Nexusonline Produced by The Gatehouse: Design & Print Consultancy at Robert Gordon University
A P R I L / M AY 2 0 1 1
Connecting the University community
Human rights champion visits University
Internationally renowned human rights champion Baroness Caroline Cox of Queensbury delivered a public guest lecture at the University in January. Members of the public heard Baroness Cox deliver the lecture entitled, ‘A light in the darkness: the privilege of making a difference’, which focused on her international humanitarian work which has taken her to numerous conflict zones. Baroness Cox initially trained as a nurse, before undertaking degrees in the social sciences. She became Head of the Department of Sociology at what was then the Polytechnic of North London in 1974, moving on to become Director of the Nursing Education Research Unit, Chelsea College, University of London in 1977. In 1982 she was created a Life Peer, and was a deputy speaker of the House of Lords from 1985 – 2005. She was Founder Chancellor of Bournemouth University, 1991-2001, and is currently Chancellor of Liverpool Hope University and a Vice-President of the Royal College of Nursing. As Chief Executive of the Humanitarian Aid Relief Trust, and a founder trustee of the Medical Emergency Relief International, Baroness Cox’s humanitarian aid has included helping to promote parliamentary initiatives and medical programmes and helping to change policies for orphaned and abandoned children from institutional to foster family care.
Students vote University best for student experience The University has been voted by its students as providing the best student experience of any new university in the UK. The figures published in The Times Higher Education Student Experience Survey 2010 show that the University climbed from 33rd place in 2009 to 25th in 2010 – the highest placed of any new university. Professor John Harper, Senior Vice-Principal of Robert Gordon University said, “We’re delighted that the University has performed so well in these national rankings, building on its success from the previous year. We are continually looking for ways to improve the student experience at Robert Gordon University and it is particularly pleasing that the students have given the University such positive feedback.” The full story and rankings can be viewed on the Times Higher Education website
welcome Welcome to the first issue of Nexus online which will come out at the start of every second month. This new e-magazine will replace the quarterly Nexus hard-copy publication. The theme of this issue is working with industry and academic collaboration which can be seen throughout the publication. Please get in touch if you have any suggestions for stories or features for the magazine. Email your ideas to Nexus online Editor. The cut-off date for articles to be included in June’s edition is Friday 6 May. A further timetable is available at Nexus online http://www.rgu.ac.uk/news-and-events/newsletter Lastly, can managers please ensure that staff without regular University email access are informed that Nexus online can be viewed from home, or in libraries and IT labs at any University site at Nexus online http://www.rgu.ac.uk/news-and-events/newsletter Gail Caie Senior Communications Officer
Head of School retires and received prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award Professor Terry Healey retired from the School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences (PALS) in November 2010. Terry was appointed to the post of Head of the University’s School of Pharmacy in 2002 and, following a successful merger with the School of Life Sciences, served as the first Head of the School of PALS. On retiring, Terry was appointed Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy at the University. During his time at the University, Terry instigated changes to the internal management of the School by establishing Teaching Groups for all academic staff and led the team planning the forthcoming move of the School of PALS to a new building at Garthdee.
New Principal joins University
Terry has accumulated vast experience of academic pharmacy in the UK and abroad. He is a past Chair of the Committee of University Heads of Schools of Pharmacy in the UK and is an experienced Chair of Professional Body Accreditation panels for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, and now with their successor organisation, the General Pharmaceutical Council. This important role involves visiting institutions throughout the UK and overseas to advise universities on obtaining accreditation for their pharmacy and OSPAP programmes.
Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski joined the University as Principal and Vice-Chancellor on 21 March.
In addition to the above roles, Terry remains well connected within academic circles and currently serves as external examiner in Pharmacy for the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Aston in Birmingham, as well as acting as an experienced examiner of PhD and MPhil degrees.
If you did not have a chance to meet with Ferdinand at the welcome talks at Garthdee and Schoolhill on 22 and 23 March, he will also be undertaking a series of visits to Schools and Departments in the coming weeks to further engage with staff.
