NETWORK UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
MARIE LE CONTE
A ‘YOUNG VULGARIAN’ AND CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED JOURNALIST
A NEW BEGINNING
MEET OUR NEW VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRESIDENT, DR PETER BONFIELD
‘PLEASE ALEXA’
ARE WE BEGINNING TO RECOGNISE THE RIGHTS OF INTELLIGENT MACHINES?
WELCOME FROM THE VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRESIDENT
WELCOME
It is my pleasure to welcome you to this edition of Network magazine, as your new Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Westminster. Since joining this tremendous institution in May, I have thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the people within our community, especially our alumni, who are the very best ambassadors for the University. I am immensely proud to learn from this edition of Network of your many achievements. Over the past few months, I have been truly touched to meet many graduates who are giving their time, expertise and money to help our students. Your contributions make an enormous difference to the University, and provide life-changing opportunities to those who hope to follow in your footsteps. The support that you give can 2
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never be underestimated and I would like to say a huge thank you to all of you who are helping our students to thrive. I would also like to extend a special welcome to our most recent graduates who are reading this edition of Network. It is hard to pick a highlight from my first few months in post, but the summer graduation ceremonies at London Southbank’s Royal Festival Hall has to be one of my most joy-filled weeks so far. For those of you who were part of the celebrations, it was wonderful to join your special day. In this edition, you can read an interview with BA Journalism graduate and political journalist Marie Le Conte, who is making waves across social media with her sharp wit and uncensored opinions on Brexit, the #MeToo movement and being a
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‘young vulgarian’. We take a moment to delve into the University’s past as alumnus Nigel Molden shares incredible posters of the many gigs which took place during the University’s Polytechnic days, from Pink Floyd to Fleetwood Mac. Meanwhile, on campus, Professor Damien Ridge talks us through his work in supporting men who are experiencing mental health issues, and debunking the stigma around this ‘silent crisis’. Finally, you can hear a little more from me in this issue, including my ambitions for our University in the years ahead. I very much hope you enjoy this edition of Network. Dr Peter Bonfield OBE FREng Vice-Chancellor and President
CONTENTS
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IN TOUCH
News, views and comments from our alumni around the world
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NETWORK NEWS
All the news from across the University, including the latest research and alumni achievements
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RISING HIGH IN HONG KONG
How the Westminster Working Cultures programme is opening up a world of international opportunities to our students
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THE QUINTIN HOGG TRUST
The Quintin Hogg Trust is helping the University to transform the student journey
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WESTMINSTER ALUMNI AWARDS
Here we present the winners and the runners-up of the first ever Westminster Alumni Awards
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A NEW BEGINNING
Meet our new Vice-Chancellor and President, Dr Peter Bonfield
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THE CENTRE OF A REVOLUTION
A tour through the thriving music scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s with alumnus Nigel Molden
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A YOUNG VULGARIAN
Network talks to graduate and critically acclaimed journalist Marie Le Conte
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‘PLEASE ALEXA’
Are we beginning to recognise the rights of intelligent machines?
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MAN UP? WHY WE SHOULD BE POSITIVE ABOUT MASCULINITY
Professor Damien Ridge argues that it’s time for a more positive view of masculinity and mental health
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CLASSNOTES
A selection of just some of the updates we have received from around the world ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
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UNIVERSITY OF WESTMINSTER ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 Editor: Heather Ridal Contributors: Laura Hughes, Julia Ross and Dr Paresh Kathrani. Thanks to all alumni, staff, students and supporters who have contributed to this issue. Illustrations: Marcus Butt Photography: Nina Hollington Print: Gemini Print Alumni Relations Office University of Westminster Cavendish House 101 New Cavendish Street London W1W 6XH T: +44 (0)20 3506 6245 E: alumni@westminster.ac.uk
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IN TOUCH
IN TOUCH
HELLO FROM THE ALUMNI TEAM I am delighted to announce that this year the University of Westminster’s alumni programme has been awarded two Circle of Excellence Gold Awards in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s annual awards. These awards honour outstanding work across alumni relations, marketing and fundraising throughout the global education sector. The first honour was awarded for our flagship ‘What it Takes’ events series, that welcomes alumni back to campus to inspire our students and young graduates. The second award recognised our collaboration with the University’s Mentoring Scheme that now has over 700 alumni mentors ready to help our students. Not only does this bring international recognition to the team, but it goes some way to recognising the high level of service that we aim to provide to our alumni and current students. Both of these international University of Westminster awards would simply not have been Alumni Association possible without the input and engagement of so many of our alumni, @uw_alumni so thank you for your ongoing support. These are just two of the initiatives University of Westminster through which alumni can stay in touch with life at Westminster. But there are Alumni Association so many other ways in which you can ‘give back’ and support our current westminster.ac.uk students. The door is always open to each and every one of you and we will @ alumni@westminster.ac.uk always listen to suggestions about how to improve our offer to you. Alumni Relations Office I hope you enjoy reading this edition Cavendish House of Network and I look forward to 101 New Cavendish Street working with you in the future.
GET CONNECTED
London W1W 6XH
Chris Smith Director, External Relations 4
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Recently several other University of Westminster students, and I, ventured out to Hong Kong, for the Westminster Working Cultures programme as student ambassadors. The aims of the trip were to enhance our employability skills on an international scale, and to raise awareness of the various professional industries in the Far East. We visited alumni and associates from a number of organisations that helped give us valuable insight into professional opportunities, the geo-political climate and a general well rounded and thorough knowledge of Hong Kong as a working and living environment. I’d like to give a special mention to everybody that took time out of their busy schedules to attend. William Daulphin (Photographic Arts BA, 2018) posted on LinkedIn about his trip to Hong Kong in April, made possible through the Westminster Working Cultures programme.
“I am so honoured and delighted. Thanks so much, this means a lot to me. I was at the Faculty of Architecture end of year show in Westminster last night and the students’ work is so creative and innovative. I am proud to be associated with such a leading architecture school.” Angela Brady OBE (Riba Part III, 1986), Director and Architect at Brady Mallalieu Architects, on the news that she had received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the first ever University of Westminster Alumni Awards.
IN TOUCH
Thank you very much for your warm words and wishes. I am very proud to represent the University of Westminster and the whole international community of alumni around the world. It was a very pleasant surprise to find out that I was selected as a finalist for the Social Impact Award. I am very grateful for my experience in the UK for what I have achieved today in my career. Really enjoyed sharing my pearls of wisdom around public speaking at the University of Westminster. Watch my talk here ow.ly/rEmB30ivc7y Jenny Garrett, @JenniferGarrett (Business Administration BA, 2000), awardwinning coach and TEDx speaker, presented ‘What it Takes to be a Confident Public Speaker’ in February as part of our What it Takes events series.
WELCOME TO THE NEW #WESTMINSTERGRADS
These law students are about to graduate. Good luck! All your hard work has paid off #WestminsterGrad @ssh
Katherine, Sarah and Amatullah looking ready for the @uw_wbs ceremony at Royal Festival Hall. Have a great time guys, congrats! #WestminsterGrad
Well done Ruluca, Catalina-Anca and families! Enjoy the @uw_wbs ceremony and celebrations later! #WestminsterGrad
Have a blast in the @uw_abe ceremony, Yani and Richard – and later today of course! Top smiles here! #WestminsterGrad
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Gauhar Mukaman (Public Relations MA, 2009), Information Specialist for the US Consulate General, was selected as a Social Impact Award finalist for the British Council Study UK Alumni Awards in Kazakhstan in February.
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR ALUMNI BENEFITS • Come back to campus (and the library) with your alumni access card • Study with us again using your 15% discount • Kick-start your career with free careers support for three years after you graduate • Join us for networking events, workshops and talks • Keep in touch with our e-news and magazine • Enjoy discounts on gym membership, summer accommodation and room hire • Give back by mentoring or talking to current students through our volunteering programmes Find out more: westminster.ac.uk/alumni-benefits
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WESTMINSTER RISES UP THE RANKINGS
The University of Westminster has been celebrating success in a slew of recent league tables. We have achieved our highest ranking in ten years in The Guardian University League Table 2019, jumping 27 places to 81st place. This is up from 108th place in 2018 and 112nd place in 2017. Adding to this success, we have climbed 20 places in the last two years in the Complete University Guide, bringing us up to 82nd in the 2019 table. This bucks the London
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trend which has seen 13 of the 22 London universities dropping one or more places. The Times Higher Education’s Young University Rankings 2018 ranked us third in the UK and 28th in the world for International Outlook in recognition of our excellence in global engagement. The Young University Rankings list the world’s best universities aged 50 years or under and includes 250 universities. Another notable success was our placement of 14th in the world by
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The Times Higher Education’s International Student Table which celebrates the universities with the highest percentage of international students. Westminster has also been named as the most culturally diverse university in the UK, US, Australia and New Zealand by the Hotcourses Diversity Index, in recognition of our international and diverse community of students from 165 countries and alumni in over 180 countries.
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JOANNA LUMLEY FINDS HER FEET AT THE REGENT STREET CINEMA Joanna Lumley introduced her latest film, Finding Your Feet, at a private screening in the University of Westminster’s Regent Street Cinema on 27 February 2018. Finding Your Feet, a romantic comedy directed by Richard Loncraine about a group of friends embracing their later years, earned an emotional and heart-warming response from the special audience of mainly over-55s. Also in the audience was co-star of the film Imelda Staunton, who surprised guests when she joined Joanna for an impromptu Q&A after the screening. Over 150 alumni and City of Westminster residents attended the event, which was organised by the
University’s Alumni Team and the Sir Simon Milton Foundation. It was part of Silver Sunday, a progamme of free events and activities organised by the Sir Simon Milton Foundation to celebrate old age and combat loneliness in the elderly. Joanna told ITV News: “We are here for a special screening of Finding Your Feet at the Regent Street Cinema, in what used to be the old Polytechnic of Central London, and it’s a special screening because I wanted to see the film with this audience of people who will be celebrating Silver Sunday. Silver Sundays celebrate the older people in our society, particularly those who are alone.”
ALUMNUS BEN JENNINGS WINS POLITICAL CARTOON OF THE YEAR AWARD Ben Jennings, who graduated with an Illustration BA in 2012, has won the Political Cartoon of the Year award for the second time in his career. He snapped the top prize from over 30 shortlisted entries for his cartoon ‘The White (Supremacist) House’, a depiction of the White House that has acquired a Klu Klux Klan hood. It was described as “a simple takedown of the Trump regime” by TotalPolitics. The Political Cartoon of the Year awards have been running since 2000 and celebrate the best cartoons and cartoonists from the UK’s national newspapers. This year’s award was presented by George Osbourne, Editor of the Evening Standard and
Ben Jennings’ cartoon ‘The White (supremacist) House’
Former Chancellor, at a ceremony attended by the national press and Members of Parliament, as well as the cartoonist themselves. Ben regularly illustrates for the i newspaper, the Financial Times, The Guardian, New Statesman, Radio Times and GQ Magazine.
He won his first Political Cartoon of the Year award for his ‘Gaddafi Treasure Map’ cartoon while he was still a student at Westminster in 2011. This cartoon featured a map of Libya, complete with oil fields, treasure chests and Nato planes, overlaid along the contours of Gaddafi’s face.
