Aston in Touch 2017

InTouch ASTON

A LU M N I M AG A Z I N E 2017

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THE GLOBAL ISSUE

Inside the Secret State How an Aston academic ran a 10km race in North Korea

MEET OUR NEW VICE-CHANCELLOR

HOW TO WALK ON FIRE

WHY DIVERSITY IS GOOD FOR US

THE GLOBAL ISSUE

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

06 Alumni Profile

09 Pioneers for change

15 My Year in

Professional Cycling

12 Meet the Exec

CONTENTS 2017 – Alumni Magazine FEATURES

REGULARS

IN PICTURES

15 My Year in Professional Cycling

06 Alumni Profile Daniel Franklin

09 Pioneers for Change

12 Meet the Exec In conversation with Alec Cameron

30 The future is NAO

18 Cover Story Inside the Secret State 22 Degree Apprenticeships 26 Andy Street Interview 32 Richard Crisp on Diversity

10 The Year in Pictures 44 In detail - Coat of Arms

38 How to... fire walk

GIVING

42 Where Are They Now? News from your classmates

24 Global fundraising map 36 US Foundation

Editor: Dr Annette Rubery Fundraising Editor: Carol Fryer Cover illustration: Laura Hough Map centre-spread: Katy Clemmans Design: Digitronix Print: Sterling

alumniinfo@aston.ac.uk

/AstonUniversityAlumni

@AstonAlumni

/school/16267

38 How to... fire walk 30 The future is NAO

18 Inside the Secret State

WELCOME InTouch — The Global Issue When I first started planning this edition of Aston in Touch, Britain had not yet gone to the polls over our membership of the European Union.

Following the result in June 2016 the issue of globalisation has barely been off the news agenda. What are the barriers to accepting cultural diversity? Is globalisation in decline? What does independence look like in a digitally connected world? In this issue I wanted to celebrate Aston’s work on vital questions such as these, cutting across politics, economics, sociology, psychology, business and computing. The cover story (p. 18) not only tells of an extraordinary journey made by International Relations lecturer Dr Virginie Grzelczyk to North Korea, but considers how far that regime is divorced from the rest of the world. Politics aside, I also wanted to celebrate Aston’s global outlook, particularly as we welcome a new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alec Cameron, from the University of Western Australia (p. 12). Aston is rightly proud of its diversity and this shines through in many of the stories and experiences you send into the alumni office. We have a piece on fire-walking from alumnus David Willey who appeared 19 times on one of America’s top late-night TV shows (p. 38); a profile of alumnus Daniel Franklin, Executive Editor of The Economist and Co-Editor of the book Megachange: The World in 2050 (p. 6) and a splendid map showing the global impact of alumni giving (p. 24).

Thank you, as ever, for your support.

Best wishes,

Dr Annette Rubery Editor a.rubery@aston.ac.uk

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WELCOME

NEWS

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

Aston goes gold in new rankings Aston has received the highest rating (Gold) in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF): a new Government league table that emphasises teaching quality and student satisfaction. The TEF found that students from all backgrounds at Aston achieve ‘consistently outstanding outcomes’, with very high proportions of students going into highly skilled employment or further study. Aston was also considered outstanding on a wide range of other criteria, including physical and digital resources, course design and assessment, and teaching and learning practices.

Prestigious hire for Aston Medical School Helen Cameron, one of the UK’s most highly regarded medical educators, has been appointed to a key position in Aston Medical School. She took up her post last April as Professor of Medical Education and Dean of Medical Education, having come to Aston from the University of Edinburgh where she was Professor of Undergraduate Medical Education and the Director of the Centre for Medical Education.

Lord Sugar may regret ‘firing’ one Aston graduate now he has launched a new tech start-up unveiling a new approach to HR software in the UK. Nick Holzherr has launched Air - a platform designed to help SMEs rid themselves of time-consuming admin and make it easy to deploy workplace-improving practices.

Air offers various HR features like a central employee directory, leave booking, smart notifications and iOS and Android apps so that businesses can manage HR on the go. More than 100 companies have used the alpha version of the platform already, and Nick plans to allow Air customers to vote for what apps his team should build next.

Aston scientists investigate the broccoli paradox If we think our friends really enjoy eating broccoli, we are less likely to consume it ourselves. This is one of the conclusions from research conducted by Aston psychologist Dr Jason Michael Thomas. He and his colleagues asked 227 participants (145 women, 80 men and 2 other) aged between 17 and 63 (average age 32) about the foods and drinks they liked and about which foods and drinks their friends liked and how much of them they consumed. The results showed that how much of a particular food or drink someone consumes is linked to how much of it they think their friends consume (the more our friends consume, the more we consume). However, a paradoxical situation occurs in the case of vegetables - if we believe our friends love vegetables, we consume them less.

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Photography: Richard Battye

Former Apprentice contender launches HR software start-up

NEWS

50 trees for 50 years As part of the 50th anniversary celebrations last year, the University pledged to install 50 fruit trees on campus. The new trees - which were planted between February and May 2017 - are located near to the student accommodation and offer shaded areas as well as a variety of fruits. Some older trees have been relocated as part of the work, with one problematic horse chestnut by the Martin Luther King Multi-faith Centre (MLK) having been replaced by a lime tree as part of a new tree avenue formed along the path edge.

Aston Graduates’ Association

AGA NEWS Over the last 12 months AGA members have visited a wide range of attractions in the Midlands. Our first venture of the new academic year was to a little-known museum in Stratfordupon-Avon. The Mechanical Art and Design (MAD) Museum is home to a mix of the weird and the wonderful; think Heath Robinson meets Wallace and Gromit. In October we joined with Birmingham Guild of Graduates and spent a most interesting morning at The Lapworth Museum of Geology at the University of Birmingham. The Museum has recently benefitted from a major refurbishment and now showcases the history of the earth from the Big Bang to the present day. A visit to Coventry Transport Museum in March was well supported. We learnt that the beginnings of the transport industry in Coventry had been an offshoot of the garment trade. Two visits were arranged in May. In conjunction with Birmingham Guild of Graduates we visited the Museum of the Jewellery Quarter. Members were given a guided tour of the premises and shown many of the skills involved in the production of fantastic pieces of jewellery. Secondly, we visited Akamba Heritage Centre: a garden centre with a difference.

We completed the year’s programme with the traditional petanque match against Hints village and a buffet supper.

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Details of AGA events and an application form to join are available at www.astongraduates.org.uk The subscription is £5 per year.

For further information about any event, please contact Jenny Martin +44 (0)1564 777 185 martin276@btinternet.com

NEWS

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

Alumni scholarship transforms lives

Young UK women at risk of ‘stress-induced’ heart attacks The largest ever study into a form of heart attack that mainly affects younger, seemingly healthy women has found there could be 1,000 victims per year in the UK. The research, carried out by cardiologists at Aston Medical School and the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, used the ACALM Big Data algorithm to discover the incidence of Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection, or SCAD. The condition is unusual because it occurs mainly in younger people with few or no risk factors for heart disease. However, it is hoped the study will help medical professionals to get much better at identifying SCAD, with a view to preventing more hospitalisations and deaths.

50th member joins The Charter Society Aston University’s Charter Society, which was founded in 2016, has welcomed its 50th member. The Society recognises those who have supported Aston with gifts of over £1,050 during one academic year. President of the Charter Society and the University’s first Guild President in 1966, Keith Robson, flew over from his home in North America in May to meet the newest members of the Charter Society on campus. Keith (pictured, right, with Stewardship Manager Jonathan Carter) said he is looking forward to meeting even more members when he is next at Aston later on in the year. For details on the Society visit the website at www.aston.ac.uk/chartersociety -4-

Alumnus Dr Colin Goddard, along with his wife Amanda, has set-up The Stateside Foundation which has created over 50 scholarships over ten years for Aston University undergraduates, with a particular focus on supporting women studying science subjects.

One of the students who benefitted from this support was Megan Turner who was able to further her studies with an MSc in Product Design. She graduated this year, winning an achievement award for her subject and is now setting up her own business in baby-feeding products. Dr Goddard graduated from Aston with a PhD in Cancer Pharmacology in 1986 and has gone on to forge a successful career in pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

He is now CEO and Chairman of Coferon, Inc., a privately owned biotechnology company based in the United States.

