RGU
ALUMNI MAGAZINE
2018 ISSUE FOUR
“Challenges are an inevitable part of trying something new”
Catch up on campus news
Get start-up advice
Read unexpected stories
Welcome In this latest issue of the RGU Alumni Magazine we look at innovation in its different forms, from start-up businesses to social entrepreneurships, and from the hospitality industry to the fashion industry. Subbu shares with us his inspirational story about changing industry and launching a non-profit to support children’s education, Aimi and Emma explain how long distance friendships have grown into a bespoke business, and Ross highlights some of the challenges involved in setting up and running his own ethical coffee business. Throughout these stories a common thread of challenges emerges. Each of the alumni featured work in different industries, each of which have their own unique challenges and hurdles to overcome on the road to success, whether that success is running a business, helping a customer, providing a service, or even making a difference to a generation of young people. All the alumni featured in this magazine show that challenges are
an inevitable part of trying something new, but having the determination and perseverance to conquer these challenges can lead us to innovate and fulfil our potential. RGU is lucky enough to have a worldwide network of alumni who are doing incredible work around the globe, and we want to thank all the alumni who have taken the time to share their stories with us. Thank you for taking the time to read this magazine, and for your ongoing support and dedication to RGU.
CONTACT US Mail: RGU Alumni Robert Gordon University Garthdee Road Aberdeen, AB10 7QB Email: service@alumni.rgu.ac.uk Phone: +44 (0)1224 262285
In this issue Reconnect NIBlets Start-up advice Alumni give back In Conversation With Centre for Complex Contracts
4 8 10 12 14
5
Graduates The daily grind Ahead of the Curve The art of gifts
16 18 20
Unexpected Did you hear? Innovation in fashion The global difference RGU Talk
16
18
20
22 23 24 25
NIBlets Conserving Energy An RGU-led project to insulate a 250 year old category C listed farmhouse in rural Aberdeenshire was Highly Commended in the Scottish Energy Efficiency Awards. Bogendollo House, a 19th Century building in Fettercairn, is considered ‘hard to treat’ thanks to its solid masonry and period features. The building saw a 56% reduction in energy consumption for heating the property following a process devised by RGU’s Dr Amar Bennadji to inject foam insulation into the narrow void between the external walls and the lath-and-plaster lining. This represents 5% less energy consumption than modern houses. Read more
The Main Event Events Management students have launched this year’s Main Event, an annual project which has raised more than £130,000 for north-east charities over the last five years. The Main Event forms part of the final year of the BA (Hons) Event Management degree, and involves students working with a partner charity to plan and host a fundraising and awareness raising event. The project was first launched in 2013 and previous events run by students have won awards at The Scottish Event Awards, the National Outdoor Events Association and Aberdeen Council of Voluntary Organisations. Read more
Give as you Live RGU alumni are being encouraged to support the work of the RGU Foundation by doing their shopping online. Shoppers can sign up to Give As You Live, a free online fundraising platform which allows users to shop at more than 4,100 stores. Stores pay a percentage of your total purchase price in commission, meaning you can raise money for the RGU Foundation at no cost to yourself. The RGU Foundation raises funds to widen access to education, improve the student experience and support research initiatives. Read more 4
5
Islands of Opportunity RGU has launched a new project on Orkney to find solutions to some of the challenges of island life. The Orkney Project is aligned with strategic priorities identified by Orkney Islands Council and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, including depopulation, an ageing population, inefficient housing, connectivity and access to services. RGU’s Orkney Development Manager, Elsa Cox, grew up in Orkney and said the project is about “putting the community first and responding to local needs”. Read more
New health science degrees RGU has launched four new undergraduate integrates Masters degrees in Dietetics, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy and Diagnostic Radiography. We are the first university in Scotland to develop these degrees for Allied Health Professionals, and both the programmes in Occupational Therapy and Diagnostic Radiography will be the first of their kind in the UK. Read more
Tobermory Distillery artist A Gray’s School of Art alumna has taken up the inaugural artist in residence post at the Tobermory Distillery on the Isle of Mull. Catherine Ross (BA Hons Painting, 2014) will complete a six week residency on the island carrying out her own research, and developing new work relating to the local area and the idea of ‘North’. On completion of her residency, two works will be selected and donated to the distillery. Read more