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NETWORK NEWS
L-R: Professor Andrew Linn (Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences), Carrie Gracie, and Vice-Chancellor and President Dr Peter Bonfield
BBC JOURNALIST CARRIE GRACIE AWARDED AN HONORARY DOCTORATE Westminster named BBC journalist and broadcaster, Carrie Gracie, Honorary Doctor of Letters at the Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities’ graduation ceremony on Tuesday 10 July. Carrie received the award in recognition of her entrepreneurial and courageous career in journalism, and as an outstanding role model for our students. She is also an alumna of Westminster, having graduated with a BA Hons in Chinese in 1998. Her career in journalism began in 1987 when she joined the BBC World Service. She became a correspondent for regions of Africa, China and Asia Pacific before moving into domestic radio and television in Beijing. In 1999, she moved back to the UK, becoming a familiar face all over the nation presenting BBC News. 8
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Carrie became a voice for gender equality when she resigned from her post as editor for BBC News over gender pay discrimination. In a moving speech at the ceremony, Carrie said: “Learning Chinese at Westminster changed my life. It meant I could go to China as a reporter. Going out into the world and taking on new challenges is scary. But don’t give way to fear. Just breathe your way through it. “To take on your employer in a public way is frightening, but I’m proud that I’ve won equal pay. I am proud to say that, as a woman in the workplace, I am equal. Thank you for celebrating that with me.” Also awarded an Honorary Doctorate this year, was Dr Majid Al-Saadi, CEO and Chairman of
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Eastern Holding, and founder of the Al-Saadi Changing Lives Programme. This programme between the UK and Jordan seeks to impact the lives of British university students and Jordanian children through cultural exchange. Majid was made Honorary Doctor of Letters at the graduation ceremony for Westminster Business School on Monday 9 July. Other recipients of Honorary Doctorates at this year’s ceremonies were: Angela Brady (Architect, Brady Mallalieu Architects); Dr Margaret Ashwell (President, Association for Nutrition); Paul Trijbits, (Producer and Executive Producer, FilmWave); and David Batchelor (retired FCA Chartered Accountant and former member of the University of Westminster’s Court of Governors).
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DUCHESS OF CAMBRIDGE DONS FASHION ALUMNA’S DESIGN The Duchess of Cambridge was spotted wearing a coat designed by Westminster graduate Ida Sjöstedt on a royal tour of Scandinavia in February. The coat – a black wrap with a faux fur trim and subtle embroidery around the hemline – was seen on the Duchess on the final night of her tour of Sweden. Ida graduated from the University of Westminster’s Fashion Design BA course in 2000 and went on to set up her own fashion label in Stockholm. She is one of Sweden’s most popular designers, with clients
such as the Princesses Victoria and Sophia of Sweden. In 2016 she won Elle Magazine’s Designer of the Year. The Fashion Design BA course is renowned in the industry for the quality of its graduates and, in February of this year, it became the first undergraduate course in the world to show its graduate collections at the official London Fashion Week. Westminster alumni in the fashion world include Liam Hodges, Ashley Williams, Vivienne Westwood, Mary Benson, and Christopher Bailey.
Getty Images: Pool/Samir Hussein/WireImage
CELEBRATING THE LIFE OF PROFESSOR GEOFFREY PETTS It is with great sadness that we inform you of the death of Professor Geoffrey Petts, former Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Westminster, who passed away peacefully at The Royal Marsden Hospital in London on Saturday 11 August 2018. Professor Petts was appointed Vice-Chancellor in 2007 and retired in 2017. During his ten year period of office, Geoff worked tirelessly to promote widening participation and diversity at the University, develop global partnerships and build up areas of excellence in media and communications, art and design and architecture and the built environment. His legacy is also evident in the restoration of Westminster’s heritage buildings and spaces, including the iconic Regent Street Cinema and the AmbikaP3 Exhibition space.
A former Pro Vice-Chancellor at the University of Birmingham and President of the British Hydrological Society, Geoff was awarded the Busk Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for contributions to river research and conservation in 2007, and in 2009 he was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society for River Science. A scholar of international standing, intellectually brilliant and deeply committed to everything he undertook, he will be greatly missed by colleagues and friends at the University of Westminster and across the higher education sector in the UK and beyond. Geoff faced his illness with characteristic bravery, determination and good humour. Our deepest condolences go to his wife, Professor Judith Petts CBE, and to his family.
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SANTANDER UNIVERSITIES UK PLEDGES £90,000 TO ADVANCE WESTMINSTER STUDENTS Santander Universities UK (part of Santander Banking) has generously donated £90,000 to support a range of schemes, scholarships and awards that enhance the employability of our students. £50,000 has been granted this year, with a further £40,000 to follow in the next academic year. Schemes that have benefitted so far include the Distinctiveness Awards (an annual event that recognises students who have made an outstanding contribution to the
University or their own personal development), the E-Club, which promotes entrepreneurship through inspiring talks, workshops and pop-up festivals, and SME internships which place students in small and medium enterprises. The funding has also enabled students to participate in Westminster Working Cultures London, a scheme which aims to raise the aspirations of those who are the first generation in their family to attend university. The students had the opportunity to
attend ‘insight days’ at leading organisations such as Cancer Research, the Civil Service and Santander, attend bespoke careers counselling sessions and be paired with a mentor for six months. Tayaba Saghir (Law LLB, 2019) said of the scheme: “Santander was one of my favourite insight days. It was amazing to see how far the employees we met had got in terms of their careers. It was great to see the way that people worked their way up; very admirable.”
TWO TOP TENS IN ONE WEEK FOR WESTMINSTER Westminster dominated the UK music charts for one week in April, when two graduates of the Commercial Music BA course separately held top spots. Amir Amor of English drum and bass band Rudimental took the number one spot for single ‘These Days’, featuring Jess Glynne, Macklemore and Dan Caplan. At the same time, London-based producer Bruce Fielder, known professionally as Sigala, reached number nine with single ‘Lullaby’, featuring Paloma Faith. Rudimental formed in 2010 and has experienced phenomenal success with three number one singles and Platinum awards for record sales in several countries. The group has been nominated for the Mercury Prize, and have won a Brit Award for 10
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Rudimental and Amir Amor (far left)
best British Single and a MOBO Award for Best Album. Bruce Fielder began producing records as Sigala in 2015 and has had six entries in the official top ten of the UK Singles Chart. The University of Westminster was the first UK university to offer the opportunity to learn, practise and experiment with artistic and business strategies in today’s music industry. | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
Senior Lecturer Stu Lambert said: “Congratulations to Amir and Bruce from our whole course team and on behalf of our graduates throughout the global music industry. “We have always kept in touch, and been delighted by every stage of their progress, and their continued success is an endorsement of our music programme at Westminster.”
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GOLD AWARD FOR THE UNIVERSITY’S MENTORING SCHEME The University of Westminster Mentoring Scheme has won the Gold Award for Student Alumni Initiatives in the 2018 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) Circle of Excellence Awards. These global awards recognise outstanding programmes in advancement, alumni relations, communications and fundraising. Westminster won awards alongside major international universities such as Harvard, Princeton and University College London. The Mentoring Scheme has helped more young people than ever this year, with nearly 600 students and graduates paired with alumni and friends of the University. The scheme connects alumni mentors who are already established and experienced
in their fields with those in need of professional guidance and coaching to launch their careers. Generous funding by the Quintin Hogg Trust has enabled the scheme to grow and make a significant impact on the employability of our graduates. The University won a second Gold for Innovative Alumni Programme for the alumni event series, ‘What it Takes’. This series invites alumni who have overcome barriers to success or exceeded expectations in their career to come back to campus and inspire our students and young graduates with talks, workshops and panel events. Chris Smith, Director of External Relations, said: “I am absolutely delighted that two of our most innovative and ‘game-changing’ projects have ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
been recognised through the global CASE Circle of Excellence Awards. “The ‘What It Takes’ series and the Mentoring scheme are two of the most high-profile ways in which we are able to bring our alumni back into the life of the institution. These awards will only act as further motivation for us to continue innovating and delivering life-changing opportunities for our students and alumni.”
COULD YOU BE A MENTOR?
Do you have three or more years of experience in a graduate level role? Can you commit to at least five hours over six months? Then we would like to hear from you. Email alumni@westminster.ac.uk
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Photographs from ‘A Solitary Sunflower’ collection, Mija Valdez
166 STUDENTS LIKE MIJA HELPED BY THE 125 FUND Mental health first aid training, equipment for cancer research, a fitness app and photography equipment are just some of the student projects being funded this year by The 125 Fund. £140,000 worth of funding has been raised, £55,000 of this through the 2017 telephone campaign. All donations were generously match-funded pound for pound by the Quintin Hogg Trust. One of the 166 students, Mija Valdez (Photography BA, 2018), was able to purchase equipment and materials for his final year photography project, ‘A Solitary Sunflower’, thanks to The 125 Fund. ‘A Solitary Sunflower’ 12
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tells Mija’s story of his experience in the care system and the obstacles he has overcome to get where he is today. Mija said to all of those who donated to The 125 Fund: “I am extremely grateful as I don’t think I would have been able to fund my personal project without your support. “I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of my heart for donating and helping students like me. Your generosity is inspiring and you really are helping to change lives through your support - thank you!” Other projects to be funded this year include fieldwork on sustainable | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
agriculture in Cuba, a website that helps vulnerable people to access legal help, and a trip to a United Nations Conference in the US. Now in its third year, The 125 Fund provides grants of between £150 and £1,500 for projects and activities that help our students achieve their ambitions and develop professionally. If you are inspired by the aims of The 125 Fund and would like to make a donation, visit westminster.ac.uk/the-125-fund
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WESTMINSTER OPENS WORLD’S FIRST MENSWEAR ARCHIVE The world’s first menswear archive that is open to the public has been launched at Westminster’s Department of Fashion at Harrow. Initiated by Professor Andrew Groves, Director of the Fashion Design BA Course, the archive was created to develop the study of menswear and its social history, and to give designers an opportunity to see traditional, innovative and military pieces up close. The archive contains over 1,000 important and rare pieces of menswear clothing from the last 100 years, including garments from Ralph Lauren, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Vivienne Westwood, Barbour and Burberry. It also boasts a more extensive collection of Alexander McQueen menswear garments than the V&A Museum. One of the biggest donors to the collection is fashion house Calvin Klein, who donated 69 garments with
the estimated value of £30,000 after being impressed by the archive on Instagram. Liam Hodges, a Fashion Design BA graduate (2011) and luxury brand designer, is the biggest alumnus benefactor so far, having donated 51 garments and accessories with the estimated value of £30,000. Andrew said: “The Westminster Menswear Archive is a unique resource that enables students to research and understand the work of the very best menswear designers and use that research to inform their own design practice. The fact that it is regularly used by our alumni who now work for companies such as Calvin Klein, Versace and Rapha, enables current students to engage with our alumni and learn from them at the same time.” You can explore the archive online at mensweararchive.com or visit by appointment.
