West Magazine Autumn 2014

THE MAGAZINE FOR ALUMNI OF UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND

Alumnus Gerry Donnelly A Career Built On Solid Foundations / 12-13

New Corporate Strategy Principal Professor Craig Mahoney / 8-9 ISSUE 6 AUTUMN 14 Global Ambitions / 14-15 Stephen Hume Life Lived in Music / 6-7 Audrey Duckworth Benefits of a Career with Study / 20-21 Dementia Research / 10-11 PLUS WIN ONE OF 4 IPADS / 2 UNIVERSITY NEWS / 4 PG STUDY OPPORTUNITIES / BACK COVER

CONTENTS

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

A warm welcome to the sixth edition of “West”, the magazine to inspire alumni of University of the West of Scotland.

I am happy to report another successful year with the alumni database now reached over 27,000 records, establishing a worldwide community.

Membership of the Alumni Group on LinkedIn has also grown from around 600 members last year to over 950 members currently.

Donations to University activity reached over £110,000 in the last financial year to July 2014, see University News on Page 4 of this magazine.

The University continues to seek support for its activity from alumni. If you would like to “give back” to the University, whether you can help with providing careers advice, mentoring or work placements to our current students, or provide job opportunities to our graduates, then please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Alternatively, if you would like to make a financial donation to University activity, please do not hesitate to get in touch with me.

The University is continuing to develop and implement a strategy for Alumni Relations and Development. I look forward to another successful year, and wish you all a very successful and prosperous year ahead.

MAIN ARTICLES

Gerry Donnelly

Joanne Wilkinson

12–13

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Gerry Donnelly Successful Career Life-Changing Alumni Profile – Built on Solid Foundations Jason Fernandes Gerry Donnelly, Executive Vice President of American company, STV Inc. speaks of his successful career and job for life.

A Life Lived In Music Stephen Hume speaks of his successful career to date in the music industry. Pages 6-7

Alumnus Jason Fernandes, MBA, on singing, salsa dancing, Scotland and finding love in unexpected places.

Page 16 Industry and UWS: How Audrey’s Linked In Audrey Duckworth on the benefits of linking a career with further study.

Joanne’s Dream Career in Fashion Pages 20-21

Joanne Wilkinson’s way with words leads to dream job in fashion.

FEATURED ARTICLES Crawford Wilson Marketing Manager Alumni and Development T: +44 (0)141 848 3336 F: +44 (0)141 848 3333 E: alumni@uws.ac.uk

ISSUE 6 AUTUMN 14 PUBLISHED BY

ARTICLES & FEATURES

Alumni and Development External Engagement University of the West of Scotland Paisley Campus Paisley, Scotland PA1 2BE, UK

Olga Wojtas Ashley Lennon Joyce Henderson Dr Karen Watchman Dr Rodge Glass PHOTOGRAPHY Tim Morozzo Tommy Ga-Ken Wan Glasgow City Marketing Bureau Gordon Burniston DESIGN Freight Design, Glasgow

fsc logo University of the West of Scotland is a registered Scottish charity.

Charity number SC002520. This publication is available electronically and in alternative formats, if required.

2 / CONTENTS / UWS Alumni Magazine

New Corporate Strategy Principal Professor Craig Mahoney outlines his ambitions for UWS. Pages 8-9

Beyond 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games Leaving a Legacy?

Page 23

Research Article Dr Karen Watchman outlines latest research plans for Dementia.

Pages 10-11

Alumni Profiles Pages 5, 17, 18-19, 22

Global Ambitions Professor Jeanne Keay outlines her ambitious strategy for Internationalisation of UWS Page 14-15

University News Page 4 Postgraduate Study Opportunities Back Cover

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

Please use the Contact Details Sheet enclosed with this copy of the magazine, and return it in the Free Post envelope supplied.

All completed forms returned to the University by 5pm on Monday 2nd March, 2015, will be entered into our Free Prize Draw to win 1 of 4 iPads.

See www.uws.ac.uk/Alumni Competition Terms for full terms and conditions.

Best of Luck!

INSPIRING ALUMNI

JOANNE’S WAY WITH WORDS LEADS TO DREAM CAREER IN FASHION Ashley Lennon speaks to Joanne Wilkinson about her UWS degree and exciting career. Photography Tommy Ga-Ken Wan Joanne Wilkinson has always had a passion for words. By the time she left school, she already knew that her ideal job would involve two things – creativity and writing. Fourteen years on, this UWS graduate has a career that allows her to write for a living, and even better, to share her love of fashion with the world.

Joanne gained an HND Communication from Kilmarnock College in 2002, then keen to study further, entered the third year of the BA (Hons) Media, Theory and Production at the University’s Ayr Campus, which she chose because of its strong practical element. She says, “I wanted a course with a practical focus to help me to gain industry experience, and my UWS degree provided it in spades.”

Taking modules in advertising, broadcasting and the press, Joanne and her peers also benefited from media industry players coming to give talks. “We had speakers from advertising firms, marketing agencies and television,” Joanne says. “It helped us make sense of how the industry works together, as well as, giving us contacts and confidence.”

Those industry connections, coupled with Joanne’s go-getting attitude, meant that she made the most of her time at UWS to build up her work experience.

She explains, “I wanted to explore fashion journalism, so the course tutors put me in touch with the Fashion Editor at the Sunday Herald newspaper in Glasgow, and I got a placement there. I took part in two fashion shoots, right through from scouting stores for clothes samples, to working with the models and photographer, then deciding which photos to use in the final spreads.

It was a great insight into the varied role of a fashion editor, and it made me more confident going into other placements and into work.”

In her fourth year, Joanne chose to do her dissertation on gender politics and consumerism, exploring how designer fashion labels are used as a status symbol in music videos and song lyrics – and she gained the highest marks in her year.

After graduating with an Upper Second Class degree in 2004, Joanne secured a position as Assistant Web Editor for retailer, M&Co. Joanne’s role was to write copy promoting the firm’s teen fashion line, ‘Kylie’, which she enjoyed until the lure of the UK’s fashion capital took her to London, to work as Web Content Editor for Whistles. “Online retail was just taking off then and Whistles were launching their website,” Joanne says.

“I loved living and working in London, it was a great experience and taught me a lot about the fashion and ecommerce industry.”

In 2008, M&Co asked Joanne to head up their creative online presence and she is currently their Web Content Manager. Now, Joanne and her team are responsible for all online editorial content, as well as, email marketing campaigns, social media activity and the overall design of the M&Co site.

At a time when technology is revolutionising retail, it’s an exciting place to be. Joanne says, “The way we shop is changing rapidly.

More people are shopping for clothes on their mobiles and tablets, and sharing their buying decisions on social media.

Every week it seems there’s another new e-commerce platform or app to learn about.”

And such is Joanne’s passion for fashion that she doesn’t stop writing about clothes, when she leaves the office. In her spare time, Joanne can be found photographing, reviewing and writing for her blog www. myblondeambition.com So, what’s next? “Well, I’m happy to keep progressing in this field for now – things in online retail are changing so fast that it’s a great place to be.” Joanne pauses, then laughs. “And just like every writer, I have a dream to write that best-selling novel one day too.” Maybe she will. A debut, set in the Scottish fashion world, perhaps, with a little London style thrown in? It might just prove to be a page-turner. www.mandco.com

UWS Alumni Magazine / INSPIRING ALUMNI / 3

UNIVERSITY NEWS

Donor Makes Second Donation

Honorary Doctorate establishes Business School Enterprise Prize

Donor Les Hutchison has made another donation of £53,200 towards the Mechatronics programmes, on offer at the University’s Hamilton Campus. This second donation supports the new Honours degree programme, through the purchase of additional Mechatronics equipment.

The continued support by Mr Hutchison has enabled the growth of the engineering activity, at the Hamilton campus.

Over the last two years, he has donated over £150,000. Just over £130,000 of this donation has been used to purchase stateof-the-art machinery to enhance the learning experience of our students, and to provide the skills required by industry for the future.

The remaining £20,000 has been used to establish the annual ‘Hutchison Prize’ – awarded to the best student on the Mechatronics programmes, winning a trophy and a cash reward of £5,000, to assist the graduate with the development of their career.

Dr William Elder, OBE, based in California, USA, has donated £8,000 (£1,500 per annum over 5 years), towards a University Business School Enterprise Prize, awarded to the Best Student with an entrepreneurial idea with business potential.

Each year the University holds an Enterprise competition, across all campuses, to find the best innovative idea from a student with a financial reward of £1,500, which is to be used towards establishing a business.

This year, Calum Harper, a first year Business School student from Dumbarton, won the William Elder Enterprise Prize, for his idea to produce a carbon fibre action camera mount.