Design awards triumph An RGU professor and three final year students have been recognised at the Aberdeenshire Architectural and Landscape Design Awards. The three students competed in the ‘Future Proof Living’ category which focused on design solutions to meet the changing demographics of Aberdeenshire. All three works were commended or highly commended, with two students sharing the winning honours. Professor Gokay Devici also won distinction in the ‘Building for Communities’ category for his affordable, low-energy housing development in Fraserburgh. Read more
Energy education in Mexico
RGU has been named as one of just four European institutions to partner with the Mexican Government to address the future needs of the country’s energy sector. Along with the University of Aberdeen, Imperial College London and the IFP School in France, RGU will work in partnership with Mexican universities to close a skills gap in the energy sector. The university will work with three institutions for Masters in Drilling & Well Engineers, Masters in Offshore Oil & Gas Engineering and MBA Oil & Gas. Read more
Inaugural memorial award presented
The inaugural Graeme McRobbie Memorial Award has been presented to two students from the Scott Sutherland School of Architecture and Built Environment. Graeme, who studied at the school before coming back to lecture in 2010, sadly passed away in 2017 following a battle with cancer. The award was the brainchild of Graham and his wife Sarah, who wanted to mark the work of standout first year students. It was won by Dalibor Baran and Krzysztof Kalita. Read more 6
Opinion
In a piece for The Scotsman Professor Ian Murray, Head of School for Nursing and Midwifery at RGU, reflects on the impact that getting the Health and Care (Staffing) (Scotland) Bill right could have on ensuring we have the nursing workforce we need in years to come. Read more
Fiona Roberts, Senior Lecturer and Teaching Excellence Fellow at the School of Health Sciences, discusses the ways in which technology allows RGU to remain at the forefront of innovative teaching when it comes to training the health professionals of tomorrow. Read more
Writing for The Scotsman Professor Donald Cairns, Head of the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences at RGU, hails the breadth of experience that makes up the School. Read more
7
Work-based learning RGU is taking the university to the workplace with a range of professional Graduate Apprenticeships. Graduate Apprenticeships enable employers to shape their workforce in line with business demands while offering a high value, low cost option to retain and upskill staff. Following the successful launch of two inaugural courses last year, RGU has awarded a further 135 fully funded Graduate Apprenticeship places spread across a range of disciplines including construction, engineering, business management and IT. Read more
Energy Institute accreditation A number of courses at RGU’s Aberdeen Business School have been accredited by the Energy Institute Accreditation Panel. The MBA Oil and Gas Management, MSc Energy Management and MSc Oil and Gas Accounting and Finance were all recognised for their relevance to industry, strong alumni network, staff openness to the change and development of the programmes and the Capstone module. Read more
UK’s first SISA accreditation RGU has become the first university to achieve accreditation from the Scottish Innovative Student Award Scheme (SISA). The scheme, created by the Scottish Institute for Enterprise, will allow RGU to deliver additional courses which equip students with a forward thinking and enterprising business skillset. RGU’s School of Creative and Cultural Business is the first to be accredited, enabling students to complete Level 1 ‘Future Thinker’ while studying. Read more
Erasmus exhibition Artworks inspired by time spent studying abroad were displayed at an exhibition in Gray’s School of Art. The special ‘Study Abroad and Erasmus+’ exhibition featured work from 20 students who travelled to various partner institutions in Europe and Canada for a semester. The work represented a range of courses including fashion and textile design, fine art and communication design. Read more
Hayley Charles
Start-up advice RGU alumna Hayley Charles (BA (Hons) Applied Social Science, 2012 and MSc Fashion Management, 2014) is a Business Advisor at north-east social enterprise, Elevator. The company encourages entrepreneurship, business start-up and growth while delivering free Business Gateway services across Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Tayside. Here, Hayley explains the varied support available to new businesses. I work with individuals who are at the pre-start and start-up stage of their businesses. During this phase I help them develop their ideas, grasp the sector they are looking to break into and also help with the more practical aspects such as business planning and understanding their market research.