In a fitting recognition of his retrial, Terry received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Scottish Pharmacy Awards in Glasgow in November. The award was in recognition of Terry’s contribution to pharmacy education over the years.
special features
3-5
Working with business
5-6
Academic and industry collaboration
7
Graduation
WORKING WITH BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY Local IT leaders in future technology event Nearly 50 key members of the IT industry in Aberdeen met at the Malmaison Hotel on 20 January for the 2011 Technology Forecasts event, jointly organised by the University’s School of Computing and ScotlandIS, the trade body for the ICT industry. The event, now in its second year, provides representatives from across the sector - both consumers and producers of technology products and services - with the opportunity to get together to find out the technology trends and key organisations to watch in 2011.
DrillSim - 6000 Manufactured by Drilling Systems (UK) Limited.
KCA DEUTAG form alliance with University to form state-of-the-DART facility KCA DEUTAG, the international drilling and engineering contractor, has established a strategic alliance with the University to provide drilling and rig training from the University’s new Energy Centre at its Garthdee campus in Aberdeen. To achieve this, the company will relocate its innovative, DART simulator (Drilling and Advanced Rig Training) facility from the company’s offices to a new, bespoke and state-of-the-art complex within the Energy Centre, expected to open in 2013. KCA DEUTAG’s DART facility in Aberdeen provides a full-scale reproduction of an offshore platform or land rig, complete with state-of-the-art touch screen consoles for both driller and assistant driller. 3D graphics of the rig’s drill floor and automated or remotely-controlled equipment are projected onto a 60ft long cinema screen at the front of the drilling control room cabin. As the driller operates the rig floor equipment, the simulation depicts realistic and dynamic graphics and sounds to simulate what the driller would see and hear on the rig. Under the terms of the alliance the University will use the facility for postgraduate training programmes, while KCA DEUTAG will continue to provide internal training courses to employees and training to external clients but will gain extended reach into the wider drilling community and exposure to the University’s many existing relationships with national oil companies. Beyond this, there is an excellent opportunity to design tailored courses alongside the University to suit oilfield drilling industry requirements with a focus on producing graduates with exceptional training experience.
Renowned international speaker, David Mitchell, Senior Vice President and MD in Energy and Sustainability at Datamonitor, and Research Fellow for the IT Sector at Ovum, presented his analysis of what would be big in IT this year, outlining the potential movers and shakers in the market and the key technological trends. Research on many of the predicted technological trends, including mobile and tablet technology, gesture and cloud computing, augmented reality, data analytics and visualisation, is currently being undertaken by academics at the School of Computing and the University’s IDEAS (Innovation, Design and Sustainability) Research Institute. After the lecture, local IT leaders in the oil and gas, development and support sectors discussed the findings and how to reshape organisational strategies in line with the analysis. Professor Ian Allison, Head of the School of Computing, said, “Events such as these provide local IT professionals with the opportunity to share ideas and prevailing thoughts on the industry with their peers. This event also reflects the strong working relationship the School shares with the local IT industry and the role we have in helping to shape its future through both the School’s pioneering research and the high quality of graduates who study at the University and then continue to work in the region.”
University academic appointed Vice-President of Chartered Institute
Professor Peter Reid, Head of the University’s Department of Information Management, has been appointed as the new Vice-President of the Chartered
Institute of Library and Information Professionals in Scotland (CILIPS), Scotland’s leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers.
engagement across the board. His dedication has seen him establish relationships with external agencies including Grampian Information, to build links with professionals in the North-east.
CILIPS provides practical support for members throughout their careers and speaks out on behalf of the profession in both the private and public sectors.
Professor Reid was also instrumental in the development of the University’s Doctorate of Information Science, the UK’s only professional doctorate in library and information management.
A renowned expert in local studies, Professor Reid’s research and experiences over the last decade have seen him become a leader within the sector, promoting professional
Professor Reid, who has served as VicePresident since 1 January 2011, will step up to the post of President from 1 January 2012.
