Garden International School (GIS) students has embarked on a real-life lighting project with clothing company Pestle & Mortar under the mentorship of the multi-award-winning industrial designer and GIS alumna Stephanie Ng, who has returned to her alma mater to work with Year 12 Design & Technology (DT) students through a series of weekly workshops.

“They are excited about the project; some of which you can see it in their eyes. It’s always inspiring working with peers that have a glowing spark because you know they will go above and beyond to learn and do a good job with the execution,” said Stephanie who graduated 15 years ago and pursued her passion in DT, specialising in custom design lighting and furniture. Today, she is the founder of Stephanie Ng Design, whose collections have been widely featured on international media.

“The GCSE students are required to design and make a fully functioning product using a range of materials and processes. This year’s lighting brief will allow students to work for an exciting client and really test their creative thinking whilst at the same time showing an understanding of properties of materials and manufacturing techniques. We look forward to some really creative outcomes with Stephanie’s help,” said the head of DT faculty Ryan Ball.

This article was originally published in The Expat magazine (October 2016) which is available online or in print via a free subscription.