West issue 7

Features

Comeback Scotland

Alumni Profiles

06 08 09

Access to Palliative Care

University News

12 13 14

west Lost Secrets

On the Ball!

ISSUE

Bonny Appetito Throwaway Society

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Tech a Look at Stuart Now!

Netball Scotland 19 City of Culture

7 AUTUMN 15

The magazine for alumni and friends of

University of the West of Scotland

Fizzing with Ideas Martin Steele Irn-Bru Brand Controller

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Changing the World Tricia Imrie Head of Fundraising at Mary’s Meals

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Passion for Learning Entrepreneur Chidozie ObiOkoye

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UPDATE YOUR DETAILS AND WIN 1 OF 4 IPAD MINI 2 MODELS Have we got your latest details in our database? If you have moved house, changed jobs, got married or completed a new qualification, we would like you to let us know.

Please use the contact details sheet enclosed with this copy of the magazine and return it in the Freepost envelope supplied.

All completed forms returned to the University by 5pm on Monday 29th February 2016, will be entered into our free prize draw to win 1 of 4 iPad mini 2 models.

See www.uws.ac.uk/ AlumniCompetitionTerms for full terms and conditions.

BEST OF LUCK!

Articles & Features Olga Wojtas Ashley Lennon Niall Gordon Ross Deuchar Jamie McGeechan Photography Mark Seager Joe Connolly Design Freight Design, Glasgow Published by Alumni and Development External Engagement University of the West of Scotland Paisley Campus Paisley, Scotland PA1 2BE, UK T: 0141 848 3733 E: alumni@uws.ac.uk W: www.uws.ac.uk/alumni

fsc logo

University of the West of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity. Charity number SC002520. This publication is available electronically and in alternative formats, if required.

If you know a graduate who we should be featuring, or you would like to let us know about your career, please get in touch.

FOREWORD

CONTENTS

Welcome to the seventh edition of “West”, the magazine for alumni and friends of University of the West of Scotland.

We would like to add a note of thanks in this edition to Crawford Wilson, who retired earlier this year, and was former Alumni & Development Marketing Manager at University of the West of Scotland.

“WEST” profiles some of the successful graduates of the University and highlights interesting or inspirational alumni with stimulating stories to tell. If you know a graduate who we should be featuring, or you would like to let us know about your career, please get in touch.

You might be interested to know that the Alumni Association is now on twitter (@UWSalumni) so if you’re a user of twitter, follow us to keep up-to-date with news from UWS and your fellow alumni.

Talking of social media, if you’re on LinkedIn remember to add University of the West of Scotland to your education profile.

The University continues to seek support for its activity from alumni.

If you would like to “give back” to the University, whether you can help with providing careers advice, mentoring or work placements to our current students, or provide job opportunities to our graduates, then please do not hesitate to get in touch. Alternatively, if you would like to make a financial donation to University activity, please contact us.

FIZZING WITH IDEAS 01 UNIVERSITY NEWS 02 RESEARCH NEWS 03 CHANGING THE WORLD 04 COMEBACK SCOTLAND 06 LOST SECRETS 08 ON THE BALL! 09 THE HIGH FLIER 10 ACCESS TO PALLATIVE CARE 12 BONNY APPETITO 13 POLICING THE THROWAWAY SOCIETY

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ALUMNI PROFILES

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TECH A LOOK AT STUART NOW! 16 LITTLE FIRE 18 NETBALL SCOTLAND 19 PASSION FOR LEARNING 20 CITY OF CULTURE 21

TOPIC KEY Profile News Feature Report

We wish you all a very successful and prosperous year ahead.

Topical

Alumni & Development Office

At a Glance

FIZZING WITH IDEAS Olga Wojtas talks to Martin Steele, Irn-Bru Brand Controller, about Irn-Bru’s activities during the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games.

If there was a competition for the wackiest job application, Martin Steele would be a definite winner. Martin, who graduated from UWS in 2000 with a BA (Hons) Business Management, was working in private banking marketing for Abbey National, now Santander.

Colleagues were laughing over an Irn-Bru job advert in a trade magazine, which featured bankers in pin-striped suits under the headline “Silly Old Bankers Need Not Apply.”

Martin surreptitiously tore out the ad, dusted down his CV, and bought a glass bottle of Irn-Bru. “I drank it, and then put my CV and the torn-out ad in the bottle, along with a letter saying I was working in banking, but I wasn’t silly and I wasn’t old, and I had a great part to play in Irn-Bru. I bubble-wrapped it, and sent it off.”

Martin made an equally positive impression at the interview, and began as an Assistant Brand Manager in 2004.

He is now Irn-Bru Brand Controller, a job which saw him responsible for all the Irn-Bru activities during last year’s hugely successful Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. These ranged from a highly successful television campaign to the popular Bru Store in the city centre.

“It was three years of very hard work.

It was a bit like a wedding,” he jokes.

“There was so much planning and work done in advance and the event was just over in the blink of an eye.”

Martin’s hobby is sport, particularly football and tennis, both as a fan and player. But while he had no time to get to the Games, his children, Mac (8) and Sienna (5), became TV stars during the final athletics event.

“Mac got to high-five Usain Bolt and Sienna was there with a big Irn-Bru foam hand. The BBC used the clip as part of their games coverage.”

He is in his ideal job. As a child, he enjoyed making Irn-Bru ice cream floats, but he also loved brands and was intrigued by Irn-Bru’s marketing, and the classic “Made in Scotland from Girders” ads.

“From a very young age, I’ve loved stories, and all great brands are great stories,” he says. “I’ve a passion for marketing, and UWS has been a very

I’ve a passion for marketing, and UWS has been a very important part in what I’ve learned. It definitely gave me the background and understanding I needed.

MARTIN STEELE important part in what I’ve learned. It definitely gave me the background and understanding I needed.”

Studying at UWS was a careful choice.

“I looked at a variety of universities and thought long and hard. Some courses were very business focussed but UWS offered a very good level of marketing, the area I knew I wanted to go into.

And what really appealed to me was the placement year.” Martin’s placement was with the computer company Compaq, now HP. He believes students should take up every work opportunity.

“It’s not just for financial reward, but to get experience, marry up theory with practice, and differentiate yourself.”

Irn-Bru is pretty successful at differentiating itself with its quirky advertising. Martin says the Cumbernauldbased company has a unique personality born from its heritage and location. “It’s a very positive and energetic brand. It just likes to look at the lighter side and have fun, with a Scottish sense of humour.”

Its ads can raise eyebrows as well as smiles, but everything has to pass the “cliff of okayness” test. Going up to the edge of the cliff is fine: going over it is not.

“Things change all the time, and I think Irn-Bru does a great job of remaining relevant.”

He is now looking forward to Christmas.

“It’s a key season for us. It’s a time for

family and sharing and celebration and soft drinks are a great part of that.

We will have a new campaign that I’m sure will entertain the nation.”

“There was so much planning and work done in advance and the event was just over in the blink of an eye.”

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University News

Partnering Waste Giant Barr UWS has established a formal partnership with leading waste management company Barr. The ‘University-Industry Partnership Agreement’ will see UWS and Barr working on a range of projects including joint research and knowledge transfer activity, and training programmes for Barr staff.

Benefits for UWS students will include guest lectures by Barr experts as well as placement opportunities.

Dr Robert Crawford, Interim Head of Careers and Employability, said: “We are delighted to have established this

Unique Paisley Pattern For All A unique digital art project has won £25,000 to create over seven billion versions of the Paisley pattern in support of the town’s bid to become the UK’s City of Culture.

Southampton-based group boredomresearch won the inaugural UWS Alt-w Paisley Digital Art Commission with digital technology plans to create a unique version of the Paisley pattern for everyone on earth.