WORKING WITH BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY Management student undertakes placement at Dremel Europe, Netherlands
Management with marketing student Chris Thomson spent his third year placement working in The Netherlands with Dremel Europe, part of the Bosch Group, between June 2009 and July 2010. His role was within the marketing department as a Product Assistant. This is a position that the University has been able to offer its students for a number of years and there are currently two students working on placement with Dremel. Chris is now back at University and on course to graduate with an honours degree this summer. Just before Christmas, Chris got word of a job opening at Dremel. He applied and was invited to fly over to The Netherlands to participate in an interview, was offered the position and starts in June, working fulltime, as their new Junior Product Manager. Although Chris doesn’t speak Dutch, he picked up some of the language whilst on placement and is more than willing to learn in order to help him in his future role.
Lawrence with Kim Eason, Programme Leader - Textiles and Fashion Design.
Fashion Design student wins Japanese Consulate General Award Lawrence Ho, a fourth-year Fashion Design student at Gray’s School of Art, has been presented with the Japanese Consulate General Award for his unique coat design using tartan. Fourth-year students on the BA (Hons) Fashion Design course took part in a live project with SakuraScotland, an Edinburgh-based company run as a social business, set up in conjunction with International Tartans which specialises in the design of tartan and related products. Budding designers from Gray’s were given over 100 metres of tartan from the company’s ‘Four Seasons’ collection, inspired by Japan, and were invited to create a range of different clothing designs. Lawrence’s elaborate coat took inspiration from 16th century Japanese culture and incorporated a Japanese ‘obi’ style feature and a collar made from brown satin. The students designs were showcased to the Japanese Consul General, Masataka Tarahara, at a fashion show in Edinburgh in October last year. The event also featured kimono-demonstration and origami workshops as well as Japanese food and drinks, with profits donated to Edinburghbased charity, Scottish Love in Action. John Melvin, Operations Director at Sakura Scotland, said, “Consul General Tarahara and everyone involved in the project were highly impressed by the quality of the students’ designs. Lawrence’s coat was chosen as the winner as his design was not only heavily influenced by Japanese culture but best fitted the theme of the fashion show and connected Scottish and Japanese culture perfectly.” Lawrence concluded, “I’m delighted to be awarded the Consul General Award for my coat. The project gave me the opportunity to work with a high quality fabric and of incorporating the themes of other cultures into my designs.” The award - a traditional Japanese vase - was accepted on Lawrence’s behalf by Kim Eason, Head of Fashion and Textiles at Gray’s School of Art.
James Robertson, Placement Manager at ABS said, “I am delighted for Chris as he was prepared to step out of his comfort zone when went to the Netherlands. He returned to University confident and assured about his future career having gained tremendous experience on placement. The offer of this position has come at a good time for Chris as he can now focus on successfully completing his studies, assured that he has a job to step into when he graduates.” Read more http://iws.rgu.ac.uk/abs/student_ profiles/page.cfm?pge=88451
RGU ambassadors recognised at awards dinner
Professor Linda Lawton, Dr Heather Fulford and Professor Dorothy Williams have helped to bring conference business worth £10million to the North-east’s economy and were recognised for their contribution at Aberdeen Convention Bureau’s annual Ambassador Awards dinner. Business tourism is crucial to the Scottish economy, with an economic benefit of £1billion a year, and association conferences are vital to sustain this level of growth. Through its ambassador programme, the bureau works closely with the academic and corporate communities throughout the local area, and around half the £20million of business secured in 2010 came through the team of ambassadors. Read more (l to r): Andrew Pratt, Business Tourism Executive (Ambassador Programme); Dr Heather Fulford; Lord Provost Peter Stephen; and Dr Linda Lawton.
WORKING WITH BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY
Past CIOB Chair becomes fulltime lecturer Rob Leslie, a Scott Sutherland School lecturer with a long history with the School, recently finished his tenure as Chair of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) in Scotland. Rob has worked with the University since 1998, advising staff on construction industry issues, delivering lectures and as a member of the School Review team. Rob was awarded an Honorary Professorship in 2008 and split his time between the University and working in industry at Robertson Construction Eastern Limited before leaving the company in January 2010. Rob then became a part-time lecturer in February last year, becoming full-time in July.