The prize money will enable Calum to set up in business and to initially develop a prototype using 3D printing Calum said:”This award makes all my hard work worthwhile, and I hope to further develop the business plan and in time bring my product to the marketplace.”

Dr William Elder, OBE said: “I am delighted to support innovation within UWS with this award. We live in exciting times, with innovation and entrepreneurship stronger than ever, and I am pleased to see the University’s commitment to Enterprise.”

Dr Elder, OBE was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the former University of Paisley (now UWS), in July 1995. He is currently President and Chief Executive Officer of Maskless Lithography, based in San Jose, California, USA.

Mr Hutchison left the former Bell College of Technology (now UWS) in 1975, and was Vice Chair of Canadian energy services company ShawCor Ltd, until his retirement in 2013.

Ayrshire-based Trust provides £50,000 grant towards University Business School Project The Moffat Charitable Trust, based in Saltcoats, Ayrshire, has provided a grant of £50,000 towards creating a volunteering project at the University’s Ayr Campus.

The aim of the project, led by Dr. Sandro Carnicelli, is to expand the Volunteering Academy benefiting unemployed people in Ayrshire, as well as develop work experience and social responsibility of University students.

The project centres on increasing the employability of both undergraduate students and residents in the area, who have been out of work for a sustained period of time. The Academy will provide seminars and tutorials to unemployed people, covering a wide variety of employability skills, to help them apply and

obtain a job. University students will take ownership of the training, but under the supervision of academic staff.

The Volunteering Academy will also work as a hub for meaningful volunteering opportunities, and links to different charities and social enterprises in the Ayrshire community.

The Business School has already successfully run a Volunteering Academy at the Hamilton Campus for the South Lanarkshire area, but wishes to expand the concept to the Ayr Campus.

The Business School project will start in December this year and the funds will be presented to the University at a ceremony in November this year.

You are amazing…So tell us about it!

If you completed your course this year the careers service will contact you by email next month or by phone in January to find out what you are doing as a graduate, as part of a national survey called Destinations of Leavers. It really, really helps the University if you reply, so please check your inbox. You may also be interested to know that as our graduate, you can continue to fully access the careers service for 2 years after completing your course – find out more at www.uws.ac.uk/careers or follow us on Twitter @careersuws

4 / UNIVERSITY NEWS / UWS Alumni Magazine

INSPIRING ALUMNI

SCOTT’S GOT THE SKILLS TO SUCCEED Ashley Lennon discovers how the University has played a defining role in Scott Sinclair’s career. Photography Tim Morozzo

Scott Sinclair first entered the University in 1988, an 18-year-old embarking on a BEng (Hons) Industrial Engineering with Manufacturing Systems. On the day of our interview, 26 years later, Scott had just returned from visiting the University again. So, what keeps the ties between this Alumnus and his former University so strong?

These days, Scott’s visits to UWS are made as Managing Director of CeeD, (Centre for Engineering Education and Development), a membership organisation, which allows companies and individuals working in manufacturing, engineering, science and technology, to develop and grow. CeeD began as a pilot venture, created by the University in 2003, before becoming a standalone organisation in 2006.

With around 150 members, CeeD operates on a simple principle. “There are no groundbreaking problems,” Scott says.

“Whatever the issue, chances are another member has experienced it before. We provide a non-competitive environment that lets members tap into a huge bank of knowledge.” CeeD’s suite of Clinics lets members sharpen their skills in everything from marketing to innovation

and energy. CeeD also offers a business growth programme – ‘Growth 500’, with the University’s Business School.

Scott credits his degree with providing much of his practical knowledge of the engineering world. He explains, “My course was a European sandwich degree, so we spent half of each year in industrial placements. There’s rarely a working day goes by, where I don’t apply the knowledge that I gained during my degree.”

“It was such a rounded education. One day a week in our 1st year, we went to Reid Kerr College in Paisley, to learn the same skills as apprentice engineers. Those have been incredibly useful over the years, both for giving me hands-on skills and ensuring no-one can bamboozle me with technical jargon!’’

During his degree, Scott held placements at British Gas, Kilmarnock-based Biwater Valves, and multinational company Michelin.

His final year placement at Michelin proved particularly eventful. “It was a challenging environment, operating 24/7,” he says.

“My dissertation examined how Michelin implemented its Total Quality Management programme, but was deemed so commercially sensitive, that I wasn’t allowed

to take the work out of the building. The University had to send someone to Dundee to assess it at the plant. That was quite an ask, but they did it!”

To fund his studies, Scott worked as a Draughtsman at Biwater Valves throughout his degree, then became a Production Engineer, thereafter graduating, before going on to hold increasingly senior roles in engineering firms across Scotland.

In 2003, as Operations Director of FCI Scotland, Scott oversaw the company’s acquisition by global technology firm, Sanmina, and was promoted to Managing Director for Sanmina UK, responsible for a $25 million turnover. Whilst MD, Scott signed up the firm as a CeeD member in 2011. He says, “Soon, my staff began to call their fellow CeeD members to troubleshoot problems. They were looking outside their own firm, working in partnership across the sector.”

By 2013, Scott felt that he had taken Sanmina’s UK operation as far as he could, and became Managing Director of CeeD in July 2013.

And he has already made his mark, overseeing a national expansion programme, with bases opening in Edinburgh, Dundee, Inverness and Aberdeen. Close links with the University remain important for CeeD. Scott says, “UWS hosts Clinics, supports member requests for help, and is very involved in the ‘Growth 500’ programme. And equally, CeeD helps UWS to develop its industry links and knowledge, which benefits UWS graduates in terms of their employability.”

So, after years spent working across time zones, is Scott enjoying some down time now? Not a chance!

In addition to ambitious plans for CeeD, Scott – a former competitive badminton player – coaches his children Morton and Erin, in badminton in the evenings and at weekends, travelling to inter-county matches with them. And it seems that the lifestyle balance suits him just fine.

www.ceed-scotland.com

UWS Alumni Magazine / INSPIRING ALUMNI / 5

INSPIRING ALUMNI

A Life LIVED IN MUSIC Back in the second issue of West magazine, we featured UWS graduate, Stephen Hume, who was programming music events for Stirling’s respected Tolbooth venue. Three years on, Stephen is Event and Sales Manager for one of the world’s most respected manufacturers of sound systems – Linn Products. Ashley Lennon caught up with him to talk about a life lived in music.

E

veryone wants to be a performer,” Stephen grins, as we settle down for a chat in the incredible venue that is his place of work.

“Everyone who works in the music business started out wanting to be on stage – I’m no different.”

Trained classically as a singer, whilst at Queen Margaret Academy in Ayr, Stephen started out performing opera before joining a rock band. His life – and his career – has been shaped by a love of music, which he says is now stronger than ever, thanks to his job at one of the world’s most respected manufacturers of sound systems, Linn Products.

A graduate of the BA Commercial

“

Music course at UWS, Stephen has worked in many areas of the music industry – from managing artists, to radio plugging and setting up events and gigs. And he credits his degree at University, not only for giving him the practical and theoretical skills necessary to succeed in this highly competitive industry, but for arming him with those all-important contacts.

“One of the best aspects of my course at UWS was the range of guest lecturers from the music industry, who came in to talk to us,” says Stephen. “I especially remember one guest lecturer laying out in a really clear way the structure of the music industry, showing all the key roles, how they fitted together and what percentage, financially,

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each might make from a recording or a live performance. That very practical knowledge was invaluable – it really demystified the industry and made me see more clearly where I could fit in.”

Coming to UWS, after studying for an HNC at Ayr College (Multimedia Computing with Web Development), Stephen’s degree focused on three key aspects: business, technology, and musicianship. And although Stephen has focused on the business side of the music industry after graduating, having hands-on knowledge of music technology has proven helpful time and time again.

“I can run a studio session if needs be,” he explained. “I can edit tracks and set up equipment, without having to rely on anyone

INSPIRING ALUMNI

My University contacts helped me to understand what I wanted to do in the industry.

else – my degree gave me those practical skills. At University, we could use the recording studios whenever we wanted.

We had the freedom to experiment and to try lots of new things.”

Whilst at UWS, Stephen caught the attention of guest tutor, Alex Papasimakopoulou, who gave Stephen work at her Glasgow music management firm, where he booked tours and got involved in digital distribution, whilst studying. Then, in the summer between his second and third years of study, Stephen went to London, plugging songs to Radio One and other major stations.

