Dr Aakeen Parikh is a mechanical engineer with a background in research, design, sustainable technologies, and social impact. She currently works as the Project Manager for the Vehicle Future Hub at Imperial College London. Aakeen discovered engineering through her passion for product design, and she has worked on numerous projects over the years. Aakeen is passionate about increasing diversity, access, equality, and retention of women in engineering. She is on the advisory board for education charity Project Access and is an ambassador for the Queen Elizabeth’s Prize for Engineering. In 2024, Aakeen was awarded the WISE100 Women in Enterprise award as the ‘Equality and Empowerment’ Champion.

Alongside her current roles, Aakeen is the founder and director of The Minazi Impact, a social enterprise dedicated to promoting sustainable development and reducing global inequality through engineering and design. Minazi’s most notable project, the Banana Fibre Sanitary Pad project, involved designing reusable sanitary pads with an absorbent core made from waste banana fibres. The project won the 2023 RSA Catalyst Award and further recognition at the Ripple Effect Conference 2024. This project demonstrates a viable, alternative, sustainable future pathway for sanitary products, whilst creating economic growth and upcycling agricultural waste. Read more here: https://theminaziimpact.co.uk/

This is a great conversation that I know you will love. So grab 50 minutes of 'me time' and listen to Designed for Life—In Conversation with Dr. Aakeen Parikh.

This podcast is brought to you with the support of Arachne.digital. The Cyber Threat Intelligence Platform for Empowered Protection. Reach out now and get a free analysis of your school's cybersecurity www.arachne.digital

In this, the second episode of a two-part mini-series, we continue exploring the journey of school design and technology leaders and departments as we visit and speak with staff, students, and parents at Simon Langton Boys' Grammar School in Canterbury, Kent.

Before anyone assumes this is a story of overprivileged students enjoying an experience facilitated by wealth and connections, please be aware that this is not the case. This department has been carefully crafted from the ground up with a limited budget. It now has over 200 students studying design and technology at GCSE, alongside a mixed-gender, large, and growing sixth form.

The school has achieved huge success in F1 in Schools, winning the National competition, which enabled students to represent the UK in the World Finals. This, alongside other opportunities, is part of an extensive extra-curricular offer presented to Langton students.

We recorded over a full day in school, and there was so much good content that it was impossible to edit it into a single podcast. Therefore, we have decided to break this into two podcasts, released in close succession. If you haven't listened to part one yet, I suggest you go back and do so, as the recording has a sequence.

So sit back, grab a moment or two to yourself and listen to Part Two of Designed for Life, in conversation with the Simon Langton Boys Grammar School in Kent.

We thank our sponsors, Arachne Digital, your cyber threat intelligence platform for empowered protection. https://www.arachne.digital/

Follow The Langton Boys D&T Department on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/langtondesign/?hl=en

In this episode, we continue exploring the journey of school design and technology leaders and departments as we visit and talk with staff, students, and parents at the Simon Langton Boys Grammar School in Canterbury, Kent.

Before anyone decides this is a story of overprivileged students enjoying an experience created by money and connections, please know this is not the case. This department has been carefully crafted from the ground up with a limited budget and now has over two hundred students studying design and technology at GCSE and a mixed-gender, large, and growing sixth form.

The school has had huge success at F1 in Schools, winning the National competition, which allowed students to represent the UK in the World Finals. This, alongside other opportunities, is part of an extensive extra-curricular offer presented to Langton students.

We recorded over a full day in school, and there was so much good content that it was impossible to edit it into one podcast, so we have decided to break this into two podcasts that will be released in close succession.

So sit back, grab a moment or two to yourself and listen to Part One of Designed for Life, in conversation with the Simon Langton Boys Grammar School in Kent.

We thank our sponsors, Arachne Digital, your cyber threat intelligence platform for empowered protection. https://www.arachne.digital/

Follow The Langton Boys D&T Department on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/langtondesign/?hl=en