Artists Vicky Isley and Paul Smith came up with the ambitious project after discovering Paisley Museum housed the

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important partnership. The University is committed to making a key contribution to the growth of the Scottish economy and has close ties with a number of organisations and businesses throughout the country.”

Barr is one of Scotland’s leading waste management companies, with a variety of high quality waste treatment, recycling and disposal facilities throughout the West of Scotland.

Gavin Money, Director of Barr, said: “As well as ensuring practical employment experiences for the University’s students, we will also be working to develop research and knowledge transfer partnerships. This collaboration ensures Scottish firms like ours are constantly innovating to ensure we remain at the forefront of our industry whilst providing learning and development opportunities for both students and graduates of the University and our own employees.”

“ We are delighted to have established this important partnership.”

celebrated book Birds of America, by John James Aubudon, inspiring a design based on the uniqueness of genetics.

Professor Nick Higgins, Director of UWS Creative Media Academy, said there had been strong international competition, but Vicky and Paul’s proposal tapped directly into Paisley’s creative and artistic heritage.

“What really impressed the panel was the artists’ ambition to engage the people of Paisley in a design workshop process that will reinvent the iconic Paisley pattern for the digital age.”

Vicky said: “At the moment we don’t know exactly how the final project will look. We want it to be something everyone in the area can feel part of – and something that reaches out across the world to help people feel part of Paisley.”

“ W hat really impressed the panel was the artists’ ambition to engage the people of Paisley.”

Support For Care Leavers UWS has taken a Pledge to support young people brought up in care, who often fear discrimination and stigma.

Only 4% of young people brought up in care go to university, compared to 36% of those not brought up in care. But more apply to UWS than to any other university in Scotland, and numbers are now hoped to rise further.

UWS graduate Thomas Timlin, who himself experienced care, said: “Studying at UWS gave me the opportunity to take control of my life and create a better future.

“The lecturers were incredibly supportive. They listened to me when I needed someone to talk to and showed me that I could achieve.

I’m thrilled that the University has taken the Pledge and that more young people from a care background will be able to reach their potential.”

UWS Makes TV News STV has been awarded the licence to deliver local TV services to Ayr, which it will do in partnership with UWS. Creative industries students at the UWS Creative Media Academy on the Ayr Campus will have the chance to learn and train in a live TV environment.

UWS Principal, Professor Craig Mahoney, said: “I am proud to say that UWS is the only educational partner in Scotland to have this collaboration on campus.”

The Academy’s Director, Professor Nick Higgins, said: “The University is committed to enhancing its contribution to its local communities and the creation of a local TV station on our £81m Ayr Campus will bring valuable opportunities to promote Ayrshire and to widen the range of broadcast coverage for the region. We are thrilled to be part of this ground-breaking initiative.”

Research News

Self Powering Autonomous Sensors

UWS Leads NHS Sepsis Study

Boosting Athletic Performance

The UWS Institute of Thin Films & Sensors has joined with Gas Sensing Solutions Ltd (GSS) and Sharp Laboratories of Europe Ltd (SLE) to win £450,000 from Innovate UK aimed at developing selfpowering autonomous sensors.

The project will play a key role in developing low-power energy harvesting technologies for autonomous electronic systems. Energy harvesting is the ‘scavenging’ of energy from the environment and converting it into useable electrical energy. It is particularly useful in building and home automation, horticulture and medical devices.

A key aim is demonstrating the energy harvester for use in different types of lighting, particularly indoor low level lighting conditions.

Institute Director Professor Des Gibson said: “UWS expertise in thin film batteries, sensor wireless deployment and characterisation of energy harvesting media, combined with capabilities in GSS’s sensor research, development and production, SLE’s high efficiency energy harvesting technology brings together a world-class consortium.”

Professor Kevin Rooney, national clinical lead for the Scottish Patient Safety Programme’s Sepsis initiative and University of the West of Scotland’s Professor of Care Improvement, and Elaine Stewart of the University’s Institute of Care and Practice Improvement, are leading a key sepsis research study.

An important element in improving care is identification and early intervention, both of which have been shown to improve outcomes.

The new research project will cover five areas, each featuring two paramedic crews. These are NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde, NHS Dumfries & Galloway, NHS Fife, NHS Lothian and NHS Western Isles.

These represent the full range of clinical settings in NHS Scotland from dense urban areas to remote and rural areas.

Within all NHS Scotland hospitals, health care practitioners currently screen for sepsis under Early Warning Scoring systems. The UWS study will investigate how well these predict the outcome, and how effective they are either individually or in combination with one another.

A UWS study has revealed that exposure to sunlight combined with eating nitrate-rich foods significantly boost exercise performance.

The study saw nine competitive amateur male cyclists completing several performance tests at facilities at the University’s Hamilton Campus. It builds on previous work revealing that nitraterich beetroot juice can significantly benefit athletic performance at altitude.

Dr Chris Easton of the University’s Institute for Clinical Exercise said: “Large stores of nitric oxide released from the skin help more blood and oxygen flow to your muscles during exercise. Plus, by reducing the amount of oxygen the muscles use to produce force, nitric oxide helps athletes go harder, longer.

“Our latest research suggests that either 20 minutes of simulated sunlight exposure or ingestion of a nitrate gel results in a small benefit to exercise performance.

However, a combination of the treatments significantly improves cycling performance as well as positively impacting a number of other physiological outcomes. Our data suggest that blood pressure is reduced to a greater degree when the nitrate dose is combined with sunlight.”

Protein that Stops Cancer Developing

the efforts to date have been focussed on genetic alterations in cancer.

This work highlights that in addition to genetic alterations, key players are proteins that associate with DNA and are the major determinants of progression to cancer. This six-year project saw the researchers, through the study of cells present in our skin, discover a protein, HIRA, which helps stop cancer developing and could in time lead to new cancer treatments and is likely to open up new therapeutic targets in fight against cancer.

Dr Taranjit Singh Rai of UWS’s School of Science and Sport said: “Every one of us has moles on our skins that all have already acquired the gene that can mutate into cancer, however for most

of us this does not happen. Our research investigated why this doesn’t happen and discovered a protein called HIRA that actually maintains the state in the cell which prevents the onset of cancer.

“As cancer is the uncontrolled growth of cells, the discovery of this protein is relevant to all forms of cancer and not just those related to the skin.

“However it is important to stress that we have found one way that a cell can stop cancer, but potentially there are many other ways so at present we are still quite far away from translating this discovery into therapy but it is gives us an important insight into understanding better how a cell prevents cancer.”

Research headed-up by UWS academic, Dr Taranjit Singh Rai has discovered a protein in cells which stops cancer developing.

The research project, ‘HIRA orchestrates non-canonical dynamic chromatin in senescence and is required for suppression of neoplasia’, was funded by CR UK and NIA and is a collaboration between UWS, The Beatson Institute for Cancer Research, and the University of Glasgow.

The research, published in the journal, Genes & Development, is hugely important in the field of cancer research, as most of

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I couldn’t help thinking that while I had what you could call a deprived childhood, we still had a roof over our heads and food on the table.

TRICIA IMRIE

CHANGING THE WORLD 4

It’s knowing that every day, you’re making a difference, every day, through your actions, you’re saving children’s lives.

TRICIA IMRIE Olga Wojtas talks to Tricia Imrie, Head of Fundraising Campaigns and Partnerships for charity Mary’s Meals.

Tricia Imrie came to UWS almost by accident. The first in her family to go to university, she was two years into a Glasgow University teaching degree when she realised teaching wasn’t for her. She started working in a nightclub near her home town of Dumbarton, but her mother had other ideas, and took the 19-year-old to the local authority careers office.