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RESEARCH NEWS
FIVE THINGS WE LEARNED THIS YEAR University of Westminster academics have been delivering research with impact over the last 12 months, changing how we react to natural disasters, fight diseases and tackle complex emerging fields, like artificial intelligence. Here are just five of the many things we have learnt over the past year.
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HOW TO MAXIMISE YOUR STAMINA DURING EXERCISE University of Westminster research has found that 40 grams of carbohydrates is the optimum amount needed to maximise performance during longer duration exercise such as marathons, triathlons or long-distance cycling. Led by Dr Michael Newell, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Nutrition, the research questioned the trend towards athletes reducing the amount of carbs in their diet, believing it will increase their performance. The research argues instead that carbs are highly important in fuelling stamina during prolonged exercise and that moderate amounts - about 40 grams - for each hour of activity and spread evenly over each hour will enhance performance. Dr Newell said: “Carbohydrate is still king when it comes to fuelling sustained endurance activities. What we show with the data is that you don’t need to consume a lot to achieve the greatest benefits.”
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THERE ARE 72 GENETIC VARIANTS THAT CAN CONTRIBUTE TO BREAST CANCER New research by the University of Westminster’s Breast Cancer Research Unit has helped to provide clues to the genetic mechanisms behind the disease. The Breast Cancer Research Unit’s DietCompLyf study joined with the Breast Cancer Association Consortium in research which revealed 72 new genetic variants that can contribute to the risk of developing breast cancer. This evidence could potentially lead to changes in practices, for example, how women with different risk levels could be screened in alternative ways. Dr Miriam Dwek, Leader of the Cancer Research Group at the University of Westminster, said: “This latest work shows the importance of collaborative research for the identification of cancer-associated gene changes. The work would not have been possible without the contribution of the tens of thousands of DNA samples from the hundreds of centres across the globe.”
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WHY YOU CAN BE OTHERWISE HEALTHY AND STILL HAVE A FATTY LIVER A University of Westminster and University of Surrey collaboration has found that sugar intake can fatten your liver even if you are otherwise fit and healthy. Two groups of men were observed during the study, one with high levels of liver fat and the other with low levels. Men in both groups followed either a high sugar or low sugar diet so that researchers were then able to determine the impact of sugar on the liver. Researchers found that eating high amounts of sugar alone was enough to increase your risk of heart disease, no matter how healthy your body might be. The study was made possible by techniques developed by University of Westminster researchers which use Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to scan and measure the liver and body fat content of the participants. Dr Louise Thomas, who contributed to the research along with Professor Jimmy Bell, said: “The advent of new technology is allowing us to directly and objectively understand the impact of lifestyle choices on the function and health of organs such as the liver.”
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WHY THE UK NEEDS AN ETHICAL APPROACH TO AI
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HOW TECHNOLOGY CAN TACKLE FOREST FIRES An innovative new technology that will help to combat forest fires has been developed by the University of Westminster in collaboration with the Advanced Fire Fighting (AF3) project. The University’s Applied DSP and VSI Research Group (ADVRG) has produced a new digital system of wireless ground sensor nodes and drone technology to help detect and monitor wild forest fires in their early stages. The complete system developed by the AF3 project, which involved 20 institutions from ten countries, allows firefighters to quickly drop water or fire-retardant mixtures contained in biodegradable plastic pouches into the exact area needed to quell the fire most effectively. Already tested in real-life fires in Greece, Spain and Israel, the project has demonstrated the potential to revolutionise the way that forest fires are tackled and ultimately protect human life, the environment and property. Professor Kate Izzet Kale, Director of ADVRG and leader of the project, said: “This is a step change in the way wild fires and other forms of urban fires will be detected and stopped in their tracks before they spread and cause irreversible damage to the environment, wildlife and loss of human life.”
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Ethics should be at the heart of Artificial Intelligence (AI) development, according to a House of Lords Select Committee report that used crucial evidence provided by University of Westminster academics. The Committee was appointed to consider the economic, ethical and social implications of advances in AI and collected evidence from hundreds of experts. The report, ‘AI in the UK: Ready, Willing and Able’, made a series of recommendations for the future of AI development in the UK. The report cited the research of Dr Mercedes Bunz, Senior Lecturer in the School of Media and Communications and researcher in the Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), who submitted both written evidence and testified in front of the Committee at the Palace of Westminster. Dr Bunz said of the report: “It is comprehensive, timely and vital. The Lords’ suggestion is clear: the UK can substantially contribute to AI’s development if we put ethics at the centre. Only an ethical approach ensures the public trusts this technology.” Other Westminster academics to contribute to the report were Dr Paresh Kathrani, Michael Butterworth, Joanna Goodman and Chrissie Lightfoot from the Centre on the Legal Profession at Westminster Law School and Dr Steven Cranfield from Westminster Business School. Their evidence focused on the growing influence that AI will play in the delivery of legal services and the need for greater ethical oversight.
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WESTMINSTER WORKING CULTURES
RISING HIGH IN HONG KONG In April 2018, 14 University of Westminster students travelled to Hong Kong – famous as a global financial hub as well as for its dramatic high-rise skyline – to experience the city in a unique way with Westminster Working Cultures. Over nine days, the students were immersed in Hong Kong life: visiting cultural attractions such as the iconic Happy Valley races, exchanging words of Cantonese with locals, and taking in the frenetic city life. Most importantly, they participated in an intense but rewarding programme that took them all over Hong Kong to meet University of Westminster alumni in their workplaces and learn about professional and cultural life in the city. TV studios in Bloomberg Media, a buzzing coworking space called The Hive, architecture practice Lead 8, and the UK Department for International Trade are just some of the diverse work spaces the students visited. The students also received first-hand advice on making the right career choices, developing their unique brand, and how to excel at interviews, told from the personal experiences of our alumni. With nine sessions across five days, this guidance from professionals in such senior positions would usually be hard to access. This is at the heart of Westminster Working Cultures, a programme designed to open up the world of international opportunities to our students after they graduate. Now in its second year, over 50 students have already benefitted by visiting either Hong Kong or Mumbai and the initiative is set to expand to include Washington, D.C. and Shanghai. The programme is generously funded by the Quintin Hogg Trust and 16
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alumnus Trevor Yang (Social Science BA, 1983), Managing Director of HMJ Investments, who has supported the programme from its inception to make the trips to Hong Kong possible. Trevor said: “As one who believes travel in itself is a fantastic form of education, I was delighted when the idea of Westminster Working Cultures was borne. I hope the Hong Kong visits have inspired the students to think what could be possible.” At the end of the trip, equally exhausted and inspired, the students had made valuable connections and had learnt from each and every alumnus that they had met. Many are now planning work placements in cities across the globe – a thought that may have seemed too daunting before the trip. Will Daulphin, who has just graduated with a BA Photography degree and took some of the photographs you can see, summed it up by saying: “The most important attribute I gained during this trip was insight. A bold step out of my comfort zone, I experienced what working life in various sectors is like on the other side of the planet.” Would you like to support Westminster Working Cultures? If you would like to support the trips financially, or if you live in Shanghai, Mumbai, Washington, D.C. or Hong Kong and could provide one or two hours to talk to students or show them around your place of work, then we would like to hear from you. Please email alumni@westminster.ac.uk | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
WESTMINSTER WORKING CULTURES
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NETWORK NEWS
THE QUINTIN HOGG TRUST The Quintin Hogg Trust has a unique relationship with the University. It exists solely to benefit our students and is intrinsically connected to our history. The story begins with Quintin Hogg, an educational reformer and philanthropist who was dedicated to improving the lives and opportunities of young working class men and women in London. In 1838, he founded the Regent Street Polytechnic – the first Polytechnic in the UK – which eventually evolved into the University of Westminster as we know it today. When he died in 1903, a trust was founded to continue his legacy and further his belief that education should be open to all. Today, the Trust directs its funds towards the advancement of the education of our students; through excellent facilities, cutting-edge research and the opportunities they need to thrive. Here are just some of the ways that the Trust is generously supporting our students in 2018. 18
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NETWORK NEWS
CREATING GLOBAL GRADUATES Through the Trust’s generous support, more of our students than ever are taking part in experiences where they can learn valuable employment and life skills while broadening their minds with international travel. The Trust has continued to support Westminster Working Cultures, a project which this year alone has taken 32 students to cities around the
world to visit alumni in their workplaces (see page 16), while ‘Distant Horizons Funding’ incentivises growing numbers of students to take part in competitions, volunteering and learning opportunities abroad. The Trust also supports the Polylang Scholarship scheme to fund language modules and short term student trips overseas.
PROMOTING EDUCATION FOR ALL Each year, the Trust supports the University’s aims of widening participation through the Quintin Hogg Trust Scholarships. This awards up to £4,000 to enable young people who have taken part in our outreach activities to continue their education with us. Adding to this, the Westminster Skills Club helps pupils from all backgrounds to achieve better grades in maths,
English, science, languages and animation, so that they can progress to higher education. Other projects the Trust has recently supported include widening access to mentors for disabled students, addressing the gendered approach to teaching technology and ensuring black, Asian and minority ethnic students can achieve their full potential.
ENHANCING THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE This year, £140,000 was awarded to 166 students through The 125 Fund – an opportunity fund created by the Quintin Hogg Trust to provide students with grants that support their personal or professional development. Thanks to the Fund, budding entrepreneurs have started up their own businesses, creatives have been able to access the technology and resources they need to compete on the world stage, and the
next generation of scientists have been inspired to look for answers to the world’s most serious problems. The support of the Trust in the past year has also enabled our award-winning Mentoring Scheme to expand, so that this year we were able to pair nearly 600 students and graduates with mentors, giving them the skills and confidence to enter the competitive workplace.
CELEBRATING INNOVATION Innovation has always been at the heart of the University, from its early days as the Polytechnic Institution, which was founded to popularise science and demonstrate new technologies and inventions to the public. This is why the Quintin Hogg Trust has supported FAB FEST, a project which celebrates design and making by inviting designers from around the world to create imaginative and eco-friendly pavilions and installations in central London. These are then ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
showcased to the public in a week-long festival of events and music. This year was no exception, with 30 pavilions by Westminster students exhibited. The Trust also funds the Latitudes Global Studio that is tackling the issue of climate change through international collaboration. Through this innovative project, students from around the world can share creative solutions together via mobile apps and virtual “smart rooms” to create design solutions to this global problem. | NETWORK
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WESTMINSTER ALUMNI AWARDS
WESTMINSTER ALUMNI AWARDS The University of Westminster Alumni Awards were launched this year to recognise the outstanding achievements of our graduates. Almost 200 nominations were received across five different categories, highlighting the huge breadth of accomplishments within our alumni community: from NHS heroes to YouTube trailblazers, charity entrepreneurs to campaigners. Here, we present the final winners as decided by a public vote, as well as our runners up. Congratulations to all of our alumni who took part in this year’s Alumni Awards programme. ALUMNI AWARD CATEGORIES
ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARD
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Recognising business ventures that have demonstrated innovation and resulted in business growth.
Awarding outstanding sustained achievements and contributions over a number of years.
CONTRIBUTION TO THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
Celebrating achievements, innovation, diversity and inclusion in the arts and creative industries.