8
My own personal background, I believe, helps with this. I run my own fashion business which has given me hands-on knowledge of issues such as breaking into the market, working with suppliers, marketing and, ultimately, working effectively with customers. I also come from a bit of an entrepreneurial family
Photo by Rawpixel
9
with many of them running their own businesses, giving me an insight into the real ups and downs of being selfemployed. When an individual comes to the Business Gateway team with an initial business idea we can advise them on the next steps and, for me, market research really is key. As a business owner you need to be able to identify who your customers are, who your competitors are and ultimately what problem you are solving for your prospective customers. If you don’t have a customer, you don’t really have a business – so it is vital to understand this. From here, the next step would be to start developing
Starting a business can often take up a lot of time and energy. It takes a while for your business and idea to gain traction, and this can often be where many striving businesstycoons fail as they feel that customers don’t or aren’t responding as quickly as they’d hoped. This is completely normal, often the mental challenge of pushing on can be one of the biggest. From a start-up point of view funding a business can also be a huge challenge, especially if you have large
what the best option for the business will be. There are lots of start-ups and businesses providing a huge range of different products and services. Networking and meeting likeminded businesses within your sector can be a huge advantage. It really is amazing the referrals you can make by simply sharing what your business does with others. It also gives you the opportunity to learn from similar businesses, offering you a chance to pick up lots of
Market research really is key your business and plan to understand how you want to move forward with regards to your business aims and objectives.
start-up expenses such as property and equipment. The good news is there are funding opportunities out there, it is just a case of identifying
hints and tips to help improve your own ideas. Who knows, you could maybe even end up collaborating with some of them too.
Business Gateway is a publicly funded service contributing to the economic wellbeing of Scotland by providing access to free business support services. Whether you’re thinking about starting a business or becoming self-employed, or maybe you’ve already started, Business Gateway can help you through a mix of services including online support, fully-funded local workshops and events, advice to suit specific business needs and business information through a dedicated team who are available to support all aspects of starting and growing a business. For more information visit www.bgateway.com/local-offices/aberdeen
Photo by Helloquence
Alumni give back
Generous donations from our alumni community have supported a number of initiatives to widen access to higher education and enhance student life at RGU.
10
The projects – which include student scholarships, welfare services and the arts – will be supported by money raised during the student caller campaign, which took place at the beginning of the summer. A team of students spoke to more than 1,500 alumni around the world, updating them on campus news and engaging them with upcoming university projects. “RGU has been shaped by the generosity of our alumni and philanthropists,” said John Harper, Principal and Vice Chancellor of RGU. “The University has been built on philanthropy from its beginnings with Robert Gordon, to John Gray and Thomas Scott Sutherland. I am so grateful to all our alumni who have chosen to continue this tradition and make a contribution to support current and future generations of RGU students.” One of the projects to benefit from funding is the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. This internationally recognised youth achievement award programme has been set up by RGU students, and is open to all students to participate.
11
RGU’s Rowing Club will benefit from a donation to purchase a new international standard coxless pair boat. The boat, which has a lifespan of 15-20 years, will benefit current and future generations of student athletes. The fund will also support two access bursaries, which are match funded by the Robertson Trust. The RGU Robertson Trust bursaries allow exceptional students with the ability, though not necessarily the means, to attend university. These bursaries provide financial support as well as a personal development programme which includes community placements, internships, mentoring and leadership training. RGU Nightline, a student-led peer-to-peer support service will also benefit, along with RGU Film Festival and 57 10 Architects Society.
Art opportunities including an exhibition of final year paintings at Gray’s School of Art and student professional development opportunities at Look Again Festival will be supported, along with an interprofessional learning award and sport volunteering programme. RGU alumna Sakina Aliyeva (MBA, 2017) supported this year’s appeal. “I am glad to be part of the Robert Gordon University community,” she said. “I am very grateful to the university for my education, and I am pleased to be able to give back to support the Annual Fund.” The university has seen the total number of RGU Alumni donating to the Annual Fund more than double.
Kyle Henderson, Student Society President and Coordinator of RGU’s Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme “The Duke of Edinburgh Award makes our students more employable and wellrounded people. Your support allows everyone the opportunity to participate, regardless of their financial situation.”
