Force Tech Talk 23 | Sustainable Design in Electronics and Engineering with Jon Barrett
10 August 2026
Show Notes
In Episode 23 of Force Technologies Tech Talks, CEO Karen Salmon sits down with an old friend and colleague Jon Barrett, founder of the Sustainable Engineering Alliance, to talk about how sustainable design is reshaping electronics and engineering.
From product designer and engineering writer to founder of an alliance connecting OEMs with suppliers who cut environmental impact, Jon shares why a new generation of engineers now treats sustainability as part of the job, not an afterthought.
In this episode:
- The two forces pushing OEMs to change: customer goodwill and incoming legislation and levies
- How an EV battery can be designed for a 30 to 40 year life across multiple uses
- Why digital product passports and a lasting supply chain matter for parts that fail decades later
- The real cost of redesign: an aerospace flight system that took ten years and millions of pounds
- Repeatability, change management and FAA compliance in aerospace
- New rules on removable batteries, the French repairability index, and the right to repair
- Why long term tech management and component storage are in growing demand
- Notes from the repair cafe: people love their products and want them fixed
A conversation between old colleagues about durability, documentation and doing engineering that lasts.
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