Alumni Magazine 2014

Forward: The evolution of Aston’s campus

InTouchASTON

Testing for Parkinson’s with a phone call

Why copper could save your life

Memories of a World War II alumna

When Maggie came to Aston

Alumni ResourcesGet Involved

You might want to attend a networking event on campus, or perhaps you can offer an internship or placement to an Aston student. Whether you have a little or a lot of time to spare, we have a section on the alumni website outlining how you can connect with Aston and get involved in some of the University’s activities.

www.aston.ac.uk/alumni/get-involved

Aston e-Network

Don’t miss out! We send a quarterly e-newsletter flagging up alumni news and events, such as the popular House of Lords Reception. If you want be amongst the first to be informed about Aston activities, sign up to our mailing list by emailing AlumniInfo@aston.ac.uk or calling us on Tel: +44 (0)121 204 4540. Alternatively, if you would like to update all of your details in one go, you can fill in our online form.

www.aston.ac.uk/alumni/contact-us/alumni-update-form

Social Media

Following our Facebook and Twitter feeds is another way to keep informed about news and upcoming events.

www.facebook.com/AstonUniversityAlumni www.twitter.com/AstonAlumni

Overseas Chapters

Meet with other Aston graduates, wherever you are, for social events and networking. You can find a list of international alumni chapters on the website, plus details of special interest groups, such as the Aston Entrepreneurs Network. Or if you would like to start a chapter where you live, please email us on AlumniInfo@aston.ac.uk.

www.aston.ac.uk/alumni/groups

50th Website

It’s our 50th birthday in 2016 – here you can find out about special events (such as the Homecoming Weekend in 2016); read interviews with some of our distinguished alumni; catch up on recent research projects and learn more about Aston’s history. If you have an Aston story to tell, or would like to make suggestions for 50th events, do visit our “What’s Your Story?” page and leave a comment.

www.aston.ac.uk/50

News from around the University

History feature

Interview with Dr Max Little

Meet the Executive: Professor Helen Higson OBE

Cover story

Forward: The evolution of Aston’s campus

Copper: Our greatest alloy

Class notes: Where are they now?

Meet the ‘King of Personal Challenges’

Comment: Professor John Gaffney

Supporting Aston

Investing in Birmingham’s Health

Student voice

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30 32Copyright © 2014, Aston University. The views represented in this publication do not necessarily reflect those of the editorial team, Aston Alumni or Aston University. All information was correct at the time of print.

Editor: Dr Annette Rubery Design: Glued Limited Print: Sterling Print Cover photo: Mike Jones

Then & Now

IN TOUCH 2014

WELCOME I am delighted to introduce your brand new alumni magazine, Aston In Touch.

Firstly, I’d like to take the opportunity to thank you for your continued support for Aston, whether that has involved attending events, contributing to the Aston Annual Fund or sending us your memories ahead of our 50th anniversary in 2016. We are lucky to have such enthusiastic alumni champions and I hope that you will enjoy catching up with the latest news from your University.

It has certainly been an exciting year. Aston Business School became one of only three institutions in the UK to attain the Small Business Charter Gold Award – a great testament to its role in helping to kick-start British enterprise. Meanwhile, The Economist ranked our flagship full-time MBA programme as second in the world and first in the UK for delivering immediate return on investment.

I know from my conversations with graduates that our fantastic campus is also a source of great pride for the Aston community. Many of you will have witnessed on the BBC and on YouTube the demolition of Stafford Tower. We were all impressed, and relieved, at the engineering precision of the ‘blow-down’ – neither a brick nor beam touched our new student residences, just some 20 feet away. In our cover story, Forward, Alan Charters, Executive Director of Capital Development, takes us through some recent changes to our Estate and our plans for the future.

