Designed for life - In conversation with Professor Ian Green MBE

Designed for Life

How do you move from 'table 6', the table at the back of the classroom for the lowest achievers, to being recognised in the New Year Honours List for "services to apprenticeships and STEM education"?
Listen to the latest episode of Designed for Life, and you will find out!
Ian Green is currently Learning Specialist at British Volt and a Professor of Practice at Newcastle University. These roles follow thirty years as Head of Global Training for Nissan. As part of his work, Ian set up one of the most impactful Industry/education programmes in the UK, positively impacting over 70,000 students.
Ian's primary school experience left him woefully lacking skill and confidence in mathematics. He was delivered a timetable that included art every day, "I still can't draw", and maths only once every two weeks. In secondary school, Ian realised the value of a good teacher as his maths teacher took the time to explain problems and mathematical solutions differently. He made progress fast, leaving school with eleven GCEs and a CSE Grade 1 in mathematics.
Ian moved onto an engineering degree programme and progressed rapidly as his newfound thirst for knowledge served him well.
A major car crash changed his direction as his recovery was slow, and he realised he could no longer stay on his feet all day. A shift to Training and a Masters in HR followed as he side-stepped into his new career.
The outreach programme he started at Nissan has grown from small beginnings to a comprehensive offer from the Japanese manufacturer to education in the North East. Ian nurtured this programme from vision to the entity that it is today.
Ian left Nissan earlier this year, and good people aren't allowed to retire, as he was swiftly picked up to work with British Volt. The possibility of helping build a major engineering project from scratch was too good to turn down. At the same time, Ian is completing his professional Doctorate as he explores ways to make engineering more attractive to young women.
This was a fantastic conversation with an engineer with a brilliant tale; I know you will love it!
This podcast has been recorded with the help of our sponsors, The Edge Foundation https://www.edge.co.uk/ inspiring the education system to give all young people across the UK the knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to flourish in their future life and work, and PTC Onshape Providing industry-standard cloud-based CAD to education https://www.ptc.com/en/news/2020/ptc-onshape-education-enterprise-plan-available-free-of-charge
We are indebted to The Edge and PTC Onshape for their continued support.