University mooting competition Budding legal eagles from the Department of Law recently took part in the University’s annual mooting competition at Aberdeen Business School in association with Paull & Williamsons LLP Solicitors. Twenty-four undergraduate law students battled it out over three rounds in the competition before the final, held on Wednesday 1 December in the University’s mock court room facility at ABS. This year’s final participants were third-year LLB students, Kirsty MacCallum and Lewis Shand versus Kelly McManus and Craig Donald . After a tough final day battling it out in the moot court in front of judges, acted by members of staff from the Department, Craig and Kelly won the competition. Read more
Life Sciences Mission develops links with India School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences lecturer, Dr Susanne Boyle, played a key role in developing collaborative links between Scottish and Indian institutions during a trip to Chandigarh, India, in October, as part of the British Council Life Sciences Mission. Dr Boyle’s visit, which aimed to raise awareness of Scotland and the differentiated offering of Scottish education, also sought to facilitate partnerships between Indian and Scottish institutions in the field of education, research and training. The mission team, which included representatives from several Scottish universities and colleges, chose to visit Chandigarh for its high quality of work and the aim of the Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST) to develop the city as a centre of excellence in Biotechnology. Michael Russell, Minister for Education and Lifelong Learning, said, “Scotland is renowned for its world class education system and I welcome this work as a further opportunity to share knowledge, expertise and skills with one of our key partner countries. We have global strengths in Life Sciences and are keen to learn from the dynamic growth and specialism that exists in India.” Following the visit, Dr Boyle has applied for British Council seed funding to develop a partnership between the University’s School of Pharmacy and Life Sciences with Panjab University’s Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh.
Rob has had a long history with the CIOB. He served as Scottish Chair for one year in 2009, after progressing through Junior and Senior ViceChair positions. As Chair, Rob hosted the CIOB Scotland 175th Anniversary Dinner for Industry Leaders and MSPs, presented awards at the CIOB Scotland Student Challenge, CIOB Scotland Annual Awards Ceremony and hosted the CIOB Scotland Annual Dinner for over 600 industry professionals and their guests. Talking about his tenure as Chair, Rob said: “My time as Chair coincided with the worst recession the industry has seen in living memory. The main challenge involved getting greater collaboration within the industry which is known for being extremely fragmented. The construction industry represents nearly 9% of the gross domestic income and employs two million people in the UK yet has great difficulty in attracting the attention of government. I have been instrumental in getting CIOB Scotland and the Scottish Building Federation together to speak with a united voice to our MSP’s. “The wider exposure to industry issues through my involvement with the CIOB, together with my 40 years experience in the construction industry in a variety of roles, culminating in my position as a business development director at Roberston, allows me to bring the practical application of theory into the classroom.”
University hosts Aberdeen Student Accommodation Providers Consortium The University hosted the latest meeting of the Aberdeen Student Accommodation Providers Consortium (ASAPC) on 19 January, originally an idea between student Accommodation Managers Terry Knight and Jacqui Tuckwell from RGU and the University of Aberdeen respectively. Following these discussions Unite, Aberdeen’s largest Student Accommodation Provider, were approached and the group has gone from strength to strength. The consortium first met in January 2010 and created a forum for all student accommodation providers within Aberdeen to meet and discuss issues of mutual interest within the student housing market. At the initial meeting the University, the University of Aberdeen, the Scottish Agricultural College (SAC), Unite and Hunter Construction were represented and since then Liberty Living, Aberdeen College, Ardmuir and the Rowett Institute have joined the group. Read more
ACADEMIC COLLABORATIONS
ACTR represents the University British Council event in Pakistan Professor David Alexander, Director of the Aberdeen Centre for Trauma Research (ACTR), was invited to represent the University at a threeday event organised by the British Council, held in Islamabad, Pakistan in November 2010. All the invited delegates were senior personnel from academic and commercial institutions from 16 countries; only four were from the UK. Dr Bennadji holding his award.