Rewarding personal and professional achievements from all sectors.
Highlighting positive contributions to international and/or UK communities, through professional, voluntary or charitable activities.
WESTMINSTER ALUMNI AWARDS
ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARD
LUCY BELLA EARL
BA MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS, 2016
CONTRIBUTION TO THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
JO HO
BA MIXED MEDIA ARTS, 1998 From humble beginnings and immigrant parents who barely spoke English, Jo had always wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. In 2010, Jo created Spirit Warriors, a BBC martial arts fantasy TV show – and changed the industry. It was the first series in the UK to be created by a Chinese man or woman, and starred a predominately East Asian cast – another first in British TV history. Since then, she has created films and TV series for the producers of Match Point, The Killing, The Bridge, The Lord of the Rings and Jane the Virgin, among others.
Jo has won many awards, including the Women in Film & Television’s New Talent award, and has been named one of the outstanding young Chinese people in the UK. Jo began publishing in 2016, with her debut young adult novel, Wanted, becoming an Amazon US bestseller soon after its release. Jo is also a voting member of BAFTA and will be a founding member of the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain’s new Diversity Committee, which will be dedicated to fighting for the rights of ethnically diverse writers when it launches.
After teaching English during her placement year, Lucy saw a huge gap in the market for fun, free online English lessons. After providing her father with a business plan, he gave her a £500 business loan and she started the ‘English with Lucy’ YouTube channel in her final year of university; within its first year she gained 100,000 subscribers and 2.5 million views. After graduating with a First, she decided to focus on turning the channel into a business and worked on it full-time. In just over two years, more than a million students have subscribed to the channel. The channel has been featured in The Times, ITV News and BBC News, and Lucy works with major brands like Babbel and The Telegraph to create highly successful influencer marketing campaigns. In 2018, Lucy is looking to release her first commercial course and further develop her brand.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
PUJA CHANGOIWALA
MA JOURNALISM (INTERNATIONAL) – BROADCAST, 2010 Puja Changoiwala is a Mumbai-based independent journalist, and author of the widely-acclaimed true crime book, The Front Page Murders: Inside the Serial Killings that Shocked India. As a freelance journalist, Puja contributes to some of the most esteemed news publications in India, Europe, China, and North America. She writes about the intersections of gender, human rights, crime, development and social justice in India. Her writings have featured ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
across the likes of The Guardian, BBC, Washington Post, The Hindu and VICE, among many other renowned outlets. Puja has also worked as a senior crime correspondent with Hindustan Times, India’s second largest English daily, and won eight in-house awards for her outstanding journalism. She was recently shortlisted for International Young Author Awards, and is also a recipient of the Iceland Writers Retreat Alumni Award 2018, among other honours. | NETWORK
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WESTMINSTER ALUMNI AWARDS
ALUMNI AWARDS 2018
THE RUNNERS UP CONTRIBUTION TO THE CREATIVE INDUSTRIES
NOREEN NAROO-PUCCI
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
ANGELA BRADY RIBA PART III, 1986
Angela is a highly active architect, design champion and TV broadcaster. She has won multiple awards, including the ‘Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad’ for Arts and Culture in 2017, and received an OBE for services to architecture and education in 2015. Angela was President of RIBA from 2011–13, and previously chaired RIBA Women in Architecture (2000-05). She has run workshops in schools on a voluntary basis for over 20 years, twice spoken at University of Westminster (2015 and 2017), and has advised many Government departments. As a professional TV broadcaster, Angela co-wrote and co-presented a landmark TV series, Designing Ireland on RTE, currently broadcast in Australia and New Zealand on Sky Arts. She also presented The Home Show for Channel 4 and designed and built a house on Building the Dream for ITV. Angela promotes architecture to the public in the media to give people a better understanding of our built environment. Angela received an honorary doctorate from the University of Westminster in July 2018. 22
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BA (HONS) FASHION DESIGN, 1993 Noreen is the Vice President of Global Design Engine (GDE) for Under Armour Inc. The GDE is a centralised creative unit for apparel, footwear and accessories design. She joined the brand back in 2008 and focused on the growth of the women’s business from bare bones to close to $800 million dollars.
BERYL RICHARDS
BA MEDIA STUDIES, 1980 Beryl directs film, TV drama and TV comedy, and has helped to create many popular UK teens’ and children’s series, for which she has been awarded four BAFTAs. In 2011, Beryl joined the board of Directors UK and now chairs their Gender Equality Group, which was set up to campaign for better representation of female directors in the UK.
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
REBECCA KEARNEY
MSC REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT, 2015 Rebecca works for Arcadis, where she leads a team of 100 professionals to improve quality of life and make a valuable contribution to solving the housing crisis. Rebecca has successfully led the development of Otterpool Park, a new garden town with up to 12,000 homes on a greenfield site in East Kent.
ANIL SINGH RANA
MSC CONSTRUCTION PROJECT MANAGEMENT, 2012 Anil is an award-winning building surveyor, mentor and international construction speaker. He became the | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
youngest, and also the first Mauritian, Fellow of the RICS in Africa in 2014. He was also the first Mauritian and the first Chartered Surveyor in Africa to win the prestigious RICS Matrics Young Surveyor of the Year Awards 2016 in the Mentor Category.
ENTREPRENEURIAL AWARD
GAUTOM MENON
MA EVENTS AND CONFERENCE MANAGEMENT, 2013 Gautom founded Wild Tiger Rum in 2016. It now retails in 30 countries. He has been recognised by GQ Magazine as one of the Top 10 innovators in India and Top 50 Influential Entrepreneurs under the age of 40. The brand donates ten percent of its profits towards tiger conservation in Southern India.
SAMEER PITALWALLA
MA MEDIA MANAGEMENT, 2006 Sameer founded digital media firm, Culture Machine, in 2013. In 2015, Sameer was featured in the prestigious Forbes India 30 Under 30 list, and in 2017, Sameer won a coveted British Council Study UK Alumni Entrepreneurial Award in India.
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
PETER RAMRAYKA
MBA, 1988 Peter has devoted his life to improving the health of others. In the medical branch of the Royal Air Force (1961– 70), he gained the General Service and United Nations campaign medals; in the NHS (1970), Peter became one of the first persons from a visible ethnic
WESTMINSTER ALUMNI AWARDS
minority background to achieve a Health District Chief Administrator’s position. He has led major health transformation programmes around the world.
GERARD (GERRY) STONE
PG DIPLOMA HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, 1997 Gerry is a Managing Director at the Bank of America. Gerry has not only been successful in his career in financial services, but has made a significant impact in championing LGBTQ inclusion and equality. He is executive sponsor for the bank’s LGBT Pride Employee Network and has appeared in the Financial Times’ Leading LGBTQ Global Executives list for two consecutive years.
SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
JULIAN PAGE
MA INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND DEVELOPMENT, 2006
SOCIAL IMPACT AWARD
SHAMA VERMA
BSC (HONS) COMPUTING, 1990 Shama’s non-profit organisation, The Verma Foundation, designs custom cap wigs at no cost for women and children fighting cancer across the United States and dealing with the emotional side effects of hair loss. In 2018, The Verma Foundation launched a ‘Put a Cap on Cancer’ campaign to raise enough money to produce free hats with hair for 500 female and child cancer patients.
DR VICTORIA HARMER
MBA, 2004 Dr Harmer acts as a key worker to people diagnosed with breast cancer, and is lead nurse for both the symptomatic and breast screening services. She is involved in an ongoing training programme for nurses in Dubai, Oman and Saudi Arabia, and has published over 70 articles for nursing and medical journals.
Julian started Livingstone Tanzania Trust (LTT) in 2006, directly after finishing his degree, and headed to the town of Babati in Northern Tanzania – specifically to the worst primary school in the area, Waangwaray – to make a difference. Eleven years on, LTT has formed a community-based organisation, employing 11 local people who are trained and empowered to help develop the lives of their fellow citizens. Physically, LTT has developed six local schools, including building and renovating over 35 classrooms;
creating water and electricity supplies and internet access; creating numerous female-friendly toilet blocks and fuel-efficient kitchens. LTT also ensures over 1,500 school children get fed each school day (by their parents), and has set up numerous hygiene and training programmes within schools and communities. LTT’s award-winning education and enterprise programmes give the people pride and confidence, moving whole communities out of poverty, and allowing them to stand on their own two feet.
ALUMNI AWARDS 2019 – GET READY! Nominations for the next Alumni Awards will open in January 2019. Look out for announcements on our website and via the alumni e-newsletter. If you know someone who has achieved something amazing since graduating from Westminster, this is your chance to nominate them and highlight their successes. Self-nominations are also welcome. Award finalists are shortlisted by a panel and winners are decided via a public vote.
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A NEW BEGINNING
A NEW BEGINNING MEET OUR NEW VICE-CHANCELLOR AND PRESIDENT The business executive, government advisor and former cycling champion “can’t believe his luck” that he’s landed at Westminster. With his track record, neither can we. If we were to talk you through the CV of our newly appointed Vice-Chancellor in numbers, it would go something like this: The Chair of four independent reviews for UK Government. Three (almost) decades rising through the ranks to CEO at the Building Research Establishment. Four honorary doctorates. One OBE for his services to research and innovation in the construction industry. One Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering, along with Fellowship of some six other Professional Institutions, including two that are honorary. Did we mention his leading role delivering the sustainability strategy for the London 2012 Olympics? More on that later. All of this isn’t bad for a man who joined University of Bath at the age of 18 with dreams of becoming a cycling champion (“I studied Materials Science and Engineering, but went there primarily for the excellent sports coaching and science. All I wanted to do was ride my bike”). It is surprising to learn that Dr Peter Bonfield is just 55. The briefest of tours through his career trajectory paints a picture of someone who has amassed a huge deal of experience in leading organisations and people to success. He is focused, connected and exceptionally well positioned to lead our University. But why now? Why Westminster? Sitting in the University’s Regent Street campus, 24
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overlooking the buzz of Regent Street on a gloriously sunny morning, it is clear there is nowhere else he would rather be. “I can’t believe my luck I’ve landed here. After 26 years at the Building Research Establishment, I found myself ready for a new challenge and the ONLY thing I wanted to do was run a university. “I’ve always adored universities. Up until I was almost 30, I worked at the University of Bath as a Research Officer and a Resident Tutor responsible for 750 students and really enjoyed that. I’ve been engaged with a number of universities through my career since. At the Building Research Establishment I established a number of University Centres Of Excellence to have access to world-leading research and talent and I worked very closely with these for some ten years before joining Westminster. “The opportunity at Westminster came up and it was, without question, the place for me.” This isn’t just the first flush of excitement for the new job talking: his zest for his latest role as Vice-Chancellor comes from a deep-rooted passion and commitment to being at the centre of University life. His first meeting on day one in post was with the President of the Students’ Union (“I wanted to get straight to the heart of what our students need”). By the end of his first week, with the Students’ Union he had organised | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
Photography: Nina Hollington
A NEW BEGINNING
A NEW BEGINNING
‘de-stress’ drinks and nibbles for all students taking exams. Within the first month, he laid out plans to open the University doors to the London Pride celebrations. Peter is wholeheartedly committed to his new role. The strategysetting and business-planning is a given: it is the extra touches to make our students feel valued and the desire to connect with our London community that give him away as someone who genuinely cannot believe he has landed his dream job.