Aston Villa hosts mentoring dinner The MBA mentoring scheme is now in its second year, with over 60 alumni supporting students as mentors. Aston’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alec Cameron, hosted a celebratory dinner at Aston Villa football ground in May to thank those who have taken part. The event provided an ideal opportunity for the mentors and their mentees to meet face-toface; during the evening guests also enjoyed a talk by Aston graduate Mozamil Afzal, who is Global Chief Investment Officer and the CEO of EFGAM (UK). At Aston we recognise the enormous benefits that mentoring can give, and we are extremely grateful to our alumni who give their time supporting students. If you are interested in becoming a mentor please email MBA@aston.ac.uk

NEWS

MAKING A DIFFERENCE — Thank you for all your support —

Total number of donors:

Largest gift:

£250k 700 Graduating class with the most donors

1st – 2014 2nd - 2013 3rd - 2009 4th - 2010

Donations made by alumni of School

5th - 1978

EAS - 39% ABS - 28% LSS - 16% CHS - 10%

4624

Total number of volunteer hours (April ‘16 to April ‘17)

Gifts Received by alumni age

LHS - 4%

50-59 - 24% 20-29 - 21% 30-39 - 11% 40-49 - 15% 60-69 - 13% 70+

Gifts by Gender

Male

- 71%

Female - 29%

Oldest donor was

89

Telephone campaign details:

Number of students involved:

- 14%

Student scholarships:

29

50

No. of conversations had between students and alumni:

3

1960

(youngest 23)

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Fully-funded PhDs:

Two-year post-doctorates:

2

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

Photography: Helen Atkinson / Yellow Snapper

ALUMNI PROFILE

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ALUMNI PROFILE

Executive Editor of The Economist, Daniel Franklin, is an Aston alumnus twice over - once in 1981 after graduating with a PhD from Aston and once in 2013 as the recipient of an Honorary Doctorate. Annette Rubery meets him to discuss the joys and pitfalls of forecasting.

The Art of Future-gazing I

n 1900 John Elfreth Watkins predicted that by the Millennium we would have removed the letters C, X and Q from the alphabet.

Reader’s Digest thought that by 1999 cities would have domes over them and our transport would be “flying-saucer-shaped”. In 1991 David Icke called a press conference to tell reporters that the world would end in 1997. Predictions like these certainly add to the gaiety of nations but, as Daniel Franklin points out, predicting is also part of being human. Whether we realise it or not, we’re all engaged in it whether it’s checking the weather forecast or anticipating events in our diaries. Predictions are, in fact, essential for successful living.

As Executive Editor of The Economist and Editor (since 2003) of The Economist’s annual publication The World in…, Franklin spends a great deal of time trying to predict global trends: work that he calls, with characteristic self-effacement, “future-gazing”. He would never claim to be a prophet, despite the cult amongst some readers for de-coding the ‘secret messages’ hidden in The World in… covers. In March 2012 the book he edited on long-term trends, Megachange: The World in 2050, came out with a typically Franklin-esque warning in the introduction.

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“History is littered with prophecies that turned out to be utterly wrong,” he wrote, before reminding us of a forecast from an American economist that the stock market would rise - a week before the 1929 crash.

“You probably need a lot of luck,” he says of the qualities of a good forecaster. “Of course, everybody will get things wrong so you need humility as well. I think also you need to be open-minded and be prepared to take on board new information from a whole range of sources. So long as you don’t make puffed-up claims about how much you’re going to get right I think people are prepared to forgive you if you get it wrong - but they want you to try.”

Franklin’s career has certainly embraced wide-ranging topics, starting with a degree in modern languages (French and Russian) from St John’s College, Oxford, and a PhD from Aston. At Aston he took part in a scheme called Interdisciplinary Higher Degrees which allowed students to combine academic work with industry experience. Franklin worked at a subsidiary of Dunlop, which helped him to form a case study for his research on the trade of centrally planned economies. “That’s still what stands out for me about Aston, this close connection between working experience

ALUMNI PROFILE

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

interspersed with academic study,” he remarks.

“I think the principle is a very Astonian one and something that I still admire about Aston, even though Interdisciplinary Higher Degrees no longer exist.” Franklin joined The Economist in 1983 to write about Soviet and Eastern European affairs, becoming the magazine’s Europe Editor from 1986 to 1992.

After a stint as Britain Editor he moved to the United States as Washington Bureau Chief, covering the first Clinton term. In 1997 he returned to London as Editorial Director of the Economist Intelligence Unit. From 2006 to 2010 he was Editor-in-Chief of Economist.com.

The future-gazing, explains Franklin, is one of the most fun things about his current role. Has it changed him? What have been the major surprises? “Well, I’m by nature more of an optimist than a pessimist but often a realist, too.

Every year I go through this humbling process of looking back over what we did the year before. I think it’s the big disruptions that are the hardest things to get right because you may think a crisis is coming but getting the timing right is very difficult. The election of Trump is the one that I think surprised the world the most.” The cover of The World in 2017, which coincided with the result, has the caption ‘Planet Trump’ and shows a deck of Tarot cards from the Major Arcana - known as ‘trumps’ (Franklin is silent on whether or not this was done to excite the de-coders but there is a twinkle in his eye). One humbling process, he says, was looking back after the economic crisis at The World in 2008 - an experience he wrote about in the following edition of the magazine in an article titled simply “About 2008: sorry”.

This is typical of Franklin’s genial style - as is the fact that the planning process of each edition of The World in… begins in stoutly British fashion: with an editorial tea. “This year the tea was particularly good so I’m optimistic about 2018,” he laughs. At the time of writing the work on this edition is at an early stage but Franklin gives us some hints of what we might expect in The World in 2018 when it’s published in November.

“

mid-term elections are in November 2018 - and there are a huge amount of elections in Latin America, so that’s the region that has the most intense political year ahead. The end of the Castro era in Cuba is fascinating.

There are some big anniversaries: 100 years since the Armistice; 200 years since the birth of Karl Marx. You think of ‘workers of the world unite’ but it will also be 15 years since Linkedin was formed, so that’s another form of workers uniting. It will be the centenary of women getting the vote in Britain and 175 years of The Economist we have our own anniversary next year.

”

“I suppose the word of the year might be supercalifragilisticexpialidocious because the film Mary Poppins Returns, with Emily Blunt, comes out towards the end of next year.

But if you want to look at themes, I’m pretty sure we’ll be delving into the political debate between what you might call the Trump trend and the Macron momentum, looking at closed and open ideas of the world, and which one is likely to get the upper hand in 2018.”

I think it’s the big disruptions that are the hardest things to get right because you may think a crisis is coming but getting the timing right is very difficult.

Sadiq Khan London post-Brexit Martin Sorrell Time for long-termism Justin Trudeau Canada at 150 Susan Wojcicki What we’ll be watching George Clooney Stopping conflicts Yuri Milner Wondrous science

Planet Trump

“We have a World Cup in Russia and that’s going to be a focus of tension because Russia also has a presidential election. Amazingly enough, it’ll be time to pass a preliminary judgement on the Trump administration -8-

Lots to excite the mind, then, but some advice from Benjamin Franklin - another Franklin known for his optimistic realism - still holds good on the subject of futuregazing. “Do not anticipate trouble,” he warned, “or worry about what may never happen. Always keep in the sunlight.”

PIONEERS FOR CHANGE

Pioneers for Change: One Year On Graduates and friends of Aston University came together in June to celebrate the one-year anniversary since the launch of Pioneers for Change, Aston’s £50 million fundraising campaign. The event was kindly hosted by The Clubhouse in London, a business lounge which was founded by Aston graduate Dr Adam Blaskey. Updates about the achievements of the campaign since it was launched in 2016 were delivered by the Chairman of the Campaign Board and Geology graduate, Dr Tony Hayward; Aston’s Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive, Professor Alec Cameron, and and Executive Director of Campaigns, Andrew Harris.

To discover more about the ‘Pioneers for Change’ campaign, please visit www.aston.ac.uk/Pioneers -9-

01

09 02

— The Year —

IN PICTURES

03

04 - 10 -

05

IN PICTURES

08

01. Go-Kart Testing

06. X-ray Ed

Devoted Engineering students braved the cold weather to test their self-made vehicles in January.

Pictured (left to right): Benjamin Peck, Jaskaaron Sidhu, Ana Hoffman Saez, Stacey Brown.

In July Aston Medical School joined a public art trail across Birmingham with its very own bear sculpture (X-ray Ed). The event was in aid of Birmingham Children’s Hospital.

02. Scholarships Reception

07

Villa Park played host to our International Scholarships Reception in January, with students presented their prizes by the Vice-Chancellor.

Pictured (left to right): Hawra Al Yousef, Falooh Almarri, Professor Alec Cameron and Housam Bukhari.

03. COBRAS Reunion In March the COBRAS 1960s Club had their 18th reunion in Stratfordupon-Avon. Pictured: Mike Oglesby, David Chapman, Ollie Mclaren, Colin Shurrock, Jerry Long, Keith Kerton, John Martin and John Butler.

04. Jill Poole Scholarship

06

Student Kirandip Kaur (pictured with Jill’s family) received a scholarship in memory of the late Professor Jill Poole, Deputy Dean and Head of Law at Aston Business School.

05. Service of Thanksgiving Aston’s new Vice-Chancellor, Professor Alec Cameron (centre), mingled with colleagues outside St Philip’s Cathedral, Birmingham, last September following a ceremony to mark 50 years since the University’s original service of dedication.

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07. Professor David Bailey Lecture In March Professor David Bailey (right, with the Executive Dean of Aston Business School, Professor George Feiger) gave his inaugural lecture on Brexit and the car industry.

08. Ad Eundem degrees awarded Three diploma-holders from the College of Advanced Technology had their qualifications converted into a full Aston degree in March. Pictured from left (at the back): Brian Cooper, Roy Mardon and Timothy Wright.