Masterplan idea wins award for Scott Sutherland lecturer Dr Amar Bennadji, a lecturer from the Scott Sutherland School, took part in the 3D and Virtual Reality Symposium, in Tokyo in November, and was awarded the Academy Encouragement Award and a cash prize for his idea to adapt existing software to make it more environmentally friendly. Dr Bennadji based his idea on software called UC-win/Road, which is used by master-planners to design roads and infrastructure, and adapted it with the possibility to visualise the traffic’s gas emissions. “This would enable planners to opt for more environmentally friendly routes and therefore, more sustainable planning,” Dr Bennadji explained. Dr Bennadji used the University’s Garthdee Masterplan as a case study for the software. He began his demonstration with a virtual tour of the A90, crossing the Dee Bridge, before reaching Garthdee Road and simulated a heavy traffic jam. He then showed a second fly-over from about four miles away where he created a derivation route, which travellers from the south could use to take them to a new timber deck car park, student accommodation, sports and shopping facilities at the south bank of the River Dee. This would then be linked to the current campus by a pedestrian bridge. He also envisaged a light tram which would travel through the campus on the north bank of the river. After delivering his presentation Dr Bennadji was approached by a Korean company who advised him that they would be happy to provide an electric filling station in the car park for electric cars. “This would work in conjunction with the solar panels on the buildings, enabling users to charge their cars while they are working or studying at the University,” said Dr Bennadji. The Institute for Innovation, Design and Sustainability Research has granted Dr Bennadji funding for a researcher to continue his work and for future demonstrations within the University and for external organisations such as the local authorities.
The aim was to identify how to improve reciprocal knowledge transfer between Pakistan and the international academic and commercial world. Particularly because the University has a longstanding association with Pakistan, and, in particular, with its senior university – the National University of Science and Technology, Professor Alexander was able to identify, with wide spread support among the delegates, several attractive opportunities to be funded by the British Council, to augment the link between the University and Pakistan. The ACTR has now established the Police (Special Operations) Research Group, as a research sub-group, which confirms one of the particular focuses of the Centre, police research. This unique research group will be steered by two senior police officers, Chief Inspector Andrew Brown and Inspector Craig Menzies, both of whom are now based at the Scottish Police College, and Professor Alexander and Dr Susan Klein, Principal Member of the Institute for Health and Welfare Research. The main focus of their research is the police response to hostage negotiation and the management of other crises, including incidents of terrorism. Read more Any queries about this new group and its intentions should contact Professor Alexander at d.a.alexander@rgu.ac.uk or Tel:(01224)263103.
Interprofessional teaching of basic life support skills A project which involves the teaching of basic life support skills by final year medical students from the University of Aberdeen and nursing students from the University is underway in the Clinical Skills Centre at the Faculty of Health and Social Care. The recipients of the teaching were students from the Faculty of Health and Social Care. The project has been received with great enthusiasm by all the students and staff involved.
The medical and nursing students were trained up together at the Suttie Centre, Foresterhill Site and worked in pairs to teach their skills to first and second year Pharmacy and Life Sciences; Health sciences and Applied Social Science students. The impact of this project has been to use the concept of peer teaching and an interprofessional approach to enable skill acquisition in emergency life skills.
Funding was received from the Scottish clinical skills network managed education network and used to purchase extra resusciannes and resusci bags to support the training. The project concludes in March and will recommend that this teaching becomes a sustainable part of the curriculum for future students. Read more
GRADUATION 2010
University honours Olympian Rower, Naval Commander and International Architect The University conferred honorary degrees on naval commander Rear Admiral Nick Harris, Olympian rower Katherine Grainger and international architect Gordon Benton at its winter graduation ceremonies in December. After leaving school at 17½, Rear Admiral Harris began his first of four years of training at Britannia Royal Naval College, including a term at sea in the Mediterranean. An offer to serve in submarines for a limited period of two years followed and at age 30 Rear Admiral Harris was selected to undergo the submarine command course, Perisher. Passing Perisher is a career changing moment, and from this Rear Admiral Harris went on to command the diesel powered conventional submarine, HMS Oberon, after which he was honoured with an MBE, and the nuclear powered HMS Sovereign. Further highlights of his career included studying at the US Naval War College, two years as the submarine advisor to the British Naval Staff in Washington, working in the Ministry of Defence during the 1997 General Election and defence review, command of a squadron of seven nuclear submarines and working up to become Deputy Submarine Force Commander.
