023 award-winning Inspiration Academy programme, which will run from September until December this year.  |  | The STEMAZING Inspiration Academy supports women in STEM to shine as visible role models and inspires young people through fun, interactive online STEM sessions.  The women in STEM participants take part in training and workshops to build their public engagement skills and confidence on camera, plus their STEM delivery toolbox. These newly empowered role models then deliver a 6-week programme of LIVE online STEM sessions designed to engage children aged 7 - 9 years old.

Schools benefit from this FREE programme by taking part in hands-on simple STEM activities and experiments to promote children's curiosity, creativity and courage led by a woman in STEM role model. Thanks to our Partners, we can deliver this programme free of charge to down-selected women and schools. 

Doors will be open for registration on 3rd July. If you are considering signing up for the programme, or you are interested in Partnering with us to support our work whilst directly benefitting your female talent and your community, CLICK HERE for more information and to register your interest! 


 

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 Lincolnshire. The school was formed in 1975 by merging Barton Grammar School and Beretun Secondary Modern School. The school moved into new buildings within the last seven years.

Ofsted visited the school in January this year, and the school comfortably retained its rating of 'Good'. The school runs a unique curriculum offer with KS3 covered within years seven and eight, freeing up time for their 'Gateway' curriculum within year nine; this curriculum concentrates on four key areas of student development, these being:

• Achievement - Providing an academic foundation for KS4  study and freeing up time to allow students and their teachers to explore the richness and depth of learning that encourages deeper engagement and cross-curricular work. 
• Preparation for the future - Looking beyond examinations to how their education can help to prepare students for life. 
• Family and Community Engagement - Providing time for visits, cross-curricular work, and promoting community engagement. 
• Intent - Allowing students to change their GCSE option without the stress of having to 'catch up'. Develop a range of employability skills and connect what they do in school to the skillsets and attributes that will prepare students successfully for life.  

In this second part of a two-part mini-series, we meet several year nine and ten students who tell us what they think of the offer within D&T/Engineering and how this has positively affected them. We meet with the Employability Mentor to discuss how students at Baysgarth are prepared for life after school, including higher education and work. Meet with the Headteacher, Richard Briggs, to hear how he,  his senior team, governors and staff have balanced a desire to do what is right for their students with pressures from outside to conform. Finally, we meet parents to hear how the D&T/Engineering offer at Baysgarth has positively impacted their son/daughter's experience of school. 

I don't mind saying we are pretty proud of this podcast's 360 overview of a school's curriculum. We have more planned but would love to know what you think. Please feedback to DesignedforLife @designtechnology.org.uk.

I want to thank all the staff involved at Baysgarth School for their complete cooperation on this project that allowed us to produce this podcast mini-series. 
So sit back, give yourself an hour of reflection and listen to Designed for Life - In conversation with Baysgarth School. 

https://baysgarthschool.co.uk/
https://www.greenpower.co.uk/

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 the last seven years.

Ofsted visited the school in January this year, and the school comfortably retained its rating of 'Good'. The school runs a unique curriculum offer with KS3 covered within years seven and eight, freeing up time for their 'Gateway' curriculum within year nine; this curriculum concentrates on four key areas of student development, these being:

• Achievement - Providing an academic foundation for KS4  study and freeing up time to allow students and their teachers to explore the richness and depth of learning that encourages deeper engagement and cross-curricular work. 
• Preparation for the future - Looking beyond examinations to how their education can help to prepare students for life. 
• Family and Community Engagement - Providing time for visits, cross-curricular work, and promoting community engagement. 
• Intent - Allowing students to change their GCSE option without the stress of having to 'catch up'. Develop a range of employability skills and connect what they do in school to the skillsets and attributes that will prepare students successfully for life.  

In this first of two podcasts, we talk with Ben Wilson (HoD) and Andrew Browne about how they have shaped and changed the D&T curriculum at Baysgarth, their vision for the department and its students and how their positivity and drive have been essential in getting the department to this point. We also look ahead to their future plans and desire for Baysgarth to be the centre for all STEM-related activity in the Humber region.

In part two of this mini-series (to be released next week), we will take inputs from all major stakeholders to the department, including students, the Headteacher, the head of careers engagement and parents.

So sit back, plug your earbuds in and listen to Designed for Life in conversation with Ben and Andy, departmental leaders at Baysgarth School, Barton on Humber.

https://baysgarthschool.co.uk/
https://www.greenpower.co.uk/

Please note: this is the first of a learning journey for me as the podcast lead. Please excuse us if the sound quality of this podcast dips beyond our and your expectation in parts - it will not happen again!

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. This job took her around the world, and she was involved in many prestigious projects, including the Queen Elizabeth II bridge, Canary Wharf, Trinity College Dublin and, of not to be left out, Congleton sewage treatment works. 

With parenthood, Gill realised she was no longer going to be able to travel with work and wanted to find a career that would allow her to settle and raise her family. Sadly, these were different times, and engineering was not seen as a viable option.  

Engineerings loss was teachings gain as Gill trained into primary education, a journey that she initially found less than easy. After spending her first stint of teaching "pretending she knew what she was doing",  she jumped out of the role of primary practitioner and into the shoes of a school sports coordinator, working not only in the primary sector but in secondary and tertiary as an advisor and event coordinator. Travel was once again back on the agenda, meeting famous sportspeople and working across schools. 

Gill is now Assistant Head at Beech Hill School and, in this role spins many plates, one being the school's coordinator of STEM education.  Gill has been a participant and regional leader on Manchester University's  SEERHI and the Progressing and Evolving to be an engineer project for many years. Gill views STEM education and design and technology specifically as a way to energise and transform student expectations and self-worth. 

Gill received national recognition from D&TA as Practitioner of the Year in 2021 and also won TES Subject Leader of the Year in 2022. 

So sit back, relax and listen to Designed for Life, in conversation with award-winning Assistant Headteacher Gill Fitzpatrick. 

https://www.seerih.manchester.ac.uk/
https://www.beechhillwigan.co.uk/
https://www.nfuonline.com/media/strpgvph/inspiring-stem-learning-through-agriculture.pdf

Magway is a values-driven startup technology business situated in Wembley, North West London. Started in 2017, their staged vision is to take cargo off our roads and instead run the bulk of this cargo emissions-free on magnetic motor-driven 'trains' either set above or below ground.  They are working to drive an electrical revolution, unlock new economies and connect cities, towns and communities like never before.

Cecile Searle took over as CEO in 2022, convinced by the founders that she "was already effectively doing the job anyway".  In this podcast, we follow her journey from a degree in civil engineering through a career which has focused on delivering airport and rail strategic systems projects. 

We also take the opportunity to explore the values that drive you as a company CEO and the concept of "leading with kindness", one that Cecile believes in deeply as she seeks to lead with both heart and head. This is a deeply insightful conversation with a sector leader seeking to quietly lead her way, as Magway look to fulfil their ambition to "look back and tell our grandchildren "we did that".

So grab a coffee, take the dog for a walk or take us to the gym and listen to Designed for Life in conversation with Cecile Searle. 

https://www.magway.com/

The Design and Technology Association is indebted to the Edge Foundation for their continued sponsorship of the Designed for Life series of podcasts. Without their support, this venture simply would not be possible. 

https://www.edge.co.uk/