09. Mechanical Engineering Reunion Graduates from the class of 1976 Mechanical Engineering thin sandwich course returned to Aston in October for a 40th anniversary reunion and tour. Pictured (left to right): Dave Marjoram, Geoff Harrison, Paul Quemby, Trevor Leake, Adrian Chettle, Andy Stott and Steve Collett.

MEET THE EXEC

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

Meet the Exec Professor Alec Cameron reflects on his career journey, which has taken him from Perth to Birmingham, and explains how he wants to build on Aston University’s strengths in his role as ViceChancellor.

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MEET THE EXEC

AiT: You were previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the University of Western Australia. What led to you to make such a major life and career change, moving to the UK? AC: Firstly, the opportunity to lead an outstanding university such as Aston. That has been an aspiration for a while. At the same time, my wife and I were in a fortunate position in terms of having the freedom.

We had the prior experience of living and working in the UK 30 years ago, when we were starting out in life together, and now we’ve brought up our family - who have gone to university and had jobs and left home - so we’re free to pursue international opportunities. We’re thrilled to have the chance to come to the UK, and Birmingham, and to have the opportunity at Aston.

AiT: How are you coping with the British weather?

AC: Having come most recently from Perth where the weather, even by Australian standards, is very hot and dry, people say to me “Why on earth would you come to the UK for the weather?” and I assure them I

So technology and applied knowledge is part of the DNA of Aston, and, in my view, will continue to be in the future.

The other important point is that Aston is a progressive and innovative university.

It’s difficult to claim to be an innovative university today without having some story about the ways in which educational technology contributes to the experience of our students. And that says something about our delivery; it says something about the technology support for learning; it says something about the online elements of our programmes. So technology for me is both about what we teach and how we teach it.

Technology also gives us the opportunity to be more international in our activity, whether that’s through international research collaborations or the delivery of education to students who are offshore.

I think one of the greatest obstacles for people participating in postgraduate education, for example, is their ability to actually come to a university campus. Aston has been fantastic through its widening participation programmes - bringing young people into undergraduate degrees from

It’s difficult to claim to be an innovative university today without having some story about the ways in which educational technology contributes to the experience of our students. didn’t come for that reason! It’s something that ultimately doesn’t detract from the experience and is part of living in the UK. AiT: Looking at your CV I was struck by your academic interest in technology. How are you bringing technology into your plans for Aston?

AC: You don’t need to read a lot of Aston’s history to realise that it started life as a technical college and many of our courses still demonstrate that practicality, if you think of the focus we have on engineering and applied science, life and health sciences, and even, in some sense, business, which has always been an applied discipline.

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communities which haven’t previously been participants in higher education - and I think what technology enables us to do is further expand that activity. People looking for postgraduate education are often in employment, they’ve got families, they’ve got travel responsibilities and we need to be flexible in terms of how we bring education to them. Technology is part of that solution.

AiT: Since your appointment you’ve been travelling to meet alumni in the UK and abroad. What has been your experience, so far, of meeting them?

MEET THE EXEC

AC: For me, one of the most gratifying things about coming to Aston has been the positive view of so many of the Aston stakeholders with regard to the University. We have a very enthusiastic student body; we have staff who are very committed to the institution, and, in my dealings with alumni, there have been so many great stories that they’re able to bring - both about their Aston experience and how their careers have evolved and developed. Many are generous in attributing some of their success to the education they received here and are willing to help us perpetuate what we did for them for the next generation of students.

AiT: The University of Western Australia recently raised a gift of $65million from Nicola and Andrew Forrest. Why is securing charitable gifts important to universities?

AC: Obviously that was a massive gift, and the University of Western Australia is in the fortunate situation of being the established university in the part of Australia where the largest amount of wealth has been generated recently. The Forrests, who are iron-ore magnates, are very loyal to the state and UWA benefitted from that. But back to your question… the reality is that the funding which universities receive from the Government covers

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

the existing operations; in other words, what we undertake in terms of teaching, the current research activity, and all the costs associated with running a community of a significant size and complexity.

But if we’ve got new ideas and new innovations - new centres or institutes or programmes that we want to commence - finding the income to support those activities - and usually, even more critically, finding the capital to support the new facilities and infrastructure - is difficult from the existing budget. Philanthropy can provide us with the capacity to go beyond what we are today.

The other thing I’d say, particularly in the context of Aston, is the pride that we take in the widening participation agenda. Once again, we receive funding that enables us to provide programmes and services, but many of our students are coming from circumstances where there’s not a lot of money to provide support for living costs and all the other expenditure associated with attendance at university. So the capacity for us to provide financial support to these students via philanthropic gifts is really important. It enables them to support themselves while they get the life-transforming experience that we intend to continue to provide at Aston.

VC Insight Professor Alec Cameron took over from Julia King DBE FREng, the Baroness Brown of Cambridge, as Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive of Aston University in September 2016. He previously held the position of Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) at the University of Western Australia. Prior to that he was Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Resources and Infrastructure) at UNSW, as well as holding several senior corporate positions in the IT and telecommunications industry. A Rhodes Scholar, Professor Cameron holds a Bachelor of Science degree and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering with First Class Honours. He also holds a University Medal from the University of Sydney, a Doctor of Philosophy degree in robotics from Oxford University, and a Master of Science degree in the Management of Technology from Polytechnic Institute, New York University.

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AiT: A key part of Aston’s 2020 strategy is to be the UK’s leading university for business, enterprise and the professions. How is Aston addressing this goal at the moment?

AC: One of the things that differentiates Aston from other universities is its focus on understanding and meeting the needs of what I call the ‘business community’. In my view the most important benefit that we provide students, beyond their education, is the opportunity to position themselves to secure a great job. That’s also a great benefit for employers because they know that Aston graduates come to them career-ready. It also informs what we do in research. Aston’s track record is particularly strong when we look at the impact of the research - its ability to make a difference in the real world, with business; with the professions; with the community. If I was to look at new developments, I would say that degree apprenticeships [see p. 22] is an area where Aston currently leads the UK sector. We had our first cohort of degree-apprenticeship students graduate this summer from a joint programme with Capgemini. This is evidence of Aston understanding business needs and putting together programmes that are beneficial to employers, to our students, and to the University.

FEATURE

MY YEAR IN PROFESSIONAL CYCLING 30TH JANUARY Zolder, Belgium On January 30th 2016 the world of professional cycling was rocked by the emergence of a massive controversy when a bicycle equipped with a concealed electric motor was found at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships in Zolder, Belgium. Aston academic Dr Mark Prince describes how he found himself in the middle of a media storm.

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FEATURE

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

I

first learned of this discovery when I received a message on my phone which simply read “We’ve found one!” It was sent to me by a colleague with whom I had developed the system being discussed on media outlets as ‘the mysterious blue tablet’. He was in Belgium overseeing its first field test, and needless to say it was a very successful test.

In January 2016, there was the discovery of the use of an electric motor within a bicycle and the concept of motor doping was officially no longer the stuff of rumour or science fiction.

The Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), the world governing body responsible for the regulation of all competitive cycling events, coined the name ‘technological fraud’ for this new type of sporting malpractice. The first identification of this was made in a muddy Belgian field by UCI commissaires using a new detection technology developed by a team of British engineers, including myself.

Immediately there was a media frenzy with experts from all sectors of the cycling world speculating on what had occurred. What would happen to the team and rider involved?

What does this mean for the sport? How widespread could this problem be? There had been rumours that this could have been going on. The UCI had been checking for it since early 2015, but now that it had been found out to be a reality there were understandable concerns around the penetration of this problem into professional cycling. Soon after the questions turned more scientific. How did the UCI find the bike with the hidden motor?

What technology were the commissaires using to check for motors and could it be beaten?

So began an exciting year of cycling press media events, meetings with bicycle manufacturers, technical discussions with the UCI and many trips to Switzerland to refine the system and work to secure the reputation of professional sport. Whilst I was teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students, marking exam papers and attending meetings I was simultaneously at the centre of a media storm which continually whirled and whipped as the cycling calendar rolled on.

how the system could be deployed within a race environment, coupled with the limitations of the physics. Having looked at how various approaches to detecting hidden motor technologies could be defeated we converged on a shortlist of techniques and tried them out. The first on the list was thermal imaging, which sadly fell foul of basic physics, through the regulatory nightmare of x-ray testing, and many others, until we arrived at the method used today - a method that allows a bike to be tested within 15 seconds.

The method has been used to examine more than

36,000 racing bicycles

The early development process began by considering the needs of the UCI, including

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The process is elegantly simple. It relies upon monitoring the dynamic interaction between magnetic fields. If there is a motor, any shielding which may conceal a motor, or the components of a gearbox or electrical power supply, then the system will see it. After the world had seen the system in operation I found myself facing a number of unexpected challenges. As an educator I found it difficult to resist correcting those speculating on how it might work. I tried to avoid becoming embroiled in the storm of misinformation in the media with regards to the technologies that had already been disproved, and the fictional mechanisms that could defeat it.

