SuccessIssue twelve spring 2013 www.mmu.ac.uk

Opinion

Professor Ruth Ashfordon doing business the ‘right’ way

Research & Innovation

Cutting edge dentaltechnology research

Meet Our Alumni

Heineken manager,Naheed Younis,talks beer

Transformation

Major changes areafoot at theUniversity

Thomas Heatherwick

Creator of theOlympic cauldronon ‘making’

The University for World-Class Professionals

Pho

to: E

lena

Hea

therwick

Contents

Foreword

P1 Professor John Brooks, Vice-Chancellor of ManchesterMetropolitan University

News

P2 Round-up of news from acrossthe University

Opinion

P5 Dianne Thompson, Camelot CEOand University Chancellor

P6 Professor Ruth Ashford onresponsible capitalism

Transformation

P8 MMU’s commitment toenvironmental sustainability

P10 Old school, new school at theManchester School of Art

Transformation

P16 Modernist historians in residenceat the Toastrack

P18 High-tech learning for students

Thomas Heatherwick

P12 His work, his ideas, hisinspirations . . .

Working with Business

P23 Award-winning Knowledge Transfer Partnership

Research and Innovation

P20 Pollution research, adoption pilot,and gangs study

P21 Recognition for SurfaceEngineering PhD student

P22 Ensuring standards in custom-made dental devices

Postgraduate Study

P24 Alumni talk about the benefits ofpostgraduate study

Events

P28 What’s on at the University’svenues

Meet Our Alumni

P26 Heineken Area Export Manager,Naheed Younis

P27 Filmmaker Henna Saeed and alumni in the news

SuccessIssue twelve spring 2013Success is published by Manchester Metropolitan University

Vice-ChancellorProfessor John Brooks

Editor - Rachel CharnockWriters - Kat Dibbits,

Gareth Hollyman, Angela Kirk, Laura Styles

Design - Steve KellyPhotography - Ade Hunter

Contact us - success@mmu.ac.uk

No part of this publication may be reproduced without prior permission from Manchester Metropolitan University

Thomas Heatherwick’s Olympic cauldron, P12

Professor Ruth Ashford, P6

Naheed Younis, P26

Wildlife research, P20 Lucy’s KTP, P23

Photo: Heatherwick Studio

I t was inevitable that the transitionto a free market for highereducation, with full fees being

paid by employed graduates throughpersonal taxation, would create someinstability in the system. The headlineof unfilled university places is oneconsequence of the transition, but themore profound change is thebehaviour of applicants and theresponse of institutions.

Students are taking more care with theirselection and are using all availablesources of information to determine theirfinal application. The University is clearabout its position in the marketplace,offering high quality, high valuevocational education for the professionsand positioning itself as the ‘Universityfor World-Class Professionals’.

However, in an increasingly competitivemarketplace for students, we mustcontinue to invest to differentiate our

offering from others. Our investmentbroadly takes two forms: we invest inthe quality of our facilities to supportworld-class learning and in our staff todeliver high quality teaching.

The most visible transformation hasbeen in the physical estate as wecomplete our rationalisation strategy –and within these new and refurbishedbuildings there are leading-edgetechnologies for teaching and research.We continue to invest in and developMoodle, our online learning platformand we have increased broadbandaccess and provide WiFi in most of ourbuildings and student residences.

Our investment in staffing hasresponded to the growing demand forour vocational programmes, and wehave invested in interns and learningsupport positions. Also, we continue toinvest in the research capacity of ouracademic staff and are starting to

prepare our submission to the nationalResearch Excellence Framework.

The Manchester Metropolitan Universityremains confident about its future,despite the tumultuous changescreated by the free market. The mostdifficult challenge is responding tounexpected changes in Governmentpolicy. However, we take a long-termview about the future success of ourUniversity and continue to makesignificant strategic investments, whichwe believe will benefit futuregenerations of staff, students andgraduates – and which you can readabout in this issue of Success.

Professor John BrooksVice-ChancellorManchester Metropolitan University

1

Transformation is keyto success

“The ManchesterMetropolitanUniversity remainsconfident about itsfuture, despite thetumultuous changescreated by the free market”

Foreword

S chools are queuing up to workwith experts at the University’sFaculty of Education at the start

of a major shake-up of teacher trainingin England and Wales.

The Government’s Schools Directscheme encourages schools to take agreater role in preparing teachers forthe classroom and gives heads thepower to choose which universities towork with in awarding qualifications.

The controversial policy has created an‘open marketplace’ for trainee teacherswith some universities faring better than

others. Manchester MetropolitanUniversity is rated ‘outstanding’ at bothPrimary and Secondary – and has beenhanded 140 places for 2013 on top ofits 1800+ quota of BA (Hons) andPGCE places.

“In theory, we should go chasing theseplaces, but the schools are coming tous – 18 of them and 200 applications inthe first two weeks,” says Helen Scott,Head of Partnerships.

While most educationalists havemisgivings about any ‘dislocation’ ofteacher training from universities, MMU

is moving quickly to maximise itsinvolvement in the new way forward. “Schools have chosen us and we aredelighted about that,” says Helen. “Wehave done a huge amount of work withour regional schools over many yearsand we have a reputation as anexcellent partner.

“This is an opportunity to strengthenthose ties, increase collaborations inthings like curriculum design and so on, and it may be that the quality ofsuch collaborations will determine how successful Schools Direct provesto be.”

Jean Sprackland, Reader in CreativeWriting, won the £10,000 Portico Prizefor non-fiction.

Jean said she was “amazed anddelighted” to win the prize for her book,Strands: A Year of Discoveries on theBeach, a series of meditations from wild beaches between Blackpool and Liverpool.

The prize was established in 1985 bythe Portico Library in Manchester andJean is the fourth member of staff fromMMU to win the Portico Prize after JohnParkinson-Bailey, Terry Wyke andAndrew Biswell.

2

News

Schools Direct isnew opportunity

Portico PrizePaul HamlynFoundationProfessor Pavel Büchler became theonly artist outside London to be chosenfor the prestigious £50,000 Paul HamlynFoundation Award.

Professor Büchler will receive thefinancial backing over three years todevelop creative ideas and grow bothpersonally and professionally.

Professor Büchler said: “I felt honouredenough when I heard that I had beennominated for a Paul HamlynFoundation Award and I can still hardlybelieve that I have been offered thisprestigious gift.”

A specialist nurse and honorary SeniorLecturer in Emergency Care has beennamed the best in the country for herlong devotion to helping burns victims.

Jacky Edwards, who received theprestigious Nurse of the Year title at the 2012 Nursing Times Awards, was nominated by colleagues aftercreating a unique patient support groupand adult ‘burn camp’ that helpsrehabilitate victims.

Jackie runs the post-professional BurnsCare programme in collaboration withProfessor Janet Marsden in the Facultyof Health, Psychology and Social Care.

Nurse of the Year

Birley Fields will be the new home of the Education Faculty from September 2014

T he Visual Resources Centre atManchester MetropolitanUniversity has unveiled a new

site that allows people to comparepast and present views from aroundManchester and the University.

The site is hosted by Historypin, whichuses Google Street View technology tooverlay old photographs onto theirmodern-day geographic sites. A fadercontrol allows users to adjust the opacityof the superimposed images, and theycan interact by saving and sharing theirfavourites and adding notes.

Images of Oxford Road in 1929, theRoyal Northern College of Music in 1976and Cavendish Street Chapel andSchool in 1972 are among the Centre’smost popular.

John Davis, the Visual ResourcesCurator, says that the site offers a rareand dramatic opportunity to see how oursurroundings have changed over time.He said: “I’m always on the lookout fornew ways to showcase the VisualResources Centre’s remarkable image

collections and to demonstrate theirvalue to a range of different audiences.

“As a historian, I’m particularlyinterested in the power of photographsto evidence change in the urbanenvironment and that’s exactly what theHistorypin site is good at.

“The map-based approach toorganising content and the integrationwith Google Street View make itpossible to compare photos of thesame location taken at different periods, graphically illustrating how our everyday surroundings are in a state of flux.”

The Visual Resources Centre, within theManchester School of Art, has beenfacilitating the use of visual images forlearning, teaching and research in artand design for over 40 years. TheCentre also has a Flickr site which hasattracted nearly 450,000 views.

www.historypin.com/channels/ view/id/9230020

World-renowned marketer, Dr Jonathan Mildenhall, returned to theUniversity to deliver the inaugural AlanPulford Memorial Lecture.

Jonathan, who graduated from theBusiness School in 1990, is VicePresident of Global Advertising Strategyand Creative Excellence at the Coca-Cola Company.