Katherine Grainger
Gordon Benton
Katherine Grainger was the first British female athlete in any sport to gain medals in three consecutive Olympic Games - silver medals in Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008. Born in Glasgow in 1975 and brought up in Aberdeen, Katherine was a keen sportswoman from an early age. However, it was while studying law at Edinburgh University that she was introduced to rowing. By the time she had graduated with an Honours degree in 1997 such was her performance in the sport she had achieved the accolade of being nominated the most outstanding athlete for two years in succession and had also won a gold medal in the coxless pairs in the World under 23 championships in record time.
Gordon Benton is an architect who has forged a unique career working principally in South East and East Asia, and in which he recognised the importance of sustainable development as a crucial ingredient for the design of vibrant communities, long before such interests entered mainstream consciousness.
Katherine then undertook an MPhil in Medical Law and Ethics at Glasgow University while continuing to train part-time. On completion she returned to rowing full-time and over the next few years competed in the women’s eight at world championship level before moving to the quadruple sculls where she secured her first Olympic silver medal in Sydney in 2000. Racing in the coxless pairs in 2003 resulted in a World Championship gold medal followed by a silver medal in the same event at the Olympics in Athens in 2004. A move back to the quadruple sculls then led to gold in the World Championships in Japan in 2006 and Munich in 2007. In 2008 at the Beijing Olympics she gained her third Olympic silver medal, World Championship gold in November in 2010, and now sets her sights on London 2012. Katherine combines a six day training regime with the British squad with her PhD studies in homicide at London University. She was appointed an MBE in 2006 for services to rowing.
In 1984 Gordon established his own architects practice in Singapore, winning a number of design competitions and awards in Pakistan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. On winning an invited competition for Jakartabaru Cosmopolitan, a 2,500 hectare Indonesian New Town, Gordon was invited to join the Lippo Group, a leading banking and financial house. He joined Lippo in 1991 as Director in charge of Planning and Development for the 1,000 hectare urban development of Lippo Karawaci to the west of Jakarta. Over the years Gordon has worked as an architect, developer, city manager, quantity surveyor, environmental engineer, planner, landscape architect, multi-million bond raiser, lecturer and project media promoter, sometimes all at the same time. Despite a career principally spent overseas, Gordon has always been a stalwart of the Scottish community and has held the position of Chieftain of the St Andrew’s Societies in Singapore, Brunei as well as Java, Indonesia. The value of this work from which enduring links were forged between Indonesia and Scotland was recognised in 1977 when Gordon was awarded the OBE by the Queen for services to the expatriate community in Indonesia.
Awards come in threes for Dr Amish
University launches Scotland’s first Online LLB
University experiences 31% rise in student applicants
Dr Mohamed Amish, Development Leader of the Sonatrach programme, was presented with three commemorative awards on three separate occasions this year, by Sonatrach senior management and students, for his exceptional hard work and contribution over the past 18 months.
The Department of Law at Aberdeen Business School will launch the first online LLB in Scotland in September 2011, which is accredited by the Law Society of Scotland,
The number of applicants to the University has risen 31.05% compared to the UCAS average rise of 4.29%. The University is also experiencing a rise across the board from UK, EU and non EU student applications with numbers up by 22.39%, 73.68% and 69.84 % respectively. The number of submissions to individual courses has also increased, rising by 29.64%, compared to the UCAS average of 6.71%.