FEATURE

The method has been deployed at the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games

Allows a bike to be tested within 15 seconds So here I am, a year on, and looking back it still feels unreal. It is incredible to think that a system I had helped develop has since been used to examine more than 36,000 racing bicycles, and has been deployed at the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Tour De France, Giro D’Italia, Doha, Tour Down Under… in fact every major cycling event.

Although my teaching responsibilities at Aston kept my personal carbon footprint to a minimum, the experience has nonetheless been invaluable and has provided me with a vast education in new areas I never thought I’d find myself in - and a great opportunity to exercise my somewhat rusty French and Dutch language skills.

A university can be a very surprising place to work sometimes, with as many opportunities to grow and learn for staff as there are for students, and with projects that have real impact on a truly global stage.

“

In January 2016, there was the discovery of the use of an electric motor within a bicycle and the concept of motor doping was officially no longer the stuff of rumour or science fiction.

”

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Dr Mark Prince is a Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering and Design and a member of the Aston Materials Research Institute with a specialism in microsystems and 3D printing. As well as his work defeating technological fraud in professional cycling, he is involved in researching medical technologies and tools for surgery, particularly in ear, nose and throat, and acoustic particle manipulation for microfluidics.

COVER STORY

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

INSIDE THE SECRET STATE How an expert in conflict resolution at Aston University ended up in one of North Korea’s biggest sporting events.

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COVER STORY

W

hen I go to yoga and look down at my trainers I think ‘Yeah, I wore these to run in the streets of Pyongyang’,” says Dr Virginie Grzelczyk with an air of disbelief. She is sitting in her office on a sunny afternoon, her desk flanked by two full-sized Korean flags (North and South). On the wall there is a marathon runner’s number and some Korean airline tickets in a frame; the shelves are dotted with what look like LEGO models, but on closer inspection prove to be the work of a Korean competitor (unlike any LEGO battleship you might see, the Korean ones are bristling with toy guns).

A Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Aston University, Dr Grzelczyk is an expert on Northeast Asia. Her recent book, North Korea’s New Diplomacy: Challenging Political Isolation in the 21st Century, looks at new patterns of interaction between North Korea and the international community and aims to demolish a few myths about the ‘secret state’. It is not possible to visit North Korea as a researcher unless you are a guest of the state, and that brings its own challenges, such as having your work vetted by the Government. However, in 2015 Dr Grzelczyk spotted an opportunity.

Every year North Korea hosts an international marathon to coincide with the anniversary of Kim Il-sung’s birth. In 2015 it extended the invitation to amateur runners, so Dr Grzelczyk - not usually a runner - forced herself into training and entered the 10km race. She did not hide her affiliation with Aston University or her research interests, believing it was better to be transparent in her dealings with the authorities, but she was curious to see how the country would cope with an influx outsiders. Before long she was at Birmingham Airport waiting to take a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt; from there she would take a flight to Beijing, and from Beijing, another flight to the North Korean capital of Pyongyang.

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COVER STORY

Dr Grzelczyk and some of her photographs from the trip

Dr Grzelczyk’s interest in North Korea (what she jokingly calls her “obsession”) happened almost by chance while she was a student in her native France. She was given the opportunity to visit South Korea on a student exchange and it was there that she started to study International Relations. She stayed in South Korea to study a Masters in Diplomacy, where she explored conflict and security, before moving to the United States to work on conflict resolution at the University of Maryland. It was here that she started to look at North Korea from a new perspective. “Essentially I was trying to see if there was a North Korean negotiation strategy and whether we could have more co-operative outcomes. That was in 2006. I finished my PhD even before North Korea tested its first nuclear weapon.”

When I go to yoga and look down at my trainers I think ‘Yeah, I wore these to run in the streets of Pyongyang’

Just over ten years later and North Korea is well known for its provocative missile tests, as well as for its enigmatic figurehead Kim Jong-un, Supreme Leader of the self-styled Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Following the election of Donald Trump, North Korea tested a long-range rocket weapon and has conducted many missile launches in defiance of UN sanctions; this is not just a threat but a method of communication with the outside world.

North Korea has long dabbled in chemical and biological weapons, too, such as the VX nerve agent used to murder the Leader’s half-brother Kim Jong-nam last February (although North Korea is suspected of carrying out the attack, solid proof is still to emerge). In many ways, things have changed, but also stayed the same - the questions that Dr Grzelczyk was asking in

2006 are still vital, and we still do not know if cooperation is possible. As she says in her book, after a 30-year process of colonization by the Japanese, a partition, and a bitter war, the world in which a 21st-century North Korea operates is framed by its antagonists (US, Japan), its ideological neighbours (China, Russia and the Communist world), and its significant other and brother-in-arms, South Korea. “It’s almost the perfect political science experiment,” she tells me, not entirely seriously. “You take one country, with one history; you split it in half, and then you put a completely different political and economic system in each half. Then you see what happens.” What has happened in the South is well documented, but the mystique of the North - the so-called ‘rogue state’ - has made it a constant target of media speculation.

The result, says Dr Grzelczyk, has been the development of unhelpful myths - that North Korea is crazy; that is about to collapse; that it is impossible to find information about it.

“There is a lot being talked about in the media but not much is being added to the table.

Saying that North Korea is crazy is a dangerous proposition because it means we are treating them as special, and we are not engaging with them.

If they are going to collapse, we don’t need to think about their future because they don’t have one. And if we can’t find any information about North Korea, how do we know that they are crazy and about to collapse? In a way I think we need to go deeper.

Why are we using those particular words? Is it actually helping anyone?”

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COVER STORY

In fact, despite sanctions from the UN Security Council - which prevent exports of coal and which also block large monetary transactions - North Korea’s economy seems to be picking up: an issue that the “collapse” narrative has led many to ignore. One of North Korea’s strategies to raise revenue has been to send its construction workers abroad (to Qatar, for example, to help with preparations for the 2022 World Cup); wages are paid directly to the State in foreign currency, which gets around some of the sanctions. Another activity - recently blocked by fresh sanctions - has been the sale of large Soviet-style monuments to African states. A third is tourism. In 2014 North Korea launched a ski resort, Masikryong, which, according to an announcement by the DPRK Ministry of Sports, was part of a drive to “make people not only possess strong physiques and sound mentality, but also enjoy their sports and cultural lives” - and, of course, to bring in money.

The Pyongyang Marathon is a similar example of sports tourism, which Dr Grzelczyk attended through the official commercial partner, Koryo Tours. The experience was fascinating, often unnerving, but did not, she says, change her ideas about the country she has been studying for so long.

“There are guides, actually minders, everywhere.

You can’t do anything by yourself; you can’t leave the hotel except to go down to the parking lot.

The interesting thing is that you run in the city and you’re pretty much on your own during the race. There was this sense of confusion since everyone finished at a different time, and the finish line for the 10k was just outside of the stadium. They take you to the statues [in

Kim Il-sung Square]. The media talk of being forced to pay your respects, but it’s like going to someone’s funeral when you’re not religious.

You go with it.

“So we’ve got this Catch 22 of a country trying to grapple with development and attracting outsiders. They have found ways to generate cash and they are not doing it alone. But we must not forget that it’s a horrible regime people are being sacrificed for the survival of the elite. I don’t want this to be North Korea seen through rosy glasses. The key thing for a researcher is that, when you’re there, nobody infiltrates your mind. You remain alert and that’s very important.”

Dr Virginie Grzelczyk joined the Department of Languages & Social Sciences at Aston University in 2013. Prior to coming to the United Kingdom, she held appointments at George Washington University and Lafayette College in the United States, and at Victoria University in New Zealand.

Her new book “North Korea’s New Diplomacy: Challenging Political Isolation in the 21st Century” (Palgrave Macmillan) is available now.

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DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

ASTON LEADS THE WAY WITH DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS This summer there was a new kind of graduate at Aston’s degree ceremonies. In July 2017 Aston University produced the country’s very first cohort of degree apprentices. This new scheme was introduced on the recommendation of the 2012 Richard Review, which evaluated apprenticeships as a way of addressing the UK skills gap. It has long been known that certain sectors are struggling to find enough workers with the right skills, and that employers are also investing less in training. Traditional graduates are not always well equipped to fill these skills gaps since they lack experience of employment, so the answer is to find ways that people can learn ‘on the job’. With its integrated placement year, Aston has already addressed part of the problem, but degree apprenticeships are taking things a step further.

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DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS

“

Up to

100%

Degree apprenticeships are delivering value across the board, they’re not just about bringing in apprentices, they also help us to develop really strong strategic partnerships with employers.”

of apprentice training costs will be covered by the Government.

Dr Goldingay, Co-director of Digital & Technology Solutions

WHAT ARE DEGREE APPRENTICESHIPS?

THE ASTON MODEL

Dr Harry Goldingay, a Lecturer in Computer Science who co-directs the degree apprenticeship in Digital & Technology Solutions, stresses that these qualifications come out of close partnerships between Aston and employers. “Employers and universities jointly recruit students to start a degree programme at the same time they start employment. At the end, the student graduates with a Level 6 qualification which is awarded by Aston University, so has the same quality as degrees that we would award through a more traditional route.” Crucially, employers help to shape the courses in close consultation with academics, ensuring that they meet contemporary business needs, as well as fulfil standards set by the Richard Review.