He took the packed lecture theatrethrough ten ‘chapters’ of Coca-Colastrategy, each illustrated with examplesfrom the brand’s global marketingcampaigns, and all with the theme ofspreading happiness across the globe.

The lecture was closed by Alan's son,Richard Pulford.

After the lecture, audience memberstook to Twitter to praise Jonathan’slecture, describing it as “fantastic”,“inspiring” and “incredible”.

Professor Ruth Ashford, Dean of theBusiness School, said: “We are reallyhonoured to be able to say thatJonathan Mildenhall is a BusinessSchool graduate. Jonathan was one ofAlan Pulford’s students and so it wasreally fitting that Jonathan gave aninspirational presentation on ‘Liquid andLinked’ which Alan would have loved.”

3

Manchester past and present Spreading a littlehappiness

Oxford Road, Manchester, 1929

4

Ottilie Mackintosh, who is in her finalyear of a BA (Hons) Acting degree,played the part of a young JoannaLumley in Sky1’s Little Crackers.

Ottilie said she did not expect to get thepart in Little Crackers, which was her firstprofessional role and Joanna Lumley’sdirectorial debut.

David Shirley, Programme Leader for theBA (Hons) Acting, said: “This was afantastic opportunity for Ottilie and we arereally delighted for her. She works extremelyhard and is very dedicated to her craft soit is gratifying to see that she is alreadyattracting attention from the industry.”

‘Absolutelyfabulous’ debut

Cheshire graduate inspires students

Perfect match

December saw the launch of a newwork experience scheme,mmuXchange, which allows studentsto access ‘bite-size’ chunks of workto fit around their schedules.

Daryl Tavernor, who is studyingMarketing Communications and found a two-day-a-week ‘placement’with Souter PR through the scheme,said: “It’s great to have the opportunityto have an experience in a real-lifebusiness environment. It complementsmy academic studies perfectly.”

The scheme, being piloted in theFaculty of Business and Law, offersproject work varying from one day to amaximum of 20 days, so as not tointerfere with academic studies.

Although all opportunities are unpaid,the service is already proving popularwith more than 500 studentsregistering, and businesses andorganisations such as Peninsula,Bolton Wanderers and Manchester CityCouncil offering placements.

www.mmuxchange.com

Football legend Tony Whelan made aninspirational visit to the University’sCheshire campus to meet students.

Tony, who studied for an MA in Sociologyat MMU, spoke to a packed lecturetheatre about his career, which has seenhim go from being the first person on hisstreet to fly in an aeroplane to AssistantAcademy Manager at Manchester United.

Students on the University’s Exerciseand Sport Science courses heard howTony started his career in schoolsfootball in Stretford before becoming anapprentice with MUFC where he waslucky enough to play with BobbyCharlton, George Best and Dennis Law.

NewsOttilie Mackintosh (centre)

5

I t is not only higher education thatis having to embrace change inorder to meet the challenges of a

free market. As we are seeing far tooregularly in the news, businesses –even well-established ones – arestruggling to survive in the currenteconomic climate unless they arewilling to adapt.

I have often affirmed that businessesneed to be innovative if they want toprosper and grow. Indeed, the ways inwhich we conduct our business havechanged significantly since I startedworking in the 1980s.

Back then, there was no internet, noemail, no video-conferencing – and nomobile phones. Technological advanceshave transformed the ways in which wecommunicate and interact with others inevery aspect of our professional andpersonal lives.

But in the midst of all this innovation,and as the rapid growth of socialnetwork sites, such as LinkedIn testifies,we still see great value in therelationships we build in the form of ourprofessional ‘networks’.

One of the keys to a successful career,and dare I say happy life, is maintainingnetworks with the people that youregard highly.

If you studied at MMU, or one of theinstitutions that later became MMU as Idid, then you are part of a globalnetwork of over 250,000 alumni. Notonly is this a huge international alliancewith the University as its shared interest,it is also extremely influential.

More than 70% of our graduates remainin the North West, contributing to theeconomic success of the region. Thismeans that if you live in the North West,then the bulk of your peer group couldbe within reach. Around 20% of ourgraduates live in London and the SouthEast – and we are working on proposalsto have dedicated alumni activities inthe capital at some point this year. The

University also organises a range ofevents around the world.

Alumni can take advantage of thenetworking opportunities that MMUprovides simply by staying in touch viathe Alumni and Development Office,which promotes events that allow you todevelop your own networks, sharebusiness ideas and keep you informedof the latest innovations in your chosensector or profession.

‘Stay in touch’ sounds obvious and ithas become much easier over theyears, but ‘good’ people should notfade out of your life, and the bestrelationships are life-long ones worthnurturing.

So whether you are in Manchester,London or on the opposite side of theglobe, I hope you will be part of theUniversity’s network – and I hope to meetyou at one of our networking events.

Dianne Thompson CBE is Chief Executive ofCamelot Group. She graduated from ManchesterPolytechnic in French and English, was a BusinessSchool Lecturer in the 1980s and became MMU’sthird Chancellor in 2011.

Opinion

Dianne Thompson CBE, University Chancellor and Chief Executive of Camelot, discusses the merits of networking.

Stayingconnected

“The bestrelationships are life-long ones worth nurturing”

O ur students aspire to becomeworld-class business leaders,but for the next generation it

is not just about how much moneythey make. To be true world-classleaders, how they make their moneymust be given equal importance.

As such, I believe business schools havea responsibility to develop businessleaders who will make a difference in theway that organisations behave andrespond to the challenges ofsustainability and corporate responsibility.In order to do so, it is paramount thatthese subjects are imbedded in the corecurriculum at all levels so as today’sstudents are given the opportunity, viatheir education, to obtain a balancedview. Through this, we can ensure thatbusiness leaders of tomorrow canunderstand the implications from thetriple bottom line perspective, that is,people, planet and profitability.

Unfortunately, as we have seen, notconsidering the triple bottom line canlead to global negative implications. Weare in a recessional environment wherecost-cutting has been employed to tryto make products and services seemmore attractive in the marketplace. Butwhat were the hidden social andenvironmental costs of transferringproduction of services to low-costsuppliers in other countries such asChina and India? Or what effect did thepotential excessive use of hydrocarbonsand the exploitation of cheap labourhave? Posing these types of questionswill be how our graduates begin tounderstand the implications from thetriple bottom line perspective.

Towards responsiblecapitalismProfessor Ruth Ashford, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Law,explains why the global drive for social and environmental responsibilityin business is having a significant influence on how Business Schoolstudents are taught.

6

Opinion

7

Many responsible organisations arenow acknowledging that they need toconsider further their social andenvironmental impact, as well as theirprofits. It may be difficult for organisationsto measure people and planet accountsin the same terms as profitability – but themanager of tomorrow needs to be able tofocus on such issues as well as thetraditional bottom line. This, in turn,means employers are now looking forgraduates who have expertise, not only inaccountancy, marketing, logistics etc, butalso sustainability.

Sustainable andethical business

In May 2012, the Business Schoolmoved into its new £75 million home – a new building which showcasessustainable credentials in its advancedenvironmental technology. This newbuilding has been designed to utilise theenvironmental resources available onsite and employs a range of active andpassive, environmentally sustainablefeatures which have resulted in itexceeding the ‘Excellent’ rating under theBREEAM environmental assessment.

The students, therefore, live and breathethe life and behaviour of the building inwhich they are being taught. Indeed,dynamic information is presented on anhourly basis relating to the energy usedin relation to the building’s ‘green’targets, thereby alerting students to thetype of buildings which businesses cannow occupy and which can make adifference to the environment.

The Business School has redevelopedits mission and vision to ensure that ourgraduates are among a new generationof business leaders and entrepreneurswho balance profit and growth withsocial and environmental considerations.With this attitude we aim to developwithin our students the qualities ofexcellent academic scholarship, anentrepreneurial vision, a set ofprofessional skills and the highstandards of social responsibility thatwill positively impact organisations,communities and the environment.

The Business School has always been aleader in its development of students inrelation to business sustainability andethics. We developed and implementeda range of core units that have beenembedded within all taughtprogrammes: ‘The ResponsibleAccountant’; ‘The Responsible Manager’and ‘The Responsible Marketer’, wherestudents are exposed to the issuesrelating to the triple bottom line.

We also call on experts from industry forguest lecture slots to illustrate theapplication of this knowledge, as well asbeing aligned to professional bodies’ethical codes of practices, for examplethe Chartered Institute of Marketing andChartered Institute of ManagementAccountants.

