School of Management and Languages
Welcome to the Autumn 2010 edition of the School of Management and Languages Newsletter. Since our last newsletter in June the School has had a busy few months with graduations, summer schools, staff attending conferences both nationally and internationally as well as undertaking research, and preparation for the new academic year. Whilst it was a busy summer for staff in the School it really is great to see the campus buzzing with all our students once again. With over 800 new SML students at our Edinburgh campus, 450 SML students at our Dubai campus and 250 new students on our flexible learning undergraduate degree programmes it has been a very strong year for recruitment. As we continue to develop and enhance our portfolio of programmes to meet the needs of students, business and industry today it is rewarding to know that the achievements of our students, alumni and staff speak for themselves and make us the provider of choice in realising career ambitions. To keep up to date with the latest news from around School please visit the School website www.sml.hw.ac.uk or follow us on Twitter (www.twitter.com/heriot_watt_sml). And if you have any items for inclusion in future editions of the Newsletter, please contact Alison Fitch (A.L.Fitch@hw.ac.uk) Professor Gillian Hogg Head of School
NEWSLETTER AUTUMN 2010
UNIVERSITY NEWS Fireworks to mark 40 years of Heriot-Watt’s Edinburgh Campus In November 1969, the Chancellor, Sir Alec Douglas-Home, unveiled a plaque to commemorate building work starting on Heriot-Watt’s 248 acre Edinburgh campus, which was gifted to the University by Midlothian Council. During the last 40 years the Edinburgh Campus has flourished and over 8,800 staff and students are now based here. The grounds, carefully nurtured since 1969, are one of the things most cherished by everyone who visits the Campus.
As a finale event to mark the end of the year long celebrations of the 40th anniversary of the Campus, the University held a fireworks display. The University Pipe Band led a parade of students and staff along the main University Avenue to the sport pitches where a fantastic firework show followed.
The Postgraduate Centre at the Edinburgh campus
Postgraduate Centre officially opens
Dubai Campus to treble capacity
The Postgraduate Centre at Heriot-Watt University’s Edinburgh Campus was officially opened in October. The Centre provides a state-of-the-art facility for the University’s 1,500 strong postgraduate community, who come from 100 countries. It brings together postgraduate students from all areas of the University, encouraging the multi-disciplinary approach which is key to the success of Heriot-Watt. The Centre houses a lecture theatre, seminar, study and social spaces for postgraduate taught and research students. Advanced video-conferencing facilities enable research and teaching interactions between those on-campus with collaborators and off-campus students at many partner institutions worldwide and a centre for outreach.
Heriot-Watt University’s Dubai Campus is set to treble its capacity and significantly extend the portfolio of programmes available.
At the official opening the philanthropic donors who contributed to the construction were recognised with a reception - Cairn Energy Plc, the Wolfson Foundation, John Brydson and Dr Gavin Gemmell all provided generous support for the construction of the Postgraduate Centre, and its emphasis on entrepreneurship and vision are key to the continued involvement of the donors. Following the reception Sir Bill Gammell, Chief Executive of Cairn Energy PLC gave the Leadership lecture ‘Winning: learning from failure’.
As a part of a £35m (AED200m) new development, the 28,000 sqm (300,000 sq. ft) state-of-the-art campus will be modern and eco-friendly, extending the existing 1500-student campus to accommodate a further 3000 students. The new Campus is set to open in September 2011 with a wide range of programmes on offer including: Architectural Engineering (a first in the region); Interior Design; Logistics and Supply Chain Management; Applied Psychology; Food Science; Safety and Health; Financial Risk Management; Actuarial Science; Graphic Design; Multimedia; Computer Sciences. The building site for the new Campus will also become a lesson in the making with construction, engineering and design students all taking part in regular site visits in order to gain valuable insight into the construction process, as the site evolves. University Principal, Professor Steve Chapman said, “This is a very special milestone for our Dubai Campus and for the University as a whole. Some 45% of students awarded a Scottish degree overseas obtain that degree from Heriot-Watt University and our Dubai Campus is the jewel in the crown of our international activity.”