Aston’s model for degree apprenticeships is built around blended learning. Apprentices come onto campus for short periods of time, around once every three months, and the remainder of the delivery takes place through distance learning - recorded lectures, webinars and through online support. Unlike day-release students, who need to be close to their place of work, this gives the programmes national reach. “We run two programmes at the moment, Digital & Technology Solutions - this was the first degreeapprenticeship programme in the UK to launch - and Aston Business School is running a chartered management degree apprenticeship. We’re working with a range of employers including Capgemini, Microsoft, HMRC and local companies too.” The next wave of courses will cover public services, including healthcare, education and training and social work - something that will bring huge benefits to students, as well as to the University and employers.

At the launch of the scheme, Aston was already working with far-sighted employers who realised the value of training their own apprentices, but as an additional incentive, the Government introduced a degree apprenticeship levy.

“The levy applies to employers with a pay-bill of over three million pounds. Those employers will be paying half a percent of their pay-bill into something called a Levy Pot which is to be used to fund training. If the employer doesn’t use that within two years then it reverts to Government. It’s estimated that this is going to push up the investment for apprenticeships to £2.5 billion approximately double its current level - by 2019/2020.”

If you would like to know more about degree apprenticeships at Aston please email apprenticeships@aston.ac.uk.

“Our experience with degree apprentices has so far been very positive,” adds Dr Goldingay. “We’ve been bringing in very able students that are engaged with the programmes and are also a real pleasure to work with. When I’m working on a project with a degree apprentice I don’t need to worry about a mastery of basic skills because they are professionals with extensive practical experience. That means it gives me even more time to spend focussing on the higher-level skills which are where the value of higher education really lies.” In the future, Aston intends to expand its provision to a variety of sectors with an offering that will eventually include Level 7 and 8 (i.e., Masters and PhD). “Degree apprenticeships are delivering value across the board, they’re not just about bringing in apprentices, they also help us to develop really strong strategic partnerships with employers,” says Dr Goldingay. “These apprenticeships can be the starting point for conversations which allow us to bring investment to our research; which allow us to give opportunities to our existing on-campus students and to really understand the needs of industry.

The scheme is also helping us to build on our reputation as the leading university for business in the UK.”

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ALUMNI IMPACT

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

P. 36

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ALUMNI IMPACT

P. 41

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HISTORY

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

Grand Designs It’s regenerated more times than Doctor Who, but what’s on the horizon for the city of Birmingham? Annette Rubery talks to alumnus and West Midlands Mayor, Andy Street, about the fall and rise of an irrepressible city.

B

irmingham has more miles of canal than Venice.

That phrase will be familiar to any Brummie even though, like many memorable pieces of marketing, the truth of the statement is questionable (the Council website wisely hedges its bets with “Birmingham has 35 miles of canals, which is said to be more than Venice”). However, Birmingham has something else in common with Venice which is much more important - both are cities founded on trade. It all started in the last quarter of the 18th century when a group of amateur experimenters, tradesmen and artisans formed The Lunar Society. Foremost amongst them was the ambitious toymaker Matthew Boulton whose Soho Manufactory became internationally famous for producing plated metalware, buttons and coins. Boulton and his business partner James Watt (of Steam Engine fame) are often pressed into service as the figureheads of Birmingham’s industrial might, but there are numerous others contributors to scientific knowledge: James Brindley, who built the canals; William Withering, discoverer of the first heart medicine; Joseph Priestley, the man who ‘isolated’ oxygen and invented soda water.

These stories have been told, of course, and often airbrushed (we are rarely reminded that Priestley was driven out of Birmingham by rioters, angered by his support of the French Revolution, for example). Yet, as Andy Street acknowledges, even with founders of this stature, Birmingham has always been bad at shaping a narrative about itself. Street, who holds an Honorary Doctorate from Aston University, fought and won a nail-biting campaign to become the region’s first Mayor last April, and before that served as Chair of the Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership. As the former Managing Director of John Lewis, he knows something about trade - and Birmingham: a city which he loves, despite its dislike of backward glances (the city motto, after all, is ‘Forward’).

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HISTORY

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HISTORY

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

“We probably reached our peak of relative industrial might in the 1960s,” he says (that ‘our’ is typical of his warmth towards the city). “At that time the Austin works at Longbridge employed over 60,000 people and there’s no question that the scale of industrial production here at the time was enormous but it gave a vulnerability to our economy.”

As he explains, by the 1970s the UK was engaged in a gradual process of deindustrialisation that hit Birmingham hard. Nevertheless, the city retained its characteristically upbeat attitude, as showcased in a 1960s promotional film voiced by Telly Savalas featuring a city bristling with concrete and cement. “You feel as if you’ve been projected into the 21st-century,” Savalas says at one point, speaking from a safe distance in his Los Angeles recording studio. The optimism, however, was real. “That’s how we portrayed ourselves to the world, but what actually happened was a challenging economic performance.”

Street paints a grim picture of Birmingham’s employment figures, which declined from the early 1970s, and kept doing so, right through the 1990s to the early 2000s - a period when the rest of Britain enjoyed relative prosperity.

The civic response, though, was suitably muscular. The canal at Brindleyplace was redeveloped and in its wake came Symphony Hall and the International Convention Centre. Street is evangelical about the power of retail to transform cities: “In 2003 we saw Selfridges and the rest of the new Bullring development open, and they played their part in the regeneration of the city but we were in a challenging position at the back end of what should have been a boom period, up to 2007.” It must have been no small frustration for Brummies to discover that, despite their best efforts, Londoners still associated their city with Spaghetti Junction, but in their cheerful way they embraced the clichés and did what came naturally: they put the traffic interchange on postcards and mugs and sold them to tourists.

That was then; this is now. Street is ebullient about the city’s prospects, talking of a Birmingham “Renaissance” which began with a £1 billion investment into New Street Station (now Grand Central Station) and the tram network, and is continuing with the new Paradise development.

the Library of Birmingham - was opened in 2013: a gigantic metal weddingcake of a building in a style known as Postmodern High-Tech.

Andy Sreet, West Midlands Mayor

At the time of writing, there is a crater in the ground where the old Birmingham Central Library stood - an iconic Brutalist structure by the architect John Madin, first opened in 1974 and famously dismissed by Prince Charles, who thought it looked like “a place where books are incinerated, not kept”. Last year it was finally sacrificed to the Brummie gods - the diggers and concrete-crushers that are a permanent feature of modern urban life. To some it was a sad goodbye, but the long-view of history has much to teach us, not least that Birmingham also knocked down its Victorian municipal Library, featuring a splendid clerestoried reading room, to make way for Madin’s inverted ziggurat. The replacement for Madin’s structure - the Library of Birmingham - was opened in 2013: a gigantic metal wedding-cake of a building in a style known as Postmodern High-Tech. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose as the French say.

But what of the new Paradise development which is springing up from the ashes of the old Central Library?

“You can decide whether it’s appropriately-named,” says Street dryly of the extensive building work, “but we believe that this is an enormous opportunity. First of all, HSBC are putting their retail headquarters here, right opposite Symphony Hall. This is an enormous coup for Birmingham. We are bringing the Midland Bank, founded in 1834, back to its original home.” He also mentions the Smithfield development, which is destined for the site that currently holds the Wholesale Markets. This, says Street, is “easily the biggest urban regeneration opportunity in any European city” and will hopefully become a major new public space for Birmingham. And then there’s HS2, with its terminal very close to Aston’s campus. “The simple fact is that Birmingham will be just 39 minutes from Euston. Critically, the whole lesson of history is that places that are close together will trade with one another.

This is an enormous economic advantage for us because Curzon Street station will eventually be at the heart of a new high-speed network for the whole country.”

Like Venice, Birmingham is having its own Renaissance.

But it’s newer, bigger and better - of course.

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INTERNSHIPS

MEET YOUR BUSINESS NEEDS RECRUIT OUR UNDERGRADUATES

Aston Alumni are recruiting Aston students for internships and placements across seven continents every year. The International Placements Programme has proved attractive to employers who, year-on-year, benefit from high-calibre candidates in a short-term, cost-effective way; in return they support student learning, with the placement counting for ten per cent of Aston’s degree classification.

Additionally, the Placements Team provides tailored support, including intercultural awareness sessions and a tuition fee waiver for overseas placements.

Alumnus Tom Horsey, CEO and founder of the Crazy4media Group, graduated from Aston University in Managerial and Administrative Studies in 1996. Crazy4media incorporates various digital marketing companies, based in Spain, and includes companies focused on online advertising, video influencer marketing and mobile infotainment services. Crazy4media company Checkealos runs a userexperience testing platform and has welcomed placement student Isoken Omusi-Ehue (pictured, centre) this year, who is studying Product Design and Management. “ We are always looking to employ Aston students who are excited by proactively solving problems, and who are internationally-focused and fast learners,” Tom explains. “It has been a great experience - we have found them to be business-minded with a very positive outlook. The gap between the university skillset and the needs of our business was breached very quickly and, as a result, they contributed at the same level as the very best within our team.”