The careers adviser suggested a business degree specialising in marketing.

Tricia duly graduated with a BA Business and Management from the then Paisley University in 2001, and joined Hewlett Packard in Glasgow, where she had a high-powered marketing management job covering Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“I’m quite spiritual and I got a bit disillusioned, wondering if all I had to look forward to was buying more and more stuff I didn’t really need and getting a bigger and better car.”

At UWS, Tricia was particularly interested in social marketing, which aims to influence people for the benefit of society rather than focusing on profitability and shareholder dividends.

She moved into the charitable sector, working for several major organisations, including the cancer charity Maggie’s.

She had doubled its income within a year when her career took an unexpected turn.

Her daughter Niamh, a primary pupil, had become an enthusiastic supporter of the charity Mary’s Meals. It began by providing famine relief in Malawi, and now feeds over a million of the world’s poorest children every day they attend school.

Niamh’s school raised hundreds of

pounds for the Mary’s Meals “Backpack Project,” filling schoolbags with learning materials, clothes, flip-flops and toiletries for their Malawian counterparts.

“I was struck by this charity doing so much good with so little. At Mary’s Meals, at least 93p in every pound is spent on charitable activities,” says Tricia. When she spotted a Mary’s Meals ad for an international fundraising post, she felt she had to go for it.

“The lecturers really instilled confidence in us. They were brilliantly inspirational – passionate, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.”

“UWS students have personal and interpersonal skills as well as academic achievements – they’re all-rounders who can communicate well, and that’s a real strength. I do think that’s the direction universities need to move in.”

Tricia is also an accomplished classically-trained singer. Her husband, Mark, is chief petty officer on a submarine, and she is a proud member of the Military Wives Choir, whose No. 1 single, “Wherever You Are,” raised over £500,000 for SSAFA (the charity supporting British forces and their families) and The Royal British Legion.

In 2014, she was in the London Proms concert choir conducted by the dynamic Gareth Malone.

She was particularly touched that the choir sang the evocative Elgar composition, ‘The Snow.’

“Marketing and business strategy were areas I absolutely loved. I’ve always been fascinated by psychology and human nature.”

She was taught singing by Jean Graham MBE, the famous choir leader and National Mod judge who sadly died in 2013. “’The Snow’ was one of the first pieces she taught me. I felt it was a tribute to her.” www.marysmeals.org.uk

“Every day, thousands of children die from hunger-related causes. That’s shameful and needless – there’s enough food in the world and there’s no excuse for any child to die of hunger.”

A mere £12.20 feeds a child for an entire school year – six pence a day.

Tricia believes her degree gave her a crucial grounding. “Marketing and business strategy were areas I absolutely loved. I’ve always been fascinated by psychology and human nature, “ she says.

“The lecturers really instilled confidence in us. They were brilliantly inspirational – passionate, enthusiastic and knowledgeable.”

As an alumna and a hiring manager, Tricia believes that UWS has the edge when it comes to employability.

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COMEBACK SCOTLAND

UWS’s Professor Ross Deuchar outlines a new innovative sporting initiative that uses boxing and physical training as a means of helping disadvantaged, marginalised young people face the challenges in their lives.

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Comeback Scotland: Trans-Nordic Approaches to Youth Crime Prevention through Boxing In collaboration with Poul Kellberg and Paul Kelly, and supported by University of the West of Scotland, Professor Ross Deuchar is currently developing a brand new social enterprise initiative – Comeback Scotland. It is an innovative sporting initiative that uses boxing and physical training as a means of helping disadvantaged, marginalised young people face the challenges in their lives and make better decisions that lead to a more constructive and positive lifestyle.

Based on an original concept in Denmark, it is underpinned by the strong recognition of the power sport holds to facilitate behavioural change. It is an exciting addition to the array of services currently available to address change amongst young people involved in or at risk of becoming involved in gang culture and criminal behaviour in the west of Scotland.

During the spring of 2014, Professor Deuchar conducted in-depth, ethnographic research that examined the nature and impact of the work within the Comeback programme in Denmark.

The findings suggested that the boxing gym and the use of boxing ‘metaphors’ provided the participating young people with a safe context to reflect upon their current challenges and find new ways of dealing with and managing these challenges. The programme assisted participants to develop the resilience and perseverance required to change their path away from criminal activity towards desistance.

Professor Deuchar said: “Collectively, we have a strong understanding of how sport can help access participants and provide a safe context from which they can initiate change, however we are also clear that it is not the sport alone which brings about lasting change. The boxing gym, boxing training and, where appropriate, boxing competition, bring opportunities for marginalised young people to gather in a credible space and participate in physical activity. However, arguably the more important aspects of the project involve workshops and access to agencies that can help participants affect change in their lives.”

The workshop programme uses boxing metaphors to address the challenges and stigma faced by participants and allows them to work through these challenges without ‘personalising’ the issue or ‘exposing’ one participant in front

of their peers. Whilst we understand the argument made by governing bodies and clubs about ‘sport for sport’s sake’, we also know that to bring about lifestyle change, sport needs to be accompanied by a range of workshops and information agencies who can assist participants to address the contemporary challenges they face.”

This exciting project is based on a Danish model and looks to find innovative new ways to tackle social disadvantage within a Scottish context.

It is an initiative that can potentially change – or even save – lives.

Professor Ross Deuchar is Assistant Dean, School of Education

The workshop programme uses boxing metaphors to address the challenges and stigma faced by participants and allows them to work through these challenges.

PROFESSOR ROSS DEUCHAR

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LOST SECRETS Dr Dan Coughlan, Curator of Textiles at Paisley Museum, recently re-created the world’s only fullyoperational Paisley shawl loom as part of his PhD research at UWS. Dr Coughlan’s thesis covers over 12 years of detailed research into this area, including original fragments of the shawl loom. Existing literature on the worldfamous Paisley shawl, from its beginning in the mid-nineteenth century to the present day, only looks at its aesthetic and cultural aspects. The knowledge and techniques of the draw loom were passed down from master weavers to apprentices by word of mouth to safeguard the secrets of the trade. So when production started to drop off in the 1870s, the techniques used in the creation of the Paisley shawl died off with the industry.

But understanding the technology is vital to a true understanding of the shawl, as many of its defining characteristics stem directly from this.

Dr Coughlan has now recreated the lost technology of the special version of the draw loom on which the Paisley shawl was woven. Fragments of the loom

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were found in various historic buildings, including the shuttle box unit hanging on the wall of Provand’s Lordship House in Glasgow, and Dr Coughlan drew on his practical expertise as a weaver as well as investigating the construction of existing historic shawls in the Paisley Museum collection.

Creating a fully operational Paisley shawl loom, the only one of its kind known to be currently in existence, was the final piece of the puzzle that enabled Dr Coughlan to fully understand the processes and complex techniques involved in the shawls’ production. His experiments with the recreated technology led to a number of shawl fabrics, believed to be the first of their kind to be produced to the exacting standards of Paisley weavers since the late 19th Century.

Dr Coughlan said: “The attempt to understand and recreate the complex technology of shawl weaving was

a daunting challenge which at first seemed almost impossible. Only after long, in-depth research across several disciplines, did the various elements eventually begin to emerge. To have finally succeeded in recovering the technology and describing the techniques of shawl weaving for the first time is a source of great satisfaction. The opportunity to investigate the work of the famous Paisley weavers in producing one of the world’s most renowned fabrics was a privilege and a very rewarding experience.”

Professor Sam McKinstry of the University’s School of Business and Enterprise, Dr Coughlan’s PhD supervisor, said: “This is a tremendous and significant achievement, which comes at a time when Paisley is beginning a process of regeneration, closely related to the local textile heritage. Thanks to Dan’s research both the theoretical and practical knowledge of the technology of Paisley shawl weaving have been successfully recovered.”