SCHOOL NEWS New website for School of Management and Languages The University launched its new external website earlier this year. With a new look, new content, new navigation and layout, the launch marked the completion of the Phase 1 of the University Website Redesign project which will see the transformation of the University’s web presence. Phase 2 of the project includes Schools and Institutes and the School of Management and Languages is the first School in the schedule. The new SML website will be aimed at external audiences. Internal content on the existing SML website, including information for current students and our staff intranet, will be migrated across to relevant internal platforms as a separate project which will run concurrently with the SML Web Redesign project. Work commenced in September with the aim of launching the new SML web site in December 2010.
Centre for Finance and Investment launches with debate on inflation The newly-formed Centre for Finance and Investment (CFI) marked its official launch with an Inaugural Annual Debate entitled ‘Prospects for UK Inflation and Implications for Investment Markets.’ The centre, based in the School of Management and Languages, is being led by Dr Andy Adams. It brings together Heriot-Watt University academics with an interest in finance and investment, and practitioners from the local financial community. The aim is to explore areas of mutual interest and thereby increase the
practical relevance of teaching and research. An Advisory Board of senior practitioners provides guidance to academic members on a variety of issues including research themes and topics for student dissertations. The Inaugural Debate, chaired by Dr Adams, examined the prospects for UK inflation and implications for investment markets. First, Ian Harwood, Chief Economist at Evolution Securities, argued that UK inflation will not be a problem in the medium term. Russell Napier, a Director of Scottish Investment Trust, then argued that inflation will be a problem. Robin Angus, Executive Director of Personal Assets Trust and William Dining, European Head of Strategy and Economics at AEGON Asset Management, replied for each side. Over 120 people attended the debate including practitioners from the Edinburgh
financial community, academics and postgraduate students. Dr Adams said ‘It is great to see such a large turnout for the CFI’s Inaugural Debate. The CFI aims to develop the relationship between academia and the financial community to increase the two-way exchange of knowledge and thereby enhance teaching, research and practice. The Inaugural Debate has been an excellent start.’ Angus Tod, Divisional Director with investment managers Brewin Dolphin, said ‘It was most encouraging in these difficult times to attend a new annual event which was so successful and informative. I look forward to next year’s debate.’ Further information on the Centre for Finance and Investment can be found at www.sml.hw.ac/cfi
The debate panel (from left to right): Robin Angus, Russell Napier, Dr Andy Adams, Ian Harwood, William Dinning
BSL: UPTAKE project wins prestigious public engagement award The School’s BSL:UPTAKE project won a prestigious academic award for their BSL Knowledge Exchange Cafe initiative. The BSL:UPTAKE team were presented with the award for best Public Engagement Challenge 2009-10 at the Annual Gathering of the Edinburgh Beltane held in October. The Knowledge Exchange Cafe took place at the headquarters of Deaf Action in Edinburgh in August and Deaf people from all over Scotland were invited to come along and meet the BSL:UPTAKE team, who demonstrated how to use the BSL:UPTAKE website to research information on public policy issues affecting the Deaf community, and to use this information to become more actively engaged in public life and policy-making. The Cafe also included representatives from Moray House School of Education in Edinburgh, who talked about their new research project with deaf children. In addition, the Scottish Council on Deafness used the Cafe as an opportunity to film Deaf people’s responses in British Sign Language (BSL) to the current public consultation on a BSL Bill for the Scottish Parliament. Professor Graham Turner said “It is absolutely fantastic to have the BSL:Uptake Project, and in particular the Knowledge Exchange Cafe, recognised in this way by
Edinburgh Beltane. It reflects, in particular, our firm commitment to working with third sector organisations like Deaf Action and the Scottish Council on Deafness to enhance the collective impact of our work upon public policy. Public engagement has to be integral to University life. We plan to use this award to help us run further BSL Knowledge Exchange events.” EdSign34, a collaborative project between Heriot-Watt, Queen Margaret University and University of Edinburgh was also awarded second place in the Challenge. They ran a series of open public lectures on BSL and Deaf issues and provided a forum for knowledge transfer and information exchange between academics, educators, students and members of the local Deaf community, as well as interested members of the public. As part of their ongoing commitment to public engagement the BSL:UPTAKE team will be collaborating with Scotland’s Futures Forum and the Edinburgh Beltane to stage two events at the Scottish Parliament in November. The events will examine, with Members of the Scottish Parliament, representatives from Edinburgh’s universities and members of the Deaf community, the future of BSL in an inclusive Scotland.