RGU Nightline “The funding we received this year will greatly improve our ability to reach students and support them in their time of need. Making our service accessible for as many people as possible is very important to us, and thanks to the support we received we can do this better than ever.”
About the RGU Foundation The Annual Fund was launched in 2014 as an unrestricted fund, established to make an immediate impact on students and staff. It offers philanthropic funding for projects, studentlet initiatives, extracurricular activities and support services that would not receive funding from any other channel. This fund has allowed RGU to build a community of donors, whose generous gifts have created opportunities that have enhanced the student experience. For more information about giving back to RGU and to find out how you can provide support, visit the university website.
Valerie, Access Scholar “As a single mum I was really weighing up whether I could come to university or not. I was invited to apply for the scholarship, which I got. RGU saw something in me that I hadn’t recognised in myself and it basically enabled me to come to university.”
Thank You
In Conversation With… RGU launched its new webinar series in October. ‘In Conversation With’ is our first online discussion series that enables alumni to listen to experts in their professional field share their own insights into the changing environment, and connect with other alumni across the globe. Our latest webinars are available to watch and listen to online, use the links below to find out more.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution First came steam and water power, then electricity and the assembly lines it powered, then the proliferation of computerisation, what’s next? Chris Moule, RGU’s Head of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, discusses the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Transforming Africa’s economic landscape through digital mobile technology Dr Peter Atorough, Lead Lecturer for Operations and Supply Chain Management, discusses transforming Africa’s economic landscape through the proliferation of digital mobile technology.
12
13
50 years of social work education To celebrate 50 years of social work education at RGU Janine Bolger, Head of Social Work, explores the past five decades in the industry, and examines policy development and its impact on social work education.
CV tips for success Offering the best tips for CV building, from content to layout, Fiona Kennedy from RGU’s Employability Hub discusses the best ways to help you stand out from other candidates and how to maximise your employability.
The Enforceability of Time Bar Clauses Time bar clauses in construction contracts have triggered much debate over the years. This webinar compares the topic across two jurisdictions on opposing ends, namely the common law jurisdiction of England and Wales and the civil law jurisdiction of Egypt.
14
Centre for Complex Contracts The Law School at RGU is seeking alumni support for its new venture, The Centre for Complex Contracts. “The Centre will look at how we develop and promote education, training and research in areas around complex contract,” explains Academic Strategic Lead David Christie. “We want to move beyond the traditional undergraduate, postgraduate and even PhD boundaries, because they don’t suit everyone. We’re exploring more blended delivery and interdisciplinary options to find out where there might be a need to help people working in complex contracts, in order for them to understand the processes and operate the contract better.” The centre aims to bring together alumni, students and industry professionals to share specialist knowledge and best practice. A number of informative webinars on a range of topics have already taken place to support the aims of the centre, including webinars led by alumni. The Law School are seeking more alumni to share their knowledge and advice through lectures, interviews and discussion based webinars, as well as written articles. “Our alumni come from a range of different backgrounds, so it’s really useful that they can help translate ideas into a
slightly different way of thinking,” said David. “At the moment we’re particularly looking for input from our postgraduate alumni working in the construction, oil and gas, and international trade sectors. These are all areas where there is a complex contractual relationship between different parties.
The centre will look at how we develop and promote education, training and research in areas around complex contract. “I think it’s an exciting project because it brings together so many of the elements I would want if I was an alumnus in terms of giving me access to further information, training, knowledge and skills and also providing the opportunity to build networks. We want to ensure there’s a vibrant support network, both in the countries where we have clusters of alumni, and in the online community.”
Any alumni who would like to share their knowledge and skills, either as a webinar or in written form, can contact Alumni Officer Heather Wardrope on h.wardrope1@rgu.ac.uk
Photo by Jacek Dylag
15
RGU alumnus Abdulhamid Darwish (LLM Construction Law and Arbitration, 2017) is Deputy Chairman of KEO International Consultants, the first multi-disciplinary consultancy firm in the Gulf Region. Here he explains how he organised his webinar. I focused the webinar using a live case study, where we faced the need to bridge the gap in the problems encountered by the theoretical application of FIDIC Forms from ground up construction to renovation construction. I applied some of the skills I had learnt at RGU including construction law, conflict theory and risk management, as well as experience I have gained from more than 40 years working in the construction industry. I received full support from RGU towards holding this webinar, from reviewing the topic presentation to supporting the practical elements of hosting the webinar. On a personal level I feel I am still a permanent student at RGU, being educated by the continuous participation in the diverse topics of alumni webinars.