Professor John R. Hume, Chairman of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland, the external examiner of Dr Coughlan’s PhD thesis, said: “What was so remarkable about this piece of work was that Dan on the basis of fragmentary written evidence, and very slender physical remains, put together enough information to allow him to build a working draw loom on which he was able to demonstrate convincingly how the Paisley shawl was woven. This recreation of a vanished technology, and one of a high level sophistication, is to my mind an intellectual achievement of the highest order. “ Paisley shawls have become synonymous with the town, and their weaving can be seen as Paisley’s most significant contribution to world civilisation, Professor Hume said.

“Dan’s thesis reflects his remarkable forensic ability to analyse and discern very imperfect evidence, and to create a profound understanding of what was arguably the most complex handoperated machine ever used in the history of the world,” he said.

“It is much to the credit not only of Dan, but also UWS, and his supervisor, Professor Sam McKinstry that this very significant thesis has been successfully, and indeed, triumphantly, completed.”

I knew that I ultimately wanted to work in the States, but America’s a really difficult market to move into, so I went to Spain to build my experience.

NEIL HARROW

ON THE BALL! From East Kilbride to Alabama, Neil Harrow’s degree in Sports Coaching has taken him far.

Ashley Lennon chats to him about his globetrotting career.

“I had done some voluntary weekend coaching with a youth group for people with disabilities, and I’d also coached at my high school – I felt I had an ability to connect with players.”

It’s a sign of how busy Neil Harrow is that we rearrange our interview several times before we manage to talk. It’s not just the time difference – he is six hours behind in Alabama – it’s also that, as he explains apologetically “basketball coaching is a crazy job.” Yet Neil thrives on the hectic pace that can see him rising at 5.30am for workouts, then jumping on a bus to travel 12 hours to a game.

Though it’s a long way from his days at UWS, where he graduated in 2010 with a BA in Sports Coaching, Neil constantly uses the skills he learnt at UWS in his job as Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Troy University, Alabama.

Always interested in sports, Neil played basketball seriously from the age of fourteen for several regional and national league teams. After school he briefly took a job in sports retail, then heard about the UWS degree in Sports Coaching.

“I had done some voluntary weekend

coaching with a youth group for people with disabilities, and I’d also coached at my high school – I felt I had an ability to connect with players. Plus I love the rush of game-day, so I was delighted to get the last place on the UWS course.

“The degree covered all the elements needed for a career in sports coaching, including physiology, biomechanics, performance analysis and event management, but I enjoyed the sports psychology class the most. It showed me how many levels there are to helping people to improve their performance.”

After graduating Neil moved to Barcelona. “I knew that I ultimately wanted to work in the States,” Neil says, “but America’s a difficult market to move into, so I went to Spain to build my experience. I started playing basketball for a team called F.C. Martinenc and became an assistant coach, learning the ropes and also learning Spanish. After a year I became a head coach and took over an under-18 boys team.”

In 2013, after leading his teams to league victory, Neil got a call from the women’s basketball team at Valdosta State University in Georgia, USA, offering him a role as Graduate Assistant Coach. Not only was this a great career opportunity, it also gave Neil a scholarship which paid for his master’s degree in Education Leadership.

Now, as Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach at Troy University – a position Neil took up earlier this year – he says he has found the perfect job for this phase of his career. “It’s easier to support yourself by coaching in America. The amount of resources, facilities and talent is bigger here, there are more opportunities, and it is the highest standard of basketball in the world. If I can, I plan to be here for the rest of my life.”

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THE HIGH FLIER I learned a lot about how to make things. And I’m absolutely sure it came out of the training I got at Paisley.

GORDON MCCONNELL

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We had great lecturers who inspired us to be good engineers...

I’ve always looked for practical solutions and not tried to make problems more complicated than they are.

GORDON MCCONNELL

Alumnus Gordon McConnell talks about how his degree prepared him for a celebrated career in the aeronautical industry.

Gordon McConnell is internationally recognised as Chief Engineer of the iconic and innovative Airbus A350, the ultralong range aircraft transforming the future of air travel.

He has won several honours, including an honorary doctorate from UWS in 2008 and the Royal Aeronautical Society’s Gold Medal in 2014. The first recipients of the medal, awarded for outstanding work in aerospace, were Wilbur and Orville Wright in 1909: Gordon also shares the distinction with Air Commodore Sir Frank Whittle, who invented the turbojet engine, and Captain Sir Geoffrey de Havilland, designer of the Mosquito warplane.

But as a pupil at Ayr Academy, Gordon was far from certain about his future career.

“When I’m advising young people, I say ‘Get in your mind what you really love doing and then go for it.’

But I remember my father being very frustrated with me because I didn’t know what I wanted to do.”

Gordon’s father was commercial director of Scottish Aviation at Prestwick, and sent his son for an interview with the company’s technical director.

“He asked if I was interested in mechanical things.”

It was exactly the right question.

Even as a toddler, Gordon had loved finding out how things worked. Aged four, he dismantled the tricycle he had been given as a birthday present, losing all the ball bearings from the wheels. He was more expert as a teenager, successfully stripping down an old motorbike.

“He said I needed to be an engineer.

I’m very glad he gave me that advice, because it’s been a great career.”

But it was a bumpy start. Gordon went to Strathclyde University and failed his first year exams, “mainly because I was mucking about.” Rather than resit, Gordon opted to start again at the then Paisley College of Technology.

“Paisley had a sandwich course, which seemed interesting and a lot more practical. The classes were much smaller and you had real lecturers in front of you.

I really, really enjoyed it, and it was very rewarding. We had great lecturers who inspired us to be good engineers.”

The lecturers did engineering consultancy work, and everything the students learned always related back to the real world, with the sandwich element ensuring that they found out how industry actually operated.

“I’ve always looked for practical solutions and not tried to make problems more complicated than they are. I have a keep-it-simple attitude which has stood me in good stead throughout my career,” Gordon says. “And I’m absolutely sure it came out of the training I got at Paisley, which was down to earth and never purely theoretical.”

Gordon performed so well that he was put in the honours stream, something he had never considered when he started.

And in 1975, he graduated with a First Class BSc Hons Mechanical Engineering, also picking up the Institute of Mechanical Engineering Prize.

He applied successfully to the RAF, but

he had just met his future wife, Margaret, and was reluctant to move away. It was a good decision: they have just celebrated their Ruby Wedding.

Gordon took a job with Scottish Aviation which became a division of British Aerospace in 1978. He rose to be Technical Director in charge of engineering for all the Jetstream turboprop and BAE 146 families, and in 1997 was invited to join Airbus in Toulouse as Chief Engineer of all the wide body aircraft including developing the A340500/-600 long range aircraft.

“French engineers are very efficient and very committed, which suited my style.”

In 2007, he became Chief Engineer of the Airbus A350 project. The daunting remit was to build an extra-wide-bodied plane which could take 315 passengers and travel 7,800 miles (Europe to the Far East) – on 25 per cent less fuel. Key to its development was designing the entire plane’s structure, both fuselage and wings, in carbon fibre, the first time this has ever been done on an Airbus. The technology development was massive but project was completed on time, with the first flight in 2013.

Then came a 15-month flight test programme and further intensive ground tests including a “cold trial” in Greenland at -40C and a “hot trial” in the Middle East at 50C. In order to comply with European and American requirements, 1600 certification reports had to be produced to demonstrate compliance with the stringent airworthiness regulations So far, more than 781 of the aircraft have been sold to 30 airlines across the world.

Gordon retired from Airbus last year after 40 years in the aviation industry.