The Public Engagement Challenge participants with Professor Graham Turner (back row left), Bob Duncan, BSL Project Officer (front row centre) and also Elaine Farrow (front row, 2nd from right) from the EdSign34 project, which was awarded 2nd place.
External Programmes Through our global network of Approved Learning Partners the School’s External Programmes team provides a range of flexible learning undergraduate degree programmes in business and management to students around the world. The School was delighted that so many of our Approved Learning Partners could attend the first Heriot-Watt International Partner Conference held in June. As well as presentations and cultural events this was a great opportunity for Partners to network, share good practice and their experiences of delivering Heriot-Watt degrees globally. Feedback from the event was very positive and the University hopes to hold a second conference in June 2011. Our Approved Learning Partner network has expanded recently to include CTI Education Group, our new Partner in South Africa. Staff from the University’s School of Management and Languages and the School of Mathematical and Computing Science recently travelled to Johannesburg to deliver training sessions to CTI staff and we look forward to their first intake to the BBA programme in early 2011.
STUDENT NEWS Business Management students win Saltire internships Three final year undergraduate Business Management students have spent their summers working in some of the world’s most successful multinational companies. John Chamabralous, Rachel Lippett and Natasha Walls all won Saltire Internships for 2010 having been inspired to apply after hearing Nina Spencer, a fellow Business Management student, talk about her experiences in Texas last summer as a Saltire intern. The Saltire Foundation is an independent charitable organisation providing opportunities through experience, learning and business networking to help create Scotland’s next generation of business leaders. Their Undergraduate Internship scheme offers students the chance to experience the working environment of global multinational companies for eight weeks. By broadening horizons and opening doors, the scheme aims to encourage students to develop their confidence, skills and capacity to succeed with a positive, can-do attitude and an enterprising outlook. The scheme is open to those in their penultimate year of study at a Scottish University.
Fashion Marketing students stage a Japanese-inspired fashion show
pitches. But I also watched from sidelines as the division underwent major change - discovering roles were moving to Hong Kong as well as roles being made redundant. I was watching change management and leadership style in real time. The whole experience of going to Sydney, working for Telstra and meeting a fantastic group of people really has been the making of me.’
MSc International Fashion Marketing students from the School recently organised a fashion show as part of the Sakura Scotland ‘Sukottorando meets Scotland’ event held in Edinburgh.
Rachel was based in Tokyo, Japan with DHL Supply Chain which design and implement customised supply chain and corporate information solutions. ‘My experience in the Business Development unit at DHL has given me a new perspective - it’s amazing to be able to put the academic point of view into practical situations and truly understand what’s being said. It has been a huge boost in confidence for me, and after working with Powerpoint every day for 8 weeks, I also have better presentation skills than ever before!’ John was based in North Carolina in the USA with Quintiles, a global pioneer in pharmaceutical services which delivers new drugs and cures for the world’s most challenging diseases. . John said ‘I worked in a Project Management team during my time there and learnt far more than I thought was ever possible over an 8-week period. It was a fantastic experience and the key word here is experience – because that is what I came away with, in every sense of the word’
The event was held to foster ties between Scotland and Japan in the areas of culture and education as well as raising funds for Scottish Love in Action, a charity that helps poor young girls in India. Featuring a Japanese café, kimono demonstrations, origami workshops and a series of talks and whisky tasting, the event provided something for all of the family.