The daily grind Coffee has been enjoyed by people for over a thousand years and is one of the most widely consumed beverages in the world. Coffee enthusiast and RGU alumnus Ross Erskine talks about his journey starting his coffee roasting and procurement company, Bennachie Coffee. Bennachie Coffee is about bringing fantastic flavoured coffee to people, something fresh and something they probably haven’t tasted before. I received support from Business Gateway while I was setting up my company and I got advice and guidance from them about a few different things. I certainly would recommend getting in touch with Business Gateway, they will assign you your own business advisor and from there they will be able to point you in the right direction. They help you through the little points in your journey. I did face challenges when I was creating my company, one particular challenge concerned trademarks which led to a name change before we launched. The company was originally called Highland Coffee Hunter, but after speaking with an intellectual property lawyer at Business Gateway we found that a company named Coffee Hunter already existed. We spoke with the company and got a request through to change the name, so we did. 16
Photo by Nathan Dumlao
17
In five years’ time if I kept the original name and tried to trademark I could be challenged by this other company. I decided just to strip the branding back instead, it could have been seen as a negative thing but actually it was a positive experience. Since then I’ve just been focussing on the product and on increasing my own expertise in terms of my roasting skills. I’m passionate about using ethically sourced coffee beans which support the communities and farms they come from. There’s many different projects around the world where you can support
Women’s Hope. In the Congo they don’t consider women to be able to support a family economically. A woman from the Congo has formed a cooperative of local women to help them support
“I can see some great things that can be done in this world through coffee.” through procurement. I’ve been involved with various voluntary organisations and worked with different charities and I always wanted my work to encompass the whole thing, the business side, the charity side and helping people, giving them a hand up in life. It’s an important part of Bennachie Coffee’s ethos that the consumer knows which farm the beans are from and what it supports when buying them. One of the coffees we have is from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the coffee is called Rebuild
their families, feed their children and put them in school. In fact the woman that started the cooperative won the Robert Burns Humanitarian Award last year for the work she has been doing, and that’s something I want to support with the work I’m doing. I can see some great things that can be done in this world through coffee. Whether that’s helping a consumer just enjoy their day a bit more, turning the daily grind into a coffee adventure, or discovering some amazing coffee flavours.
Watch our interview with Ross to find out more about the journey to starting his ethical business and his aspirations for Bennachie Coffee’s future.
18
Ahead of the Curve RGU alumnus Subbu Parameswaran graduated in 2001. He now works as CEO of Learning Curve, a non-profit organisation. Here, Subbu tells his truly inspirational story. The choice of RGU was initially by chance, when I was just exploring options to study. However upon attending an outreach event many years ago, it became apparent to me that the marketing course that I was interested in was extremely well designed, and very close to what I was looking for. Also I loved the prospect of studying in Scotland and meeting people from diverse cultures – both these factors made RGU my choice of university to study at. Since RGU my career has had many twists, from working with a blue chip pharmaceutical company in the UK, to moving back to India and taking on several managerial roles at a leading pharma company in Hyderabad. I then discovered my passion for the field of education. The inspiration for this came from my wife, who is a teacher and worked with children for many years at her pre-school – we both felt that education was a critical means for children to achieve equitable life outcomes, and particularly so in underserved environments. This let me, over a number of conversations, to transition out of my corporate and consulting work, towards setting up Learning Curve as a non-profit organisation.
Subbu Parameswaran
Learning Curve started as an idea – the idea that all children deserve the right to realise their own potential as human beings. Setting it up as a nonprofit was a conscious choice, since we knew that over 75% of children in India study in under-served environments where access and affordability to quality education is a key barrier. In the Indian education system today, which is still grappling with issued of foundational literacy and numeracy, the critical component of social and emotional development lacks structure and consistency. This is our mission – to equip all children with essential life skills to be emotionally balanced, socially responsible, and make informed choices – with the ultimate objective of them being able to achieve equitable outcomes.
