Marek Reichman: Poly put me on road to sports car design

My polytechnic was quite a young institution and it was quite a young course when I got there. This gave me an opportunity to explore ideas and ask questions.

There was a lot of enthusiasm and support in the department: it really was a case of you get out what you put in. The more enthusiasm and dedication that I had, the more I got out. The lecturers really were there to support that mindset and were very encouraging. The staff had a depth of knowledge because they had all worked in industry for years. This was their first venture outside and they had a lot to offer. All our visiting lecturers were practising industry designers so they were particularly helpful.

After Teesside I then studied at the Royal College of Arts in vehicle design. But I wanted to be educated as a designer more broadly before getting the automotive training and Teesside were brilliant for that.

Marek Reichman is director of design at Aston Martin. He designed the James Bond DBS for Casino Royale and studied industrial design at Teesside Polytechnic