“The placements that came as a result of my University contacts helped me to understand what I wanted to do in the industry,” Stephen explains. “Though I started out at UWS with plans to be a performer, I quickly got engrossed in the business side of the industry, and I still am.“ After graduating, Stephen’s first full-time job was at Stirling’s famed Tolbooth venue, admired for its eclectic music programming. Starting as Music Development Officer in 2007, booking bands and developing music workshops with the community, by the end of his five years there Stephen was responsible for programming all of the venue’s rock and pop gigs, which brought him into contact with some famous names and faces.

“Mogwai started their world tour with us in 2011, and used the venue for preproduction. And due to a chance meeting, I got a phone call from Saul Davies of the band James one day, asking if he could do some songwriting and pre-production at the venue. James ended up playing a gig here too, and it was incredible – one night they were playing the Tolbooth with its 200 capacity crowd, the next they were playing the SECC in Glasgow to 7000 people.”

In 2013, Stephen was looking for his next challenge.” “I’d learned loads about the live music side and was looking to explore other parts of the industry, when I saw that Linn Products were looking for an Event and Sales Manager. Anyone who loves music knows about Linn – they’re famous for making the world’s greatest sound systems, and that’s quite an attraction.”

Stephen’s new role involves showcasing Linn’s systems to potential customers, but in a very organic way. Not for Linn, the usual sales techniques; they don’t place any adverts. Instead, the firm’s whole marketing strategy revolves around their strapline ’Just Listen,’ and that’s exactly what Stephen encourages people to do. He is responsible for programming

the respected Linn Lounge events, which he calls, “a music documentary live in front of you.” Featuring some of the biggest names in the music business, Linn Lounges let guests learn more about an artist or band’s body of work, played of course, to perfection on Linn’s systems.

So proud are Linn Products of their range, that they built a whole house, within their Richard Rodgers-designed factory, to showcase it. Stephen and I chat in the lounge, where a top-of-the-range Klimax Exakt system is on hand to provide the soundtrack. The Linn Home is also used by corporate parties, who want their entertaining to be accompanied by the best sound systems that money can buy.

Initially pioneers of quality turntables, then CD systems, Linn now focuses on top-of-the-range streaming systems for digital downloads, as well as running their music label, Linn Records. The latest device which Stephen is showcasing to potential buyers is the Klimax Exakt system, which allows users to optimise sound for the room they listen in, keying in their room’s dimensions, so the system provides a bespoke sound. It’s the kind of attention to detail that makes music lovers swoon. “I’ve really re-engaged with recorded music, since joining Linn,” Stephen says, “listening to albums all the way through, seeing them as a work of art.”

And he’s not the only one. Fans of Linn Products include royals and celebrities, such as the late Lou Reed, who once made an impromptu visit to Linn’s HQ at Waterfoot, East Renfrewshire for a tour of the factory.

So, Stephen, who lives, breathes and works music, find time for anything else?

Well, yes. His respite comes in the shape of family time with his wife and baby daughter, and planning renovation work on his new home in Ayr. He also finds time to keep in touch with the many friends he made at University. “We were a really sociable group,” he says. “And work-wise they’re doing some great things. One is working on music programmes with the BBC, one is a tour manager for several big bands, others are running events in London or have focused on teaching music.”

But Stephen’s content that, for now, he has one of the most satisfying jobs of all.

“I’ve got a passion for music, and in this job I get to play it every day, on the best sound systems available. What’s not to love?”

www.linn.co.uk Photography Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

UWS Alumni Magazine / INSPIRING ALUMNI / 7

UNIVERSITY PROFILE

Dreaming, Believing, Achieving A 21ST CENTURY UNIVERSITY Olga Wojtas talks to Principal Professor Craig Mahoney about his new ambitious strategy for UWS. Words Olga Wojtas Photography Gordon Burniston and Tim Morozzo

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rofessor Craig Mahoney has just completed his first year as Principal of University of the West of Scotland. At his interview for the post, he made an inspirational presentation, which focussed on dreaming a future, believing it would be possible, and setting about achieving it.

His words have become something of a mantra in the University and “Dreaming, Believing, Achieving A 21st Century University”, is now the title of a radical new corporate strategy.

“It’s encouraging people to think big and differently, dreaming something they’ve not dreamed before,” says Professor Mahoney.

“Then it’s about getting them to the stage of belief that these dreams could become a reality, buying into the concept, and then working out the logistics and requirements.”

Professor Mahoney canvassed the widest possible range of views both within

and beyond the University, with open meetings, blogs, emails and video boxes, with nothing off the agenda. It generated more than 200 A4 pages of feedback, ranging from opportunities which must not be missed, to high quality projects, which must not be abandoned. Professor Mahoney was reassured to find a huge amount of agreement over the priorities.

The consultation has resulted in an unashamedly ambitious strategy, launched on 1st August 2014. By 2020, UWS aims to be the best Scottish university for student satisfaction, and for students going into professional jobs. It aims to double its annual turnover from £100m to £200m, which will include boosting income from Knowledge Exchange, research and consultancy.

“It’s deliberately designed to stretch beyond our capacity, and requires the wind and weather to be favourable, but I personally believe it’s possible,” Professor

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Mahoney says.

“The strategy is not a beating stick against which we’re going to judge staff performance – it’s an ambition.”

The University is unquestionably teaching-led, and not a research-intensive institution. But Professor Mahoney wants to boost the excellent research that already exists, with all new teaching staff having a PhD or other doctoral qualification, as well as a teaching qualification. “We want a workforce who are capable teachers and effective researchers at the same time, publishing work and generating research income.”

UWS is also set to become more international, with a target of more than 3,000 students undertaking UWS degrees through trans-national education (TNE) or online arrangements and, in addition, to have 20 per cent of its on-campus students coming from outside the European Union by 2020.

UNIVERSITY PROFILE

“If this is a University that sees itself engaging in learning for a worldwide population, we’ve got to be attractive to overseas students, get our students to spend time in other countries, and attract staff from other places,” says Professor Mahoney. “We’re doing a lot of work on brand awareness, on marketing, and the delivery of an international experience. The international flavour of the University will change dramatically.”

The University has great academic strengths, he says. It is one of the best providers of teacher education, top in Scotland and third in the UK. “Health, nursing and midwifery is the jewel in our crown, attracting large numbers of students. It’s very difficult for overseas students to come in to these subjects, because the numbers are controlled by government. But we have attractions in sports science and psychology, and are research leaders in dementia, children’s health and health-related activity, as well as being world-leading in nuclear physics.

Our broad curriculum and the way we support the student learning experience are strengths.”

Professor Mahoney wants students to have the most modern and effective learning experience possible, and is investing in training staff to meet new needs and use new teaching techniques.

“Like many universities, we are still very didactic. Learning would be far more effectively served by being more facilitative, making more use of technology,” he says.

“For example, there are a huge number of apps for mobile technology that create curriculum content in a far more engaging, interactive and effective ways than a didactic lecture can give you, yet we’re not using it.

I want to see more technology brought into the learning experience, where the academic is the facilitator for learning rather than the fountain of knowledge, as they have been in the past.”

Professor Mahoney wants even more students to have the UWS experience, increasing numbers from the present 16,000 to 25,000. And he is determined that each student will have the best possible experience.

“I want people to look at us and say ‘Wow! They’re different, they’re exciting!’

From students’ first contact with us, I want their experience to be positive, to feel we treat them as an individual, that they have a bespoke personalised learning experience, which is unique to them.

It won’t be the boring pedagogic model of someone standing in front of them in the belief that information goes in by osmosis

and is assimilated in a useful way just because someone’s talked at them. I want creative learning, with students excited by it, and not obsessed by assessments,” he says.

“These are my dreams, and it requires a big culture shift. But there are staff who are very excited about doing things differently.”

Professor Mahoney also wants

I want them (Alumni) to engage with the University, support what we are trying to achieve and come and visit us. anyone working at UWS to have a superb experience, to be valued and met with friendliness and efficiency.

Asked about possible future threats to the University, he says: “I’m always fairly positive; I always see opportunities. But funding is a worry – we are being paid less per student than English universities – and we need to expand our income, so that we can provide the resource needed to give students a positive learning experience.”

The University is being proactive in securing its future. It believes its new international activity could bring in an extra £30 million a year.

“And it’s not unrealistic that online learning programmes, developed over the next five years, could bring in £15 million,” says Professor Mahoney. “Transnational

education programmes overseas could again bring in £15 million per year.”

Unlike North America, he says, the UK does not have a history of charitable giving to universities. On a recent trip to Canada, he visited one university’s medical school which recently won CN$105 million (£58 million) from a philanthropist. Another Canadian university, comparable in size to UWS, is well on course to meet the target of its CN$ 1.5 billion (£840 million) giving programme.

“I believe there’s capacity for us in this area. It’s about getting people interested, getting them excited about UWS, inspiring them with the vision,” he says.