19
A key challenge of setting up and running Learning Curve has been influencing people to accept that social-emotional development needs to be structured, rather than left to chance. Changing this mindset has been a difficult one and continues to be a challenge, especially when there are more basic issues to be resolved. Finding funders who are investing in this ‘niche’ area is also proving to be difficult, although there is better visibility of resources now that we’re a little more established and stable. As CEO of Learning Curve my role is to ensure we have resources, including people and funding, and to create a sustainable strategy that enables us to meet our missions. Every day is different – whether it’s meeting new people, looking for collaborations, pitching for funding, or sometimes balancing people needs with organisational needs. There have been several highlights from this venture, however one I would particularly like to acknowledge is how the Learning Curve team has come together in the last few years. No initiative can succeed without a strong team, and I can safely say that the current team is redefining the spirit of collaboration and adaptability. Read more about Learning Curve
Can you help? Learning Curve have a number of voluntary roles available to help expand the social impact of their work. They have two key roles available in fundraising and in marketing and communications for a project lasting approximately 5-6 months. They are looking someone to design and run a fundraising campaign to support the program in schools managed by Learning Curve. This role will identify retail fundraising ideas, design 1-2 fundraising campaigns, and run all aspects of the campaign including social media promotions. As this project is mostly online there may be the option to do it remotely. They are also seeking an individual to support their marketing and communications. This person will benchmark marketing and communications strategies of other education non-profits in India, design a three year marketing and communications strategy for the organisation including digital media, offline collateral and pitch presentations, and will design 3-4 test campaigns to evaluate effectiveness and refine the strategy. If you are an alumnus based in India, particularly in the Hyderabad area, and you would be interested in supporting Learning Curve please contact them directly on bethelight@ learning-curve-foundation.org
The art of gifts Friends Aimi MacKay and Emma MacKenzie went their separate ways after graduating from Gray’s School of Art in 2008. Armed with degrees in Textile Design, the pair started their professional careers in roles spread not just across the UK, but also in international design hotspots like Copenhagen and Paris.
Separated by hundreds of miles, Aimi and Emma were determined to keep their friendship alive. After spending countless hours searching online for the perfect gift to celebrate special occasions, they thought there had to be an easier way to send thoughtful gifts home to friends and family. From this, an idea was born – Native Sister. Native Sister is a provider of beautiful, bespoke gifts, thoughtfully curated by Aimi and Emma using their combined years’ experience in the creative industry.
20
Based online, Native Sister provides a range of gift box options including special themed packages for bridesmaids, expectant mothers, and those who just like a little indulgence. The company uses predominantly small, independent suppliers, and ships to customers across the UK. “The reason I studied textile design is because that’s what I had a passion for. I was encouraged by my family to study a subject that I enjoyed,” said Emma. Aimi’s reasons were similar, adding: “I’ve always
been creative and I always knew I was going to go down that path, and Gray’s just seemed like the ideal school for me. It was a nice size, a nice community vibe, and you got to try out all the different disciplines before you decided what to specialise in.” Both Aimi and Emma separately considered doing Fine Art before deciding to progress with the Textile Design course instead. “You could use elements of fine art in textile design, so it made sense,” said Emma. The pair have sourced suppliers both in Scotland and
21
further afield, with the work of some independent brands they met during their travels also featuring in their gift boxes. They spend a significant amount of time searching for
passionate about. A lot of our suppliers are independent so quite often there’s only a couple of people, or sometimes even just one person, behind that business” “We both come from
“We want to promote and encourage independent designers” the right products to match the style and ethos of Native Sister to ensure the gifts received by their customers are not only beautiful and thoughtful, but also affordable. “We want to promote and encourage independent designers,” explained Emma. “It’s something we’re really
creative backgrounds ourselves and we’ve both had our own side projects,” Aimi added. “We’ve got quite a strong relationship with all the brands that we’ve sourced and I think that’s quite important to us, because it’s all about boosting each other and helping each other out.”
Watch their video interview to find out more about Emma and Aimi’s experience of setting up and running their own business, and their future hopes for Native Sister.