You may be aware that, earlier this year, I announced plans for a new medical school here on campus. I am delighted to tell you that we have jumped many hurdles and found excellent clinical partners for the project. Our objective is to expand access to medical training by carefully recruiting 20 young people from relatively disadvantaged local communities to become doctors. Aston Medical School (AMS) will be welcoming students in 2016/17 and you can read more about our 50-50 Scholarship Campaign inside (and look out for more news on our social networks as the School takes shape).

I do hope that you enjoy hearing about the changes to our campus, along with some of the leaps we are making in our teaching and research. This is your magazine, so please keep in touch and let us know what you’d like to see in future editions.

With best wishes,

Professor Dame Julia King DBE FREng Vice-Chancellor, Aston University

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ASTON MEDICAL SCHOOL TO LAUNCH IN 2017Aston University has announced plans for a medical school to train a new generation of doctors in the heart of Birmingham. The proposed Aston Medical School (AMS) will cater for 100 medical students each year and include a research institute focussed on vascular disease. Due to open in autumn 2017, the School will be based on Aston University’s campus in Birmingham city centre. Turn to page 29 for more details.

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BITCOIN CREATOR REVEALEDStudents and researchers at Aston University’s Centre for Forensic Linguistics believe that blogger and former George Washington University law professor, Nick Szabo, is the likely creator of the internet-based currency, Bitcoin. Forty final-year Forensic Linguistics students, led by Dr Jack Grieve, conducted a study into a paper, entitled Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System, which was posted on the internet in November 2008 under the name Satoshi Nakamoto. It looked at linguistic similarities between the Bitcoin paper and the writing of 11 other individuals that are regularly referred to as possible authors, concluding that Szabo was the actual writer.

ALMONDS GOOD FOR HEART HEALTHA study led by Aston’s Professor Helen Griffiths has found that eating almonds can reduce the risk of heart disease by keeping blood vessels healthy. Researchers tested the effects of a short-term almond-enriched diet on healthy young and middle-aged men as well as on a group of young men with cardiovascular risk factors including having high blood pressure or being overweight. The group eating almonds had higher levels of antioxidants (alpha-tocopherol) in their blood stream, improved blood flow and lower blood pressure, potentially reducing their risk of heart disease.

APP TACKLES CHILD HEARING LOSSAudiologists at Aston are tackling the problem of ‘glue ear’ in children with a specialised hearing test app. Glue ear (or otitis media with effusion) is the main cause of temporary deafness in young children and is associated with a build-up of fluid in the middle ear. Usually it is not painful, but failing to detect hearing loss at a young age can greatly hinder speech development. The Early Ears app offers a digital version of the McCormick Toy Test, which most paediatric health clinics use to help detect hearing loss in young children, and can be used at home in a quick and fun way.

Scan me to download the app:

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ALUMNI GOLF THEIR WAY TO £41,000 Aston’s Alumni Association in Malaysia raised RM 225,000 (equivalent to £41,000) through its annual charity golf event in support of Possible Dreams International (PDI), a foundation that works to improve the lives of people in the rural region of Lubombo, Swaziland. “This foundation helps the people of Swaziland by providing basic infrastructure such as medical care, water access and housing,” said its president, Datuk Al Amin Abdul Majid. Some 124 individuals participated in the event, held at Amverton Cove Golf and Island Resort.

ASTON GRADUATE CHOSEN BY BRANSONSir Richard Branson named an Aston graduate’s business this year’s best start-up company after hearing his enterprise pitch at a prestigious entrepreneur competition final. Former Engineering student, Igor Rubets, was awarded the Virgin Media Pioneers Start-Up Award for effectively and enthusiastically presenting his storage company, Boxhug, at the Pitch to Rich final.

ASTON MBA RANKED SECOND IN THE WORLDThe Economist has ranked Aston University’s flagship full-time MBA programme as second in the world and first in the UK for delivering immediate return on investment (ROI). According to The Economist, those graduating from a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) at Aston can expect a 64.5 per cent return on their investment just one year after graduation, ahead of their counterparts at Harvard (14.8 per cent) and Stanford (13.5 per cent).

