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Designed for Life

Tony Ryan CEO Design & Technology Association

This is the official podcast of the Design and Technology Association. 'Designed for life' aims to entertain, inform and inspire, bringing the worlds of business and industry together. Design and Technology is a wide-ranging curriculum subject that, along with qualifications in other facilitating subjects, can open doors to students across an ever-increasing breadth of career. England was the first country in the world to introduce this subject to its mainstream curriculum offer in 1988. Where we led others, have followed and in various guises, it is now taught in countries around the world including India, Australia, China, USA, France and Finland. This podcast consists of a series of short, informal conversations with people from across the worlds of education, industry and design. The intention is to help to link business, industry and education, as the solutions to tomorrows problems are being educated today!

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  • 24 episodes
  • Avg 55 min
  • English

Episodes 24

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  • S4 · E5
    May 16, 2025 · 1 hr 6 min

    Designed for Life - Live at Simon Langton Boys School, Kent (Part 2)

    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

  • S4 · E4
    May 9, 2025 · 58 min

    Designed for Life - Live at Simon Langton Boys School, Kent (Part 1)

    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

  • Apr 17, 2025 · 59 min

    Designed for Life - In conversation with Dean Kamen & Chris Hatherall

    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/

  • S4 · E3
    Mar 21, 2025 · 1 hr 16 min

    Designed forn Life - Live at Newstead Wood School

    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/

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