The curriculum:making a difference

In 2010, the Business School signed upto an UN-inspired global compact calledPrinciples for Responsible ManagementEducation (PRME) to championresponsible management education,research and thought leadership globally.UN-PRME is inspired by internationallyaccepted values such as the principles ofthe United Nations Global Compact.They seek to establish a process ofcontinuous improvement amonginstitutions of management education inorder to develop a new generation of

business leaders capable of managingthe complex challenges faced bybusiness and society in the 21st century.

In my recently published progress reportfor PRME, I laid out how we arecommitted to developing students notonly with excellent academic scholarshipand an entrepreneurial vision but alsowith professional skills and highstandards of social responsibility thatwill positively impact organisations,communities and the environment.

Our mission is to prepare graduatesversed in the responsible practices thatsociety expects from leaders andmanagers of business, government andthe professions. Our research shouldbe not only rigorous and relevant, butalso serve society.

Sir Roger Carr, President of theConfederation of British Industry andchair of Centrica, recently stated: "Wemust demonstrate that we are ageneration that is focussed not just onhow much money we make, but how wemake money; we must salvage thereputation of business”.

Manchester Metropolitan University isdetermined to develop industry leaderswho will make this difference and so weare ensuring that our students are ontheir way to this goal – and to beingahead of the game.

www.business.mmu.ac.uk

The new Business School and Student Hub

8

Green credentialsWhen it comes to environmental sustainability,the Manchester Metropolitan University has apowerful story to tell.

Transformation

We re-useand recycle30% ofour waste

We reducewater use by collectingrainwater

Green roofscreate localwildlifehabitats

Eco CampusBronzeAward

We are workinghard to placeenvironmentalsustainability at the heart of our curriculum

FairtradeUniversity

Reducingour carbon footprint by 50% by2020

Encouragingsutainabletravel

Outstanding energyefficient Business

School and Student Hub

Top 10 in Green

Universitiesleague table

T he University is now ranked asone of the UK’s greenestuniversities after rising to 10th

place in the People and Planet GreenLeague in 2012.

In the same year, MMU also managed towin a Green Gown Award in recognitionof excellence and best practice forenvironmental sustainability in the highereducation sector. The award named theUniversity as international winner of‘continuous improvement andinstitutional change’, acknowledging acampus-wide commitment tosustainability, physical improvements toenvironment and carbon reduction andchanging attitudes across the staff andstudent communities.

The Green Gown judges said: “The wholeinstitution – from students to Governorsand the wider community – has unitedtogether under the banner ‘Let’s Make aSustainable Planet’. This is an extremelypowerful journey, full of passion andpride and it is a deserving winner.”

John Hindley, Head of EnvironmentalStrategy, said: “Many of our campaignsand initiatives are aimed at, and oftenrun by, staff and students. This has ledto an institutional-wide change inattitudes.

“Winning hearts and minds is a majorpart of MMU’s sustainabilityprogramme. We are transparent in whatwe do and constantly communicatewhat is happening in our variousinitiatives. This has helped us nurturesustainability-literate staff and studentsthat truly stand out from the crowd.”

A wide range of environmental initiativeshas been organised at the University,including the ‘Student Switch Off’campaign, which encouraged studentsin halls of residence to reduce theirenergy use, resulting in a saving of 102tonnes of Carbon Dioxide in 2011 alone.

The ‘Give it don’t bin it’ campaign inhalls of residence encouraged studentsto send their unwanted items to localcharities. The scheme has reducedwaste to landfill by 50 tonnes since itslaunch in 2009 and has been such a

success that it has now been adoptedby Manchester City Council.

Increasing staff and student awareness ofenvironmental issues features highly inthe University’s Corporate Strategy, asdoes the aim of minimising theenvironmental impact and greenhouseemissions from the University’s estate.The most effective way of reducing costsand cutting carbon emissions is to ensureexisting and new buildings are energyefficient. The major campus rationalisationfrom seven to two campuses involvesthe construction of several new buildingsand the refurbishment of existing ones –and whether new or refurbished, allUniversity buildings are now strictlymonitored by an energy rating scheme.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds havebeen invested at the All Saints campuson Oxford Road in solar technology and green roofs to increase insulation in the winter and absorb the sun’s rays in summer. A further £110,000 isbeing invested in solar energy at theCheshire campus.

The new Business School and StudentHub, at the All Saints campus, whichopened last year, features a host ofgreen technologies including rainwaterrecycling and the use of water fromboreholes for heating.

Over at the new Manchester School ofArt building there are features such asrainwater harvesting systems whichreduce the energy and chemicalsneeded to produce treated water, andwhich also reduce the demand on riversand groundwater.

Almost 94% of students now regardMMU as an eco-friendly university andthis is proving important to theincreasingly environmentally-awareundergraduates coming through thedoors each year.

Student Union President, Ben Atkins,said: “Sustainable knowledge isbecoming essential in both our work andpersonal lives. With MMU embeddingsustainability into every part of thestudent experience it has never beeneasier to be a ‘green living student’.

“This gives our students the bestpossible leg up in a world wheresustainability is king. I would urge staffand students to take any opportunity toget involved with MMU’s eco adventure.”

Despite an already impressive list ofgreen credentials, the University is notresting on its laurels.

The coming year will see major buildingwork continue at the new £139 millionBirley Fields development which will bethe new home of the Faculties ofEducation and of Health, Psychologyand Social Care. The design of the newcampus commits to the three zeropolicy – zero waste, zero energy andzero water – and using the mostadvanced technology, a pioneeringenergy centre on site will generatecombined heat and power withboreholes providing natural, untreatedwater to heat and cool the buildings andsupply the campus.

John continued: “Our actions so far inno way suggest the end of the project,rather a continuing growth and evolutionin our approach to sustainability and ourresponsibility as a University.”

9

Sustainablecredentialsn Reduced our carbon footprint

by 19.8% since 2005 – that’s4,900 tonnes annually

n Cited as the leading practitioner in Manchester’s 2012 review ofcarbon reduction

n Our yearly water consumption has decreased by nearly 15% since 2008

n There are 1,136 square metresof green roofs on our campuses– the largest in Manchester

T he new Manchester School ofArt is one of the most excitingeducational buildings in the

country, according to the Dean,Professor David Crow.

The £34 million scheme is just the latesteye-opening addition to the rapidly-changing landscape of Oxford Road asManchester Metropolitan Universityspends £350 million unifying all itsManchester provision on one site.

As you would expect for a prestigious artschool, the architecture and layout areboth beautiful and innovative but it is theatmosphere which truly sets it apart.

“The building has an open villageatmosphere where we can see each ofthe discipline’s work in progress,” saysProfessor Crow. “It also has a factoryaesthetic in keeping with ourManchester heritage of creating,designing and making things.”

The industrial feel is everywhere: in thehuge ‘aircraft hangar’ doors, in the‘gang-plank’ bridges between floors,the huge exposed-concrete pillars andthe staggered light wells which allowsunlight to wash down through acavern-like interior.

A stunning rooftop, courtyard area,described as “one of the coolest placesin Manchester” is a chill-out area andfeatures outdoor lighting, astro-turf andstudent-designed furniture. Two hugelantern windows in the roof let light floodthrough to the ground floor. Themultiple-height lobby houses a cafeteria,which links to studio areas via threepivoted steel doors. A top floor gallery isalso double-height with seating for 180and a perfect venue for the School’shugely successful Fashion Show.

Like all new MMU buildings, it isenvironmentally friendly, naturallyventilated and using novel heat recyclingand rainwater capture systems.

The University’s Manchester campusgrew up around the Manchester Schoolof Art after it moved here from its firsthome at Manchester Art Gallery. Thesplendid Victorian building is still a

10

Old school,new schoolThis year the Manchester School of Artwill open the doors of an innovative,new building and will celebrate its175th anniversary.

Transformation

working part of the School and sitscomfortably alongside the new concreteand glass building in typical old-meets-new Manchester style.

The School was founded in 1838 – thefirst regional art school in England – andmade its name providing skilled artisansfor the textiles industry duringManchester’s industrial revolution. It is aheritage which is worn proudly as partof the School’s modern branding. Allnew students are welcomed in theirFresher week to a show at ManchesterArt Gallery where they meet the creamof the city’s artists and creativeemployers but can also hear a pottedhistory of the School, which is peopledby the likes of LS Lowry, Adolphe Valetteand the Pankhursts.

Looking to the future, the School will playan equally important role in the digitalrevolution, training artists and designersfor the creative, digital and new mediaindustry which is forecast to create nearly20,000 new jobs in the city by 2020.

David Crow added: “We are very proudof our illustrious past and will continuethe Manchester tradition in the fine artsand contemporary crafts.