DR CLEGG TACKLES COMMUTER STRESS

A team led by Aston Business School’s Dr Ben Clegg will partner with Chiltern Railways in a research project that looks at ways to minimise the impact of disruptive incidents on train

passengers. While disruption on rail services is often unavoidable, Aston researchers intend to use novel techniques, such as modelling and simulation, to provide an insight into critical incidents and to improve the way in which train companies communicate with passengers during periods of upheaval.

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TOP TEN

Aston is in the Top Ten for graduate-level employment

Aston is above the UK average for widening access to Higher Education

The number of Aston students on placement has risen

Aston’s Optometry course is rated Top 10 in the UK league tables

Over 1,000 of our students are studying a language

Aston’s overall satisfaction rating in The National Student Survey

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STUDENTS SECURE TOP 10 FINISHAston Engineering students competing in the Shell Eco-marathon finished 9th overall in the hydrogen-fuel-powered concept-car category. The competition, held in Rotterdam, Holland, brought together around 200 teams and 3,000 students from across the world. The aim was to design, build and test ultra-energy-efficient vehicles with the aim to travel as far as possible on just 1KWh or one litre of fuel.

NORWEGIAN WOODA team of Aston scientists, led by Professor Tony Bridgwater, have joined a project aiming to make sustainable biofuel from Norwegian forest wood-waste. Using the process of fast pyrolysis, the wood can already be converted into crude pyrolysis oil, however the end result is too unstable to be used directly in diesel engines. The Aston team will be working on stabilising it through a mild, rapid, low-temperature catalytic hydrogen treatment, with a view to supporting the marine transport sector, which is facing stringent regulations demanding reduced sulphur and carbon content in diesels and oils.

AWARDS > Aston Business School is celebrating after attaining the Small Business Charter Gold Award in recognition of the role it has played in helping to kick-start British enterprise. The Small Business Charter Award scheme has already helped 4,700 students to find work placements in Britain’s exciting micro-business and start-up sectors. Aston Business School is one of only three business schools in the UK to receive the Gold level.

> The School of Engineering & Applied Science has been awarded the Athena SWAN Silver Award, given to universities and higher education departments for supporting the careers of women in the fields of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). To be considered for a Silver Award, EAS was required to demonstrate that it had developed a coherent plan to work towards greater gender equality and that decisive action had been taken to identify and remove any obstacles to this goal.

> Mark Hart, Professor of Small Business and Entrepreneurship at Aston Business School, has received the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion 2014. The Award recognises those individuals who have played an important role in promoting enterprise skills and supporting entrepreneurs.

> Aston University’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor Helen Higson, and a Senior Lecturer in Law, Odette Hutchinson, have been awarded National Teaching Fellowships by the Higher Education Academy. Each will receive an award of £10,000 which will be used to support their professional development in teaching and learning or aspects of pedagogy.

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Aston Graduates’ Association evolved from previous groups, which were set up to encourage graduates to remain in touch with each other, promote Aston as an educational establishment, and to support the University. We are now in our 65th year and we hope to play an important role in the 50th birthday celebrations of the University in 2016.

During the last year AGA members have continued to enjoy a variety of social events. In May a group visited the Dudley Museum and Wren’s Nest National Nature Reserve, where Aston graduate Graham Worton talked to us about the importance of this internationally acclaimed site.

Earlier in the year we visited the Museum of Carpet in Kidderminster and in February we went to the Primary Progressive Synagogue in Birmingham. Other trips included a concert on a rebuilt Wurlitzer in Worcester, and a tour of the European Bioenergy Research Institute (pictured) on campus.

In addition, we traditionally have dinner at the Birmingham College of Food, Tourism & Creative Studies in January and play Pétanque against a village team in July. We also

provide two prizes each year for students who have made an outstanding contribution, either to the student experience or in a voluntary capacity.

Future events include a visit to Aston Research Centre for Healthy Ageing (ARCHA) on campus (October 24th) and a Geocaching event (November 21st).