Dr Colin Turner, Head of the Department of Business Management said ‘Natasha, Rachel and John are a credit to the School and the University, they performed outstandingly as Saltire interns and are a fantastic advertisement as to the value of internships and relevant work experience in making your CV stand out.’
Final year Business Management students and Saltire Interns Natasha Walls and Rachel Lippett
MSc International Fashion Marketing students and models at the ‘Sukkotorando Meets Scotland’ fashion show
One of the main events of the afternoon was the fashion show put together and modelled by the International Fashion Marketing students. The students worked hard on all aspects of organising the show including styling, music, choreography, hair and make-up as well as modelling the Japaneseinspired tartan garments designed and created by Robert Gordon University’s Gray’s School of Art students. The fashion show was extremely well received by guests, which included the Japanese Consulate General, Mr Tarahara and his wife. John Melvin, Operations Director for Sakura Scotland said, ‘The International Fashion
Natasha was based in Sydney, Australia with Telstra, Australia’s leading telecommunications company. ‘Whilst at Telstra, I worked in their international division on product collateral to introduce an existing product into a new market, and developing and delivering sales
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT School of Management and Languages t +44 (0) 131 451 3497
f +44 (0) 131 451 8336
e enquiries@sml.hw.ac.uk
www.sml.hw.ac.uk
Marketing students really did a fantastic job in choreographing and styling the show as well as looking professional, confident and entirely at home on the catwalk. Absolutely everyone was talking about the fashion show and we’ve had great feedback from people who were there.’ Patsy Perry, Deputy Programme Director of the MSc International Fashion Marketing said, ‘Our IFM students did an outstanding job of representing Heriot-Watt University with their organisation and modeling of the fashion show. They most certainly injected some fashion and flair into the event!’
Lord Smith of Kelvin and Irene Adams prizes 2010 Christopher Basinski, MA (Hons) in Economics and Finance, and Wenche Tobiasson, MA (Hons) in Economics, undergraduate Economics students from the School of Management & Languages have been awarded the Lord Smith of Kelvin Prize and the Irene Adams Prize for 2010. The prizes are awarded for outstanding achievement in the core Year 3 economics modules of Advanced Economics, Introduction to Econometrics, and the Econometrics Project. One prize goes to the outstanding male student (the Lord Smith prize) and the other to the outstanding female student (Irene Adams prize). Each prize comes with a cheque for £500. Christopher and Wenche received their prizes from Lord Smith of Kelvin at a reception held recently. In addressing students gathered at the reception Lord Smith said “It is an exciting time for students of economics as global developments continue to defy textbooks and economic theory, and it is
great to see such outstanding academic achievement from Christopher and Wenche. But remember that you are the leaders of the society of tomorrow and I urge you that whatever you end up doing, make sure you give something back to your community: share your time and talents in any way you can.” Lord Smith and Irene Adams are business associates. Their current entrepreneurial ventures include cattle breeding and winemaking. They are both passionate about education including the value of higher education and are delighted to be working with Heriot-Watt. The School is very grateful to Lord Smith and Irene Adams for their support and generosity.
Dubai students and staff win Big Idea Start-Up Challenge Students and staff from the School of Management and Languages at Heriot-Watt University’s Dubai campus recently won three awards at the final of the UAE Big Idea Start-Up Challenge 2010 - a business plan competition open to students studying at UAE institutions. The aspiring entrepreneurs presented their business ideas to a distinguished panel of successful entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and other professionals and were subjected to an extensive grilling session from the panel. ‘The competition is structured to provide students with real exposure to the entrepreneurial community’, said Reena Banerjee, Cofounder & Idea Director at Big Idea.