“We understand that the future is digital,so we need to add a digital capability tothese areas as well as provide mediaand design professionals for the BBC,for ITV and other growth areas in thecity. We are investing millions in digitalstudios, laser cutters, rapid prototypersand hi-tech equipment for filmmaking,animation and graphic design.”

It’s a far cry from the multi-site recenthistory of the School. Alumni from the

Polytechnic days may recall (hopefullywith affection) the Cambridge Streetsite, or Didsbury. Cambridge Street,where Mick Hucknall among others,studied Fine Art and Graphics, hasbeen long since demolished, whilestudents of drama were formerly basedat the old Horniman Theatre, in SchoolLane, famous for Opportunity Knocksand the performances of young BernardHill and Julie Walters. Both areas wereincorporated into the main School site inthe 1990s.

The students who will use the newSchool can look forward to an altogetherdifferent experience with ‘everyoneunder one roof’ and the whole layoutdesigned to engender interdisciplinaryand collaborative working.

Professor Crow said: “Students will findtheir own favourite spaces to work in,and we will work around them.”

“Academically, the School hopes tobuild on its reputation for innovationwhich was acknowledged in 2012 withthe Sir Misha Black Award for Innovationin Design Education. Plans to addinterdisciplinary opportunities to ourtaught postgraduate programme willcontinue our strategy of linking ourresearch strengths to our curriculum.”

Architect Tom Jarman, from FeildenClegg Bradley Studios, said their visionhad been to “redefine spaces for arteducation”.

Tom is especially proud of the concretepillars, which rather than being left bare,are in places embellished with thedesigns of Victorian tutor, Lewis Day,using special moulds. “Lewis Day’sdesigns were for wallpaper; wepioneered a new technique to adaptthem in concrete as we thought itimportant to celebrate the School’sheritage,” he said.

The new building ties in with the School’s175th anniversary, which it plans tocelebrate with 175 events in the citythroughout 2013. “The celebrations willbe a timely reminder of the influence thatthe Manchester School of Art has had onthe cultural output of the region and itswider influence both nationally andinternationally,” added Professor Crow.

www.artdes.mmu.ac.uk

11

Grosvenor Building

The ideas manVisionary ‘maker’ and Manchester Metropolitan Universitygraduate, Thomas Heatherwick, talks to Success aboutsome of the influences and highlights of his career to date.

12

Pho

to: E

lena

Hea

therwick

Thomas Heatherwick

T homas Heatherwick has saidthat the Olympic cauldron tookinspiration from his time

studying at Manchester School of Art.

The 8.5-metre structure made up of 204copper components – one for each ofthe participating countries – hasbecome emblematic of last summer’sLondon Olympics.

And to create the massive components,Thomas used a large-scale version of atechnique he learned while studyingtowards his degree in ThreeDimensional Design at MMU.

“I had some really fantastic metalworktutors in 3D design who reallyinfluenced the cauldron. We workedwith repoussé hammers and copper toraise shapes. Making the copperelements for the cauldron was the same

but on a larger scale. I was very muchthinking of Manchester School of Artwhen I designed it. My time there was abreakthrough for me and I’menormously grateful.”

‘Making’ is a word Thomas uses a lot,so much, in fact, that it has become thetitle for his new book, an overview of hisstudio’s output to date. And ‘maker’describes what he does better than themore limited ‘designer’, ‘architect’ or‘engineer’. Limitations are not, it is fairto say, what the Heatherwick Studio is about.

“I’m wary of the word ‘designer’,” saysThomas. “The thing I was interested inas a child was ideas, as we all are.Newspapers, art, scientificbreakthroughs – we’re all fascinated by the future, which is an accumulationof ideas.

“As I got older I discovered that the worldof ideas was sliced up into somethingcalled art, something called science,something called engineering . . . but stillthe thing that held it all together for mewas ‘ideas’ and that’s what we try tofocus on in the Heatherwick Studio. Youcan’t study ‘ideas’ though, and the word‘design’ was a verb that seemed to fitbecause whether you design a city or athimble your intent and strategic thinkingare the same.”

13

“It’s very important totake responsibility for

yourself and yourideas to take them

forward”

The Olympic cauldron Photo: Heatherwick Studio

Restless imagination

Thomas’ interest in how things aremade started when he was a child inNorth London, although his earlyexperiments did not involve buildingthings so much as pulling them apart.

“I took a lot of things apart – I wascurious,” he says. “There seemed to bea lot of jumble sales in the 1970s, soyou could get hold of what felt likevaluable pieces of equipment – giantcash calculators from the Sixties, forexample. We lived in a rambling houseand were able to collect these items.”

Aged 12, he had the idea of makingfurniture from the giant inner tubes ofdouble decker buses, and duly tookhimself to the local depot to see if theywould give him some to experiment with,which they did. It seems his parents werenone too concerned by their adolescentson turning their house into a workshop.

“When I was little I was allowed spaceto try things out. There was no-onecreating blocks or asking me what Iwanted to be when I grew up, which Ithink can be a curse for children,” hesays. “I didn’t feel like I had multiplechoice boxes to tick. I could make upmy own answers – and my ownquestions for that matter.”

After finishing school and completing anational diploma, Thomas started tosearch for a suitable degree, and he feltas strongly about what he did not wantto do as what he did.

“I was trying to find somewhere to do adegree that would cross over the threedimensional world,” he says. “I was veryinterested in designing buildings, but Icouldn’t relate to the thing called‘architecture’. I felt that wasn’t for me.

Instead, Thomas signed up to studyThree Dimensional Design atManchester School of Art: “The scopeof the course seemed generous and tobe at an interesting point, and thatproved to be true,” he says.

“There were some tutors who were veryopen to what their students might do.They let me experiment and sort ofhybridise the course. Good tutors givestructure, but they also know when tostand back and let you break thatstructure. I wasn’t rebellious in that way– I didn’t need to be.”

At the end of his second year, Thomastook a risk and gambled his entire finalyear on just one project. But this wasn’tany project. Already showing thebreadth of vision which would make hima star in his field, Thomas decided hewanted to make a building.

“I thought there was a gulf between theworlds of making and designing – and Ifelt I should straddle that,” he says. “I alsofelt that if there’s anywhere to experiment,University should be that place.

“I think people were amused thatsomeone was going to make a realbuilding so the tutors let me use theirroom to make phone calls to get

sponsorship – an engineer from theManchester School of Architecture gaveup a lot of his free time to help me. Ittaught me the importance of doingthings that aren’t immediately expectedbecause people are more willing to helpyou. It also taught me what a generousplace the University can be when it’sworking well.

“I had to run everywhere that year,which took people by surprise, becauseusually people only run like that if it’s afire alarm!”

And when normal University openinghours weren’t enough, Thomas admits:“The caretakers would let me stay verylate and then would let me climb backover the wall to keep working.”

Optimism andinvention

Despite Britain’s ongoing financialdifficulties, Thomas says that designersand makers have a responsibility not tomake excuses for why projects do notget off the ground.

“It’s easy to blame the world aroundyou for stopping you doing things andsaying ‘they wouldn’t let me’,” he says.“When I proposed to make a buildingmy tutors tested me by first saying ‘No’,which made me really look at the logicof why I wanted to do it and then goback to them. It’s very important to takeresponsibility for yourself and your ideasto take them forward – it’s your job toinspire people to support you.”

He gives several examples of recentHeatherwick Studio projects which have

14

London bus

Photo: Heatherwick Studio

Photo: Iwan Baan

UK Pavilion

Thomas Heatherwick

taken into account comparatively smallbudgets, including the Olympic cauldron.

“The London Olympics had a fraction ofthe budget of Beijing,” he says. “Thatgave us the opportunity to rethink whatan Olympic cauldron could be. And atthe United Expo in Shanghai for the UKgovernment, where we won the prize forthe best pavilion, we had half thebudget of other countries. I think if youcan be strategic about what you aredoing and how you are doing it,anything can happen.

“In Shanghai I felt a duty to try to showthe things that Britain is famous for,which is having ideas. It’s reallyimportant not to become cynical – ideasonly happen if you’re an optimist.”

Thomas has just redesigned the iconicLondon bus and is currently working on anew university building in Singapore which

explores the idea of a building with nocorridors. At the same time, his cauldronhas been dismantled and the coppercomponents are being delivered to all thecompeting nations across the world.

“We had that idea because it felt to usthat the opposite legacy would be a bigcauldron in an Olympic park that wasn’tallowed to be lit and would have pigeondroppings all over it and that seemedreally sad,” he says.

“The Olympics was an amazing timewhen 204 countries came together and we wondered if we could havemore enduring power by making acauldron that would evaporate, in thesame spirit as countries comingtogether and then going back. I was sopleased that the International OlympicCommittee agreed and the UKgovernment agreed. The pieces are arriving everywhere now.”