Professor Mahoney looks forward to strengthening links with alumni. He himself is an alumnus of the Universities of Tasmania, Birmingham and Queen’s Belfast and retains contact with all three.

“I want them to engage with the University, support what we are trying to achieve and come and visit us. I don’t want alumni to feel we’re exclusively seeking money from them – although if they want to give us money I’m not going to say no! I’m seeking their support, their guidance, their willingness to promote the University. I want them to feel engaged, to let them see what we’re doing, and give them an insight into what’s going on.”

And Professor Mahoney has no doubt that there will be a lot to show off. “If we didn’t achieve our targets by 2020, I would feel somewhat disappointed. But I’d feel confident that we’d achieve them not long after that.”

www.uws.ac.uk/corporatestrategy

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FEATURED ARTICLE

Football FOCUSED UWS’s Dr Karen Watchman outlines a new project evaluating football reminiscence for men with Dementia.

T

he Commonwealth Games, Olympics and Paralympics underline the power and ability of sporting events to stamp themselves on our individual memory and shared memories. Such memories shape the way we think about ourselves, our identity and the sense of being part of a community or group with shared interests.

Consider the implications of losing your short-term memory and instead becoming increasingly reliant on longer term memories from youth or early adulthood. Dementia is a condition that can do just that, with recent people and places receding and a reliance on longer-term memories that can lead us to increasingly blur our past with present. The so called reminiscence bump, or increased recollection of younger years, means that some memories such as sporting achievements, personalities or events can be easily triggered through memorabilia. This

may be photographs, recordings of sounds of the stadium or the smell of liniment.

Most of us will face dementia within our families or among friends. However, as a condition it is often misunderstood with more support and non-medical interventions available than is often realised.

The experience of dementia is subjective and unique to each individual. Dementia is the overarching term for a number of illnesses, the most common of which are Alzheimer’s disease, Vascular Dementia and Dementia with Lewy bodies. There is no doubt about the increase in numbers of people with dementia in the UK, due to longer life expectancy and an increase in the rate of diagnosis. Dementia is a priority for the government in Scotland, where Alzheimer Scotland report that approximately 88,000 people have dementia, with around 3,200 of these people being under the age of 65. The majority of care home residents are thought to have dementia, although figures are likely

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to be a conservative estimate with many of those affected remaining undiagnosed.

The focus of support has shifted towards enabling people to live well with dementia, and an example of this in practice is reminiscence work. Reminiscence activities are increasingly seen in care homes as part of a person-centred approach to caring, often using music, objects, photographs or sensory stimulation. The aim is to increase the wellbeing of people with dementia through positive interaction and creating a sense of empowerment. Anecdotally, this is viewed positively by people with dementia, staff, family and friends with benefits reported in the mood, behaviour and level of engagement of the person with dementia.

However, little evidence exists for the role of reminiscence as a therapeutic intervention – UWS has secured a grant to evaluate its use within a care home setting.

The Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice was established within

FEATURED ARTICLE

the University’s School of Health, Nursing and Midwifery at the Hamilton campus, in January 2013, when Professor Debbie Tolson took up post as Director. I am leading an evaluation of a 12-week pilot reminiscence programme, studying a group of men with dementia, living in care homes, in collaboration with staff in the care homes, visiting relatives, a trained football reminiscence facilitator and Allied Health Professionals in a care home liaison capacity.

This will build on Professor Tolson’s previous Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded football reminiscence studies, and the current Spanish Pilot study funded by the Spanish Football Veterans Association.

Although there is little existing research in this area, previous findings highlight the power of football to trigger memories. This leads to discussion and ‘banter’ between men who grew up spending time on the terraces every week.

The current evaluation is funded by a pilot study grant awarded by Alzheimer Scotland Dementia Research Centre, in partnership, with the University of Edinburgh. It aims to collaboratively pilot and refine a programme of evidence informed football focussed reminiscence for delivery to a group of twelve men with dementia,

from four different care homes.

The findings will be made as accessible as possible by developing a digital story, using the images and words of the men involved, as well as photographs.

Just as new sporting memories were made in Glasgow at this summers’ Commonwealth Games, the research team will be utilising memorabilia and shared memories of previous football experiences, to consider the evidence for football focussed reminiscence.

The Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice is a partnership with the University of the West of Scotland, and provides a high quality environment for applied research and education. The Centre is supporting UWS in its efforts to become a dementia friendly university.

Dr Karen Watchman is Lecturer in Dementia at the Alzheimer Scotland Centre for Policy and Practice. Her latest book is ‘Intellectual Disability and Dementia: Research into Practice’. She can be found on Twitter @karenwatchman

www.uws.ac.uk/ascpp

The power of football to trigger memories leads to discussion and ‘banter’ between men who grew up spending time on the terraces every week.

UWS Alumni Magazine / FEATURED ARTICLE / 11

INSPIRING ALUMNI

Successful Career

BUILT ON SOLID FOUNDATIONS

Alumnus Gerry Donnelly talks about how his degree secured a successful career with an American company for life.

Words Olga Wojtas Photography Tim Morozzo

I

n the late seventies, the University very nearly missed out on having Gerry Donnelly as a student at the Paisley Campus, because of his love of football. Neilston-born Gerry excelled at sports and athletics at school. He was in the Summer Cup winning team at Neilston Primary School. In secondary school, he was a mid-fielder for Gleniffer Thistle Club, and the Paisley and District team, where he had the distinction of playing at Love Street, St Mirren’s Paisley football stadium, against the Northern Ireland Under-16 Youth National Team.

When he left Eastwood High School in 1978, four higher education institutions offered him a place at university including

Leeds University, and also the then Paisley College of Technology, now UWS. “Although an English club, I was a Leeds United fan, because half the Scottish National football team played for Leeds United,” he says, remembering Peter Lorimer, the legendary attacking midfielder from Dundee, and fellow Scottish National teammates Billy Bremner, Joe Jordan, Eddie Gray and Derek Parlane.

But fortunately, he paid the Paisley Campus a visit and was so impressed by the course on offer that it overcame his devotion to Leeds. He had been particularly gifted at maths at school, and while at Barrhead High School, which he attended before spending the final year of secondary at Eastwood, he

12 / INSPIRING ALUMNI / UWS Alumni Magazine

seemed set for a career in accountancy. But a school careers adviser introduced him to Civil Engineering.

“That was the right decision. If I’d become an accountant, I would have missed out on the great experience that civil engineering has afforded me.”

He was attracted to Paisley’s BSc (Hons) Civil Engineering, because the course was not only academic, but also highly technical and practical, giving it an edge over other universities’ degrees. And he found the sandwich programme of the course invaluable in incorporating work experience into the curriculum.

There was no stuffiness about the academic atmosphere, he recalls. The staff

INSPIRING ALUMNI

Gerry visiting Paisley Campus, June 2014

You have to put the effort in. The opportunity has to be there, but you have to want it. were always available and approachable and made learning enjoyable. During his course, he won a prestigious Eccles Scholarship for international travel, which he used to go to the States, launching his career in the company he remains with to this day – STV Incorporated.

During his degree course, he completed internships with a local construction contractor and with Strathclyde Region Sewer and Water Authority. The scholarship enabled him to undertake internships in 1981 and 1982 with the then Pennsylvaniabased engineering and architectural firm STV/ Sanders & Thomas (now STV Incorporated), which then offered him a permanent post upon graduation in 1983.

“I believe the education and training I got at Paisley gave me a technical and practical application edge, when I began my career,” he says. “The high standard of engineering education I got was a significant foundation for my career. I started in the company’s structural engineering group and my structural ability gave me a distinct advantage.”

Gerry has been with the company for more than 30 years. He is now Executive Vice President of STV Energy Services, Inc., a new business unit which he was instrumental in developing from scratch, over 20 years ago, and which has become one of the company’s most rapidly growing groups.

“Without a doubt, my proudest moment was leading the energy services practice to the point of creating a separate division

within STV,” Gerry says.

He manages a team of 230 engineers, designers, surveyors and environmental scientists, who offer design, permitting, project management and construction services to the petroleum, natural gas and electric transmission industries. He led the acquisition of the Denver-based firm GWD, prominent for its work in the natural gas sector in the Rocky Mountain region, spending 3 months in their Denver, Colorado headquarters to make sure the cultural differences of both companies were harmonised and integrated smoothly.

Following the acquisition in February 2014, Energy Services now has annual revenues of around $52 million (£30 million). The whole company has doubled in size since Gerry joined, from 900 employees to 1,800, with 42 offices across the United States and an annual revenue of over $400 million.