Interestingly, Peter reveals he turned down the offer of vice-chancellor at another university. What is it about Westminster that he admires so much? “We have an incredible history of supporting an inclusive and diverse array of people from different backgrounds. It doesn’t matter where you come from, what ethnicity you are, what religion you practice... none of it matters. When I speak to students and ask how they feel about studying here, they say ‘safe’. Inside Westminster
there is a feeling of safety and belonging. It’s palpable and strong.” There is no question that Peter is good at running things. ‘Making things work’ is a concept literally rooted in his education (he has a PhD in wind energy and the design of turbine blades). You get the impression that he can turn his hand to anything and achieve success. In 1992 he joined the Building Research Establishment (BRE) as a Senior Scientific Officer, eventually becoming CEO of the BRE Group in
MY VISION
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Safeguarding the wellbeing of our students, and everyone else within our University community, is, without doubt, my biggest priority. I will soon be chairing an investigation into this across all 37 London universities.
London is a fabulous city and I want our University to further connect with the places and people around us: from colleagues in government departments to those involved with delivering London Pride.
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SAFETY, HEALTH AND WELLBEING
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ENGAGING WITH OUR COMMUNITY
A NEW BEGINNING
“THE OPPORTUNITY AT WESTMINSTER CAME UP AND IT WAS, WITHOUT QUESTION, THE PLACE FOR ME”
2012, positioning the company as an international leader in building research. He has also set up several research activities at his own alma maters – Bath and Loughborough (he’s an honorary doctorate of each) – including an award-winning Research Centre at the University of Bath. A former National Cycling Champion, he has also coached many cyclists and triathletes, including the Women’s 2004 Olympic Triathlon Team. He is also accomplished at advising too, having conducted no less than four Independent Reviews for the UK Government since 2012, on energy efficiency, flood resilience, forestry and public sector food procurement. “All of these things that I have done – my PhD, running a hall of residence, being on the national cycling squad... it was this combination of experiences that gave me a way of playing to my strengths and climbing the career ladder.” Perhaps one of the most exhilarating moments in his career came in 2006, when Peter took a secondment to the Olympic Delivery Authority, where he co-created the London 2012 sustainability strategy. “I spent six glorious, challenging and rewarding years creating a platform (the Olympic Park) to hold the Olympics. It was just amazing: a real example of how you can bring together the ideas and energy of thousands of people to deliver something Britain never thought it could do. The Olympic Park is still a wonderful sight and it was a great experience and privilege to be behind its creation.” So which is harder? Coaching an Olympic triathlon team, or running a university?
“Coaching is much easier! Although a lot of the principles that go into coaching athletes to that level apply to leading an organisation, in that you’re discovering people’s strengths, aiming for continued improvement, setting goals and so on. “Coming to Westminster and uniting shared core values amongst our students, alumni and colleagues is a bit like being a sports person. Everyone has an inherent desire to improve and be successful, and it’s my role to look at how we support everyone in fulfilling their ambitions, and how we bring everyone together to deliver the University’s goals.” And so that brings us up to speed, to where Peter finds himself now: the University of Westminster. Having joined the University in May, Peter is still a relative ‘newbie’ to Westminster. His visions for our University are already clear, thorough and ambitious. “The University landscape is changing a lot: the provision of education is changing and we need to respond. The Government’s Industrial Strategy is a huge opportunity for us, powered by the very sort of people we produce. That’s a real edge we have at Westminster – the ability to connect with industry and employers right in the heart of London. We also have to enhance our digital capabilities so that we can offer more flexible education to all – I want us to have a digital, as well as physical, University.”
But his number one priority? “Without doubt, it’s the wellbeing, health and safety of our students, my colleagues and all those associated with our University.” Student wellbeing has been increasingly in the UK media spotlight in recent weeks. In June 2018, the Office for National Statistics revealed suicide rates for higher education students for the first time, prompting the Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation to launch a new charter to promote student wellbeing and investment in mental health services. The importance of this is no new issue for Peter, who is set to establish a task force which brings together all 37 London universities to examine and support student wellbeing across all institutions. “This has always been my priority since being a Resident Tutor at the University of Bath in my twenties, where I oversaw the wellbeing of 750 students. You realise how critical a topic like this is and it isn’t talked about enough. Investing in the safety and wellbeing of those around me was my priority at BRE and through my role in the London 2012 Olympics.” With rapid changes constantly apace in higher education, this is a clear reminder that, for any organisation, there is no greater asset than its people: our Westminster community. A vision our new Vice-Chancellor and President vehemently upholds above everything else.
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Our University already stands out for being one of, if not the leading international university in the UK – we’re already 14th in the world for having the highest percentage of international students. Reaching out to parts of the world to draw people to Westminster will remain a key priority.
The University landscape is changing a lot: we need to be able to offer different types of degrees and more flexible ways of learning. Increasing our digital offering will be crucial to this.
Our alumni play a major role as ambassadors for the University and as mentors for our students. I’d love to give every student the chance to connect with an alumni mentor. If you can help, please get in touch with the Alumni Relations Office.
A GLOBAL UNIVERSITY
GO DIGITAL
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THE CENTRE OF A REVOLUTION
THE CENTRE OF A REVOLUTION In the swinging sixties and seventies, London was at the heart of a cultural and social revolution and the Regent Street Polytechnic – now the University of Westminster – became an exciting hub for the thriving music scene of the era. Pink Floyd met and formed at the Poly, and artists such as David Bowie, The Who and Fleetwood Mac all flocked to perform here. We asked alumnus Nigel Molden (Sociology BSc, 1970) – one of the movers and shakers who made it all happen – to journey through his personal collection of posters from the time and bring this iconic era to life. When Nigel Molden arrived at the Regent Street Polytechnic in 1967 to study sociology, London was at the epicentre of one of the most exciting and defining moments in cultural and social history. Music, art, film and fashion were all flourishing and reaching new heights of creativity. It was the decade of Mary Quant, Beatlemania and Carnaby Street. This is what had drawn Nigel to study in London in the first place, and he knew he wanted to be a part of it. “The Students’ Union invigorated my interest on the first day,” he explains. “I thought, this fits in with my vision of the future. It was a happening environment and it was obvious something special was going on here.” His ambitions were realised when he became Chairman of the ENTS committee and was elected Social Vice-President of the Students’ Union in 1969, and became part of the small team of people responsible for booking acts and inviting the revolution right into the Polytechnic. “We walked into a period that was astonishing. It lifted you up and swept you along. And here we were in the centre of London, where it was all happening. Those three years at the Poly were extraordinary; it was a very vibrant time and I was lucky to play a small part in the history of the institution.” 28
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Those heady days of witnessing the likes of Fleetwood Mac, Julie Driscoll and the Brian Auger Trinity, and Pink Floyd not only had an impact on the social history of the Polytechnic, but on Nigel’s own future – he met his wife Julia (Diploma French, German and Russian, 1968) and his experiences here shaped his career in the music industry. He later became General Manager of Warner Brothers Records and then International General Manager of WEA Group, before co-founding the independent Magnum Music Group. A lifelong collector, Nigel gathered thousands of tickets, posters and contracts from those days, and three years ago decided it was time to record and celebrate this era in his book, The Centre of a Revolution: Live events at The Polytechnic 1965-73. “Collecting is something I have always done. I collected everything from that era and it has followed me around in large boxes over the last 40 years. I thought it was important for it to be digitised and preserved and for this part of social history to be written down.” Much of his collection is made up of the striking, original posters that were used to promote the famous acts that played at the Poly. Often designed by students, the identities of the designers have unfortunately mostly been forgotten | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
over the years but their brilliance was not lost on students at the time. “These wonderful posters would be sent to every other college in greater London. The problem was, they were so good that people pinched them. They must have been on the walls of student bedrooms across the city. It reached the absurdity where the committee had to tear the posters deliberately so that they were less attractive and wouldn’t be pinched!” Here, Nigel shares his favourite posters from the era and the memories that these evoke.
FLEETWOOD MAC, 1968 “The first event of the summer term in 1968 featured Peter Green’s Fleetwood Mac. This also marks a small moment in the social history of the Poly as it was the first time anything was ever recorded here. The Students’ Union had somehow got hold of a Grundig reel-to-reel tape recorder and I lugged it over to Little Titchfield Street, and it was no more complicated than hanging the microphone over the balcony. It brings back memories as you can hear the hubbub of the audience and Peter Green mumbling into the microphone and tuning up.”
Images courtesy of the University of Westminster Archive, except for Pink Floyd courtesy of Nigel Molden.
THE CENTRE OF A REVOLUTION
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JULIE DRISCOLL, BRIAN AUGER AND THE TRINITY, 1968 “It’s almost impossible to explain how big Julie Driscoll and Brian Auger were at that point. They were ‘It’; the face and music of the late ‘60s. “We put them on in the combined gymnasium and Portland Hall – the wall was hydraulic and could be lowered down into the floor. The mechanism is still there now – it’s an amazing feature of the Poly. The gig was so popular that Little Titchfield Street was packed end-to-end like a football crowd. Everyone wanted to be there that night. The limit of people for fire regulations should have been 1,200, and at 1,750 the man in charge of the building shut the door. And tickets were still being sold outside on the black market. The people inside will tell you that it was a hell hole. There was no air conditioning, no fans, no windows. All you could get for refreshments was a warm bottle of beer or warm lemonade. But Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger and the Trinity were sensational.”
THE POLYTECHNIC ARTS FESTIVAL, 1969 “From the beginning of the year, discussions had been underway about establishing an annual arts festival for the Poly. Its position in the centre of London at such an exciting time in the arts, theatre, fashion and music made it ideal for such an initiative. “The image in the poster is actually a photograph of the roof of the Roundhouse from inside if you’re lying on the ground and looking up. “While the event was very successful, it was an awful day for me! It had snowed the night before and there was an inch of wet snow on the ground and we were there from about 11 in the morning until about one at night. Deep Purple were the biggest band there and they did a great job, but this was the era of love and peace, and there wasn’t a lot of love and peace coming from them! They were quite difficult.”
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THE CENTRE OF A REVOLUTION
THE SOFT MACHINE, 1966 “We used to go over to Broadcasting House as there was a DJ, very famous at the time, called Pete Drummond who did a programme every Saturday night at 7pm. There was no security and no gates, at that time, so we would just go over and knock on the door and ask for a plug. He would say at the end of his show on Radio 1, ‘Well, I’m off to the Polytechnic round the corner to see The Soft Machine tonight. See you all there.’ And he would, he would turn up at the gig. “How many polytechnics can say they are sited opposite the BBC in Portland Place? That’s a staggering statement to be able to make.” 32
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THE CENTRE OF A REVOLUTION
THE CREAM, JIMI HENDRIX AND KEITH MOON, 1966 “When The Cream (Ginger Baker, Eric Clapton and Jack Bruce) played here in October 1966, it was a last minute booking as the band due to play had disbanded. And who gigged with them? Jimi Hendrix. So that’s a gig – not many polytechnics can tell a story like that. And it was only something like twelve and a half pence to get in. “Not only that, but Keith Moon was in the audience. He has put on record that this is where he first saw two bass drums set up. He said ‘that’s what I want’, and he went out and did so.”