15

1997

1984

Boiler Suit – Visitors to Guy’s Hospital,in London, cannot fail to notice thebespoke tiled cladding system madefrom high grade stainless steel frameswoven through with braids which wonthe 2007 Building Better HealthcareAward for Public Space.

Paper House – Faced with the task ofcreating somewhere both secure andaesthetically pleasing for newspapersellers to ply their trade in Kensingtonand Chelsea, Thomas created bronzekiosks which can be seen on the streetsof Sloane Square and Earl’s Court.

Pavilion – The building created byThomas for his final year project wassubsequently bought by the CassSculpture Foundation and is still ondisplay at the park in Goodwood, West Sussex.

The Rolling Bridge – Pedestrianshoping to cross the Grand Union Canalat Paddington Basin on a Fridayafternoon can do so via Thomas’award-winning rolling bridge, whichuses hydraulic rams to uncurl from acircular to a straight position.

Where to see a‘Heatherwick’

1970

19941992 2000 2007

Born inLondon onFebruary17th

Attendsthe RudolfSteinerSchool

Graduates witha BA (Hons) in ThreeDimensionalDesign fromManchesterMetropolitanUniversity

Receives anhonorarydoctoratefromManchesterMetropolitanUniversity

Becomes theyoungestperson to beappointed aRoyal Designerfor Industryand is thesubject of theBBC’s Imagineprogramme

Creates theinnovative‘zipper bag’for Frenchluxury goodslabelLongchamp

Commissionedto createtemporarystructure for thefaçade of HarveyNichols duringLondon FashionWeek. Hiswinding ribbondesign won hima D&AD YellowPencil, their top award

Graduates fromMA course atthe RoyalCollege of Art.EstablishesHeatherwickStudio

Thomas receivesworld-wide attentionfor his design of theOlympic cauldronand torch. The workof the HeatherwickStudio is the subjectof a retrospective atthe V&A, in London.Heatherwick alsopublished his firstbook, Making

2006

2012

Thomas HeatherwickTimeline

Thomas Heatherwick: Making by ThomasHeatherwick is published by Thames & Hudson,£38.00. www.thamesandhudson.com

The Rolling Bridge

Photo: Steve Speller

16

Transformation

Later this year, Hollings Faculty will move from its current location inFallowfield to the All Saints campus, but before it does the ManchesterModernist Society has taken up residence in the Toastrack to chronicleits history.

Modernists in residence

M embers of ManchesterModernist Society have beenhelping to commemorate

Hollings Faculty’s final year at the iconicbuilding by acting as a catalyst for anumber of creative projects involvingstudents from a variety of Universitydepartments, as well as invitingcollaborations with artists.

As a special marker of the Toastrack’s52nd year, the modernists will select 52 items from around the building andarchive them on a regularly updated

web ‘museum’. Discoveries includephotographic contact sheets fromfashion shoots on the Toastrack roof,staff portraits and instructional videosfilmed in the early 1990s.

“The building is full of interesting andcurious items,” said Modernist Societyco-founder, Jack Hale. “We want toshare some of the more interestingobjects and their stories and we will beencouraging the staff and students atHollings to suggest their own favourites.We are happy for anybody who has

studied or worked at Hollings withmemories or photos of their time at theToastrack to get in touch.”

Although the Toastrack was onlyofficially opened in 1962, two years afterthe building was completed, the historyof the Faculty stretches back to 1901,when the Central Girls and Women’sInstitute was founded at Birley StreetHigh Grade School.

The Institute taught a wide range ofcourses, with the Manchester Guardian

in 1913 praising its two-year‘Housewives Diploma’, which includedsubjects such as ’cheap cookery’,’middle-class cookery’ and ‘under-clothing cutting’. In the true spirit of theBlitz, in 1940 the Institute taught acourse called ‘Make-do-and-Mend’, andin the 1950s students produced a cakefor Prince Charles’ first birthday.

In 1951 the Institute became known asthe Domestic and Trades College, butwith classes of 40 or 50 crammed intocramped classrooms, it soon becameclear to principal Elsie Hollings thatlarger facilities were needed and sheset about persuading council bosses tomove the College to Fallowfield.

It was a thankless task, but Elsiesucceeded; the Toastrack was born andshe was awarded an OBE in 1960 for herservices to education – something whichher friend Lady Simon said was always acause of some embarrassment to her.

The buildings were designed in 1958 byCity Architect L (Leonard) C Howitt whowas also responsible for re-modelling theinterior of Manchester Free Trade Hallafter the original was destroyed in WWII,and designing the Crown Courts in CrownSquare. The Hollings buildings werecompleted in 1960 and officially openedin March 1962 by Princess Margaret.Sadly, Elsie was already suffering fromcancer and was too poorly to attend theceremony. In July 1962 she died, andyears later the College was renamed theHollings College for the Food andFashion Industries, in her honour.

The Toastrack was made a Grade IIlisted building in 1998, but on itscompletion split opinions, with A E Henshall, Educational Secretary of the National Union of Teachers,dismissing the building as an“architectural monstrosity”. In the othercamp, renowned architectural historianSir Nikolaus Pevsner proclaimed it as “a perfect piece of pop architecture.”

Despite the controversy over itsappearance, the college went fromstrength to strength, with studentsfinding jobs in many top London hotels,and one even finding a place on the

staff of Her Majesty the Queen atBuckingham Palace.

During the 1970s the College started tobuild links with Manchester Polytechnic,and offered courses in the study oftourism for the first time. The coursewas introduced with support from theIsle of Man tourist board, including afield study tour of the island to enable areport to be made on its potentialexpansion as a tourist area. Today, ofcourse, the island is one of the mostpopular holiday destinations in Britain.

In 1977 the College became part ofManchester Polytechnic, but the Hollingsname was kept in Elsie’s memory.

From September, the Hollings Faculty willbe based at the refurbished CavendishSouth and Righton buildings, at the AllSaints campus. The Faculty’s new homeis adjacent to the Manchester School ofArt, and overlooking Grosvenor Park.

Hollings Dean, Colin Renfrew, said:“The move to All Saints will provide uswith a newly refurbished environment inthe heart of a world-class Universitycampus which will give us an enticingoffer to prospective students, anenhanced experience for our currentstudents and a superior workingenvironment for all staff members.

“We will also have the opportunity todevelop new relationships with ourfellow peers in other faculties andhopefully create some new andamazing joint research initiatives.”

17

Hollings Faculty offers the largestconcentration of undergraduate andpostgraduate programmes in food,clothing, hospitality and related fields in the UK.

www.hollings.mmu.ac.uk

Follow the Modernists’ residency atwww.thetoastrack.wordpress.com

Computer-generated image of the new CAD Drawing Suite

Computer-generated image of the Fashion ProductDevelopment Studio

The Toastrack and ‘Fried Egg’ at Hollings Faculty

B efore he leaves for University inthe morning, ComputerScience student, Mohamed

Abusaid, checks his timetable, openshis emails and scrolls through theday’s learning materials. Overbreakfast, he can power up his laptopand get a taste of today’s topics andtasks, prepare questions, reservelibrary books and maybe even seerelated articles and news clips.

For those of us long since graduated,the idea of hearing your lectures beforethey start, or watching video of thecoming week’s practicals seems weirdand wonderful. Welcome to Moodle,MMU’s virtual learning environment!

After lectures, over coffee or on the bushome, Mohamed can pick up hissmartphone or iPad and recap on hislecturer’s notes and slides, go over histutor’s comments on his assignmentand look ahead to next week’s lectures.

“Your Moodle page acts like yourUniversity social hub,” notes the 21-year-old. “There are forums to chat toyour peers and all the content you needis available on the site or by using anexternal link.”

“I like the fact that material is split intoweeks, so you can look ahead to what’scoming up and see how everything links up.”

As the YouTube generation reachuniversity age, the challenge has beento engage them in ways of learning theycan relate to. The answer is coming inloud and clear that the best approach tothis is by using the media and habitsthey most prefer to consume. MMU’s£350 million capital investmentprogramme is not all about bricks andmortar, but about creating the bestlearning environments.

“The University has invested heavily inwhat we call personalised onlinelearning,” explains Dr Neil Ringan,Assistant Head of Learning ResearchTechnologies (Learning Innovation). “Thisstarts with the student, and we have

18

Transformation

Students at centre ofhigh-tech learning

Manchester Metropolitan University, which is running one of the mostsuccessful virtual learning platforms in the UK, continues to putstudents at the heart of its rapidly evolving learning technologies.

conducted extensive research whichhas put us way ahead of the game.”