He now runs his own consultancy, not only providing continuing support on aircraft design, but also working with a company which enables in-flight connectivity for Internet and GSM mobile phones for passengers and aircraft data for navigation, weather and health monitoring.

These commitments mean he has so far had little success with his plan to play more golf. And while he is happy to be back in Ayr, there is a downside to leaving France.

“I do a bit of cycling, but the weather in Scotland isn’t so good. I’m used to cycling in sunshine!”

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Access to PALLIATIVE CARE

AT A GLANCE

UWS and Ardgowan Hospice launch groundbreaking project to improve access to palliative care.

A two-year research project between UWS and Ardgowan Hospice could revolutionise the way palliative and hospice care is delivered, by looking at ways to improve every aspect of the patient journey.

The joint study will be the most detailed look yet at care from the patient’s and family’s point of view, and is hoped to improve care in Scotland and beyond.

While patients and their families will provide the focus for the research, clinicians and care providers will also be asked to give their views on the process of referral and treatment.

The partnership will also see the Greenock-based charity become a university teaching hospice, leading the way in education and training for health and social care professionals.

Professor Kevin Rooney, Professor of Care Improvement at UWS and consultant anaesthetist at Royal Alexandra Hospital, who is leading the project, said: “Nobody has conducted this kind of research before and we feel it is hugely important to make sure palliative care offers the best experience possible. “ The only way to do that effectively was by asking the patients themselves what worked and what didn’t, he said.

“This is not only about providing peaceful and pain-free end of life care to palliative patients, it’s very much about supporting family and patients and improving the quality of their experience.”

The first phase of the collaborative project will examine the factors which influence the timing of referrals to the hospice, addressing any causes of delay and supporting more proactive approaches. Hospice chief executive Anne Mills said: “There has been a longstanding relationship between Ardgowan Hospice and UWS that goes back some 15 years. This exciting and innovative study is a result of the close working relationship and understanding that we share.

“This project will enable us to look at ways in which we can ensure that more people can have the benefit of the

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Ardgowan experience of care when time of referral allows best use of our services.

It is hoped to develop a framework for other hospices to consider using as an example of best practice.”

Professor Paul Martin, Depute Principal of UWS, said: “While we have had a working relationship with Ardgowan Hospice for many years, it is terrific to be able to formalise our partnership with this exciting project.

“Moving into hospice care is understandably difficult for both patients and their families and any improvements or efficiencies we can identify would be of significant benefit.

“The teaching partnership will be very valuable too and help train the very best care providers for hospitals, hospices and other organisations throughout the country.”

Ardgowan has appointed Dr Caroline Sime as its first Research Fellow. The two-year post is jointly funded by the University’s School of Health, Nursing and Midwifery and the Hospice, under the recently signed Memorandum of Understanding.

Dr Sime has a wealth of clinical experience, most recently as a Community Nurse, and a strong understanding of the link between research and practice.

Collaborative study which will take a detailed look at palliative care from the patient’s and family’s point of view.

A teaching partnership to train the very best care providers for hospices and hospitals.

Collaboration launched

by Silent Witness actress, Emilia Fox, in her role as hospice patron.

Thanks to the MBA, I’ve learned the skills to develop two companies. I’ve become more aware of the issues in founding and running companies.

FRANCESCO LORETUCCI

Bonny APPETITO! Ashley Lennon talks to Rome-born Francesco Loretucci who is bringing Italian style to Scottish tables.

Ever thought of combining haggis with truffles? Or scampi with white truffles and whisky? Well, if Francesco Loretucci has his way, Scots-Italian cooking is about to get a lot more interesting than pairing macaroni with chips.

UWS graduate Francesco is co-founder of Bonny Vita, which brings the best Italian ingredients to the Scottish market, and though he grew up in Rome his roots are in the countryside of Umbria.

Francesco left Italy in 2007 when the credit crunch hit job opportunities, and came to Scotland to take up a post at Prestwick Airport. After a year working and honing his English, he enrolled on the BA Hons International Marketing at UWS and straight away, he was struck by the open way of working. He says, “The lecturers at UWS made every student feel they were important. Every time I had a problem I could talk to them.”

The BA course included advertising, communications and psychology, and after graduating with an Honours degree in 2012, Francesco enrolled on the MBA at UWS. Covering marketing, finance, human resources, operations and leadership, Francesco recognised that this intensive course was a smart way to accelerate his career.

Whilst studying for the MBA Francesco began to develop Youinnova, a portal which aims to connect people with different knowledge and skill sets across academia and industry.

Since graduating from the MBA in 2014, Francesco has been juggling the development of Youinnova – which now has a team of software developers working on it and is in beta-testing – and Bonny Vita. He explains, “Youinnova is a complex platform with worldwide potential: it’s been in development over the last couple

of years and during that time I’ve focused on Bonny Vita. Now Youinnova is almost ready to launch, so things are about to get even busier!”

It’s a busy time for Bonny Vita too, as this autumn the firm is launching an unusual alcohol drink – a white truffle spirit called Uska.

Francesco has been supported by business accelerator Entrepreneurial Spark, gaining access to office space, business support and mentoring. And in July 2015 he won Entrepreneurial Spark’s coveted £10,000 prize for Entrepreneur of the Moment. “I never give up,” Francesco said, “and E-Spark recognised this. The award came just as we were looking for funding to develop the first batch of Uska!”

So, with a new product hitting the shelves, and two start-up businesses, does Francesco ever relax? He laughs, “My girlfriend and I go out to eat, but that’s work too because she’s a mystery diner, and I’m always taking menus from restaurants and scoping out whether they’re a good fit for Bonny Vita’s products!” Spoken like a true entrepreneur. www.bonnyvita.co.uk

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Policing The THROWAWAY SOCIETY UWS Alumna Amanda Ramsay, chats to Olga Wojtas about changing attitudes to waste management.

Amanda Ramsay is known in her family as “the bin police”. She is relentless in persuading them to recycle, using the appropriate bin, and even the neighbours are now seeking her advice.

Amanda graduated in 2013 with a MSc in Waste and Clean Technologies. Her course internship as waste adviser to Renfrewshire Council included outreach to schools, where she found the pupils hugely receptive to the concept of recycling and waste management, including the new food waste bins.

“We throw away so much, and the bins help you see this, so that you can cut back on the amount you buy, and save money,” she says. “Until now, food waste has gone into landfill, and because it’s biological matter, it’s created a whole host of problems. If we treat it separately, we can turn it into compost, fertiliser and energy. You’re not only stopping something bad, you’re getting something good out of it.”

Amanda is evangelical about getting people involved in waste management.

“Everyone who creates waste or uses energy, it’s their responsibility too.

Attitudes need to change,” she says.

She describes the UWS course as “amazing,” with every single lecturer helpful and approachable. And the links continue. Having worked as an environmental project officer following graduation, Amanda is currently weighing up new career options, ranging from establishing her own consultancy to returning to UWS for a postgraduate course in teaching.

Her MSc dissertation focussed on education in waste management, and she believes educating the younger generation is crucial.

“UWS has broadened my horizons.

I didn’t have half these ideas before,” she says. “And I’m sure another course would be good as well. If all the staff were so great, it can’t be just one department

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– it’s got to be the mentality of the whole University.”

The CEWE staff, who come from a range of disciplines in science and engineering, have broad experience in monitoring and assessing environmental impacts, and developing innovative treatment technologies.

The MSc attracts students from a wide range of backgrounds and from across the globe, including China, Poland, Spain and Nigeria.

“It was a really friendly atmosphere,” Amanda says.

But she confides that the atmosphere of the practical side of waste management is not always so pleasant.