Gerry married his wife Jane, whom he met in secondary school, while he was attending Paisley College of Technology (now UWS), and their eldest son, Paul, was born just before Gerry graduated. They moved to the States when Paul was a few months old.

Paul is a former US Marine and is currently completing a nursing degree. The couple’s daughter, Laura, is an environmental scientist with STV Inc, and their youngest son, Kevin, has a degree in supply chain management and marketing and works for Volvo Construction Equipment in Germany.

Gerry still maintains close links with Scotland, and returns to visit relatives and friends every other year. Both his parents had careers in the Royal Air Force, after which his father managed casinos and his mother was a payroll clerk for a number of local companies, as well as running her own grocery store. His mother lives in Kilbirnie, and he has two brothers, one living in Irvine and the other in Roseneath.

Gerry says his parents impressed on him the importance of higher education qualifications, and he got his maths skills and work ethic from his mother. His knowledge and experience at Paisley gave him the foundation to continue to learn and to apply his knowledge, he says.

“I believe what I learned most is that you can’t do it on your own. Every project assignment takes a team of people to accomplish. Working with others to achieve a common goal is the most important aspect of education, together with recognising what you don’t know.”

What advice would he give to the current cohort of UWS Civil Engineering graduates, as they set out to build their own successful careers?

“You have to put the effort in.

The opportunity has to be there, but you have to want it and go after it – if you’re not the driver, someone else will take your place.”

He urges students to develop their interpersonal skills, which he says are just as important as technical skills. Communication is key to the success of any project, to understand what is needed and how to interact with the team.

Gerry is enthusiastic about the openings which Civil Engineering offers. “There are vast opportunities. It’s like a candy store.

Once you get through third year, you need to start really thinking about what area you are passionate about. Take advantage of work experience to try something different, to experience whether that’s what you really want to do for your career.”

He recently visited the UWS Paisley Campus, where he studied 30 years ago.

“I can see that some investment has been made in expanding labs in the engineering wing.”

But the visit was not simply a walk down memory lane: he met senior management, having said he wanted to “give back” to the University.

“I’d like to have the opportunity to share experiences with students who are seeking a Civil Engineering career or looking to work overseas. I’d like to share with staff the knowledge that new graduates need to have to embark on their career, beyond the technical courses, and what attributes are important to companies when they interview new graduates,” he says.

He is a prominent member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and has often given talks on the profession to high school students in the States, as well as being a judge at science and engineering fairs.

Still an avid football fan, he was also a youth football coach for many years. “I might get back into that when I’ve got more time.”

But he is showing no signs of easing up on work. “For the future, I hope to continue my career with STV, until I’m ready to retire, and to continue to advance my role. I really care about the company and about my staff.”

He enjoys playing golf, but says ruefully: “I don’t get out very often – five times a year doesn’t cut it. My wife, Jane and I like to go on cruises, and that helps me to relax – it’s one place the cell phone definitely doesn’t work!”

www.stvinc.com

UWS Alumni Magazine / INSPIRING ALUMNI / 13

UNIVERSITY PROFILE

Olga Wojtas talks to Professor Jeanne Keay, Vice Principal (International) about the University’s New Global Strategy.

Photography Tim Morozzo

GLOBAL AMBITIONS We will provide a springboard for all our learners to contribute globally.

P

rofessor Jeanne Keay joined the University of the West of Scotland on November 1 2013, and spent her first week, not in Ayr, Dumfries, Hamilton or Paisley campuses, but in China. Most people would be exhausted by visiting UWS partners in five cities, but the new Vice-Principal (International), clearly relished the experience.

“It was very good, and very useful.”

Internationalisation is one of the key strands of the new corporate strategy, under

14 / UNIVERSITY PROFILE / UWS Alumni Magazine

the title ‘Global Reach,’ which firmly positions UWS as an international University.

Over the next five years, the University has set key performance indicators of a fifth of students on the UWS campuses coming from outside the European Union; 3,000 students in other countries enrolling on UWS degrees; 80% of UWS students taking up international study, work experience or volunteering, during their course; and 80% of staff undertaking work or research abroad.

“It’s a tall order. These are ambitious,

UNIVERSITY PROFILE

aspirational targets, but if we don’t have them, we’ll never get there,” she says.

UWS aims to increase the number of international students coming to its four campuses, by developing its global brand as a University offering flexible and innovative approaches to learning. It wants to see a growing international culture on each of its campuses, and also within all of its academic Schools. And international students studying for UWS degrees or professional development opportunities in their home countries, will also have access to the University’s exciting new forms of learning and teaching.

There is strong evidence that employers want students with a global outlook.

“We will provide a springboard for all our students to contribute globally,” Jeanne says. “We’ll provide an internationalised curriculum, and an opportunity for students to develop their language skills.”

UK universities notoriously struggle to send students abroad, because of the language barrier, but UWS is taking a “languages for all” approach to offering a second language, with support in English for incoming students, and, for example, French, Spanish, German, Mandarin and Arabic for home students.

“We want to support outward mobility.

For Example, say a group of University Engineering students go out to China – they need to have a short tourist-type course in Mandarin, so they can engage with fellow students when they’re there.”

Jeanne has a wealth of experience in education and international strategy. She began her career as a secondary school Physical Education teacher, before moving to Leeds Metropolitan University, where she rose to become Deputy Head of the School of Education. She then became Head of Initial Teacher Education and Dean of Education at Roehampton University.

She came to UWS, from the UK’s Higher Education Academy, where she had the pioneering post of Head of International Strategy, and also helped universities develop transnational education and international collaboration.

“We need to make sure that all new staff we recruit to the University in future, are prepared to work internationally,” she says. “Staff have got to be resilient and resourceful, understand different cultures and languages, and be innovative in the way they approach teaching. It gives you a totally different perspective, working with different students in different contexts, and you can only learn from that. It challenges you professionally and academically, and what could be more exciting than breaking up your

usual working pattern?”

She sees staff development, as central to meeting the international ambitions of the University’s new corporate strategy.

“For me, as an educationalist, and as somebody whose research is grounded in professional development, that is a very, very important part, because unless you develop the infrastructure, you won’t get the rest.”

Jeanne stresses that her ’Global Reach‘ strategy builds on existing strengths.

UWS already has a Global Citizenship and Internationalisation strategy, which offers a firm base for the new initiative. “We’ve consulted and reviewed what’s going on in the University. There are a lot of really interesting internationalisation activities going on in all of our academic schools, but it’s been happening in silos – what we need to do, is to learn from all these different experiences, and have a coherent strategy for the University as a whole.”

Jeanne is ensuring that expertise is now shared across the University, with everyone able to benefit.

She has already forged links with the University of Tasmania, which like UWS, is multi-campus, and has particular expertise in health and education. There have been staff exchanges, and the two Universities are looking jointly at how the international student experience works, all the way from potential applicants to new graduates.

“This is a good example of the sort of partnership we should be developing. It may be that eventually we might have a joint recruitment office, sending students either to Tasmania or to Scotland. Who knows what we might do in the future?”

The European Commission’s Erasmus partnerships, which encourage students to study for a period in another European country, are valuable, Jeanne says, but onedimensional, since they only cover student mobility. “If we develop partnerships that are not just one-dimensional, then we will achieve much more.”

UWS offers degrees and professional development through a variety of off-shore arrangements. This year, it has signed Transnational Education agreements with five international partners including Malaysia and Greece. It already has a network of regional managers covering China, Japan, East Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and is now expanding to the USA. “There are opportunities with community colleges there, who don’t offer their own full degrees, and might want to work with us.”

There is also the prospect of a UWS campus in Dubai, sometime in the future.

“We want to strengthen and grow the network,” Jeanne says. “I want to have a

massive global map in the office, and to be able to say we’ve got students coming in from everywhere, and students going out everywhere.”

The University has now established an International Centre, which permeates all its work. And Jeanne’s role as Vice-Principal (International) is now supported by another two key appointments, who will report to her: Director of the International Centre, and Head of International Partnerships. “They will really shore up the work we’re doing.”

And Jeanne adds that all UWS alumni are “absolutely vital” in developing the University, as an international institution.

We have such an opportunity to make a real difference both here in the West of Scotland and globally.

“Hopefully, the Scottish alumni who are no longer in the West of Scotland, will be out there talking about UWS, and spreading the brand of UWS. We hope those in the West of Scotland will support the University – I’m asking local businesses with an international office, whether our students could have an international experience with them. And we want our international students, back in their own country, to encourage people to come to UWS, and to promote our work,” she says.

“We have such an opportunity to make a real difference both here in the West of Scotland and globally.”