Part of the package is physicalinvestment – PC suites, WiFiconnections, even a network whichwould allow students going back homefor a weekend to access their UniversityWiFi. But it is the Virtual LearningEnvironment (VLE) – Moodle – an opensource, flexible online platform, whichhas become the main focus ofincreased student activity andsatisfaction, and has earned theUniversity a Guardian nomination forStudent Experience Initiative of the Year.

The statistics are mind-blowing –peaking at around 450,000 hits a day –the 24/7 system has 30,000 individualusers and 19,000 registered mobileusers.

“What they really like is the fact that it’sa one-stop shop. Students just log inand they have everything at theirfingertips to support their studies –timetables, deadline calendars, pastexam papers, corrected scripts, the lot,”added Dr Ringan.

Feedback is split between praise forMoodle and demands for more.“Because students value the VLE, theyare constantly pushing the envelope. Inour day, students just accepted readinglists as gospel, but now they are askingfor alternative materials, whether they’rewebsite links or clips or audio.

“In this sense, the VLE is empowering,it’s got students thinking creativelyabout resources and sources which isfantastic for their development asindependent thinkers.

“Also, because the system is opensource, we can respond and go out andfind a plug-in that performs a functionthat students want. For example we arejust launching a new YouTube-typeinterface to mesh with Moodle.”

Video is a game-changer. In Accountingand Finance, video of lecturers KieranMaguire and Nick Scott writing abalance sheet is multi-purpose; it canbe broadcast on a big screen so no-

one misses a detail, or it can be viewedlater at the student’s leisure.

Similar work is going on in DentalTechnology, in Law and Healthcarewhere student ‘practicals’, for exampleadministering medicine, can bewatched and checked frame by frameto perfect a technique.

Like all technology, Moodle is, ofcourse, only as effective as the peopleusing it, so the University has a learninginnovation team of 12 academic expertsencouraging and assisting lecturers increating their resources.

Some teams, like Exercise and SportScience have gone even further byhanding all 200 BSc distance-learnersan iPad with iBooks, custom-made bylecturers for use ‘anytime anyplace’.Lecturer Damian Keil said: “Given thevariety of our student population, thismight be at the training ground inbetween sessions, on duty inAfghanistan, or sitting on the sofa whilethe kids watch TV.”

So is all this technology raisingstandards of learning? It would appear

so, and it may well be down to ‘pesterpower’, whereby students who get agreat deal from one tutor demand thesame from others. Neil Ringan says:“You can provide staff with all thetraining in the world, but the mosteffective way of upping their game is viapressure from students to deliver.”

Again, it’s all about expectations andtoday’s students want more than theyhad in the Eighties and Nineties – andthey want it now.

“I don't think I can live without it now,”Mohamed adds. “It’s become anessential in my study life.”

19

“It’s got studentsthinking creatively

about resources andsources which isfantastic for theirdevelopment as

independent thinkers”

Wildlife at risk

20

Research and Innovation

Dozens of species of wildlife are at risk from lowlevels of pollution, according to new research.

Adoption pilotAdoption ‘parties’, at which prospectiveparents meet children in need of a newfamily, significantly increase thechances of a match, according toresearchers from the Faculty of Health,Psychology and Social Care.

Evidence from the USA suggests thatadoption activity days are twice aseffective as any other method of familyfinding for children, with 30 per cent ofchildren placed after such days,compared with less than 15 per centthrough normal channels.

Dr Katherine Runswick-Cole, of theResearch Institute for Health and SocialChange, says that early findings fromtheir pilot project indicate that suchsuccess could be replicated in the UK.

Gangs studyAcademics from Sociology andCriminology in the Faculty of Humanities,Languages and Social Science say thatindiscriminately categorising youngpeople as being part of a ‘gang’ resultsin grassroots problems such as povertyand lack of education.

In a paper published by the BritishJournal of Criminology, Dr HannahSmithson, Dr Rob Ralphs and Dr PatrickWilliams say that not only does theblanket use of the term ‘gang’ to refer to any young people committing violentcrime draw funding away from morebasic problems, it also creates a vicious circle whereby communities are driven to claiming that more crime is gang-related in order to get much-needed resources.

They say that the overuse of the ‘gang’label risks criminalising the behaviour of young people.

The levels at which air pollutionharm species may besignificantly lower than

previously thought, according to Dr Richard Payne and ProfessorNancy Dise from the Faculty ofScience and Engineering.

Together with colleagues at LancasterUniversity and the Open University,more than 100 individual plant species’reactions to nitrogen deposition at 153 grassland sites across Europe were studied.

They found that many species,particularly wildflowers such ascreeping buttercup, harebell, yarrow,and autumn hawkbit, were much lessabundant in areas with high nitrogenlevels, such as central Britain, theNetherlands, northern Germany and Brittany.

Particularly surprising was the discoverythat many species declined at very lowlevels of pollution, often below thelegally-recognised ‘safe’ level. Theirfindings suggest the impacts ofpollution may be more widespread thanpreviously appreciated.

Professor Dise, said: “One of thedrawbacks of previous studies is thatmost field experiments to establishlimits on pollution are near thepopulated, and polluted, areas wheremost scientists live. It may be that long-term exposure to even medium levels of pollution have already changed these ecosystems.

“In this latest research, we studiedmany grasslands along the naturalgradient of pollution across Europe.And we found that, even at the cleanestsites, low levels of pollution had aneffect on the abundance of some plant species.”

Nitrogen is released from fertiliser,intensive animal production units,industry, and vehicle exhausts.Emissions are converted in theatmosphere to nitrogen-rich waterdroplets, which acidify and fertilise the land when they fall back to earth as rain and snow.

The scientists’ latest reseach paper waspublished by the Proceedings of theNational Academy of Science of the USA.

21

InternationalrecognitionSurface engineering PhD student, CarolinStruller, has won a prestigious award fora paper on a coating that could see costsavings in the food industry.

Carolin Struller won the JohnMatteucci Technical ExcellenceAward for Best Vacuum Web

Coating Paper at the recent AIMCAL(Association of International Metallizers,Coaters and Laminators) conferencein Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Carolin attended the conference withBobst Manchester, the UK division ofthe global supplier of equipment topackaging manufacturers in the foldingcarton and flexible materials industries.She has been working with Bobst since2008, when she took a five-weekplacement in Manchester as part of herMaster’s degree at the TechnischeUniversität München.

The prestigious AIMCAL awardsrecognise the best technical papersshowcased at the event. Carolinpresented her paper on AluminiumOxide Barrier Layers on Polymer Web,covering the effects of variousparameters on barrier levels foraluminium oxide deposition onto BOPPfilm via reactive evaporation.

BOPP film is bi-axially orientedpolypropylene which has good clarity,UV light and chemical resistance. Theclear material also has scuff and acidresistance. The transparent aluminiumoxide coating serves as a barrier layeragainst water vapour and oxygen, andthe coated film can be used for endproducts in food packagingapplications, including baked goodsand microwaveable products.

Carolin was delighted and surprised towin the AMICAL award, saying: “It’s the

premier industry conference that Bobstattend annually and I had the opportunityto join them for the first time this year. Idefinitely enjoyed it and the chance topresent my paper. People who’d read itbefore said it was good but I didn’t expectto win the award so I was very pleased.”

Having completed her Master’s inMunich, Carolin began working on herPhD, in the Faculty of Science andEngineering’s Surface Engineering group,which has strong ties with many industrialpartners including Carolin’s collaborationwith Bobst. She says: “I enjoyed my timehere in Manchester during my placement,and working with Bobst has been reallybeneficial for my studies over the pastfour years.” She has built up a lastingconnection which has led to her workingvery closely with the company. And shemanages a relationship with one ofBobst’s customers, Innovia Films, whoare the only producer of BOPP film inthe UK.

Carolin hopes that the process of usingan aluminium oxide coating on BOPPfilm will open additional sales marketsfor the company, as well as producecost savings and environmentaladvantages over traditional transparentbarrier films. She says: “The aluminiumoxide coating can be produced on amodified metallizer and thus result inversatility as one machine can be usedfor two processes, opaque aluminiummetallization and transparent aluminiumoxide coating, without compromise.Bobst sells to a worldwide market andso there are huge possibilities.”

www.sci-eng.mmu.ac.uk/rei2

T he dental technology centre, in the Faculty of Science andEngineering, has courses

franchised in the UK and internationally,while its research underpins wideareas of dental technology.

Chris Maryan, Principal Lecturer inmaxillofacial prosthetics andtechnology, is currently leading researchin the development of quantitative andqualitative analytical methods to assurethe quality of custom-made dentaldevices.