“It can be a bit gross,” she admits, laughing. “It covers all aspects of waste, not just food. But it’s so worth it – you’re doing something good for the planet, and I find it really satisfying.”

She is also following a career that her parents believe she chose at an early age.

“My mum will tell anyone – when I was about 3, I was asked what I wanted to be and said: ‘A professional hippie.’ I’m as close to that as you can get!”.

“UWS has broadened my horizons. I didn’t have half these ideas before.”

The UWS course was amazing.

Every single one of the lecturers was so nice and so helpful, and I can still go and talk to them.

AMANDA RAMSAY

MACK NICHOLLS

JOHN GILBERT

SOPHIE ROGERS

Client Marketing Manager, RPL MKTG

Owner, Comicrazy Book Shop

Singer / songwriter & musician

Small is beautiful – that’s what Mack Nicholls thinks when he reflects on his time as a BA Hons International Marketing student at UWS. ‘The small classes were one of the things I valued most,” Mack explains. “I was treated as an individual. And the degree’s focus felt very current – everything I was learning had relevance to a marketing career.’

Whilst at UWS Mack also got involved with the Saltire Foundation and through them secured an intern role in Boston, where he learned the ropes as a marketing executive in an insurance firm.

After graduating in 2012, Mack accepted a role with a national food wholesaler in London and spent 16 months there.

“Living in London was brilliant,” Mack says, “but the graduate job wasn’t what I’d been promised. It turned out to be very sales-based and I wanted to be able to use the marketing knowledge I’d gained in my degree, so I began to look for new opportunities.”

In 2014 Mack returned to Glasgow as a Client Marketing Manager with Giffnockbased RPL MKTG. Now, he works with major clients across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors to create branding and marketing strategies and social media campaigns.

And Mack credits the way UWS classes were structured with giving him the teamworking skills to flourish in his job. “Most projects in my degree involved groupworking. I learned to deal with different personalities – surely one of the most important skills in any career!’

Like many UWS students, John Gilbert returned to study a little later in life, after a decade of working – and it’s a decision which has turned his life around. Leaving school at 16 with few qualifications, John spent ten years in various sales roles before, in his own words, he “hit a wall.”

“I realised I wasn’t going to progress further without qualifications behind me,” he says. “I had experience but needed a degree.”

John enrolled on an HNC in business at Anniesland College, then on the BA Business Studies at UWS, taking subjects including marketing, project management, social media and business consultancy. John especially enjoyed the fieldwork projects, which saw him going out to Paisley businesses to collect data for a marketing strategy. Little did he realise then that he would soon be running his own business in the town centre.

Graduating in 2014, John secured a role working for a marine engineering company but he had always harboured dreams of having his own business and when the opportunity for redundancy came up, he seized it.

“I didn’t want to look back with regrets,” John says, “I began to look for viable business retail opportunities, and decided to open a comic store in Paisley. Comics are becoming very popular and as well as selling in-store they are easy to sell online.’

Comicrazy opened its doors in April and is steadily building its customer base, with plans to open an eBay shop later in the year.

From sitting in a lecture theatre in Paisley to touring Canada promoting her debut album, the last three years have been a rollercoaster ride for Sophie Rogers.

Graduating from UWS with a BA Commercial Music in 2012, Sophie now has a career creating and performing her own music, and has just launched a debut album.

After leaving school in Clydebank, Sophie did a Community Arts HND, before choosing to further her studies at UWS. “I wanted to perform and produce my own music,” she explains, “and I knew the UWS degree was right for me because it’s largely taught by industry professionals. I loved it. There was a real emphasis on networking, which is crucial to any music career. We covered songwriting, promotion, performance and production – everything I needed.”

And Sophie wasted no time in getting out on the road to perform her music, which she describes as folk/country with a soulful twist. Sophie has toured extensively in Scotland, as well as in Spain, France, Holland, Canada and the USA – and in May she launched her debut album, Two Sides.

“The BA Commercial Music was a brilliant career starting point for me,” she says. “I learned how to create an act, work with a manager and promoter and get a gig. Three years on, I’ve got a debut album out, a good team around me, and now I’m focused on touring more. Who knows what the future will bring?”

www.comicrazy.co.uk

about.me/sophierogers

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Most of my fellow students either went on to good graduate jobs or to do a post-graduate degree.

STUART MACDONALD

Tech a Look at STUART NOW! Ashley Lennon meets IT entrepreneur Stuart Macdonald to find out how he has built his business – and how he’s paying it forward.

Stuart Macdonald has always been able to adapt. Moving from Renfrew to North Carolina aged fourteen, Stuart quickly adjusted and two years later became the youngest graduate in the State.

Fast-forward twenty years and Stuart was dealing with a major business loss, steadily turning the situation around so his firm not only survived but flourished.

As founder and Managing Director of IT security & infrastructure firm, Seric Systems, Stuart knows that it’s vital to roll with the punches. He explains, “In IT the grass grows quickly under your feet: four years from now, 80% of our business might well be coming from something that’s only just reaching our radar now.”

It’s this insight and adaptability that has helped Stuart build Seric into one of the

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UK’s largest independent security and fraud prevention firms.

On returning to Scotland from the States, Stuart signed up for a BSc in Mathematical Sciences at the-then Paisley College of Technology. The course gave him a strong grounding in Maths, Chemistry and Physics, and Stuart chose to specialise in Maths, gaining a First, before embarking on an MSc in IT at UWS. “I’d always wanted to work for myself,” he says, “and the MSc gave me a lot of skills that proved extremely useful as I grew my business.”

Whilst at UWS, Stuart also ran a tuition business, teaching children maths and sciences and expanding the business to employ more than 30 part-time tutors – all whilst studying himself.

On graduating in 1997, Stuart got in touch with the Prince’s Scottish Youth Business Trust (PSYBT), now part of The Prince’s Trust. And he describes as his ‘lucky day’ the day he was linked with PSYBT mentor, Tony Lodge, who suggested that whilst the tutoring business was giving Stuart a decent income, he could grow a more profitable business by applying the IT skills he had learned at UWS to support other companies.

Armed with his MSc, a start-up grant of £700 and a small loan, Stuart founded Seric Systems in 1997, initially providing IT support for small businesses. “I bought a book and learned how to build and network PCs from scratch,” he laughs. “I wanted to know all the ins and outs.”

Seric Systems steadily grew, extending its client base across the UK, but business reached another level in 2004 when the firm got involved in the Home Computer Initiative, a tax reduction scheme which allowed people to buy home computers.

Seric quickly made the HCI a major part of its business, until the scheme was cancelled at short notice, leaving Seric with a major financial hole. “That was a tough time. Seric had thirteen employees and I had to make five people redundant.

I re-mortgaged, got loans from family

members, ran the business on credit cards for a year. But in the long run it was the making of us, because we worked really hard to make sure our suppliers were unaffected. No matter how tough things got, we didn’t want to pass on our problems to them.”

Taking the hard road paid off – Seric’s supplier relationships flourished and within five years the business had grown from a turnover of £800,000 to over £7 million. In 2006 Seric formed a close working relationship with IBM and gradually began to build their list of clients to include firms such as Aggreko and Weir Group.

By 2010, Seric’s focus had shifted to include cyber-security and fraud analytics. As well as advising firms on how to stay safe from cyber attacks, Seric Systems also steps in following security breaches, helping to minimise damage to businesses and their reputations. And Stuart is adamant that cyber security is a Board issue, not just one for the IT department. “Security must be taken seriously at the highest level of every business,” he stresses, “and before there’s a breach, not afterwards. Cyber fraudsters are quick and clever – when they find a weakness to exploit – they take from it until the well is dry.”