AGA is open to all Aston graduates. The subscription is £5 per year. Application forms are available from www.astongraduates.org.uk or write to Jenny Martin, 40 St Annes Grove, Knowle, West Midlands. B93 9JB (Tel: 01564 777 185).

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Throughout the year Aston organises a range of exciting events – on campus and beyond – where graduates can hear lectures by industry leaders and distinguished academics, attend receptions in prestigious venues or just socialise with fellow graduates. Here are some of the events that we’ve recently hosted.

To find out about forthcoming events, please visit www.aston.ac.uk/alumni/events/. Events are also posted on Twitter @AstonAlumni and the alumni Facebook page (www.facebook.com/AstonUniversityAlumni). We can also help you to arrange your own event – just give us a call on Tel: +44 (0)121 204 4540.

Visiting speaker Professor Ted Cantle (Founder of the Institute of Community Cohesion, pictured left) with Paul Williams, Professor Dame Julia King and Dr Surinder Sharma at his Aston Insights lecture.

The guest speaker for the annual MacLaren Lecture, Sir John Armitt, chats to Dr Colin Brown (Director of Engineering, IMechE) in the Sumpner Lecture Theatre after his talk, “Infrastructure for the Future”.

The University’s first ever TEDx event; the evening celebrated Aston research around the theme of “Design Thinking”.

Professor Judith Baxter delivering her lecture on “Language, gender and leadership: As seen on TV” as part of the Aston Inaugural series.

Mike Wright (Jaguar Land Rover) speaking at Aston Business School’s Insights with Impact event.

Guests at Aston Business School’s Annual Dinner at The Dorchester.

Aston alumni receptions were held in three locations in Japan (pictured: Osaka).

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If you’re ever on Birmingham’s canal network near to the Jewellery Quarter – look out for Mike Bandar. If the weather is fine you might see him beating rush-hour traffic by calmly paddling his kayak

down the inland waterways. “One day as I was walking along the canal to the Innovation Birmingham campus, I realised that there were no locks, so I bought a kayak and set myself a challenge to kayak to and from work every day. I’m doing the same this year. I did get a bit too confident and got very wet once but I’ve never gone under,” says the cheerful 25-year-old Aston Business School graduate.

So familiar is the sight of Mike, gliding down the canal, that locals have nicknamed him “Captain Kayak”. Yet kayaking was just the beginning. About two years ago, Mike came up with the idea of setting himself a series of 30-day personal challenges. Over a 12-month period he threw himself into tasks such as learning meditation; taking singing lessons; speaking in French; writing 500 words a day; striking up conversations with strangers and eating meat, despite having been a vegetarian for 15 years. His activities even hit the headlines at the start of this year when the Daily Mail crowned him ‘king of personal challenges’ in a feature about new year resolutions.

“Some of the challenges might be just novelties and some of them might be a skill that I really want to learn or a behaviour that I want to unlearn,” he explains. “I’ve found that 30 days is the perfect amount of time to really get your head stuck into something. It gets you to a certain skill level and gives you a good enough depth of knowledge, so you know whether you want to carry on doing it or not.”

Mike, who graduated from the Management and Strategy course in 2011, has run businesses since he was 15 years old. While he was at Aston, he won a Kairos Society Fellowship (awarded to the world’s top young entrepreneurs

and innovators) and today he is the founder of Turn Partners: a company focussed on the acquisition and re-commercialisation of other businesses. He also works as a business consultant for marketing and communications agencies and as a speaker.

Mike admits that university was not a natural choice, however. “I’m not an academic and I never will be. Yes, I did my degree at Aston and I loved my lecturers, but my lessons continued far beyond that. I really wanted to utilise the network of fantastic people at Aston.”

Meet the ‘King of Personal Challenges’

“I bought a kayak and set myself a challenge to kayak to and from work every day”

How do you define success? For Aston Business School graduate, Mike Bandar, personal challenges are just as important as money.