UWS Alumni Magazine / UNIVERSITY PROFILE / 15

LIFE-CHANGING PROFILE

A MAN OF BIG ACHIEVEMENTS From MBA studies to salsa dancing; Ashley Lennon meets Jason Fernandes to talk singing, Scotland, and finding love in unexpected places.

On the day of our interview, Jason Fernandes is hoarse. “I don’t know how it happened,” he laughs, but I have a fair idea.

Jason talks incessantly, enthusiasm shining out of every word.

That passion that has allowed this 28-year-old from Abu Dhabi to gain a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from UWS; perform as a salsa dancer; and get through the initial stages of The X Factor, wowing producers with his singing and guitar skills. Jason Fernandes is a human fireball.

Growing up in Abu Dhabi, Jason shone throughout his school years, wining academic competitions and athletic championships, before heading to university in Bangalore, where he chose the commerce stream and set his sights on becoming a Managing Director of a multi-billion dollar company one day.

On graduating from university in 2007, Jason was named Best Outgoing Boy Student, and took his dreams home to Abu Dhabi, where he was offered a role in the Business Planning and Financial Control Department at First Gulf Bank. Eighteen months later, he won the company’s Best Employee Award.

“Some days, I used to work from 8am till 3am the next morning,” he says. “Even when I broke my leg I came in; I wanted

so badly to make a success of my role.”

He was soon promoted, but after four years found himself stuck. “My boss told me that he’d love to promote me further, but he couldn’t do so without me getting a Masters degree.”

Jason had been considering further study anyway, and, with extended family in London, began to research options for a Master of Business Administration in the UK. It was a chance encounter with UWS staff member, Dr Pravin Balaraman, which led Jason to Scotland. “My father and my brother bumped into Dr Balaraman at church in Bangalore. He was in India to tell people about opportunities at UWS, so I got in touch. Asian employers look very favourably on a Western postgraduate qualification.”

Jason credits Dr Balaraman and the University’s Administrator, Jean Shields, with guiding him through the MBA application process. He arrived in Scotland in January 2012, clutching his guitar, and despite the weather differences, soon settled into life here. “Originally I stayed at the UWS campus in Hamilton, where MBA classes are taught,” says Jason. “My flatmates were from Germany, Pakistan, Spain and Ireland – our group had the most fun in the building!” Jason took classes in leadership; finance; marketing; operations and HR, amongst others, applying what he learned in lectures to practical situations via an award-winning computer programme, SimVenture, which challenges MBA students to drive a business to profit. “I had some amazing lecturers at UWS,” says Jason, “the whole experience really sharpened my skills.”

After eight months, Jason moved to Glasgow to begin his dissertation, working with an East Kilbride-based firm to gauge the market for a new oil and gas pump.

“It was a huge project and a chance to get

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industry experience in Scotland,” Jason says. The company were delighted with Jason’s work and he graduated in 2013.

And Scotland gave Jason much more than an MBA. He met his wife, Monika, at a Glasgow salsa event, and has now settled in Scotland permanently. Salsa is another of Jason’s passions – and while he looks for a suitable career opportunity post-MBA, he enjoys teaching dance classes. He is also a worship leader and administrator for his church – Jason credits his strong faith with helped him achieve so much in his life so far. He sings in church too – he sings everywhere. Shortlisted to perform for the judges in The X Factor 2012, visa restrictions cut short his dreams. So for now, Jason sings in church and assists UWS by liaising with overseas students considering studying in the UK. “I was meant for this country,” Jason laughs. “I’m going to have a wonderful career here – I can feel it.”

Photography Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

I had some amazing lecturers at UWS, says Jason, the whole experience really sharpened my skills.

ALUMNI PROFILES

Where Are They Now? Joyce Henderson discovers how three Alumini have developed their careers, since graduation.

Lucy Miller

Sandy Fleming

Claire Scott

BA (Hons) Human Resource Management, Class of 2013

Executive MBA, Class of 2013

BA Management and Tourism, Class of 2008 | PG Careers Guidance, Class of 2010

Lucy Miller is living proof that there’s always hope – she had to leave the police after losing the sight in her left eye. But she dismisses condolences with a breezy, “It’s alright, it came back!“ Working in the Kilmarnock Job Centre at the height of the recession, convinced Lucy to study Human Resource Management (HRM) at UWS. “We had a hundred people a day signing on who’d lost their jobs, some had been sacked. There’s always something you can do to help,” she said.

Lucy joined the HRM course in 2nd year, since her HNC in Fashion Business Management and professional development courses were taken into account. ”I was keen to complete the degree quickly, since I was leaving a well-paid job,” explained Lucy. Graduating with 1st class Honours, Lucy joined the NHS, then the Hansel Alliance in Kilmarnock, a charity for people with learning disabilities, where she covers everything from recruitment to retirement. She describes her ‘fantastic experience’ at UWS, how pragmatic the course was, and how responsive staff were. “I can’t speak highly enough of the University and my course. Everything I learnt was relevant– report writing and executive summaries – it all pieced together like a jigsaw when I arrived in the workplace,” she said.

A demanding job and two young sons should be more than enough to handle, but Sandy Fleming had seen the difference an MBA made to his friends’ careers, and decided he wanted that too.

“I hadn’t done any studying, since I left school, except my Institute of the Motor Industry Diploma and manufacturers’ courses. The Master of Business Administration at UWS was something for me,” said Sandy. His employer, Lomond Audi, promoted Sandy to After Sales Manager before he’d finished the course.

“It opened up opportunities. I got a more responsible job – still with After Sales, but a promotion to Braehead, Glasgow – the UK’s second biggest Audi dealership.

“I’m now Group After Sales Manager, running eight departments, with 70 staff reporting to me. That’s one hundred per cent down to the MBA. The company has seen that when I commit myself to something, I am totally committed. I completed the MBA in two years.” Sandy believes gaining a wellrecognised management qualification shows he understands the bigger business picture and his company can rely on him to have the skills, knowledge and leadership potential.

“As the company expands it needs the infrastructure to support growth and that infrastructure is their management,” said Sandy.

Many young people have no idea what they want to do for a living. The lucky ones, like Claire Scott from Renfrewshire, find a mentor who helps them discover their niche.

During her BA Management and Tourism at UWS, Claire sought some advice from the Careers and Employability Service, and one of the advisors sent her to a Higher Education Fair, to find out about Careers Guidance.

“The exhibition was really helpful and from that moment I knew where my future career was heading,” said Claire.

Claire enrolled on the postgraduate course in Careers Guidance at UWS’s Paisley Campus, and loved it from the start.

“It was a small class, the lecturers supported us, and the emphasis was on discussion and participation – they didn’t just talk at us. They invited school kids in – actual clients – to talk about their hopes for the future.”

During a placement with Skills Development Scotland, Claire knew she’d like to work there. When she graduated she secured a contract as a Careers Advisor.

She’s now working with school children in Glasgow’s East End, where she helps them consider all their options. “I got good advice when I was trying to decide on my career, and now I want to do the same thing for other young people,” said Claire.

UWS Alumni Magazine / ALUMINI PROFILES / 17

INSPIRING ALUMNI UNIVERSITY PROFILE

Overcoming All the Odds

And Coming Back To Help Others Postgraduate student Sam Smylie sees fellow students as potential influencers, who can improve cancer support in the future for young people like himself.

Words Joyce Henderson Photography Tim Morozzo

S

ome interviewees for West are a bit reticent and need encouragement to talk to a journalist. Not so, Sam Smylie.

He approached us determined to tell the story of his remarkable journey.

A journey that brought him back to UWS to study for a postgraduate course, and has fired him up to create a legacy project for charity.

Picture Sam in ‘Freshers’ Week’ at the University of Paisley (now UWS), full of the joys of life – a confident, fit young man, seeing his future stretching ahead of him, starting with the science degree he’s just begun. He’s on his way home to Glasgow’s Riddrie area, when he remembers a commercial he’d seen the night before.

He decides to take a detour, via Nelson

18 / INSPIRING ALUMNI / UWS Alumni Magazine

Mandela Place, to give blood.

“I was bouncing up Buchanan Street, so aware of my own good fortune, and I remembered that there are others less fortunate. The ad just popped into my head – how you can save a baby’s life, with a teaspoon of blood,” says Sam. A vivacious nurse, pricks Sam’s finger for the drop of test blood, drops it into the

INSPIRING ALUMNI

My future is still uncertain.

The doctors don’t say they can cure me, just that they can control the disease.

It makes me more focused. vial and her demeanour changes, like the air escaping from a balloon. A week later, he discovers he has hypoplastic anaemia - a disease affecting the red blood cells. Sam spends the rest of his time at the Paisley Campus managing this disease, attending haematology clinics, and having treatment for the viruses his body can’t fight off. During this time, he also loses his father to lung cancer.