If you’ve enjoyed reading our alumni stories and would like to share your professional journey with our alumni network, we would like to hear from you. Please contact our editorial team on communications@alumni.rgu.ac.uk
We want to keep up to date with our alumni and share your personal If you have a and new job, a family celebration, a professional special anniversary, news or just want to share an update with your on your career peers. with your alumni network, we would be delighted to hear from you.
Email us at service@alumni.rgu.ac.uk for a chance to be included in the next issue of the RGU Alumni Magazine.
23
Innovation in fashion The fashion industry is fastpaced and has been hugely disrupted in recent years with innovations in IT changing how we shop and share our fashions. Several years ago we adjusted our undergraduate Fashion Management course to have a more digital focus and it is good to see our graduates gaining exciting roles such as Digital Marketing and Luxury Ecommerce Manager at Harvey Nichols, a high-profile London based luxury department store, and in head office roles with highend play online retailers such as Net-a-Porter.com. Other roles our graduates are currently working in include an Online Assistant Merchandiser role at global fashion brand Urban Outfitters, a Social Media and Content Assistant Manager at Bobbi Brown Cosmetics
The BA (Hons) and MSc Fashion Management courses provide graduates with a route to rich and varied employment opportunities. Course Leader Karen Cross shares her thoughts on how innovation is impacting fashion.
and a Video Production Manager at AVC Media. These roles highlight the increasing importance of digital skills in the workplace.
Other retailers are combining the virtual with the physical, providing augmented reality headsets in-store for customers to view Fashion
“The future of fashion is now.” Fashion brands have embraced online content creation platforms such as Instagram and apps as a means to communicate visually compelling looks, styles and products. Increasingly retail stores are having to compete with the virtual world by providing consumers with meaningful experiences in-store, a reflection of the ‘experience economy’. Some of our graduates working in fashion retail management are now involved in organising live events, such as in-store yoga classes.
Week catwalk shows and behind the scenes videos. Augmented reality can also be seen on social media feeds, with some brands encouraging consumers to upload a photo of themselves which can then virtually try on sunglasses to see if they suit. The digital disruption of the fashion industry continues to create new and exciting roles for our fashion management alumni – the future of fashion is now.
Photo by Slava Bowman
The global difference In order to help our graduates who want to become expatriates, we asked alumni around the globe to tell us how their workplace culture differs to the UK’s.
In the United Arab Emirates Insight from Stefanie Paterson, MSc Human Resource Management (2015)
24
The UAE is a broadly English speaking country, so any applicant would need to have a significant level of English in roles that require a university degree. Arabic is also a huge advantage and can often be seen in job adverts as a required or desirable skill. The recruitment process is similar for both recent graduates and experienced candidates. CVs tend to be submitted or application forms filled out for advertised roles. CVs are generally similar to the UK layout with the main difference being the inclusion of a photo as well as marital status, age and number of children. There is no legal requirement in the UAE that these
questions can’t be asked, so more often than not they’re included. It is widely known in the UAE that the recruitment process can be very slow – some candidates waiting three to nine months from initial application to placement is not unheard of. It’s just the nature of the region, especially with locally owned companies. It’s a very multicultural place to work though. In my team alone there are eight different nationalities working together, and different cultures are respected and celebrated within the region. For more information on living and working in the UAE, please visit Gov.uk online resources.
25
RGU Talk RGBoo In this special Halloween episode of RGU Talk, we dive headfirst into the supernatural research of Rachael Ironside, with a few spooky stories thrown in for good measure.
Therapeutic Photography In this episode we view social work through the lens of Dr Neil Gibson, whose research into therapeutic photography has let him on a fascinating journey.
Success with Society In this episode we sit down with journalism alumna Samantha Leckie – whose success since graduating five years ago has seen her rise to become Head of Features at the Evening Express and Evening Telegraph, and launch a new north-east lifestyle magazine.
… t a h t w o n k u o y Did The RGU Alumni team can keep you up to date with University news, jobs and volunteering opportunities relevant to your industry and region
Get in touch and make sure we have the most up to date contact details so you don’t miss out. Email us at service@alumni.rgu.ac.uk
Don’t forget to connect with us on social media
Robert Gordon Alumni
@RGUAlumni
RGU Alumni
