Sir Jony Ive attends fundraiser at Northumbria University

Apple's Sir Jony Ive attended a fundraising dinner at Northumbria University, where he studied Industrial Design

Sir Jony Ive speaks with students at Northumbria University
Sir Jony Ive speaks with students at Northumbria University

Sir Jonathan Ive attended a fundraising dinner at his former university as guest of honour this week.

Sir Jony, a graduate of Northumbria’s Design for Industry course when it was known as Newcastle Polytechnic, spent time on the campus before meeting with students from the University's School of Design.

As Apple's senior vice president of Design, Sir Jony has overseen the creation of Apple’s best-known products from the first iPod in 2001 to the iPad nine years later.

The fundraising dinner was attended by more than 150 guests gathered to raise money for a new Enterprise and Innovation Fund to create and support more entrepreneurial students and graduate businesses at the university.

Earlier this year, the industrial designer behind the Raleigh Chopper told the Telegraph how he talked Sir Jony out of quitting the course.

“I worked with his father [a silversmith who became a design technology teacher and later a schools inspector] on the panel of a design competition for students,” Tom Karen said.

“He got in touch with me a bit later and said, my son Jonathan’s at university in Newcastle and is thinking about giving up his industrial design course. Maybe you could revive his interest?”

Karen invited the design student to the Letchworth offices of Ogle, the company he led from 1962 to 1999. “I showed them around, and the outcome was that Jonathan stuck to industrial design and made a huge success of it,” he added.

The 47-year old received a knighthood for services to design and enterprise in 2012.