Christopher and Wenche receiving their prizes from Lord Smith of Kelvin
The ‘Ezy Scrub’ team - winners of the Big Start-Up Challenge, from left to right, Nida Fatma, Shabbar Fayyaz, Farida Haider, Nigel Pinto, and Fatima Ahmed. A team of students from the School of Management and Languages walked away with the Big Idea Start-up Challenge 2010 Winner- Gold for their Big Idea ‘Ezy Scrub’ - innovative scrub gloves that combine a scouring pad, rubber, plastic, and cotton cloth all stitched one under the other for the comfort of the wearer. The Big Idea Start-up Challenge 2010 Best Innovator award was given to Faisa Abderezak from Heriot Watt University for her Big Idea ‘Y.E.P.(Youth Empowerment Project)’which provided tailor-made internships, mentorships and numerous, highly valued educational, empowering programs to youth. Universities, institutes and colleges also took part in the Big Idea Mentor Challenge 2010 which aimed to highlight the innovative practices and methodology implemented in nurturing entrepreneurship skills in students. Heriot-Watt University picked up it’s third award taking the ‘Big Idea Mentor 2010 Winner – Gold’. Professor Ammar Kaka, Vice Principal of Heriot-Watt University Dubai said ‘The teams representing Heriot-Watt demonstrated to the panel of leading entrepreneurs that they have the business ideas, skills and knowledge necessary to bring their ideas to the market-place. I was very impressed by these students and it clearly is reflected in the hard work and efforts delivered by the School of Management and Languages team here in Dubai”.
Fashion Marketing students support Prince’s Trust retail initiative The George Davies Centre for Retail Excellence based in the School of Management and Languages has once again supported The Prince’s Trust’s Get Into Retail scheme. The Get Into Retail scheme is aimed at unemployed young people aged 16-25 who are interested in working in the retail sector and helps them to overcome barriers to employment. The young people undertake a six-week training course combining theory on merchandising, marketing and selling of fashion products with work experience in some of Edinburgh’s major fashion retailers including John Lewis, Gap, Debenhams, House of Fraser and Harvey Nichols. Students from the MSc International Fashion Marketing programme in the School of Management and Languages have been involved in providing mentoring support to the young people on the scheme – both during the scheme and also as they go on to enter the working environment. The scheme has been very successful with most of the young people having been offered jobs by their placement companies. A Celebration Event was held at HeriotWatt University in October where the young people who took part in this year’s scheme gave presentations showcasing the skills and knowledge they have gained during the scheme. Joe Trodden, from The Prince’s Trust, expressed his thanks to Heriot-Watt and to the International Fashion Marketing students, Joe said ‘We’re delighted to be working with HeriotWatt University on our Get Into Retail scheme, the students have been a great addition to what we are doing. For many of these young people, the opportunity to gain skills, knowledge and confidence to work in the retail sector has been life-changing.’ Professor Neil Towers, Director of the George Davies Centre and MSc
International Fashion Marketing said ‘. It is fantastic that our students are able to support these young people as take their first steps to a career in retail.’
Fiona Watson Memorial Fund recipient announced
Strategic Project Management students organise industry event Students from our postgraduate Strategic Project Management courses recently organised and hosted an Association of Project Management (APM) Scotland event at the Postgraduate Centre. Speakers included Phil Hill from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA). Phil is responsible for building the capability of the Portfolio, Programme and Project Support office and manages SEPA’s Information Management Portfolio. He gave a presentation on key lessons learned for successful delivery of a structured portfolio of programmes and projects and how to be successful during the early phases of the programme and project life cycle. Professor Stephen Ogunlana, from the School of the Built Environment at HeriotWatt University, has an international reputation for research in construction project management. He gave a presentation entitled What’s the value of humour to project management?’’ which not only proved highly entertaining and very humorous for the audience but highlighted important project management issues in the construction industry. Derek McCaffrey & Dougie Stewart from BAE Systems then gave a presentation on their Type 45 destroyer programme to design, build and support six new aircraft carriers for the UK Royal Navy. The presentation included a video which served to illustrate the sheer scale of the project and the importance of skilled project management to enable BAE Systems to deliver to the Royal Navy.