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WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

Employers can advertise opportunities on the University jobs portal free of charge and receive a tailored shortlist of suitable candidates.

If you are interested in offering a placement or an internship please get in touch!

Carolina Salinas, Head of Placements at c.salinas@aston.ac.uk +44 (0)121 204 3818

r visit our website O www.aston.ac.uk/recruit

330

Number of students currently on a placement abroad

FEATURE

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

It may seem like the subject of dystopian science fiction, but Dr Diego Faria has a new ‘research assistant’ - a little humanoid robot.

THE FUTURE IS NAO

Dr Diego R. Faria joined the School of Engineering & Applied Science at Aston University as a Lecturer in Computer Science in July 2016.

He received his PhD in Electrical and Computer Engineering from the University of Coimbra, Portugal, in 2014.

Visit his website https://cs.aston.ac.uk/~fariad/ to watch videos of his NAO robot in action.

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Photography: Richard Battye

Developed by a French company, Aldebaran Robotics, these NAO robots have been put to some curious uses in the arts, service and healthcare industries. Dr Faria is using the NAO sensors (mainly the vision) combined with sensors in the environment and probabilistic pattern recognition techniques, to turn the robot into a useful companion for vulnerable groups. As an assistant to an elderly person, NAO can be programmed to recognise unusual behaviour, such as a fall, and to get help. NAO can also improve the quality of life for children with conditions such as autism. But it’s not all work, work, work; NAO’s hobbies include yoga and dancing - particularly to Michael Jackson’s Thriller.

FEATURE

Tactile sensor Menu to interact nonverbally with NAO

Eye-LEDs NAO uses colour codes to express emotions

Speakers (x2) NAO talks, prompts, plays music

Cameras (x2) NAO can learn to recognise faces, objects and pictures, and can imitate different motions

Microphones (x4) NAO detects the origin of the sound and can recognise voice commands

Sonars (x4) NAO can detect when something stands in front of him or there are obstacles

Prehensile hands To grasp small objects and work on object exchange and turn-taking Foot bumpers Another way to interact with NAO Battery NAO is free to navigate without being connected to a power source

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Wi-Fi Connection NAO can use information from the internet and can communicate with other computers / sensors

RESEARCH

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

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RESEARCH

THE INTERCULTURAL BRAIN Richard Crisp, founder of Aston Business School’s Behavioural Insights Group and author of The Social Brain, talks about the ground-breaking research that is helping us harness the power of intercultural communication.

I

n a globalised world, communication is key.

But as anyone who manages trans-global networks will tell you, when everyone is on a different cultural page, communication can be chaos. Well, the latest behavioural science is shining a light on why intercultural communication can be so difficult, and using this knowledge to develop new forms of training to sharpen intercultural skills.

It’s all to do with our ‘social brain’ - that part of us concerned with navigating the world of people and relationships. We use our social brains all the time, whether it’s interacting with our friends and family, presenting to the board or teaching a class.

Even when we’re on our own, our hopes, fears, and aspirations are framed by the people we know, respect, love or hate.

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RESEARCH

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

Now, in our home culture, the job of navigating this world is easy. We’ve had years to learn a range of behavioural ‘scripts’ to fit any social situation, from business etiquette to queueing to ordering food in a restaurant. These scripts are like ‘muscle memory’, well-learned behavioural plans that automatically kick in on familiar territory.

The problem with scripts is that if we’re not careful, we end up living life in a little loop, never deviating from what we know.

And just like spending too much time on the sofa, if we rely too much on scripts, we’ll slowly become less (mentally) agile.

to find a solution. This relationship between intercultural experience and problem-solving is now rapidly gaining support in the field. There’s a well-known adage that ‘travel broadens the mind’, well, the latest science is showing this adage to be true. Crossing cultural boundaries can train the brain in new ways of thinking.

You can even feel it happening. That slightly awkward feeling you get when meeting someone from a different culture for the first time - that’s your brain having to work twice as hard because it can’t rely on its usual (social interaction) script. I recall having to carry out a series of business meetings in Toyko a few

The process of taking on another culture’s perspective and making compromises literally gives the brain a ‘work out’.

This is where travel comes in. I’m not talking about your basic package holiday (enjoyable as that may be). I’m talking about deep, immersive trips - placements, exchanges or sabbaticals - that really challenge you, and force you to take another look at norms, customs and stereotypes. Now this process is hard, because it cuts right to the core of those scripts you’ve spent years cultivating.

But research is showing us that it’s precisely because it’s hard work that it can afford tremendous benefits. The process of taking on another culture’s perspective, seeing things from a different cultural standpoint, making compromises and putting aside existing stereotypes literally gives the brain a ‘work out’.

Just like an athlete training themselves to run faster, with some practice the brain will work better, faster and more efficiently. Travelling, living and working in a difficult culture is like adopting a daily exercise regime – it constantly challenges our cultural expectations, and keeps the brain fit, agile and adaptive.

Evidence from behavioural science is revealing how these benefits accrue. For instance, in one recent study participants were asked to solve a business negotiation problem. The researchers found that it was those people who had spent an extended time abroad who were most likely - 34 -

years ago – I could feel the strain in my brain, having to remember not to extend my hand in each new meeting (and instead, bow). The science now tells me that the process was one of the best work-outs my brain could have had.

This research is also converging with emerging evidence for the benefits of diversity in company boardrooms. Diversity stimulates the social brain, and with this brings flexibility, fresh perspectives and the propensity to see things different from how they’ve been.

My own studies have found just this: Creativity, lateral thinking and problemsolving skills were found to be enhanced after challenging stereotypes. It seems that anything that forces a revision of our existing mental model of the world can, in the process, sharpen and strengthen our mental agility.

The challenge for behavioural scientists like me is to distill these insights into new forms of intercultural training - and we’re making great progress. For instance, we have shown that pre-trip training can encourage individuals to make the most of a foreign trip. Specifically, it can help people make a real connection with host culture counterparts, which constitutes exactly the type of immersive intercultural experience that yields the benefits outlined above. Furthermore, by isolating the precise

RESEARCH

form of intercultural experience that optimally boosts mental agility, we can devise, design and develop the tools needed to enhance our ability to connect across cultural divides.

All this suggests that behavioural science will have an increasingly important role to play as businesses, in particular, develop ever more expansive intercultural networks.

Indeed, advances in our understanding of the intercultural brain mean those difficult trans-global conference calls may soon be a thing of the past.

Professor Richard Crisp is a social psychologist specialising in the psychology of social influence and behaviour change. Between 2014-17 he was based at Aston Business School as a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Aston Behavioural Science Laboratory. He is now Head of the Department of Psychology at Durham University.

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AMERICAS FOUNDATION

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

ALUMNI ATLANTIC

The Aston University in Americas Foundation was set up to develop Aston’s alumni network and to help support students.

Director of Fundraising, Marc Hornby, caught up with its founders Farhan Sharaff and David McCollum in Manhattan, where he learnt about their journey to Aston and beyond.

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AMERICAS FOUNDATION

T

oday we have approximately 2,000 Aston alumni based in North America. With a rich culture of alumni engaging with their alma mater, Farhan and David have established the Aston University in Americas Foundation, which aims to develop the Aston alumni network, raise vital funds for students and key projects, and support students with work placements, mentoring and graduate career opportunities.

Farhan Sharaff graduated from Aston University in 1974 in Electrical Engineering and has a successful career in banking and asset management; he is currently Senior Managing Director of Guggenheim Partners in New York. David McCollum graduated from Aston in 1982 with a Combined Honours in Business and German and has recently joined Morgan Stanley in their Wealth Management team following a successful career in investment banking and asset management at Deutsche Bank and Insight Investment among others. Both Farhan and David have had very different career journeys, but have recently come together to lead Aston’s latest alumni initiative in the Americas.

Born in Kenya, Farhan moved to Pakistan when he was a teenager with his family.

From there he hitchhiked to Europe alone before joining Aston to study his degree in the early 1970s. Aston’s campus was quite a different place then compared to now, and Birmingham was really evolving as the city was becoming a melting-pot of nationalities. David arrived at Aston from Belfast in 1978 at a time when Aston Business School was establishing itself as one of the leading places of study for commerce and industry - despite one of the classrooms being above a furniture shop.

After graduating, both David and Farhan made their way to the United States through opportunities at their respective companies and have worked in New York for almost

30 years. However, it wasn’t until recently that Farhan and David reconnected with Aston University. The Development & Alumni Relations team, with support from Dr Colin Goddard, scheduled a trip to America in 2015. Colin, who graduated with a PhD in Pharmacology in 1985, volunteered a week of his time to help reach out to alumni with events in Florida, Atlanta, New York and Boston. It was in New York that Farhan and David stepped forward and said they would like to help establish an alumni community in the United States and Americas.