PINK FLOYD, 1969 “Pink Floyd formed at the Poly in 1965 when Roger Waters, Nick Mason and Richard Wright met studying architecture. “It seems strange now, but there was some doubt over whether they should play this gig. Someone pulled out at the last minute and only two bands were available at this late stage – Pink Floyd and a band called Honeybus that had just had a hit. There was some discussion as they had played before but the fact they were ex-Poly students swung it and they were booked. “It was an absolutely packed house. I was on the stage ready to introduce them and Nick Mason, who was ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
setting up his drums, told me to get off stage. I had to explain I was there to do the announcement!” Nigel Molden’s book, The Centre of a Revolution: Live Events at the Polytechnic 1965-73, is available to buy from Amazon for £49.99. All proceeds will be donated to The Magnum Trust. We are giving away five free copies so email alumni@westminster.ac.uk with ‘Centre of a Revolution’ as the title before 30 October 2018 for a chance to win. The posters featured in the article and many more can be viewed in the University’s archive. For more information about the archive please visit westminster.ac.uk/archive | NETWORK
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A YOUNG VULGARIAN
A YOUNG VULGARIAN Network Magazine talks to University of Westminster graduate and critically acclaimed journalist Marie Le Conte about Twitter, breaking into the Westminster bubble and the joy of waking up when you want.
“Everyone has a very different story on how they got into journalism – so don’t trust anyone who gives you advice ‘that will definitely work’, because they’re lying to you.” Marie Le Conte is reflecting on her chosen trade. “I think the main thing, is just making sure it is something you genuinely 34
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love. Because – you know what – the pay isn’t that great, the hours aren’t that great, the editors will probably shout at you. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an awful job, but it’s not the easiest job and I think you have to be an obsessive.” We are sitting out in the sunshine at a café, a stone’s throw away from | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
Westminster; her ‘replacement office’ when the weather is good. Marie tells me, once when she was working here, her pen rolled off the table and ended up falling into the Thames. A Forbes ‘30 under 30’ winner and self-professed ‘feminist’ and ‘loudmouth’, Marie has written about English and French politics for Vice, The Guardian,
Photography: Nina Hollington
A YOUNG VULGARIAN
POLITICO, The Independent and many more. She has been a guest on Newsnight, BBC News, Daily Politics and Radio 4’s Today programme, and co-hosts podcasts, Polling Politics and Changing Politics. If your sole source of knowledge happens to be Twitter, you may have come across her online alter ego, @youngvulgarian, whose acerbic
wit, ‘nerdy political stuff’ and ‘Londonsplaining’ is followed by over 45,000 users. (Most people tell her she’s “pretty much the same” in person, she says.) Marie finds her Twitter fame can be a double-edged sword. “People will introduce me at parties as, ‘She’s the funny Tweets woman, that’s what she does!’ And I literally have never ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
been paid for Tweets. I make a living by writing about politics. That’s what I do. And quite serious dull stuff as well.” As seems sadly inevitable these days, she has also had her fair share of trolling. On one occasion, she received a rape threat... sent from a university email address! Not from a University of Westminster one, she | NETWORK
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A YOUNG VULGARIAN
hastens to add. She didn’t bother reporting him, she says, as if she did report things like this, it would be all she ever did (“I think I just replied, ‘You’ve used your university email, you dumbass!’”). “There’s just the thing of being a reasonably high-profile woman on the internet – and knowing quite a lot of reasonably high-profile women on the internet –“ she says. “We all know that’s kind of part of the deal, and actually most of these threats are just men in their basements.” Despite its darker underbelly, Marie still feels Twitter is, “overall, probably a force for good”. “I think it’s a tricky one, because I am absolutely certain that I would not be where I am today if it hadn’t been for Twitter,” she says. “Even tangentially, nearly every job I’ve had was from Twitter.” Though Marie is fast becoming a 360-degree media personality, writing is still her first love; one which predates her current day politics ‘obsession’. “When I was a kid I wanted to be a writer or a poet,” she recalls. “But then my grandmother said – ‘You can’t make a living out of that, so be a journalist instead! That’s words still.’” She did a work placement at a local paper when she was 12 (“which is tragic,” she jokes.) At 15, she started her own music website, and built up an international team which reviewed gigs and interviewed bands across France, Switzerland and Belgium. As she wanted to do a journalism degree (in France, journalism is only really studied as a masters, she explains) and had always dreamed of living in London, Westminster was an obvious choice. She arrived in 2009, aged 17, to study Journalism at Harrow.
“All the lecturers were really good,” she says. “And I really enjoyed the fact that a lot of them were actually former journalists, who had worked in newsrooms and could actually tell us stuff.” Marie initially had little interest in politics. The turning point came on the night of the 2010 general election, when she ended up stranded at a house party, knowing no one, and started watching election coverage to pass the time. She was glued to the TV until 6am. “There was a point when we found out there was definitely going to be a hung parliament,” she recalls. “From then on, I guess, I kind of got into politics.” Marie is particularly thankful that Westminster “forced us to do work experience in the third year.” In her last term, she did a two-week placement at the New Statesman – a paper she still writes for today, as a freelancer. The experience wholly reaffirmed her career choice. “I learnt a lot in those two weeks – stuff no lecturer could ever teach you, no matter how good they are.” Soon after graduating in 2013, Marie started working for The Telegraph’s picture desk. She was originally enlisted to do holiday cover, by someone she met through a journalist she was “briefly seeing” in her third year. (They met on Twitter!) With virtually no Photoshop or newsroom experience, the first few days were a baptism of fire. “I would have the News editor coming to my desk and screaming, ‘I told you to get those pictures 20 minutes ago, where the f**k are they?’ And then he’d leave, and the Foreign editor would come and shout at me and it was like... ‘Oh my
“I LITERALLY HAVE NEVER BEEN PAID FOR TWEETS. I MAKE A LIVING BY WRITING ABOUT POLITICS. THAT’S WHAT I DO. AND QUITE SERIOUS DULL STUFF AS WELL” 36
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God.’ But then, you know, it was really exhilarating.” Marie got a second part-time job with The Mirror’s online section, ‘Us vs Th3m’, in early 2014, after she heard about the vacancy on Twitter. “It was a stroke of luck, because I saw the Tweet as it was Tweeted!” She started working for the Evening Standard Diary in January 2015. The job, she explains, involved going to parties to “find the stories”. (“The diary rule is, you either need to get serious people to talk about silly stuff, or silly people to talk about serious stuff!”) “It was a really weird job, but I really enjoyed it, very quickly,” Marie says. She got talking to Philip Hammond – then Foreign Secretary – at one such party, two weeks before the EU referendum. Having previously stayed silent, he came out as a remainer and spoke out vehemently against Brexiteerin-chief, Michael Gove. “And so, I got this great story: ‘Foreign Secretary attacks Justice Secretary over Brexit’ in basically his first intervention,” she says. “It didn’t really get picked up afterwards, which was frustrating.” Nowadays, Marie is proud of the fact she hasn’t written about Brexit once all year – an impressive feat for a political journalist. “I hate Brexit. I deeply hate Brexit,” she says. “It’s made political journalism both hectic and stale, as it feels like some new disaster is unfolding every day, when barely anything has actually happened. It’s just not something that’s interesting to cover as a reporter.” While we are talking, she is invited to appear on a “dual show” about Brexit and Love Island. It is a definite, definite no. In June 2016, Marie moved to Buzzfeed to focus purely on political journalism. (“I didn’t really enjoy it for a bunch of reasons,” she says. “But I still had some fun.”) In 2017, four years after graduating, she took the plunge into freelancing. “My issue is I don’t like writing news,” she says. “And I want to write about politics – and political features writer is not really a job that exists.” Is the freelance lifestyle every bit as great as it sounds?
A YOUNG VULGARIAN
“I don’t think you can ever underestimate the joy of being able to wake when you want!” The unpredictability is still tough though – even for an established writer. “You do have to – like – constantly hustle,” she says. “You need to be at the back of commissioning editors’ heads at any given time. So that does mean Tweeting a lot, going to events, showing your face, talking to people, always being like – ‘Hi, it’s me! I exist!’ If it’s on a good week and you’re in a good mood it’s fine, but occasionally you do just want to stay in bed and watch Netflix.” Once again, Twitter is never far from the lips of a modern-day
journalist. Twitter, in Marie’s view, is the great leveller when it comes to breaking into the ‘closed-off trade’ of journalism. This is particularly true when it comes to the Westminster bubble and so-called ‘lobby journalism’ – something Marie has spoken out about in her writing. While Twitter may occasionally open a window, forcing your way in is still a challenge – particularly as a young woman. “People are quite patronising and don’t necessarily take you seriously,” she says. “And yeah – there are the men who think you’re hitting on them because you want to talk to them for a ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
story. Which is quite annoying!” So, has she had her own #MeToo moment? “Ahh... no...” she stops and laughs. “I once got a drunken DM from an MP that was effectively a booty call at – like – 10pm on a Tuesday. “I didn’t feel threatened at all, because he was clearly a very drunk middle-aged man. We never spoke of it again.” Marie is excited to be writing her first book, Haven’t you heard...?, out in September 2019. It’s about politics and gossip, and delves into the complex ecosystem of Parliament and how it shapes our society. | NETWORK
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RESEARCH
‘Please Alexa’ Are we beginning to recognise the rights of intelligent machines? Dr Paresh Kathrani, Senior Lecturer in Law at the University of Westminster, writes in The Conversation about human rights, sex robots and respect for intelligent machines. Amazon has recently developed an option whereby Alexa will only activate if people address it with a “please”. This suggests that we are starting to recognise some intelligent machines in a way that was previously reserved only for humans. In fact, this could very well be the first step towards recognising the rights of machines. Machines are becoming a part of the fabric of everyday life. Whether it be the complex technology that we are embedding inside of us, or the machines on the outside, the line between what it means to be human and machine is softening. As machines get more and more intelligent, it is imperative that we begin discussing whether it will soon be time to recognise the rights of robots, as much for our sake as for theirs. When someone says that they have a “right” to something, they are usually saying that they have a claim or an expectation that something should be a certain way. But what is just as important as rights are the foundations on which they are based. Rights rely on various intricate frameworks, such as law and morality. Sometimes, the frameworks may not be clear cut. For instance, in human rights law, strong moral values such as dignity and equality inform legal rights. So rights are often founded upon human principles. This helps partially explain why we have recognised the rights of animals. We recognise that it is ethically wrong to torture or starve animals, so we create laws against it. As intelligent machines weave further 38
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into our lives, there is a good chance that our human principles will also force us to recognise that they too deserve rights. But you might argue that animals differ from machines in that they have some sort of conscious experience. And it is true that consciousness and subjective experience are important, particularly to human rights. Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, for example, says all human beings “are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood”. However, consciousness and human rights are not the only basis of rights. In New Zealand and Ecuador, rivers have been granted rights because humans deemed their very existence to be important. So rights don’t emerge only from consciousness, they can extend from other criteria also. There is no one correct type or form of rights. Human rights are not the only rights. As machines become even more complex and intelligent, just discarding or destroying them without asking any questions at all about their moral and physical integrity seems ethically wrong. Just like rivers, they too should receive rights because of their meaning to us. What if there was a complex and independent machine providing health care to a human over a long period of time. The machine resembled a person and applied intelligence through natural speech. Over time, the machine and the patient built up a close relationship. Then, after a long period of service, the company that | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
creates the machine decides that it is time to turn off and discard this perfectly working machine. It seems ethically wrong to simply discard this intelligent machine, which has kept alive and built a relationship with that patient, without even entertaining its right to integrity and other rights. This might seem absurd, but imagine for a second that it is you who has built a deep and meaningful relationship with this intelligent machine. Wouldn’t you be desperately finding a way to stop it being turned off and your relationship being lost? It is as much for our own human sake, as for the sake of intelligent machines, that we ought to recognise the rights of intelligent machines. Sexbots are a good example. The UK’s sexual offences law exists to protect the sexual autonomy of the human victim. But it also exists to ensure that people respect sexual autonomy, the right of a person to control their own body and their own sexual activity, as a value. But the definition of consent in section 74 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 in the UK specifically refers to “persons” and not machines. So right now a person can do whatever they wish to a sexbot, including torture. There is something troubling about this. And it is not because we believe sexbots to have consciousness. Instead, it is probably because by allowing people to torture robots, the law stops ensuring that people respect the values of personal and sexual autonomy, that we consider important.