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At the end of his first year he found the perfect way of doing just that – he set up a paintball company (Trigger Experiences) which drew on the Aston community as a test market. It wasn’t long before the company had exclusive sales rights for all of the West Midlands universities. “Embracing the ecosystem around the University means that you can actually open a lot of doors that you wouldn’t be able to normally, and you can train yourself with the support of academia,” he says.

It was during Mike’s placement year, when he worked as a freelance consultant for Malaysian oil company PETRONAS, that he realised the benefits of pushing himself out of his comfort zone.

“I taught middle management on things like global acumen and commercial awareness. It was a phenomenal experience, and after being able to see what I could achieve in my placement year, I decided that I wanted to put a lot more in.”

Characteristically, for Mike, ‘putting a lot more in’ did not just mean doing more of the same – it meant a complete change of focus from the mechanics of running businesses to training and helping others with their own businesses. In the process he became President of Aston Entrepreneurs, then, after graduation, joined (Aston enterprise initiative) the BSEEN programme. He also helped to found the Enterprise Strategy Workgroup, which focusses on increasing support for enterprise across different areas of the University. He is proud, he says, to still sit on the committee, and to have seen so much progress over the last four years.

To say that Mike is driven is an understatement, but he has been careful to balance his ambition with periods of fun and enjoyment. His eccentric 30-day personal challenges have been useful as a learning tool, but they are also – you suspect – a way of not

taking himself too seriously. In fact, it is the cheerful manner with which Mike accepts his daily humiliations – while learning to sing (“I am still terrible”) or breaking his vegetarianism (“I still don’t like meat but I will eat salty, fatty pork products”) – that makes him so likeable. His criteria for success, he says, “sounds hippyish”, but it is not just about earning lots of money.

“Number one for me is continued learning – if I’m not learning then I know I’m not getting better and I’m not enjoying the things around me. Number two is adding value. So whether I’m working as a consultant for a business or working within one of my businesses, I have to make it better than when I started. Making

a social impact is also important, so whatever I do, it needs to be bigger than me. I also have to have a healthy, happy social life. And then, finally, I need to earn enough money. Success for me is having a balance of these five, important things.”

It is clearly a philosophy that works. Turn Partners – the company that Mike co-founded with James Vardy – recently bought niche dating-agency Toyboy Warehouse, transforming it from a declining business into a highly profitable enterprise. He is currently working on digital products, such as a shopping plugin (Crowdsticks) and a product that enables people to monetise their Instagram account (Instapass). His successful paintball business continues without his input – run with Aston people at the helm.

“I think that the foundation that I developed at Aston has never really stopped growing and getting better,” he adds. “It’s my duty, as an alumnus, to pay it forward, back into the system. That’s what’s really powerful about alumni networks – they can bring benefits for people within the network, and we can also help to grow the network from the roots up”.

“I think that the foundation that I developed at Aston has never really stopped growing and getting better”

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Dr Benjamin Coldrick pictured with St George in Victoria Square after his April graduation ceremony.

Students from Kansai University (Aston’s partner university in Japan) meeting the Lord Mayor of Birmingham on their year abroad.

Members of the Children’s University enjoying their graduation day, hosted by Aston.

Tony Kelly fitting two of this year’s kestrel chicks with identification rings.

A ‘yarn bombed’ tree outside the Main Building. The art installation was carried out by Birmingham-based artists Stiches & Hos to raise awareness of Go Green Week 2014.

Banners celebrating Aston’s research achievements are added to the Library façade.

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Much has been written about the difficulties faced by today’s students, but they should take heart – for one Aston alumna, Freda Radcliffe (nee Ryder), the path to academic

success was full of obstacles. Born in central Birmingham, where her parents were publicans, Freda grew up in Erdington and studied at Sutton Coldfield High School. She received her BPharm from Birmingham Central Technical College – a forerunner of Aston University – in 1943, going on to become an Assistant Pharmacist at Selly Oak hospital.