Most dental crowns are still handmadeand labour costs are a key factor. Theinternational postage rates and ease oftransport have enabled a four-dayturnaround to the UK from many parts ofthe world at lower manufacturing costsof between 10 and 50% of those in theUK. The benefits to dental practices inreducing budgets are significant.

But Chris says that if there are problemswith these devices they are potentiallycompromising patient health, and theprofessional standing of the technicians.He says: “There are many excellentoverseas manufacturers, but formaleducation, training and regulation varywidely. Although many laboratories

manufacture using ISO 9001:2008 thereis a need for quality control measures inthe laboratory and surgery to confirmnecessary standards.”

The project aims to develop quantitativemethods to identify defectivemanufacture. The work is sponsored byMedimatch, the UK arm of aninternational dental laboratory businessbased in China. Medimatch are seekingmethods they can use in their businessto validate their standards independently.

The MMU supervisory team of ChrisMaryan, Steve Horne, Rebecca Taylorand Joanna Verran from HealthcareScience has been trying to reproducefaults that can occur using differentmanufacturing techniques and re-use ofdental alloys. Specimens were castusing different alloy combinations, andwere polished according tomanufacturer recommendations.

Optical and Scanning ElectronMicroscopy (SEM) techniques wereused to assess porosity, while X-rayPhotoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) wasused to determine surface composition,and SEM with Energy-Dispersive X-ray(EDX) spectroscopy was used toidentify bulk composition.

Chris says: “The use of recycled alloysshows a significant increase in porosityindicated by black spots shown in anelectron micrograph. We found thatporosity occurrence is dependent onalloy type and restoration factors.”

Cobalt-chromium alloys demonstratedmore microstructural stability than nickel-chromium alloys. All metal restorationsmade out of nickel-chromium alloys tendto have more porosity than ceramicbonded restorations.

For both types of alloys, recastingprocedures resulted in a change inelemental composition. Nickel-chromium alloys demonstratedreduction in chromium and tantalumvalues, while cobalt-chromium alloysdemonstrated reduction in silicon andmolybdenum values.

Chris concludes: “Recasting base metalalloys causes microstructural andcompositional deviations which mighthave an adverse effect on dentalrestoration quality, so continuing workwill focus on the impact of recastingprocedure on alloy biocompatibility andmechanical properties.”

www.sci-eng.mmu.ac.uk/rei2

22

Research and Innovation

Cutting yourteethResearch in theUniversity’s dentaltechnology centrecould make a hugeimpact in the dentalprofession.

23

A partnership with internationalsecurity firm ATG Access® is a resounding success

and has earned recent graduate, Lucy Foster, a Business Leader ofTomorrow Award.

Lucy, a graduate of the BusinessSchool, was judged the outstandingresearcher in the UK in one of hundredsof Knowledge Transfer Partnerships(KTPs) set up to transfer university-levelskills to small and medium growthbusinesses.

Judged by a panel of chief executives,the award acknowledges thecontribution made by Lucy and theUniversity to the company's successover the past 18 months.

Lucy, a first class honours graduate inMarketing Management, worked withthe Haydock-based business under thesupervision of Dr Catherine Ashworth,Senior Lecturer in the Department ofMarketing, Operations and DigitalBusiness, to bring the latest marketingthinking to the company.

Glenn Cooper, President of ATGAccess, said: “The positive impact ofthe ‘new eyes’ of both Lucy and

Catherine has already led to significantimprovements in marketing practiceand strategy development at the firm.

“Having academic insight to review thebusiness processes at each planningstage along with the embedding of amore formal structure is of great benefitto a fast developing and growingbusiness like ours. We are now lookingat using other resources from MMU tomake improvements in wider areas ofthe business, such as projectsmanagement, research anddevelopment, and engineering.”

Lucy completed her 18-monthattachment at the firm in October inparallel with an MSc in Marketing andhas now taken up a full-time post withthe company.

She said: “I left University with threecareer wishes and my involvement withthe KTP has helped me to achieve themall – a good salary, funding for myMaster’s and to stay in Manchester.

“Working in a commercial environmentand conducting research which is ofuse to the business and the Universityhas made the experience all the moreworthwhile.”

Lucy was nominated for the award bythe ATG Access management board andwas interviewed by a panel comprising adirector at Fujitsu, the leader of theBBC's digital marketing strategy and thehead of the KTP initiative in the UK.

ATG Access has grown by 70 per centover the last year and has now becomeone of the world's leading suppliers ofhigh security bollards and barriers.

Working with Business

Award-winningpartnership

The University has won a majoraward for the way it transfersknowledge to industry.

Knowledge Transfer Partnershipsoffer innovative solutions to helporganisations develop and improveproducts, processes andcompetitiveness through the bestuse of technology and skills. Thescheme places graduates in thehost organisation, supported by an academic supervisor.

www.mmu.ac.uk/business

“I left University withthree career wishes

and my involvementwith the KTP has

helped me to achievethem all”

F unding his MSc and studyingin his own time has paiddividends for Anthony Woods,

who now has a new career in HumanResources. Knowing that gaining afurther qualification would help himprogress his career, Anthony decidedto study for an MSc in Management.

Initially his employers were unaware ofhis studies as the impetus to studycame from Anthony himself. However,by the second year, when he needed tocarry out a piece of workplace researchthey were really supportive. In fact, they

authorised access to one hundredinternal managers allowing Anthony togain invaluable details for his researchproject. Being able to ask managersabout their experiences and gainunderstanding of their thoughtprocesses too was a fundamental partof the research project.

Anthony found that working for anational organisation undergoing amajor restructure, and leading thischange, was particularly challengingwhilst studying. However, the units on‘Change Management’ and ‘Financial

Management’ were hugely relevant,thus enabling Anthony to implementwhat he was learning on the coursedirectly into his day-to-day environment.

Since graduating, Anthony has movedaway from the Operations side of thebusiness into Human Resources. Hefound that having an MSc to his namereally got him noticed in theorganisation and gave him a veryimpressive CV.

www.business.mmu.ac.uk

The benefits of investingin postgraduate study.

24

Advancingyour career

Postgraduate Study

n highest concentration ofpostgraduate taught courses in the North West

n flexible programmes with full-timeand part-time options in most course areas

n close links with business andemployers helping you get industryrelevant experience

n staff at the forefront of their fieldssharing the latest academic thinking

n more than 200 postgraduate taught programmes and dozens of research areas

n many courses are recognised byprofessional bodies and associations

Visit usPostgraduate Courses Fairs are heldfour times a year in March, May,September and November.To check dates and book your place: www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/visit

Find out moreFor all postgraduate information: www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgraduate

The benefits of postgraduate study at Manchester Metropolitan University

Anthony WoodsMSc Management (part-time)Business School Faculty of Business and Law

A fter graduating from theUniversity with a BSc (Hons)in Sport and Exercise Science

and then an MSc in Exercise andSport (Physiology), Kirsty-Mariedecided to expand her knowledge andexpertise by embarking on a PhD inHuman and Exercise Physiology.

“I have always wanted to work in thefield of exercise and sport science andcompleting my undergraduate degreeat MMU’s Cheshire campus only fuelledthis desire.

“I stayed at MMU and completed myMSc in Physiology, where not only wasthe teaching of an incredibly highstandard but the level of research wasalso world class. Without the

experiences and knowledge I gainedfrom the MSc, I do not think I would be where I am now, completing a PhDin Physiology.

“Alongside my PhD, the University hasallowed me to progress in the appliedsetting where I now provide scientificsupport at local football clubs. I knowthat I can take the academic skills Ihave gained from staying in highereducation into my future career, whetherthat is in applied science, research or teaching.

“I would recommend anyone with aslight interest in exercise and sportscience to consider MMU, as the levelof academic support, experiences andopportunities they offer is phenomenal.”

MMU’s Cheshire campus is home to anew £10 million Exercise and SportScience Centre which is fitted with thelatest testing and research equipment,including an altitude training chamber,

genetics laboratories and a sportsinjuries clinic – all of which makes thisthe ideal place for sport-relatedpostgraduate study.

www.cheshire.mmu.ac.uk

25

Kirsty-Marie HicksPhD studentExercise and Sport ScienceCheshire campus

T racy Minshull is the Head ofCommissioning and Strategyfor Bury Adult Care Services.

She joined Bury Council in 2010 afterworking for many years in the thirdsector with a national youth charity.Tracy applied for her present seniormanagement role halfway through hertime at MMU and believes theconfidence gained from studying atMaster’s level gave her the boost sheneeded to apply for the position.

“The learning cuts across everything andgives you a real foundation to build on. Inow know I have not just the experiencebut also the academic knowledge toback up the experience – this really givesyou the confidence you need to be ableto use these skills in the workplace.