Since 2004, Univation and Robert Gordon University have secured training contracts worth over £5 million with Sonatrach, the Algerian National Oil Company, which include the delivery of a number of important education and training programmes through Sonatrach’s in-house training organisation, the Algerian Petroleum Institute SPA (IAP) at Boumerdes. Dr Amish, who was commended for the impressive quality of the programme says, “I was delighted to be presented with three commemorative awards by Dr Kamel Boukerrou, the Director of IAP on behalf of all Sonatrach, IAP and students to thank me for my contribution to the young future Sonatrach engineers and the Robert Gordon University for our efforts throughout the course.” Read more
The course is structured around an interactive learning platform, and students will also interact with each other and their expert tutors on a regular basis, using some of the most up-to-date educational technology. An LLB can be obtained over 2, 3 or 4 years (3 years minimum for 2011 starts), and students will benefit from a flexible structure, where they can accelerate or decelerate the learning process by changing mode to suit changes in their personal or work environments. On-campus optional tuition sessions will also be offered each semester, in order to enhance the learning experience. Further information on the course can be accessed at http://www4.rgu.ac.uk/abs/ postgraduate/page.cfm?pge=85107. Full version of this article can be viewed at http://www.rgu.ac.uk/news/universitylaunches-scotland-s-first-online-llb
Could you benefit from alumni expertise? Alumni volunteers from a variety of sectors have been coming back to the University to pass on their experience, knowledge and advice to students.
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A group of law alumni volunteered to run workshops for law students that focussed on boosting their career success. First year engineering students benefitted from the expertise of alumni who talked about employers expectations in the oil and gas industry. Computing alumni enthused school pupils at a recent student recruitment event. Nigerian and Indian alumni joined us at a welcome event to provide the new cohort of international students with some top tips on how to settle into student life.
We have had a mixture of volunteers at events including fresh graduates, alumni that have a bit more experience under their belt, graduates that have gone into positions directly related to their studies and ones that have diversified. “I really enjoyed coming back to RGU and helping out with the workshop; it was great to speak to the students who were genuinely interested in hearing the perspective of someone working in industry.” Ross, Engineering Graduate If your department could benefit from alumni volunteers, please contact the Alumni Office on alumni@rgu.ac.uk or 01224 262032.
Gold Prize for Patricia Engineering PhD student Patricia Okorie received the Gold Prize from her sponsor, SuperGen Marine Energy Research Consortium, at the company’s Annual Assembly in November 2010, in recognition of her outstanding academic performance. Patricia impressed judges at the event by showcasing the progress of her research entitled, ‘Effect of Large Scale Turbulent Structures on a Generic Tidal Current Turbine Support Structure’, as part of a UK-wide poster competition. Robert Gordon University, a Scottish charity registered under charity number SCO13781
Director of Marketing, Communications & Student Recruitment, Martyn Spence, said, “We are delighted that the University is bucking the national trend and attracting interest from an increasing number of potential students. In the current economic climate it is likely that the University’s consistently high record of graduate employment is a factor in this success, but our growing reputation for internationally recognised research and consistently high investment in student facilities, also play their part in making Robert Gordon a university of first choice. “Recent national accolades including Best Modern University in the UK and Sunday Times Scottish University of the Year have also helped to raise the University’s profile with students.”
Appointment of Director of Estates and Property Services Bill Somerville has taken over as Director of Estates and Property Services from Mike Berry who left the University on 12 January 2011. Bill, who’s previous post was Deputy Director, Estates and Property Services, has been with the University for four years working closely alongside Mike in the leadership and management of the department. Pat Briggs, Vice-Principal (Planning and Resources), said, “Bill has brought to the organisation a wealth of experience in facilities and project management, gained with a range of employers in the private sector. He will continue his close engagement with the academic and support communities, as well as the students of the University, with whom he has already worked very effectively to develop a range of campus and accommodation services.”
EVENTS DIARY 2011
For further information on all events, visit: www.rgu.ac.uk/news/eventsdiary
APRIL 6
Leadership Lecture – Major General David Shaw - 6pm
19
Encouraging Entrepreneurship
MAY 3
Launch of Institute for Management, Governance and Society
JUNE 16
Non-medical Prescribing Conference
17-25
Gray’s Degree Show
17-30
Scott Sutherland End of Year Show
19
Information Science Doctoral Colloquium (iDocQ) colloquium for doctoral research students ABS
1-23
Information: Interactions and Impact (i3) conference ABS
JULY 12-15
Graduation