Product Design alumni receives honorary doctorate

John Barratt, President and Chief Executive Officer of US-based global design consultancy TEAGUE, received an honorary doctorate in Business Administration at this year’s graduation ceremony.

Founded in 1926, TEAGUE is considered to be the most important design consultancy in the world. John joined TEAGUE in 1999, after working in leading positions at Philips Design. He has dedicated his time to building on TEAGUE’s heritage, strengthening partnerships with some of the world’s leading brands including Intel, Starbucks, The Boeing Company and Samsung and pushing TEAGUE’s longstanding mission ‘to build a new and better world’ into the 21st century.

John studied at what was then Teesside Polytechnic, graduating in 1988 with a BA (Hons) Three Dimensional Design – Industrial Design. John said of his time at the University: ‘Teesside helped shape the person I am today. It taught me the philosophy of doing over talking, thinking through making and creating a culture that prioritises the ‘we’ over ‘me’. The notion of team is something I learned at Teesside and the experience has been the foundation to my life’.

You can listen to John here.

Ben traces his journey to Dyson

Ben Russi, 25, who graduated from Teesside’s BA (Hons) Product Design and Industrial Transportation in 2012, is now working as a Design Engineer with Dyson, the company best known for it’s revolutionary vacuum cleaner design.

Originally from Saltburn, Ben, a former student at Prior Pursglove College in Guisborough, met with students currently working on design projects as part of their degree studies.

He said: ‘I studied at Teesside University largely as it was so highly recommended to me by my college lecturer. It gave me a great grounding in product design and helped me to make up my mind about what I wanted to do.

‘It’s been great meeting the students and telling them about my journey since studying at Teesside and it’s been really good to speak to them about their own projects and ideas.

‘I really enjoyed my time at Teesside, so it’s been great to return and see all the reminders of being a student here. Speaking to the students too is a great reminder that just a few years ago I was one of them myself.’

Ben, who is now based in Wiltshire, joined Dyson in 2014 as a Graduate Design Engineer before moving into the role of Design Engineer.

He said: ‘It’s a great place to work, I’m inspired every day. The degree at Teesside helped to give me the confidence to apply and push for a role with such an innovative company.’