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Illustration: Marcus Butt
These examples very much show that there is a discussion to be had over the rights of intelligent machines. And as we rapidly enter an age where these examples will no longer be hypothetical, the law must keep up.
MATTER OF RESPECT We are already recognising complex machines in a manner that was previously reserved only for humans and animals. We feel that our children
must be polite to Alexa as, if they are not, it will damage our own notions of respect and dignity. Unconsciously we are already recognising that how we communicate with and respect intelligent machines will affect how we communicate with and respect humans. If we don’t extend recognition to intelligent machines, then it will affect how we treat and consider humans. Machines are integrating their way into our world. Google’s recent experiment with natural language assistants, where AI sounded eerily like a ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
human, gave us an insight into this future. One day, it may become impossible to tell whether we are interacting with machines or with humans. When that day comes, rights may have to change to include them as well. As we change, rights may naturally have to adapt too. Read the article online at: theconversation.com/please-alexaare-we-beginning-to-recognise-therights-of-intelligent-machines-96287
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RESEARCH
Man up? Why we should be positive about masculinity In the UK, suicide is the biggest cause of death for men under 35 and more than one in ten men report suffering from a mental health disorder. Professor Damien Ridge argues that it’s time for a more positive view of masculinity so that we can challenge the stigma around mental health. “I wrote a blog once about men and mental health,” says Professor Damien Ridge, “and a man left a comment saying that when he cried because his cat died, his partner said she lost all respect for him.” For Professor Ridge, (Head of Psychology at the University of Westminster and a practising psychotherapist) who has spent decades researching masculinity as well as mental health, this story epitomises how we hold men hostage to a performance of masculinity. Men are expected to suffer in silence, and their distress to remain hidden. “The trouble with this traditional reading of masculinity,” he explains, “is that it involves not opening up about emotions. But how men really feel behind the façade reveals the lie behind traditional ‘sturdy oak’ masculinity. Masculinity is a kind of public spectacle, and we are all invested in its production, for better or for worse.” It has been a year, too, when the idea of masculinity presented in the press, popular culture and social media has been particularly problematic. The term ‘toxic masculinity’ has been pervasive, the #MeToo movement has shone a light on male predatory behaviour, and the objectification of men as well as women that is creeping into film and TV hints at an underlying anxiety around shifting power dynamics. “I think ‘toxic masculinity’ is a horrible term,” says Professor Ridge in response to this. “It is not a scholarly concept, and I don’t think there’s such a thing as ‘toxic masculinity’. I think there is patriarchy which is ultimately harmful to both men 40
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and women. Separately, I think there are toxic individual men and women. It is unhelpful to just think of men as being toxic, as it sets up this binary idea that men are bad and women are good. That is such an unhelpful basis for the important #MeToo debate...” Suicide is a particular concern for anyone working with men and mental health. Men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women, with the highest suicide rate in the UK for men aged between 40 and 44, and men report significantly lower life satisfaction than women in the Government’s national well-being survey. And while the stats show that women are more likely to suffer from mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, some academics argue that while men suffer just as much, they are less likely to seek help, suffer in silence, or might see their problems as just struggling with life rather than about mental health. “When men have a mental health issue they suffer a double stigma,” explains Professor Ridge. “Having a mental health issue is stigmatising in itself but it represents a particular failure for men as they’re not supposed to be vulnerable or fail. Men are supposed to be strong, competitive and win, and this doesn’t play into that narrative.” Although always interested in the role that gender plays in mental health (Professor Ridge’s previous research projects have included how women have to battle notions of ‘good mothers’ and ideal bodies to be physically healthy), it was when he was training as a therapist that he saw | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
first hand the distinctive ways that men experience and present stories about their mental health. He also found that there was nothing on the course to equip him in how to make therapy positive, safe and productive for men. “For example, how do you deal with men who are really angry and want to make their depression your problem?” says Professor Ridge. “While women tend to internalise their issues and show the classic symptoms of depression, such as withdrawal and lack of confidence, men might externalise it, for example, blaming others for their problems, lashing out at others.” It was this lack of training for professionals in the frontline of the healthcare services that led Professors Ridge and Peters to set up Atlas – a clinic at the Victoria Medical Centre in Westminster. Atlas brought together all of Professor Ridge’s research to train GPs in how to spot and approach mental health issues in men in an effort to prevent them from falling through the gaps in the NHS. “We talk about men as suffering from ‘hidden distress’,” says Professor Ridge. “They will often turn up at GPs and try to get a diagnosis based on physical symptoms because they’re not willing to accept they have anxiety or depression. “Equally, professionals often don’t know how to deal with men who are upset; people can find it quite confronting and uncomfortable when social rules of masculinity are transgressed. Men will often go to their GP in the year before they commit suicide, so they are trying to reach out
Illustration: Marcus Butt
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and get help, but there’s no particular training for how you help these men.” The clinic was a success and published in medical literature, and with the additional training GPs found they were able to engage with men and identify issues more readily. It was also clear that there was a real need for Atlas. However, while the clinic is still running – championed by the lead GP, and reliant on donations – it struggles financially. “It’s hard to get funding as unfortunately it is not popular to do mental health work with men. It is part of the narrative that men can deal with things themselves, that women have it harder in mental health terms anyway. But patriarchy actually hurts men too, and everyone has a right to access high-quality mental health care.”
But there is a question before any of this, says Professor Ridge, about what masculinity even is. “Even scholars have trouble defining masculinity. No one really agrees on what masculinity is actually about. I have my views that masculinity is a kind of public spectacle, it is not something that any one individual has. It is a performance, and we are all bit part players, the audience, directors and producers of that performance.” By beginning to challenge attitudes to gender, can we begin to remove the particular stigma attached to men experiencing mental health problems? And what about the younger generation of men? “From our own research and that of others, something appears to be changing quite dramatically,” says ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
Professor Ridge. “There is an historical shift going on. Masculinity appears to be becoming more flexible, and the younger generation more freely talk about their feelings. “If you just focused on the media you would think men are simply a threat to others. But the scholarly research is much more positive about men, and as a therapist working with men, I am much more positive about men. “One of the mistakes we make in this debate is to fall back on thinking masculinity resides in men. It doesn’t; it resides in society. So currently we are trying to challenge the idea that men should be strong and silent. But this is just the very beginning of that struggle, given that society must ultimately accept men as both vulnerable and strong.” | NETWORK
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CLASSNOTES
CLASSNOTES The University of Westminster has a global community of more than 180,000 alumni in over 180 countries around the world. Class Notes is just a selection of the updates we have received from alumni over the past year. We would love to hear about your career and life since you left Westminster, so please send your news and a photo to alumni@westminster.ac.uk. GLYN DAVIES
ALISTAIR CLARKE FRSA
APPLIED PHOTOGRAPHY, FILM & TV BA, 1987
Since graduating in 1987, I have completed 30 years in business as a self-employed professional photographer. I have established a successful photographic gallery in North Wales and have published five books of my photographic work, and two of these were gifted by the Prime Minister to William and Kate for their Royal Wedding. Over the years I have held many solo and joint exhibitions of my work, and I have received numerous international awards for my photography. My love for photography and sharing my vision has never faltered but has instead deepened.
DR IBRAHIM NATIL
MEDIA STUDIES, 1991
I had a very successful broadcasting career for 20 years running newsrooms in radio stations across North West England. I then retrained as a specialist business adviser to help social enterprises start up and become sustainable, which is now my day job. I now chair and manage a social enterprise in the most deprived area of England, Blackpool, which achieves amazing results. I’m a director of Lancashire’s social enterprise infrastructure body, Selnet and founder of Tick The Publicity Box CIC, which provides marketing and media for third sector organisations.
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MBA, 2002
I have 20 years of global marketing and business development experience across the aerospace and defence, computer software, information technology and information security industries. I currently hold an advisory board position at CMO Council, the world’s largest global marketing network, and I am also Strategic Marketing Manager for Airbus Defence and Space. I am a Fellow and Mentor for the Chartered Institute of Marketing and at the University of Westminster, and I am thoroughly enjoying mentoring our future business leaders.
GRAHAM LE-GALL
DIPLOMATIC STUDIES MA, 2002
I am the founder of the Society Voice Foundation (SVF), an organisation that works to contribute to the social change process in Palestine. Through this initiative, I have launched and managed more than 50 community development, human rights, women’s empowerment and peace-building programmes and projects. I am currently a lecturer at Dublin City University and a research fellow at the Institute for International Conflict Resolution and Reconstruction and I am a former visiting fellow at the School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin.
MANISH BHATT
HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT MA, 1998
I studied as a mature student while working as a Police Inspector in the Metropolitan Police Service. When I retired, I established my training consultancy, Galleou Public Speaking. The business has changed from a management development model into a public speaking training consultancy. Now also known as ‘The Wedding Speech Coach’, I coach individuals wanting to give successful wedding speeches. I have recently published my first book, ‘How to make a Confident and Memorable Wedding Speech: The Peas of Public Speaking’. | ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
ASHA VELANI
BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE BSC, 2003
I am a senior biomedical scientist and IBMS portfolio assessor. I am also a STEM ambassador, where I work to promote biomedical science careers and opportunities to students, as well as invite students from many different universities to visit the laboratory to see what we, as scientists, do. I am a mentor through the University of Westminster’s Mentoring Scheme, and represented the University at the recent Voice of Young Science event in London, investigating how scientists and researchers could improve their communication with journalists.