Number of alumni who have attended AUAF events

250

The Aston University in Americas Foundation was formalised at the end of 2016 and we’re delighted to say that we have raised almost $40,000 from donors in Florida, New York, Boston, Southern California, Northern California and Ontario. In May the Foundation launched the professional mentoring scheme, where alumni from across North and South America are paired with Aston students to help them gain insight into professional life. This support is already making an impact on the lives of Aston students and I hope we can achieve so much more in the years to come.

20

If you have over three years’ work experience and would like to develop your networks and mentor a student, please get in touch for more information.

Number of events held as part of the AUAF

alumniinfo@aston.ac.uk www.aston.ac.uk/AUAF

Number of scholarships raised by the AUAF

14

Join the conversation with fellow graduates based in the US on LinkedIn www.linkedin.com/groups/8440969 We also hope you can attend one of our upcoming events in Canada and America. www.aston.ac.uk/alumni/events

Amount of money already raised

$40,000 - 37 -

How to…

DO A SIX-METRE FIREWALK Alumnus David Willey was first inspired to firewalk after reading an article in the March 1989 issue of Physics Teacher magazine. Since then he has walked on about 20 different fires as well as broken a firewalking world-record.

• Three pairs of safety glasses • Three pairs of leather work gloves • Rake with an approximately two metre handle • Shovel with an approx two metre handle • Piece of wet carpet approx one metre x one metre • Dry towel • Supply of wood*, approx one cord (about two cubic metres) *NO NAILS!

• Scrap paper, (approx six thick Sunday papers or equivalent amount) • Approx 10 litres of vegetable oil, kerosene or lamp oil.

NOT PETROL! • Readily available supply of water for wetting down the surrounding area and extinguishing the fire (i.e., a hose) • A cigarette lighter or, better, a hand-held propane torch.

Illustration: Heather Horsley

MATERIALS REQUIRED

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HOW TO

You will need at least one helper and more if there will be any kind of audience, or you intend to make a video. If you are doing the demonstration on a school campus then security may help with the crowd and safety in general.

Good helpers make all the difference.

SITE CONSIDERATIONS

Short grass or bare earth is a good surface on which to put the bed; clear stones from the area. Beware of grass fires. Do not put the coals directly onto concrete, soft sand nor macadam.

A layer of sod at least 15 cm deep can be used on top of these surfaces if necessary. You need a fairly level site and a cleared area of at least 35 metres × 20 metres, plus room for any camera crew or crowd that is anticipated. The wood should be like “fireplace logs”, i.e., they should be approximately 80 cm × 15 cm × 15 cm.

The wood is stacked in an open-structured six-metre-long pyre and is burned in place.

The spaces between the logs are stuffed with paper. Newspaper or paper from a shredder work well. Oil is then poured over the pyre.

Wet down a two-metre-wide strip around the stacked wood. When all the materials are on site, it takes approximately two hours to stack and another three hours to burn the wood. It is the fire - not the walker - that decides when a walk may be made safely, in that different woods and different sized logs burn at different rates (hence the approximate times that are given). A sheltered place is necessary, think about the wind. Cherry is my favorite wood for a firewalk, red cedar is good, as is sycamore, chestnut, Douglas fir, and elm. I try to avoid white oak, locust or cedar as they burn very hot. Softwoods should generally be avoided as they do not produce coals, just ash.

If you are going to record the event on video, give thought to lighting and where the crowd will be. A sheltered place is desirable.

SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

Make sure you don’t have a medical condition that precludes it, such as diabetes. Have someone present who knows first aid. The bed should be about ten centimetres deep, the idea is to walk on the coals, not in them. A five-metre-long bed will let you take four steps, longer is easily possible, it just takes more wood.

Dry your feet before walking. The Leidenfrost effect does not seem important and wet feet sometimes get coals stuck to them. Coals sticking to feet seem to be the main cause of injury, if only a few steps are quickly taken.

Hosing the feet down after walking on the coals works as well, if not better, than stepping onto wet carpet.

Wait a few minutes between spreading out the coals and walking on them. Do not run, walk briskly. Walking across the bed helps to build confidence. If you allow other people to participate, have them sign waivers; I make no promises as to whether they will do you any good in court, however. Remember to put the fire out before you leave.

David Willey got his BSc in Applied Physics from Aston University in 1969, a Cert. Ed. from Birmingham University in 1971 and a Masters in Physics from the Ohio State University in 1974. He joined the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown’s Physics Department in 1975 as an Instructor, where he won several awards, including the President’s Excellence in Teaching Award. After breaking a world record for the longest firewalk (165 yards) he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno”, America’s top late-night show. He retired recently from his university position but still firewalks. www.youtube.com/user/daiwilley

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WIDENING PARTICIPATION

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

Seventeen-year-old student Dean Elsmore, from Wednesbury, was motivated to pursue a medical career after seeing his father being treated for almost 70 per cent burns from an industrial accident in 1993. He said: “Maybe I can go on and help others because what the people have done for my dad has changed his life.”

The criteria for joining the programme includes being eligible for free school meals, from a family where neither parent has been to university, or being from a local authority care background. The students will also receive guidance and support to help them through the university application process and interviews, plus an intensive A Level revision “boot camp”.

PATHWAY TO HEALTHCARE A

n independent regulatory body for fair access to higher education in England has shown that only four per cent of medical students are from disadvantaged backgrounds (Office for Fair Access, 2015), a startling fact that Aston Medical School is trying to change through the innovative Pathway to Healthcare programme.

The programme, which was launched in November 2016, is available to 16 and 17-yearolds from disadvantaged circumstances and areas across Birmingham, Solihull and the Black Country. It was made possible thanks to a generous donation by local entrepreneur and former Chairman of Aston Villa Football Club, Sir Doug Ellis, and now has over 100 students enrolled. During the two-year programme the students will benefit from experiences including medical taster days, workshops and research projects, as well as work placements and a mentor from within the healthcare sector.

Those students meeting the admissions criteria at the end of the programme will be able to apply for a part scholarship place at the new Aston Medical School, or could opt for another healthcare degree course in a wide range of subjects such as Pharmacy, Optometry, Audiology and Biomedical Sciences. They would also be actively encouraged to apply to other medical schools.

Professor Asif Ahmed, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Health at Aston University and Executive Dean of the Aston Medical School, said “I am hugely excited at the prospect of delivering a medical school that inspires young people in local schools.” The scheme is also strongly supported by local NHS trusts. Dr Francisco Leyva, consultant cardiologist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham, said: “The QE is totally behind this fantastic programme. It’s clear the students are engaged, inquiring and very bright.”

Sir Doug Ellis, who is sponsoring the initial three years of the programme, said: “I wanted to level the playing field for access into medical education. Those students with a passion and ability to study medicine should be fostered and supported - irrespective of their background.”

To find out more visit www.aston.ac.uk/ pathway To support projects at Aston University visit www.aston.ac.uk/ pioneers - 40 -

Currently only students successfully completing the Sir Doug Ellis Pathway to Healthcare programme can apply for the UK places available at Aston Medical School in 2018. No other UK student will be eligible.

On acceptance, students will spend five years studying for the MBChB undergraduate degree in medicine. The next cohort of students will begin the programme in September 2017.

ENERGY HARVEST

INDIA’S BURNING ISSUE T

he Punjab is known as the ‘breadbasket of India’ due to its output of staple produce such as rice and wheat. Every year, after the crop has been harvested, the farmers from this northern region of India burn millions of tonnes of the remaining stalks, stubble and other crop residue. The smoke and fumes produced from this have such an impact on health and society that it makes headline news around the world. In November, at the end of the harvest, NASA publishes satellite photographs showing the extent of the burning, the fumes from which are blown across the region and down towards Delhi.

The farmers in the area are often smallholders and produce 20 per cent of India’s rice and 40 per cent of its wheat, made in a crop rotation in the same fields. Whilst crop burning is illegal, the alternatives are often expensive or impractical and any delay in planting the next harvest can have a severe impact on their yield. The farmers have little choice but to make the rational decision to burn the crops, often in the fields in which they were grown.

Aston University working with partners in India is developing a technology, EnergyHarvest, which will help alleviate this problem. This practical solution provides the farmers with hands-on facilities which will allow them to process the crop residue into useful energy that the local community can use.

The process takes the paddy straw and compresses it into small pellets using technology normally used to produce animal feed. An oxygen-free heating process known as pyrolysis then converts these pellets into energy outputs: heat and “bio-char” - a form of charcoal.

There are many benefits from the pyrolysis process, including a fertiliser for the soil, energy for refrigeration for food, production of hot water or mechanical or electrical energy.

Having a range of uses for these pellets allows them to be more versatile and gives the local farmers and community the opportunity to use them as they require. When testing this process, the project was implemented in local villages and the energy that was produced proved to be very beneficial, providing electricity to local schools that were otherwise powerless.

The project, EnergyHarvest, was made possible by the support of The Oglesby Charitable Trust, established by Aston 1966 building graduate Dr Michael Oglesby, fertilizer company Coromandel International Limited, and other Indian partners. Dr Oglesby explained why he was happy to be part of this project: “EnergyHarvest is a real credit to Aston.

It’s very satisfying as a donor to participate in a project that has enormous potential to help alleviate a major source of global pollution. Aston is really making a difference with their practical, can-do approach.”