His business aside, much of Stuart’s focus these days is on paying it forward, including mentoring young people with The Prince’s Trust, which honoured him in 2010 with its inaugural Global Ambassador Award. Encouraging entrepreneurship amongst schoolchildren is another passion, both as a board member of Young Enterprise Scotland and with SmartSTEMs, an organization he set up which encourages girls from P6/7 and S1-S2 to get involved in

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. SmartSTEMs recently won an Inspiring City Award for Innovation and will be running an event with UWS in 2016, in which Stuart says he “would love to have more alumni businesses involved”.

Stuart also sits on the School of Computing’s Industry Advisory Board, helping to ensure that UWS students get a degree that is as relevant as possible to the demands of industry.

Seric’s supplier relationships flourished and within five years the business had grown from a turnover of £800,000 to over £7 million In 2012 Stuart was awarded Director of the Year for Glasgow and the West of Scotland in the Institute of Director Awards. It’s enough to make anyone exhausted, but again, he keeps his energy high by staying flexible. “Weekdays are for work,” Stuart says, “but weekends are strictly for family. I shift into a different gear and just enjoy watching films and playing with the kids.”

And with three young children, Thomas (8), Harriet (5) and Elliot (2), life is jam-packed, but you get the feeling he wouldn’t have it any other way. www.seric.co.uk

I’d always wanted to work for myself and the MSc gave me a lot of skills that proved extremely useful as I grew my business.

STUART MACDONALD

AT A GLANCE

1997: graduated with MSc IT following 1st class BSc in Mathematical Sciences.

1997: Seric Systems founded with a start-up grant of £700 and a small loan.

2006: forms close working relationship with IBM and gains clients such as Aggreko and Weir Group.

2010: honoured with Global Ambassador Award from The Prince’s Trust.

2012: awarded Director of the Year for Glasgow and the West of Scotland.

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I feel like the Scottish music scene is an incredibly exciting and thriving beast.

JAMIE MCGEECHAN

Little FIRE Little Fire aka Jamie McGeechan is a musician, writer and event organiser from Ayr. UWS Alumnus Jamie is a graduate of Creative Industries Practice and man in the know about the Scottish music scene.

After graduating from UWS Jamie went on to record his debut album and support the likes of Joan Armatrading and Damien Rice. A second album is in the making.

Little Fire: “I feel like the Scottish music scene is an incredibly exciting and thriving beast. There are a huge range of brilliant artists, bands and musicians here. Right now there’s some really exciting things going on and it feels like a great place to be.”

“Scotland has such a rich musical heritage and it’s undeniably a hugely inspirational place itself. It’s a very creative place with a lot of different styles and genres thriving in what is a relatively small space and Scots are renowned as being amongst the most enthusiastic supporters of live music. To generalise somewhat we’re typically not shy about showing what we enjoy!”

“As a musician and new music enthusiast it’s a great pleasure to write about Scottish new music for UWS Alumini magazine.”

“Scotland has such a rich musical heritage and it’s undeniably a hugely inspirational place itself. It’s a very creative place.”

LITTLE FIRE RECOMMENDS YOUNG FATHERS Right now there’s a lot of buzz surrounding hip hop inspired music in

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Scotland although to use the term hip hop probably pigeonholes the creativity somewhat. Edinburgh based Young Fathers who won the Mercury Music Prize in 2014 for their debut album, Dead, have been finding new fans all over for their striking and energetic performances and are quite simply unmissable live.

HECTOR BIZERK Glasgow-based Hector Bizerk have been steadily climbing the steps to deserved stardom for their continued brilliance regularly featuring on the festival circuit around the country.

Frontman Louie is a poetic genius and drummer, UWS Alumna, Audrey Tait is a sensational and award winning drummer. New album The Waltz of Modern Psychiatry is critically acclaimed and earning the plaudits throughout the country. One of the most dynamic and socially conscious groups in Scotland as well as one of the hardest hitting.

ROBIN ADAMS Robin Adams is a huge personal favourite of mine, the Glasgow based singer-songwriter is a true artist who is in my mind one of Scotland’s best kept secrets. His music is incredibly visual to me and he is a real craftsman at weaving these spellbinding, often dark but always soulful songs.

He was recently the recipient of the Emerging Excellence Award and his newest album The Garden is to me nothing short of a masterpiece.

PAUL MCGRANAGHAN Paul McGranaghan is one of the best songwriters I’ve ever heard or had the pleasure of seeing perform live. His debut album Carry the Torch is absolutely in my top albums of all time along with records from John Martyn, Bob Marley and Otis Redding.

He’s made that kind of impression on me and the songs have such a brilliance and longevity about them. The album is based around a Hunter S Thompson concept with all the songs relating to characters and scenes from the great man’s books and stories. A stunningly good singer and gifted with a real verve for writing a killer hook such as Tricky Dicky or Sonny and Co., Paul has this ability to also write the most heart wrenchingly beautiful songs such as Goodbye Take Two or Carry the Torch. I’m eagerly awaiting his next album.

VUKOVI Vukovi from Ayrshire are an awesome live act and are due to blow up all over I reckon. Their new single Boy George has been receiving some regular play on BBC Radio 1 and I think they are going to go all the way. They are a brilliant band and in Janine Shilstone they have one of the feistiest and most charismatic singers I’ve seen. Their hook laden, rocking sound would get a party started anywhere and I think they’re going to go very far.

www.littlefiremusic.com

Netball SCOTLAND UWS nets partnership with Netball Scotland.

UWS has established a partnership agreement with Netball Scotland, the organisation responsible for promoting, organising and developing netball in Scotland from grass roots to elite level.

The University, which has campuses in Ayr, Dumfries, Hamilton and Paisley, is committed to having a transformational influence on the economic, social and cultural development of Scotland and enjoys close links with a number of organisations and businesses across the country.

Part of the University’s purpose is to make a difference in the communities that it serves and it will work in partnership with Netball Scotland to help achieve its vision ‘for Netball to be the first choice sport for women and girls in Scotland’.

UWS is supporting Netball Scotland in achieving this vision in a number of ways including recently enabling them to enter an Under 17 National Squad in the Netball Europe Championships which took place from 5 to 8 March 2015 in Hull, England.

The Championships were a huge success for the Under 17 National Squad and saw them win the silver medal. The support from UWS also enabled a Development Squad to travel to Hull alongside the U17 National Squad to play a series of matches against regional and local teams around the main competition event.

This partnership is providing the teams with invaluable experience at a European/ Regional level and is helping to further raise the profile of Netball in Scotland and Netball Scotland in Europe. It will also help inspire the next generation of netball players moving forward as they watch the teams compete and benefit from the experiences gained from the competitors when they return to train and play in Scotland.

Professor Jeanne Keay, Vice-Principal & Pro Vice-Chancellor (International), said: “We are delighted to have established this extremely worthwhile partnership with Netball Scotland, which is already benefiting the Under 17 National Squad as well as the Development Squad with their participation at the Netball Europe Championships recently.

“This partnership sees the University

further strengthen its commitment to supporting sporting excellence.”

Geraldine Moore, National Development Manager of Netball Scotland, said: “We have an excellent partnership in place with University of the West of Scotland which has led to the enhancement of the U17 National Squad and Development Squad programmes which will widen the learning opportunities for both our players and management teams. As we continually look to grow the profile of netball and field successful international teams, we will also continue to strengthen our partnership with UWS to achieve common goals and objectives.”

UWS also played host to the launch of the Netball Scotland programme ‘Bounce

Back to Netball’ (BBN) in March 2015 where Carol Smillie was announced as the ambassador for the programme.

The ‘Bounce Back to Netball’ (BBN) concept is a legacy initiative designed

by Netball Scotland to respond to the positive impact of Netball on the Scottish public following the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games.