Against the odds, Sam graduates in 2010, with his BSc General Science, but it’s not the start of the glittering career he had hoped.

He has managed his condition well, always asking the medics what more he can do, and attending all the specialists they recommend.

Despite that, it has taken its toll. He spends the next few years, working as a nightclub door steward and in retail security.

“I really wanted to join the Police, and I managed to pass all the entrance exams, but I failed the fitness test. I wasn’t unfit – I exercised three times a week, but on the day of the test, I didn’t perform well.”

The reason for Sam’s disappointing performance reveals itself, in April 2014.

Sam wakes up with blood covering his pillow. Several bone marrow biopsies later, the doctors confirm Sam’s disease has developed into something even worse. His bone marrow has failed completely, and he now has myelo-dysplastic syndrome (MDS), which means he is seriously ill. He has no immune system and is reliant on frequent blood transfusions. His only hope is a bone marrow transplant.

Sam’s older sister turns out to be a perfect match – a rare occurrence in any family, but the age gap makes it almost miraculous. Sam receives the transplant of his sister’s stem cells, in January this year.

“I can’t say it made me and my sister closer, because we’ve always been close.

Family just come through for you, don’t

they? She was relieved I didn’t have to go through the rigmarole of finding a donor - if the transplant didn’t work, she could donate again, whereas an anonymous donor might have refused. It was quicker, safer and more personal. I can relax too, knowing I have stem cells on tap.”

“My future is still uncertain. The doctors don’t say they can cure me, just that they can control the disease. It makes me more focused. I’m going to finish my qualification, get a job I like – I’m not going to worry about money or mortgages.”

Last week, I met Sam in a coffee shop at Central Station, in Glasgow.

He looks well and strong, straight out of a full day of classes for his MSc Project Management course. Characteristically, he’s thinking about other people.

“I want to raise awareness of all the support there is out there for young people, who get that kind of diagnosis. I hadn’t even taken a friend with me to the hospital appointment, because I had no idea they were going to tell me it was cancer,” he said.

Sam wants to raise money too – for Macmillan Cancer Support, who were so vital to his own recovery, providing him with a specialist teenage and young person nurse – Julie - who coordinated his care. She made sure he got a grant of £350, while he was waiting for a decision about benefits.

And, during his weeks of treatment in the Beatson, he was able to use the chill-out room provided by the Teenage Cancer Trust, which was equipped with a pool table, drum kit and Xbox.

“Macmillan had a huge impact on me. I wouldn’t be where I am now without their help. I know other people who are not in as good shape, because they didn’t have that support. I was very lucky - it all came together for me, with Julie’s help.”

“Not everyone gets a Macmillan or Marie Curie nurse. I want to create a legacy project, so that more students and young people know where they can get support. A lot of people fall through the radar.”

Sam chose to return to UWS to study for his postgraduate course, knowing that he would be in his comfort zone on the campus, and that he’d be able to concentrate on his studies.

“I started a postgraduate course at another university, and I found it too big – if I wanted to go from the library to the Disability Advisor’s Office, it was a trek across the road and up a hill. On the Paisley Campus, I can go from the library to my tutor’s office in two minutes.”

“And I like that I know the culture of the University, and there’s always a computer available when you need it – or a space to

meet your classmates in,” explained Sam. Sam says his friends come to him with their problems and he has to fix them and that’s why he chose Project Management – and also because he recognises it as an up-and-coming progressive discipline.

“Across industry about a third of major projects and events fail, and then there are the successful ones, like the Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games, that make a huge difference to people’s lives,” said Sam. It’s three weeks into his course, and Sam has already persuaded the University’s Students’ Association, to choose Macmillan Cancer Support, as their charity partner. He hopes several thousands of pounds will be raised by UWS students over the year. Future prospective fundraising includes the Varsity Sports Event, next spring, between UWS and Edinburgh Napier University, will be dedicated to Macmillan Cancer Support, as will the Christmas Ceilidh this year.

“This is the first time the Students’ Association has had a partnership with one charity – usually the different sports societies choose their own. I think it will give more focus, have more impact, and benefit those involved too by boosting morale.”

“The project might only last a year, but if I’ve planted a seed in a thousand students minds that blossoms later, then that’s great.

In 30 years’ time, who knows, one of them could be the next First Minister or Prime Minister.”

I want to raise awareness of all the support there is out there for young people.

Find out more about Macmillan Cancer Support and stay up-to-date with Macmillan’s cancer care services, cancer campaigning and cancer charity fundraising. www.macmillan.org.uk Find out more, raise funds, educate, and support teenagers fighting cancer. www.teenagecancertrust.org

UWS Alumni Magazine / INSPIRING ALUMNI / 19

INSPIRING ALUMNI

Industry and UWS: HOW AUDREY’S LINKED IN For UWS Alumna, Audrey Duckworth, the benefits of linking a career with further study are clear. Ashley Lennon meets her to find out more. Photography Tommy Ga-Ken Wan

T

here are times in all our working lives when we wish for peace to get on with the job alone, without the interruptions of colleagues or the phone. So, how does this sound for an alternative?

For eighteen months, Audrey Duckworth went to work every day, and saw practically no-one. For hours at a time, she was alone on a hill, wandering 12 hectares of land in Ayrshire, with, as she puts it “only the otters and the hares and the birds for company.”

Some might shy away from such isolation, but Audrey, who has been a fan of the outdoors since childhood, loved it.

Audrey’s job on this isolated hillside was to maintain and manage a closed landfill site, Barkip Landfill, near Beith in Ayrshire, part of the William Tracey Group. And it was her solitude at Barkip, which gave her time to

reflect on how to progress in her career – and led her to UWS. Audrey, who graduated in 2013, with a distinction, from the MSc Waste and Clean Technologies, explains, “My role as Site Supervisor at Barkip Landfill, was to look after the land there and to manage the breakdown and release of the naturallyoccurring leachate, which are part of any decomposition process at a landfill site.

Although Barkip, is now closed, it’s still essential to pump the leachate away, so that they don’t harm the land, and mange landfill gas to start the process of turning it into electricity.

“Every afternoon, there was a period of quieter time, and I started to think about how I could use it to further my career. I was very interested in the waste industry – in how it impacts on the environment, and how it can

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do so positively. I knew of the University already, because I’d previously studied a course in Quality Auditing there, through the Winning Women programme, and when I found out that the University offered an MSc Waste and Clean Technologies, I knew it was perfect for me. My employers, William Tracey, generously gave me time off to attend classes, and I studied part-time over two years, doing coursework in the evenings, so I was able to integrate it into my working life really well – though it did mean that I didn’t see much of my family during the week!”

Audrey’s commitment has paid off.

Not only did she graduate with Distinction, she was also promoted whilst studying to the role of Group Environmental Advisor, with William Tracey, then promoted again, in February of this year, to Environmental

INSPIRING ALUMNI

My MSc has really helped to give me confidence in my professional capabilities and judgement.

Manager for the Group’s Dry Waste Division, based in Linwood.

William Tracey is at the forefront of recycling and renewable energy in Scotland, turning household and commercial waste into products as varied as animal bedding, and refuse derived fuel. One of the firm’s most innovative schemes takes ordinary household waste and converts it to fuel, which is exported to Holland and Sweden to heat homes and public buildings.

Even as a child growing up in Houston, Renfrewshire, Audrey loved the environment; hill walking from the age of 13, and later catching the Munro-bagging bug, travelling to the Everest mountain region, in 2003. After gaining a degree in Environmental Science and English from Stirling University in 1999, Audrey moved to the West Highlands, where she and her husband Mark spent a decade managing hotels and working in the hospitality industry, enjoying the great outdoors in their spare time.

It was whilst working in Ballachulish, that Audrey and her husband came to the realisation that to progress in their chosen career fields, they’d need to move back to the Central Belt, so they bought a house in Dalry in Ayrshire, and began to look for work.

Audrey’s first role in the Central Belt was as a Quality Manager for a chemical company, but when the firm went bust, Audrey decided to re-skill, and came to UWS, as part of the Winning Women programme which ran at that time, offering night classes in Lead and Quality Auditing.

After a spell working for an insurance firm, William Tracey offered Audrey the Site Supervisor role at Barkip Landfill, launching her career in her preferred field. “I lost two stones in weight, whilst working in that role,” Audrey laughs. “I would cycle five miles each way to work, then cover 12 miles a day walking the site – I wore a pedometer, and watched with glee as the miles clocked up.”