Not only was this success remarkable for a woman at that time (the Royal Society, for example, did not

accept female Fellows until as late as 1945), her studies were undertaken during one of the most turbulent periods of 20th-century history.

“Her copies of the magazine for the Birmingham College of Pharmacy make light of wartime disturbances, such as the buildings becoming ‘more airy’, which I take to mean windows were blown out,” explains her daughter, Judy Lea, who has collated Freda’s papers and donated them to Aston University’s archive. “Her commute by tram to the College was often accompanied by bombing raids, and lessons were continued in the basements when necessary.”

Birmingham Central Technical College was located in an imposing Victorian building on Suffolk Street. At the start of World War II, Britain was desperate for skilled scientists, engineers and technicians, and the nation’s technical colleges were making heroic efforts to fulfil this need. Education was not, however, free. According to the College’s “Cost of Training and Qualifying in Pharmacy” leaflet, the tuition fees for Freda’s degree in 1940 were £137 9s 0d (£6,700 today).

Freda’s examination papers are also amongst the documents collated by Lea. In the 1940s, the Technical College’s exams were set by the University of London, but Freda sat them externally (at Nottingham University) because her father didn’t want her to go to the capital, which was the target of

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alumna, Freda Radcliffe, as she studied for her Pharmacy degree during World War II.

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heavy bombing. Her examination paper in Physiology from 1943 includes tasks such as recording the heart-beat of the “pithed frog” with which she was supplied (a pithed frog is one that has its spinal cord or cerebral cortex pierced or severed).

Meanwhile, Freda’s copies of the Department of Pharmacy’s magazine, The Essence, reveal the enormous strain that the war was having on the College. The 1942 edition is “thinner than ever owning to shortage of paper”, while the “Report of the Session 1940-41” notes that the development of the Department has been hampered by difficulties obtaining new apparatus. The first term, we learn, has also been marked by heavy raids on Birmingham: “The College escaped direct damage, but the effects on the students’ work are difficult to estimate and must have been considerable”.

We can see from Freda’s Students’ Union membership card, too, that many activities (swimming, table tennis, the Metallurgical and Photographic Society meetings) have all been suspended due to the war. However, the writers of The Essence maintain their stiff upper lips, not least the Union President, who writes: “Yet we still smile and grumble and because of our grumbling we decided to have something worthwhile for the social side. All we students have laid a pretty solid foundation for the new Pharmacy section of the Students’ Union. It has many grand opportunities of becoming an integral part of education in the Birmingham Educational sphere – or are we looking too far ahead? We don’t think so.”

Despite these troubles, Freda enjoyed the “social side” (she first learnt about classical music from one of the lab technicians telling her when concerts

were going to be on the radio). She also studied hard – even winning awards in the process. Says Lea: “During her studies at Aston she won prizes for Physiology in November 1941 for 50 shillings (less than £5 but enough to buy some hefty reference books) and two prizes in October 1942 for both Pharmacy 1 and Physiology for 30 shillings each. Ironically, she failed her Physiology practical exam but appears to have got around that on a technicality.” Freda’s achievements were recognised again, when, as the best final-year student, she won the Cuxson Gerrard Gold Medal – an honour that is still awarded

at Aston today.

And just as a placement year is still a feature of studying at Aston, so Freda undertook a two-year ‘pupilage’ or apprenticeship at Birmingham General Hospital before she could qualify as a Pharmacist. Her papers include her copy

of the National War Formulary (1943) as well as her Articles of Pupilage, where she is described as “son or ward of Frederick Herbert Ryder” (there being no option for “daughter” in the document’s standard wording). “As a reserved occupation she was then given a petrol allowance to drive to work,” notes Lea.

Freda was awarded her degree in 1943, but – along with nearly 20,000 others – did not have the opportunity to attend a graduation ceremony because of the war (though she had a photograph of herself in cap and gown taken privately to mark the occasion). However, in 1992 she was invited by the University of London to the Royal Festival Hall to attend a graduation ceremony especially for wartime students,

“Freda won the Cuxson Gerrard Gold Medal – an honour still awarded at Aston today.”

