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

This is a big episode for Designed for Life, as we proudly reach number 100! We are delighted to have Dean Kamen, an American engineer, inventor, and businessman, on the show. Dean is known for his inventions of the Segway, iBOT, and Slingshot (a water purification system) and for founding what he proudly calls his greatest invention, FIRST.

In this episode, we investigate the mindset of a serial inventor to discuss what drives a high-school student to set up a business that yields $60,000 before he finishes school and then pushes him to overcome design challenges, legislation, and the challenges posed by naysayers as he follows his belief that engineering can be a power for good.

Chris Hatherall is the principal of Warrington UTC, a design and technology teacher, and a Design & Technology Association Trustee. Last year, he came across FIRST and set up a robotics challenge for his local primary schools, which was hugely successful. This year, the challenge has spread to more UTC's nationally and is open to primary colleagues nationally through this network.

From small beginnings, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Technology) has become a global challenge, with events across multiple countries and nearly three million students competing. Dean's vision was to harness the passion seen openly for sporting events held in large stadiums with hugely competitive students and turn this into one of the world's biggest and most exciting STEM activities.

2025 is the 35th year of FIRST activities. Last year's competition saw 3,468 teams enter, including almost 87,000 students and 27,700 mentors across 28 countries, including the USA, Canada, China, and Turkey. It is an open competition open to all, and while it is truly competitive, it emphasises the need for collaboration, respect, and teamwork.

It seems appropriate that we welcome a new sponsor to Designed for Life for our 100th episode. Welcome to Arachne.digital, who have joined the show with an offer to help schools, charities, and public institutions protect against global cyber threats. We are delighted to welcome them on board.

So, without further ado, grab an hour to yourself and listen to Designed for Life—In Conversation with Dean Kamen and Chris Hatherall.

https://www.experiential.bot/get-started

https://www.firstinspires.org/

To hear a seven-year-old girl's perspective on FIRST, follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=igR409sJly0

Robotpagent@utcw.co.uk

https://www.arachne.digital/

How do you build a successful design & technology department from the ground up with an entirely new staff? What curriculum changes should you make at KS3, KS4 and KS5 to ensure you stretch and challenge what are undoubtedly very bright students? What physical changes can you make to the department's look, feel and function when the budget is tight but you want to improve how students and parents view the subject? What role can external visitors and competitions play in building a successful curriculum offer and delivery?

These are all questions that will be tackled in the latest episode of Designed for Life as we head to where Kent touches London in Orpington and talk with staff and students from Newstead Wood School - Sunday Times Schools Guide, State Secondary School of the Year, London, 2025.

In the podcast, we talk to the Headteacher and other senior staff about the role that D&T plays in providing a broad and balanced curriculum. We also speak with Natalie Cameron, Head of Department, about her journey from this part of Kent to China and Singapore, what pulled her back to her origins, and the leadership challenge she has taken on at Newstead Wood.

We speak with students from Year 7 to Year 13 about their experience of Design & Technology, why creativity and the knowledge, skills, and personal attributes obtained within the subject are essential to them, and perhaps most importantly, why D&T is fun!

So please sit back, grab an hour to yourself, and join me as Designed for Life visits Newstead Wood School https://www.newsteadwood.co.uk/

https://www.designtechnology.org.uk/news/designed-for-life-newstead-wood-school/

In this episode, we are delighted to welcome Marisa Kurimbokus, who was announced as the IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year 2024 at the end of last year.

In the podcast, we follow Marisa's journey from primary school, where a teacher dropped what I can only assume was a casual comment, but it is one that sticks with her to this day. Through secondary school, where Marisa describes her journey through a range of subjects, including A Level design and technology. And chauffeuring her friend to a lecture only for serendipity to step in and have other ideas.

We first met Marisa when she was with Triumph Motorcycles. She was then a design engineer helping to organise and run the now sadly defunct Triumph Design Awards. She takes us through her career journey, which has been wide and varied, working in various sectors before arriving at her current role as Head of Engineering at Raeon.

Finally, we discuss the recently awarded IET Young Woman Engineer of the Year accolade and how Marisa wants to use the spotlight this affords her to encourage more young women to be brave and explore a career in engineering.

In the conversation you will hear Marisa's passion for what she does, which comes across in bucket loads. I know you will enjoy this conversation, so sit back, grab the dog for a walk or take us on your commute as you listen to Designed for Life in conversation with Marisa Kurimbokus.

https://www.raeon.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marisa-kurimbokus-fwes-ceng-imeche/

https://youngwomenengineer.theiet.org/

In this episode, we take the podcast on the road to Arts University Bournemouth (AUB) and talk with YouTube stalwarts Brothers Make, Louise Dennis, Curator at MoDiP (Museum of Design in Plastics) and Will Strange, Senior Lecturer and Course Leader (Sustainable Design) at AUB. The podcast was recorded on February 5th in the main lecture theatre at the university with an audience comprising AUB students and lecturers and students and their D&T teacher from a local school.

In this episode, we stray from the show's normal format as the Brothers Make take us on their journey from school to how an initial desire to "hang out together after work" has become something of a YouTube hit that now takes them worldwide as they seek to inform others on how to replicate their sustainable practices and success.

Louise describes how an initial desire to join the army instead turned into a passion for design and museum curation. Louise brought some artefacts from the museum to the podcast, and we have included a link to photographs of these items here: https://www.designtechnology.org.uk/for-education/media-video-and-podcasts/podcasts/live-at-arts-university-bournemouth/

Last but not least, Will will discuss the details of an exciting new course in sustainable design that will be offered at AUB for the first time this summer.

You will also hear questions from the audience at the end of the podcast (including one that had his teacher sitting uncomfortably as it was answered)! So sit back and enjoy Designed for Life - Live from Arts University Bournemouth.

Growing up with a love of mathematics, Titi thought a career as a maths teacher was beckoning until a conversation with one of her sister's friends opened up the possibility of becoming an engineer. A comment that stood out for me in this conversation was her sister's friend's statement, "You don't have to love chemistry or be brilliant at it to become a chemical engineer." It's not exactly the career advice we might all expect, but it's accurate nonetheless.

Titi is a chartered engineer with experience providing safety assurance, risk and reliability management expertise for various engineering systems and major projects in the hydrogen, energy and transportation industries. She holds a first-class undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Lagos. Nigeria and a Masters degree in Advanced Chemical Engineering (Process Systems Engineering specialisation) from Imperial College London.

Titi is passionate about promoting and changing misconceptions about the engineering profession and is always eager to contribute to efforts to celebrate engineering excellence and make engineering more accessible and appealing to people from diverse backgrounds.

In this podcast, you will hear Titi's journey from school to an engineering degree at a university in Lagos. She will discuss how she has carefully planned her career experiences to ensure she develops as a rounded engineer with experience across a range of sectors and how she is slowly learning to become more comfortable being labelled a 'role model' for future engineers.

This is a great way to start 2025 on Designed for Life, so for the first time this year, get those headphones active and listen to Designed for Life in conversation with Titi Oliyide.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/titi-oliyide
https://engineertiti.com/