Working in the waste industry helped Audrey – and her employer – as she studied for her MSc course. She explains, “The University course taught us lots about waste management legislation, pollution control and management systems – knowledge, which I was able to take and apply directly to my job. Equally, I was able to use the knowledge I already had from my job to inform my learning; that was a real benefit

of being a mature student. We were lucky to have a lot of industry speakers coming in to the course and we went on trips to places like Whitelee Wind Farm, near Eaglesham, East Kilbride, where we were able to see how our learning about clean energy applies in daily life.”

With a good mix of overseas students, mature students and recent graduates, Audrey learned a lot from her peers on the course, sharing knowledge and ideas with students working in the oil and waste industries.

And by studying part-time whilst working, Audrey was able to integrate her learning into her daily work and vice versa, to the benefit of both. For her dissertation, Audrey looked at the impact of carbon in the waste industries, working alongside The Carbon Trust to devise a carbon management plan for her employers. “I’m really proud that I created Scotland’s first carbon management plan for a private waste company,” she says. “It’s standard practice in the public sector now, and I’m working, as are my employers, to bring the same standards of environmental awareness to the private sector.”

As Environmental Manager, Audrey’s current role is to ensure that William Tracey’s Dry Waste Division meets its environmental responsibilities; training staff in environmental issues, conducting internal audits and developing awareness

campaigns. And she credits her MSc not only with increasing her knowledge, but also with deepening her professional confidence.

“I often have to give presentations to large audiences through work,” she says.

“But I was marked on that at University, so I feel well-equipped for it. My MSc has really helped to give me confidence in my professional capabilities and judgement.”

And Audrey’s connections with UWS run deep. She recently took current students from the University’s MSc Waste and Environmental Management course on a tour of her old place of work at Barkip Landfill, to show them waste industry processes in practice. “The site had never seen so many people,” she laughs.

Such is Audrey’s passion for the environment that in the future she hopes to get involved in influencing legislation around the development of Scotland’s clean technologies. For now though, when not at work, Audrey enjoys geocaching with husband Mark and son Corey, an outdoor pursuit that’s a bit like a huge outdoor treasure hunt, using GPS tracker co-ordinates to track down buried capsules or ‘caches’. It’s a pursuit that blends a love of the outdoors with a strong, clear goal – something that sums up this UWS graduate perfectly. www.williamtraceygroup.com

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INSPIRING ALUMNI

Joyce Henderson finds out how UWS’ enlightened work practices helped Lab Technician John Sweeney gain his PhD and become a consultant ecologist.

Photography by Tim Morozzo

BATS, NEWTS AND THE PAISLEY ECOLOGIST When a young John Sweeney plucked the Ladybird Book of Birds off a school library shelf, it was the beginning of a life-long fascination with birds, leading him to a PhD on ‘the polygynous breeding behaviour of the wren’, and a subsequent career as an ecologist.

He started work as a Laboratory Technician at UWS, the University of Paisley, as it was then, in 1980, and studied part-time first for an HNC, then an Institute of Biology degree.

“Once I graduated, I carried on with my job, but I knew I wanted to study for a PhD on bird life,” said John.

When ornithologist and University Senior Lecturer, Dr. Paul Tatner, arrived in the Department, John approached him to see if he would be his Supervisor for his PhD. “Paul told me to think of something interesting and novel to study, and I came up with the mating system of the wren. It’s one of the few polygynous birds in Britain – where some males are socially mated with several females. It’s not obvious why the females allow this,” explained John.

John studied part-time for his PhD, with his Department, allowing him to take time off to track and observe wrens’ behaviour in the grounds of the Erskine Hospital, in Paisley.

“I was sometimes up at 3.15am in the spring, to get to the site half an hour before

sunrise, so I could hear the wrens’ mating songs. I wanted to find out if the best singers got the most mates.

“Paul was a very good Supervisor, guiding me in the right techniques and asking the right questions. His enthusiasm kept me going – he saw I was very serious and fully committed to the project. I think I was the first of his PhD students to graduate,” said John.

After graduating in 1998, John got a new job working for the Scottish Government as a statistician. He worked on the Welfare to Work programme, fisheries statistics and Higher Education funding, but eventually his passion for wildlife called him back.

“I applied to four ecology consultancies and three offered me a job. I shouldn’t have been so surprised – I was well-known in bird-watching circles being on the national committee for British Bird Rarities, I had been a Government Analyst, and I had the PhD. It was a strong combination.”

What followed was four years working out of the Glasgow Office of RPS Planning and Development, a global consultancy, initially employed to carry out surveys for protected species like birds of prey, badgers and Great Crested Newts. John was in his element.

“I saw the big demand there was for ecology consultancy and that a reasonable living could be earned from it. By 2010, I

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could do almost all aspects of the work, so I decided to set up my own business and Clyde Ecology was born.”

“Most of my work – perhaps eighty to ninety per cent – is for wind farm developments, as a sub-contractor to larger multi-disciplinary consultancies,” said John.

John is very grateful to the University for its policy of developing the technical staff.

“The Biology Department had several Heads of Department, who all encouraged their technical staff to go as far as they could academically, even though this would usually result in them moving on.”

“I left school at 16, and there was no history of Higher Education in my family.

So, the University – by allowing me time off to study and giving me small grants – gave me options and the confidence to become a professional ecologist,” said John.

Going back to the wren – does the best singer get the most mates?

“Although I did find out a lot about wren polygyny, that’s one question for which I didn’t get an answer, he replied with a wry grin,” said John.

Clyde Ecology offers a wide range of ecological services, including advice, surveys, research and ecological impact assessment, to both the private and public sectors. www.clyde-ecology.com

FEATURE ARTICLE

Photo: Glasgow City Marketing Bureau/Steve Welsh

BEYOND 2014

There are two kinds of ‘legacy’ says Rodge Glass, and Glasgow knows which kind is best…

The national anthems have faded, the medals have been packed into boxes and the thousands of Glasgow’s infamous Games Lanes are no more – so what next after the Commonwealth party of 2014, and just what is the legacy, as Will Self puts it, of the ‘Festival of Running and Jumping’?

A colourful path near the Barras market and some pink bikes? Or has something more fundamental happened to the city?

Though it was only a few months ago, it already seems like years since the curtain came down on the Glasgow Commonwealth Games, with Dougie McLean’s ‘Caledonia’, and Kylie Minogue spinning her way through a set described as ‘themed around a typical Glasgow night out’. (Having been on a fair few of those myself, I have to say I haven’t yet stumbled into Kylie in George Square – though I’ve heard some choice versions of ‘Caledonia’ in the taxi queue.)

Before this summer, some commentators wondered aloud whether Glasgow might be capable of producing a successful Games. There’s been a broader debate, of course, before during and after the starting gun, about whether Scotland is capable of standing on its own two feet at all – and I do solemnly swear to spare readers yet another excavation of

that vote in these pages. But it’s precisely that national debate, soul-searching and high emotion, which followed the Games, that may already make it seem in the distant past. Yet, having gone without a hitch – almost (sorry Your Majesty, but you probably should have brought a spare copy of your speech), the idea that Glasgow might not have been capable of such a thing, seems a laughable idea. The same was said of the Garden Festival in 1988, after all, when Glasgow was just starting to change its image. Also, about the City of Culture in 1990, when Glasgow took that on. And after Delhi 2010, perhaps you could understand some nervousness. But that’s now turned to satisfaction.

Organisers, Legacy 2014, state proudly that the amount of Glaswegians who believe the Games had a positive effect was 88% (by the way!), the value of Games-related contracts won by Glasgow companies was £200 million, even the value of conferences secured, amazingly, was some £145 million. To a layperson, those numbers seem impressive. Even if you’ve no interest at all in the intricacies of the Lawn Bowls Finals or the Men’s Powerlifting, it’s hard to argue against that sort of investment, especially when there’s a Green argument too. (Apparently, 97,000

square metres of contaminated soil was treated and reused at the Athlete’s Village.)

For the committee members of Legacy 2014, for now, this adds up to legacy. But legacy takes time. You need to come back in fifty years for that, or at least a few more years – look at the tumbleweed drifting across Athens 2004 venues now. What you can tell though, and you can tell it immediately, is the spirit of a city.

And what spirit Glasgow has. I’m proud of Glasgow’s attitude during the Games, how it showed itself to be open-minded and big-hearted, and not short of a little self-deprecating humour either – just look at the opening ceremony. Giant haggis, anyone? Propped up cans of Irn Bru and Tunnock’s Tea Cakes? Pantomime Clydeside cranes? Sherlock Holmes and the invention of the television? A rousing Auld Lang Syne? And even a gay kiss, in front of a one billion audience, some of whom live in countries where homosexuality is illegal?

Now there’s some legacy for you. Over to you, Gold Coast.

Dr Rodge Glass Novelist, Critic, Editor

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