Aston University is also partnering with other Indian Institutions to continue the research into the possibilities for this product. At the Punjab Agricultural University there is a demonstration of the EnergyHarvest technology that local entrepreneurs and farmers can view, and a series of three-year randomised field trials of biochar application are underway.

The problem of Delhi’s air pollution won’t be improved with one solution, or overnight.

But this technology may help to resolve some of the issues and provide useful energy to the small-scale farmers in the Punjab.

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If you want get involved please contact development@aston.ac.uk or visit www.aston.ac.uk/ EnergyHarvest

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Where has life taken you since you’ve been away from Aston? We’d love to hear what you’ve been up to. Why not drop us an email at alumniinfo@ aston.ac.uk with your story and a photograph? The best will be included in the next edition of the magazine.

1960s Jim Perkins (BSc Physics, 1961) studied at Aston’s forerunner, the College of Technology, Birmingham, which at the time was offering external degrees via the University of London. He completed his degree (conferred by the University of London) and was subsequently made Associate of the College of Technology, Birmingham. He went on to a career in academic and industrial research, and industrial training. Now retired, he spends his time working for pensioners, reading, writing, gardening, walking at home and overseas, photographing and maintaining a personal web site (www.jimperkins.co.uk).

Alan Morley (BSc Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 1963) joined General Electric Company Plc in 1959 for a Graduate Engineering Sandwich Course at the College of Advanced Technology, Birmingham. Each year GEC provided six months of industrial hands-on experience. Alan specialised in computer circuits at Aston and moved in 1964 to English Electric computers.

He joined IBM in 1968 as a Systems Engineer to design and market complete systems. Alan was appointed Senior Consultant for the Finance Industry for Mainframe and component architectures.

In 1987 Alan designed many systems including a ‘low latency’ digital Trading System to replace video technology.

Other projects, when independent, included Virtual Management solution for Royal Bank of Scotland and a global Oracle database for Deutsche Bank.

1980s Chris Thomason (BSc Mechanical Engineering, 1980) spent two years in the UK automotive industry after graduating and then emigrated to South Africa where he spent time in the gold and platinum mining industries in senior management roles. He also spent a period running a gold mine in Mozambique in the middle of a civil war. He took a year off to complete an MBA at the University of Cape Town and thereafter he bought a struggling manufacturing business which he successfully turned around and sold four years later. He then emigrated again - to Australia - and spent seven years in Sydney as an innovation consultant before returning to the UK with his family in 2006. Chris would be keen to get back in touch with classmates and friends from the great years he spent at Aston. He can be contacted online via his company Ingenious Growth (www.ingeniousgrowth.com).

Surinderjeet Singh (Channi) Matharu (BSc Civil Engineering, 1983) has been based in Hong Kong since 1996 (with a break of eight years - two in India and six in the UK). He worked on a number of Megaprojects and is now about to embark on one of the largest infrastructure projects in Hong Kong the Third Runway System Project (HK$150 billion over the next eight years).

Steve Wharton (BSc French and German, 1985; PhD 1994) has been at the University of Bath since 1990 save for a sabbatical in 2005-2007 as national President of AUT/UCU. Appointed Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government in 2012 for services to French culture, he has been a member - 42 -

of the Board of the Trustee Company of the Universities Superannuation Scheme since September 2016. In his spare time he chairs the Board of the Bath Royal Literary and Scientific Institution, and is Honorary Vice Secretary of the Association for the Study of Modern and Contemporary France which held its 2016 Conference at Aston last September.

Professor Colin Coulson-Thomas (PhD Aston Business School, 1988) has become an Honorary Professor at the Aston India Foundation for Applied Research. His India-related roles include Director-General, IOD India, UK and Europe and the advisory board of Bridges of Sports. Colin leads the International Governance Initiative of the Order of St Lazarus, is Chancellor and Professorial Fellow at the School for the Creative Arts and Chair of the Risk and Audit Committee of United Learning. He has served on local, regional and national public sector boards and helped directors in over 40 countries to improve board and corporate performance. Author of over 60 books and reports, Colin has held professorial appointments in Europe, North and South America, Africa, the Middle East, India and China.

He was also educated at the London School of Economics, London Business School, UNISA and the Universities of Chicago and Southern California. He is a Fellow of seven chartered bodies and obtained first place prizes in the final exams of three professions.

Dr Martin J. Pitt (MPhil Chemical Engineering, 1989) is probably known to several generations of graduates as he was a technician in Chemical Engineering for 14 years, starting the process laboratory under Tony Bridgwater in N109 of the

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

old building, then moving to the current building and being responsible for the pilot plant. Having gained an MPhil by part-time research, he moved into the chemical industry, starting with R&D and eventually becoming a Plant Manager. He rose to Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE). He also gained a PhD and, for the last 30 years, has been teaching chemical engineering at universities until his retirement in August 2016.

1990s Sarah Birch (nee Price) (BSc Applied and Human Biology, 1993; PhD 1998) worked in academic research for four years, then moved into medical communications.

After ten years working in various agencies, she went freelance in 2013 and hasn’t looked back. She loves the work-life balance and the variety of projects. “It’s definitely the career for me, marrying my fascination with the human body and disease with my love of writing,” she says.

2000s Ernest Ogunleye (MSc Human Resources Management & Business, 2003) is the incoming President of the Human Resources Professionals Association in the Durham Region, Canada. He is the Owner and Principal Consultant at EON Performance Solutions (EONPS). EONPS specializes in Human Resources, Learning & Development and Management Consulting. Ernest has been passionate about HR for over 20 years and has had the good fortune as a HR professional to live and work in Toronto, Montreal and London. He has completed HR assignments of varying lengths in another 38 countries around the world (in

Africa, Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America). He has scaled peaks in the Himalayas and completed one business trip that took him around the world in 24 days! In Ernest’s travels, he has found HR does have a global impact and that many practices and policies are unsurprisingly the same. Ernest continues to work in the public, private and non-profit sectors.

Matthew Royle (BSc Business and Management, 2007) worked at Barratt Developments for five years in their Graduate scheme, however, his dream was to work in the Sports Industry.

For the last five years he has been working at adidas in their Football team across both Sales & Marketing.

Jonathan Williams (BSc Product Design and Management, 2010) moved into tech recruitment for a couple of years after graduating. A fortuitous meeting led him into the world of Luxury Travel Public Relations where, five years later, he was heading up a client portfolio of international hotel chains, luxury resorts, boutique properties and entrepreneurial personalities. After a short stint in one of the world’s leading PR, design and branding agencies, MSLGROUP (part of Publicis Groupe), he co-founded Peel+Williams in 2016, a communications and media relations partner to the luxury travel, hospitality and lifestyle sector, building creative communications solutions with a focus on digital, social and influence.

Ali-Reza Panjwani (BSc Marketing, 2011) returned to his placement year employer, Pinsent Masons LLP. After two years of working in the Legal Industry, he transitioned into the Banking sector to work for JP Morgan Chase & Co, in their Asset Management division.

In 2014, Ali not only completed his post graduate diploma, he also received the Bob Johnson Memorial Award for Outstanding Workplace Achievement. In 2016, the Firm sponsored Ali to relocate to its headquarters in New York, to support their Chief Operating Office. He was officially promoted to Vice President in January 2017 and subsequently became one of the youngest in the Firm’s history. A community man at heart, Ali continues to inspire young professionals in his role as an Aston University Career Champion and was recently a key speaker at a firm-wide Global Mobility event where he spoke about his own career journey and the importance of building your own brand. Ali currently resides in Manhattan, New York.

Read more entries for Where Are They Now? on the website: www.aston.ac.uk/class-notes

IN DETAIL

Aston Alumni Magazine — 2017

OUR NEW SUPPORTERS

In 2016, then Vice-Chancellor, Professor Julia King, the Baroness Brown of Cambridge, requested from Her Majesty’s College of Arms the favour of supporters to Aston University’s arms. This was duly granted and the Letters Patent was formally presented to Aston University by the York Herald, Michael Peter Desmond O’Donoghue Esq. Here is the complete achievement, showing the new supporters: a Canada goose and a red squirrel.

3.

3.

1.

2.

1. Goose The Canada goose is a recent connection that symbolises the family of geese living on the University campus.

2. Squirrel The squirrel is associated with Aston because it appears in the crest of the Aston Manor arms (the owners of Aston Manor were the Holte family and a squirrel’s nest is called a holt).

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3. Gorse The plant around the animals’ necks is gorse: a reference to the settlement of Gosta Green, where gorse bushes were once prolific.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

SIR DOUG ELLIS WOODCOCK SPORTS CENTRE

The original ‘Woodock Street Baths’ comprised a gala pool (built 1926) and a second pool (built 1902 – this one is still in use). During World War II the gala pool (pictured) was temporarily covered and turned into a rifle training range.

Aston University converted it into a sports hall in the 1980s.

The second pool was refurbished in 2011 as part of a £5million project to reconfigure Aston’s Sports Centre but original features, such as the historic changing cubicles, have been preserved.

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