Kate Rougvie, pictured left, with Janet Rougvie, John Kenyon and Mr and Mrs Watson Each year, thanks to the Fiona Watson Memorial Fund, a student from the University is supported to undertake an internship with the United Nations in New York. This is now the seventh year that the fund has supported a student in this way. This year the lucky student is Kate Rougvie who has just graduated with an honours degree in Interpreting and Translating (French and Spanish). From an early age Kate has been fascinated by languages and foreign cultures and has spent time as a volunteer English teacher in a small village in India and as a teaching assistant in a Spanish primary school. Kate has said that she would like to work in the field of Human Rights, with particular focus on refugees. Her internship should help her towards this goal, she leaves for the UN in August. Fiona Watson, Political Adviser to the Special Representative of the Secretary General, Sergio Viera de Mello, was one of the 22 peacekeepers killed in a terrorist attack on the UN headquarters in Baghdad on Tuesday 19th August 2003.
The Prince’s Trust Get Into Retail participants with our MSc International Fashion Marketing students
GRADUATE NEWS Yes Prime Minister! Dr Axel Heitmueller, PhD in Economics 2003, is now working as Deputy Director and Chief Analyst at the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit. Here he tells us how a ‘typical’ week looks for him.
finishes with a Prime Ministerial meeting. Among other things we are commissioned to work on a major policy publication over the next four weeks jointly with the new Behavioural Insight Unit. While waiting for the Prime Minister outside the Commons debating chamber just before the meeting, I find myself catching the end of the Home Secretary’s statement to the House on air freight security following the attempted bombing of air cargo planes. You never quite know what happens next in this job. Tuesday Waking up at 2.30am not entirely sure where I am. Unfortunately it dawns on me quickly that I am back in London remembering the previous day and my brain starts thinking about the structure of the document, workshops that want to be arranged, and colleagues in departments who need to be put at ease as we are about to infringe on their policy area. The day is spent mainly on the phone and in meetings setting wheels in motion and following up progress on various commitments from the Spending Review. I am also attending an external steering board of one of the many think tanks in Whitehall to discuss their latest report.
Monday Suffering from a massive jetlag having returned only a few hours earlier from Vietnam, the first long holiday in ages. Back in the office I am catching up with the team and making my way through a ridiculously full inbox. It becomes quite clear that a few very busy weeks lie ahead, picking up the outfall from the recent Spending Review. The day passes quickly with catch-ups and
www.sml.hw.ac.uk
Wednesday The day starts with a catch-up meeting with the head of the No 10 Policy Unit to discuss our work programme for the next four weeks. A couple of hours of intensive brainstorming follow to develop ideas for the policy document and a potential speech
by the Prime Minister. Spend an hour on the phone negotiating a policy position with the Treasury. Thursday A morning of regular career development conversations with the team followed by an afternoon of meetings with key stakeholders in spending departments chasing progress on various Spending Review announcements. A key part of the job is ensuring No 10 policy priorities get actually delivered by departments, which often requires tricky negotiations and a rigorous understanding of the policy area. Day finishes with meeting the Deputy Prime Minister’s special adviser and a commission for an analytical paper. Friday My holiday now seems a very long time ago but at least my body clock is back to normal. Intended to spend most of the day drafting but am disrupted by phone calls and some emergencies. Take an hour aside to read some new academic studies and wading through old files to find some earlier papers by the Strategy Unit to build a narrative and finally get some words down on paper. And at some stage that night the week is finally over. Before getting on the bus home I pop into Waterstones to buy Jonathan Powell’s new book about his time in No 10, Whitehall has fully absorbed me again and the rice fields of northern Vietnam seem a distant memory.