BBN encourages people of all ages and abilities over the age of 16 to participate in regular fun, safe and affordable netball sessions, which will have a positive impact on health and well-being. The programme provides the opportunity for people to ignite or rekindle their passion for netball in a fun and sociable environment.

Many existing clubs, local authorities, corporate businesses and community groups provide opportunities for recreational netball and the BBN Programme aims to build on their good practice to empower people to bounce back to netball.

Get involved and find out more at bounceback.netballscotland.com

We are delighted to have established this extremely worthwhile partnership with Netball Scotland.

PROFESSOR JEANNE KEAY

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Passion for LEARNING Chidozie Obi-Okoye talks to Ashley Lennon about his passion for learning, and why he’s taking his business global.

When it came to choosing a degree, Chidozie Obi-Okoye had a truly global perspective. Born and raised in Lagos, Nigeria, he took his first degree in his home country, then decided to cast his net wider. Keen to pursue his passion for music, Chidozie looked at courses offered across the world – and concluded that Scotland was a great place to be.

“I came to Scotland in 2012, initially to study a course in Sound Engineering at a Glasgow College,” he explains, “And then I discovered the MA Music: Innovation and Entrepreneurship offered at UWS. The title sparked my interest because it offered exactly what I wanted – the chance to build a business in the music industry.”

“The course was taught at the Centre for Contemporary Arts on Sauchiehall Street, Glasgow, and from the outset it placed you in the real world, working with people who were already in the industry, interacting with other musicians and creative people all of whom wanted to make things happen. Every morning I woke up excited to get to class!”

As well as looking at the creative economy, entrepreneurship and the importance of social media and web technologies, the MA also placed importance on abstract thinking as a means of creativity, getting Chidozie and his coursemates to generate new ideas from a non-linear perspective. During the course, Chidozie began to develop an app called All Things Music Productions (AMP), a platform for those in the audio industry – such as music producers and sound engineers – to discover mobileready, categorised content.

Recognising the app’s commercial potential, Chidozie received support from Enterprise Services at UWS, which nurtures fledgling businesses run by UWS students and graduates. Enterprise Services supported Chidozie to get the Business Enterprise Visa he needed to stay in the UK – the visa is for people who can show they are building viable businesses

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here – and helped him with office space and accountancy advice. Chidozie also gained a coveted place on the Starter for Six programme, which supports new businesses in the creative industries, helping them with business plans and providing mentoring.

UWS is part of a network called Enterprise Campus, which supports graduate entrepreneurs from a range of Scottish universities, and when Chidozie secured an investment of £30,000 to grow his business, Enterprise Campus provided financial and investment advisers to help him to shape the investment terms.

Now, Chidozie is working not just on AMP but on a larger-scale e-solutions business called Fingersfingers, which produces mobile apps and custombuilt websites.

“We’ll build websites and apps for companies and people, no matter where they’re based,“ says Chidozie, “but I really want to develop the African webspace.

I want to build designs and apps that are tailored for the African market, right down to the fonts and functionality. As a company we have so many innovative ideas to suit the African online space, inspired by what we have here in Europe.

There are 170 million people in Nigeria alone – that’s a lot of opportunities!”

Chidozie has already built a site which allows African students to buy and sell books and search for flatmates, but that’s just the beginning. “In the future, I want to own a major share of the African webspace,” he says.

As well as building his business, Chidozie is also exploring the possibility of studying for a PhD at UWS, looking at tech start-ups and entrepreneurship in Africa. And though his focus is on Africa, Chidozie, who lives in Glasgow, sees Scotland as his home for the moment.

“Scotland has given me so much,” he says. “The weather is cold but the people are very warm. I think I’m a little bit Scottish now!” www.fingerfingers.co.uk www.enterprisecampus.org.uk

“We’ll build websites and apps for companies and people, no matter where they’re based.”

Every morning I woke up excited to get to class!

CHIDOZIE OBI-OKOYE

City of CULTURE Phil Miller – Arts Correspondent for The Herald.

If Paisley is successful in landing the title of UK City of Culture it will not only be only the third place to secure the honour, it will also assume, for the first time, the title of city.

Paisley, of course, is Scotland’s largest town. Nearly 80,000 people live there.

But unlike previous UK Cities of Culture – Derry/Londonderry and (Kingston Upon) Hull – it has yet to be given city status.

However, that does not matter for the purposes of its bid for the title, and indeed, it could even aid its ambitious bid. After all, Dundee – a city – probably had the strongest bid in the last running of the competition, which was won in the end by Hull, which will now celebrate the title in 2017. Dundee could boast the lauded DCA gallery and art centre, the Dundee Rep, the forthcoming V&A Dundee (its ballooning costs not withstanding), a strong university and thriving art school, Duncan of Jordanstone. And yet the city, which could have benefitted from an estimated economic boost of £80m if it had seized the title, lost out to Hull, a city which, despite its strong and successful bid, was perhaps not considered in Scotland to have as strong a platform as Dundee.

But Dundee lost out for reasons which may resonate with the Paisley bid: it was considered to be too advanced in its cultural status, in some ways it was “too successful” already to land the title. It did not grasp the title not because it is not a city of great culture – it obviously is – but because it did not need the title to, as the

Hull bid did, lift it “out of the shadows”.

The UK Culture Minister, Maria Miller, said at the time that Hull had “faced many challenges down the years.”

Paisley has certainly faced challenges.

Is it sufficiently ‘in the shadows’ to need or require the title? That is one issue that the organisers of the title – the UK Government’s Department of Culture, Media and Sport – will consider.

The government’s guidelines look for evidence of a ‘step change’ in how the city or urban area will be regarded or will perform if they are given the title. The Dundee bid, for example, promised a £25m programme of events that would have brought 1000 new jobs to the city.

If Paisley does win the bid, it would be the first Scottish town to claim the crown. That would be significant in itself – Wales has also yet to have a successful candidate. It would not have the political significance as a city that the first City of Culture, Derry/Londonderry, although it is home to 21-year old SNP MP Mhairi Black, so it is a city not without contemporary political resonance.

The establishment of the UK City of Culture title was itself a political decision: The recent candidate for the leadership of the Labour Party, Andy Burnham, announced in 2009 that a British City of Culture title was being considered.

It would be different title from that famously held in Glasgow in 1990: that was the European Capital of Culture, a title bestowed by the EU. The TV producer Phil Redmond was

Paisley has certainly faced challenges. Is it sufficiently ‘in the shadows’ to need or require the title?

PHIL MILLER

announced as the chair of the judging panel. It was hoped that major awards such as the Turner Prize, the Brit Awards, the Man Booker Prize and so on would find venues in the cities for their big announcements. Derry/Londonderry won that first title, with Birmingham, Norwich and Sheffield also shortlisted.

Derry/Londonderry celebrated the title in 2013 and did indeed stage the Turner Prize as well as Music City, Radio 1’s Big Weekend and The Return of Colmcille.

More than 180,000 people travelled there to see Lumiere, a giant light show. The Derry/Londonderry year was not without its controversies, especially over whether the independent Culture Company was the dominant voice in staging the celebrations, or the city council. And it remains to be seen how the title will benefit Hull.

The economics of such titles are enticing. Paisley would undoubtedly feel the benefit. Liverpool, when it was European City of Culture, saw 10m extra visitors, and reported a £750m boost to its economy. If Paisley can see off its opposition – some of which already rejoice in the title of city – the benefits would be tangible.

AT A GLANCE

The competition is run by the UK government’s department of culture media and sport. To date, there has never been a Scottish winner.

Hull will host the 2017 version, during which the 2021 winner will be announced.

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