“The Master’s doesn't just focus onreading the texts and doing theassignments, it's very much how you aregoing to go back to work and embed thelearning in your own organisation. Yourown experience is as much a part of thecourse as the university input itself.

“The learning I've experienced at MMU isalso having an effect on my colleagues.All the teams I manage are beingintroduced to the ideas and methods I'vestudied and they are now holding theirown peer support groups. Theknowledge is filtering through thedepartment and my hope is that this willcontinue down the line. The Master’s hastaught me a great deal and it's satisfyingto see the benefit of this study continuingto spread beyond my office door.”

www.business.mmu.ac.uk

Tracy MinshullMSc Leadership (part-time)Business School Faculty of Business and Law

M ost students wouldprobably say their dreamjob was one which involved

tasting beer – and that’s exactly whatNaheed Younis does for a living.

As Area Export Manager for beer giantsHeineken International, Naheed’s job ismainly in sales but also includesresearch, pack design, commercialplanning, glasswear design, fonts . . .and tasting.

But while Naheed admits that his job isa student’s dream, he says it is alsovery hard work.

“It’s a multi-million pound investmentand your head’s on the line,” he says,naming his biggest challenge so far ashis current project – the introduction ofthree new beers into the British market.

“I have full responsibility for making them live and breathe,” he says, addingthat despite the recession, British drinkersare increasingly looking to premium

brands on which to spend their money. “We call them ‘weekend millionaires’,”he says. “People go out less but theytrade up when they do.”

Naheed studied Business Studies andFinance at Crewe and Alsager Collegeof Higher Education, now part of MMU’sCheshire campus.

“I didn’t really know what I wanted to doat the time. I had been enjoying studentlife and thought working in the drinksindustry sounded cool,” he says. “I’mquite a social person and I thought itwould be a good fit.”

After starting out as a graduate traineeat Grand Metropolitan – now known asanother drinks giant, Diageo – hemoved to Whitbread where he spenteight years before being headhunted byHeineken in 2002.

Naheed says that the time he spent in Crewe was fundamental to who hehas become.

“I made lots of life-long friends and itchanged my life,” he says. “That’s why Irecently decided to get back in touchwith MMU and put something back in tohelp the students.”

Four students will have the chance totake part in a two-month project helpingto develop a beer brand in theManchester market, including visitingpubs and supermarkets to look at pricepoints. Naheed will also act as areferee, give them days out in the fieldwith his staff and provide a miniassessment centre to coach them.

“The key was to offer a real-life projectso they can differentiate themselvesfrom all the students applying for rolesin the summer. There is morecompetition now and new graduateshave to work harder and smarter.”

To find out more about becoming anAlumni Ambassador and mentoringstudents, please contact the AlumniOffice at: alumni@mmu.ac.uk.

All in the brewNaheed Younis, Area Export

Manager at Heineken, ismentoring students as an

Alumni Ambassador.

26

Meet Our Alumni

Henna Saeed was honouredwith the inaugural EmergingTalent Award at the O2 Media

Awards North West for herinvestigation into the lives of gaypeople across the world.

Henna, who studied for an MA in Film-making was presented with her awardby ITN anchorwoman NatashaKaplinski.

She said: “I was glad to be among thetop three, but I thought that getting upon that stage in front of all those topjournalists I had reached what I wanted– I didn’t mind at that point whether Iwon. But when they showed usrepresenting our universities I reallywanted to win. Everyone was so proudof MMU – a lot of the journalists therecame here and it was amazing to be apart of that.”

For her documentary, Henna travelledabroad and spoke to many gay peopleto find out how they were treatedoutside the UK. She said: “I believe inpicking up things that are a bitcontroversial – I think it’s the duty of themedia to look at things that are left inthe dark. I felt I knew people that wereleading a double life and I wanted tomake a film looking at their problems.”

Since receiving the award, Henna hasreturned home to Pakistan, where shewill teach at the University of thePunjab, before taking on a role with oneof the country’s television networks.

Krissi BohnBA (Hons) Acting 2004

Tutors at Manchester School of Theatrewere among the first to hear that Krissihad landed the part of Jenna Kamara inCoronation Street . “She was training fora job in the NHS when she called us tosay she was coming back up North. It’sfantastic for her,” said the Head of School.

Other acting alumni who have starred in Coronation Street include KevinKennedy (Curly Watts), Sue Cleaver(Eileen Grimshaw) and DebraStephenson (Frankie Baldwin).

Fiona FontesPGCE Art and Design 2006

Fiona, who is Head of Art at Terra NovaSchool in Cheshire, took her Year 7class to a workshop with graduateNicola Dale, who was in the last issue ofSuccess as one of the alumni exhibitingin the First Cut exhibition at ManchesterArt Gallery.

Her class won first prize in the 7-11years category and had their workshown as part of the exhibition.

Oli RandellBA (Hons) Financial Services 1998

Business School graduate, Oli Randell,was named future pro·manchester’sProfessional Innovator 2012. The awardrecognises innovative flair in rising starsfrom Manchester’s financial andprofessional services community.

Oli is Managing Director of LocalBusiness Partners, an innovativebusiness advisory firm which providesfinance, HR and marketing experts toNorth West small businesses.

27

New talentFilmmaker Henna Saeed comes under the spotlight.

Axis Arts CentreCheshire CampusCrewe Green RoadCrewe CW1 5DUBookings: 0161 247 5302www.axisartscentre.org.uk

Tuesday 5 MarchKate Tempest: WastedDebut play from hip-hop musician andperformance poet Kate Tempest.

Thursday 7 Marchjuice and MaJiKer: Flesh and BoneExperimental musicians combiningErasure mash-ups and three-partharmonies.

Saturday 16 March and Sunday 17 MarchJ Fergus Evans: my heart ishitchhiking down peachtree stOne-man show about living far awayfrom home.

Capitol TheatreMabel Tylecote BuildingCavendish StreetManchester M15 6BGBooking: 0161 247 1306www.capitoltheatre.mmu.ac.uk

The Capitol Theatre’s summer seasonwill be announced online shortly.

The Holden GalleryGrosvenor BuildingCavendish StreetManchester M15 6BRwww.holdengallery.mmu.ac.uk

Until Thursday 14 MarchAn Exhibition Investigating the role of viewer in thegallery space.

Friday 12 April – Thursday 23 Maycreation/destructionExploring the similarities betweencreative and destructive acts.

Saturday 15 June – Wednesday 19 JuneDegree showWork by Manchester School of Art finalyear students.

Special CollectionsSir Kenneth Green LibraryAll SaintsManchester M15 6BHInfo: 0161 247 6107www.specialcollections.mmu.ac.uk

Until Friday 22 MarchArt NouveauHighlights from the collection.

Monday 15 April – Friday 21 JuneMr Dedman’s Victory SuitContemporary work by Ant Riviere andAmanda Ravetz.

What’s on

mmu.ac.uk/events

28

MMU Events

Connect with your class after graduation through the official MMU Alumni social networks.

facebook.com/ManchesterMetropolitanUniversityAlumni

twitter.com/MMUAlumni

mmu.ac.uk/linkedin

Join us!

Contact usAlumni and DevelopmentEmail: alumni@mmu.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)161 3402www.mmu.ac.uk/alumni

Careers and EmployabilityEmail: careers@mmu.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)161 247 3483www.mmu.ac.uk/careers

Expertise for BusinessEmail: m.radcliffe@mmu.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)161 247 2186www.mmu.ac.uk/business

Knowledge ExchangesEmail: m.radcliffe@mmu.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)161 247 2186www.mmu.ac.uk/business

Marketing, Communications and DevelopmentEmail: marketing@mmu.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)161 247 5036www.mmu.ac.uk

MMU InternationalTel: +44 (0)161 247 1022www.mmu.ac.uk/international

MMU VenuesEmail: venues@mmu.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)161 247 1565www.mmu.ac.uk/venues

Postgraduate StudyTel: +44 (0)161 247 6969www.mmu.ac.uk/study/postgraduate

Success MagazineEmail: success@mmu.ac.ukTel: +44 (0)161 247 3402www.mmu.ac.uk/alumni/benefits/success

The Manchester Metropolitan UniversitySuccess MagazineBellhouseLower Ormond StreetManchester M15 6BXUnited Kingdom

www.mmu.ac.uk

This publication is available in alternative formats. Please telephone +44 (0)161 247 3402.

Manchester Metropolitan Universityvalues its relationships with companies,organisations and alumni, and is keen tomake new connections. To find out moreabout any of the schemes or stories inthis issue, please contact us.