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PAUL HERMAN
PSYCHOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY BSC, 1998
I studied at the University of Westminster as a mature student, aged 52. Throughout my career I have undertaken numerous roles, including becoming the Honorary Treasurer of Norwood Child Care, who look after underprivileged children, for over 20 years. During my time as Honorary Treasurer, we raised approximately £100,000. I was also one of the first mentors to sign up the University of Westminster Mentoring Scheme, helping students from all over the world with their studies. I also became the Chief Invigilator at the University, which I found very rewarding.
JENNY GARRETT BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BA, 2000
DR MIRANDA BRAWN MBA, 2001
I am a multi-award-winning diversity leader, investment banker and barrister, and was one of the first women of colour on the trading floor in the 1990s. Today I manage the legal risk for derivatives and financial regulations within the finance industry. Outside of my day job, I am the Founder and CEO of the award-winning Miranda Brawn Diversity Leadership Foundation, blazing a trail for the next generation, while helping to close the diversity gap across the globe. I am also a Global Goodwill Ambassador in education, microfinance, women’s empowerment and diversity.
I am an award-winning coach with over 11 years’ experience of running a global business. I am a Freeman of the Guild of Entrepreneurs, City of London, and was listed in Brummell Magazine’s Top 30 City Innovators 2016. My mission is to use my experience in coaching and leadership to inspire and motivate people, working with them to deliver career and life-changing results beyond expectation. I’ve delivered two TEDx Talks, written an Amazon Bestselling Book called Rocking Your Role and I give back through my social enterprise, Rocking Ur Teens.
HEATHER SALMON
SOCIAL SCIENCES BA, 1986
Ten years ago, I created ‘The Mooncup Project’, supporting a community of deaf women and girls in rural Zimbabwe in making feminine care products for themselves and other women. The impact of the project went far beyond anything I could have imagined. I was so inspired by this community and what we were able to create together that I reinvented my purpose-led, passion-driven company, Positive Change Initiative Ltd, a bespoke practice that is transforming the way change makers deliver positive impact change practice globally. The second edition of my book, “NewBorn: A Modern Fable” is now available on Amazon and Kindle. ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
HOYAN IP
FASHION BA, 2008
I founded Bio-Trimmings in 2012, and first showcased the brand during London Fashion Week as a collection of unique, sustainable fashion trimmings, such as buttons and buckles, all handcrafted from inedible food extracts. By creating my own sustainable material made using typically discarded food components such as fruit and vegetable peels, I feel that I’ve moved one step closer to creating a more sustainable future within the fashion industry. In addition to the Bio-Trimmings collection, I’ve created unique pieces of jewellery, handbags and accessories using this same sustainable technique. | NETWORK
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VINITA JOSHI
MUSIC BUSINESS MANAGEMENT MA, 2007
I started the record label Rocket Girl in 1997, and it has evolved over two decades to become one of the UK’s most innovative and eclectic small independent labels, providing a home for a whole spectrum of alternative artists, new and established. Rocket Girl has no house style, no dedication to one particular genre, but there’s an everpresent mingling of melody, melancholia and mind expansion that seems to flow through the discography. 2018 marks the 20th anniversary of Rocket Girl’s first distributed release.
GAUHAR MUKAMAN
PUBLIC RELATIONS MA, 2009
In 2017, I managed Go Viral festival, a regional initiative linking nearly 1,000 innovators from Central Asia, USA, UK and Eastern Europe in media, business, culture, and technology in Almaty, Kazakhstan. The festival inspired local journalists, entrepreneurs, filmmakers and musicians, and led to networking and collaboration between several countries. In June 2018, I led a team to organise a second annual festival with twice the number of participants and international speakers, which focused on innovation, social impact and the creative industries.
PETER PADUH
COMPUTING BSC, 2002
MATTHEW DOWLING
NUNO QUELHAS MARQUES
MIXED MEDIA FINE ART BA, 2004
COMPUTER IMAGING IN ARCHITECTURE MA, 2007
After a turbulent career as a fashion photographer, I set up Freelancer Club, a support network for creative individuals. We began with a handful of photographers, makeup artists and models to become one of the leading creative networks in the UK with over 40,000 members. Freelancer Club provides its members with access to paid work, event tickets, business resources and a platform to showcase their work. We also campaign against unpaid work in the industry and recently sat at a roundtable in Parliament to propose a change in legislation. Check out #NOFREEWORK for more info.
Following my degree in Architecture, at Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, Portugal, I enrolled on the MA in Computer Imaging in Architecture at the University of Westminster. This was one of the best decisions of my life, as it gave me the opportunity to further develop my skills and open up new career opportunities. Even before finishing the MA, I started working at a London based 3D visualisation office, creating visuals for clients all over the world. Three years later, I returned to Portugal, where I started my own 3D visualisation office called D22.pt, specialising in architectural visualisations.
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I am the founder of Socialbox.biz, a social impact business improving the local community by providing practical corporate governance and technology solutions, which support digital and social inclusion efforts. This initiative has helped hundreds of disadvantaged people get their lives back on track via digital and social inclusion, and is continuing to pick up amazing momentum. Currently, I am working on a project, in partnership with several Westminster-based organisations and charities, to provide donated laptops to young care leavers and long-term unemployed people. I am grateful to former Lord Mayor of Westminster, Jan Prendergast, for helping to coordinate these donations.
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EMILY ROSADO
JOURNALISM MA, 1999
In 2013, I designed and delivered the first Massive Open Online Course to be offered in the state of Maryland, which was offered free of cost to anyone in the world. My goal was to provide access to anyone who wanted to strengthen their writing skills but didn’t have the means to pay for or attend a course. The course attracted over 700 students from 81 countries. This project earned me an award nomination from the American Association of Community Colleges, a proclamation from the Montgomery County Council, and the Individual of the Year award from the Maryland Distance Learning Association.
STEVE SABELLA
PHOTOGRAPHIC STUDIES MA, 2008
I am a Palestinian-born, Berlin-based artist, who utilises large-scale photography, photographic collage, and mixed media in my visual practice. My work seeks to transcend borders and limitations to develop an utterly human language. I have shown my work internationally, at institutions and exhibitions such as Mathaf: Arab Museum of Modern Art, Rencontres d’Arles, Houston FotoFest, Arab World Institute, The Bumiller Collection Berlin, and the International Center for Photography Scavi Scaligeri, which hosted my first institutional retrospective in 2014. I am also the author of the award-winning memoir, The Parachute Paradox, published in 2016.
NORMAN PEGDEN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS AND MANAGEMENT MA, 2014
Six months after graduating from the University of Westminster, I was one of 14 trainees, out of 22,000 candidates, hired by Samsung Latin America for their graduate programme. I worked for eight months in the Latin America Business Strategy Department. For the last two years I’ve been a Market Intelligence Analyst and I just got promoted to Business Strategy Supervisor at Samsung Brazil. I’ve also been volunteering as an English professor for underprivileged children from the slums of São Paulo for the last year and a half. I believe I can give back and help to build a better Brazil.
JASBIR GOSAL
BUSINESS COMPUTING BSC, 2006
Since graduating, I’ve had successful businesses in recruitment, property and online training, but I have found my true calling and now spend my time helping entrepreneurs in London create their own businesses. Through my voluntary work as a mentor at the University of Westminster, Business Adviser at Young Enterprise and Entrepreneur in Residence at Business Launchpad, I’m able to directly help people living in London achieve success through enterprise. I’ve led a number of projects which have created real impact and change in the community including Digilab, an opendoor makerspace and CORK, an affordable co-working space for entrepreneurs, freelancers and start-ups.
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SZE KEAT CHEONG
MANAGEMENT MA, 2016
In 2016, I founded The Westminster Water Company UK Ltd. The business idea was rooted in a perceived low tap water quality in London, coupled with the rise in plastic pollution from bottled water production and consumption. The Westminster Water Company provides consumers with a convenient source of pure water through high-quality, functional and affordable water purifiers. Since its beginning, we have successfully expanded our venture from London to Birmingham, Manchester, Surrey, Essex and Oxford.
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STUDY WITH PROFESSIONALS
MBA, WESTMINSTER BUSINESS SCHOOL
LEAVE A LEGACY TODAY TRANSFORM LIVES TOMORROW Support future students by leaving a legacy – one of the easiest ways of making a lasting gift to the University. To find out more about remembering Westminster in your will, contact our Development Office on +44 (0)20 7911 5741 or at development@westminster.ac.uk
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You will also gain a wealth of practical experience and make invaluable contacts. What better way to become a successful leader of tomorrow. Discover more at westminster.ac.uk/mba
ENJOY 15% OFF YOUR MASTERS OR PhD* University of Westminster alumni are entitled to a 15% discount on full- or part-time Masters and PhD courses at the University. All those who hold a Bachelors degree with honours, a Masters degree, or have completed a minimum of one semester as a study abroad or exchange student from the University of Westminster are eligible. New Postgraduate Loans of up to £10,280 are also available from Student Finance England to help you finance your studies. For more information please contact our Course Enquiries Team at course-enquiries@westminster.ac.uk
For more information about the project, visit westminster.ac.uk/oral-history
*Terms and conditions apply.
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We are inviting alumni to tell us about their student days and help us compile an oral history of life at the University and its predecessor institutions. We want to hear from participants from any period of our history, but particularly from individuals who graduated between 1992 and 2005.
| ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018
WHAT IT TAKES Following the success of last year’s talks, the What It Takes event series is returning this autumn with an exciting new line up of innovative and motivational alumni speakers. This year’s diverse range of topics will include What It Takes: • to cope with stress and mental health • to ace an interview • to grow confidence and self-esteem The monthly events are open to all students and recent graduates. Look out for a full programme this October.
For more details please visit: westminster.ac.uk/about-us/alumni/events/what-it-takes
JOIN OUR INTERNATIONAL ALUMNI COMMUNITY TODAY Alumni Online is the one-stop location for you to stay connected with the University and one another. Over 20,000 alumni have already joined. Join alumni online at westminster.ac.uk/alumni for: • your free access card to the University campuses and libraries • invites to topical talks and networking events • the latest news and discounts
PROFESSIONAL AND SHORT COURSES The University of Westminster has an extended portfolio of programmes for continuing professional development (CPD), and offers short courses in a number of subject areas. Your attendance may count towards CPD with professional bodies.*
Find out more and apply: www.westminster.ac.uk/courses/professional-andshort-courses *Please see individual course descriptions for details
OPEN DAYS
Cavendish • Harrow • Little Titchfield Street • Marylebone • Regent If you or someone you know is thinking about higher education, visit us to find out more about the opportunities available at the University of Westminster.
UNDERGRADUATE OPEN DAY 13 OCTOBER 2018
POSTGRADUATE INFORMATION EVENING 14 NOVEMBER 2018
westminster.ac.uk/study/open-days ALUMNI MAGAZINE 2018 |
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YOUR DATA AND US Your privacy is important to us. We have updated our privacy policy to be as transparent as possible with you about how we use your data and why. To find out how we are protecting your details visit: westminster.ac.uk/about-us/ alumni/alumni-privacy-policy If you have any concerns or questions, please email alumni@westminster.ac.uk
The University of Westminster is a charity and a company limited by guarantee. Registration number: 977818. Registered office: 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW 8613/07.18/MS/GP