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and was able to take both of her daughters to watch.

Interviewed for the local paper in 1992, she expressed her absolute surprise at the invitation. “They have obviously taken our age into account for the letter says the Army and Navy units will be there to help us up the steps if we can’t make it,” she joked.

Freda continued to live in Sutton Coldfield, only moving to Maldon in her last year, during which she reached the age of 90. Despite the difficulties of studying in wartime Britain, her experiences at Birmingham Central Technical College seem to have been happy ones. Aside from her own considerable achievements in Pharmacy, her papers also illustrate the shifting attitudes towards women in the workplace that defined the era. As a result of the war, skilled occupations would become open to people like Freda for the first time in history, changing the lives of women forever.

If you have photographs from your time at Aston that you would like to add to our online archive then please send them to AlumniInfo@aston.ac.uk.

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Our voices give much away about what’s going on in our heads – often whether we like it or not – our emotions, concerns and intentions. But what if, as well as your mental

state, your voice alone could provide clues to changes in your physical wellbeing that are imperceptible to the eye?

That’s the idea behind the work of mathematician Dr Max Little, at Aston’s Nonlinearity and Complexity Research Group, who has come up with a revolutionary way to diagnose and track the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. All patients have to do is pick up the phone.

The cutting-edge of healthcare might seem an unlikely area for someone who started off in the video games industry. But it was whilst he was working on computer games, specifically on digital signal processing – the voices and sounds and music in video games – that he began to think more about how you could use mathematics to model their behaviour.

This curiosity led Dr Little to do an Open University degree in Mathematics, and then a PhD at the University of Oxford. There he became interested in voice disorders, and whether there were ways to use mathematics to provide a more objective way of diagnosing their symptoms, by picking out complex behaviour in voice signals. “So if someone had cancer of the larynx and part of their vocal chords is gone, can you score the damage to their voice using these sorts of techniques,” he says.

At the time, Dr Little wasn’t exactly sure what these techniques might end up being used for. Then he teamed up with a researcher at Intel Corporation, who had collected voice data from people with Parkinson’s disease. “They didn’t really know what to do with it,” says Little, just that they wanted to understand what it could tell them about Parkinson’s symptoms.

Parkinson’s disease is a severe neurological disorder which affects 6.3 million people worldwide. The loss of nerve cells in the brain causes motor symptoms such as tremor, slowness of movement and rigidity. But there is no definitive test because symptoms can vary greatly between patients and there is no measurable indicator of the disease that you could pick up in, say, a blood test. Instead, neurologists have to carry out an assessment of each patient, which is expensive, time consuming and means an often inconvenient visit to the clinic.

Now it seems that mathematics, combined with voice data, might provide a much needed objective tool with which to detect the disease easily, cheaply, and before many of the symptoms are even noticeable visibly.

That is possible because the vocal chords suffer the same kinds of problems as a result of Parkinson’s

Aston mathematician Dr Max Little is on a mission to diagnose Parkinson’s through voice recordings. Catherine de Lange meets the man behind the numbers.

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as other muscles in the body – weakness and rigidity. Eventually, people with the condition develop a vocal tremor.

So Dr Little applied the technologies he had been developing during his PhD to Intel’s voice data. Using voice signalling processing tools combined with machine learning, his system was able to compare the kinds of sound waves produced by normal vocal chords and those produced by someone with Parkinson’s disease and learn to identify the abnormal signals. It worked so well that the system was able to diagnose someone with Parkinson’s with 99 per cent accuracy.

Intel has now funded one of Dr Little’s students to refine the technique, in particular how to move the technology on from using lab-based voice recordings to phone calls, which are much messier to work with. The system’s ability to measure symptom progression and grade the severity of symptoms will also be put to the test.

When Dr Little launched the Parkinson’s Voice Initiative in 2012, asking people with Parkinson’s disease to phone in and leave a message, he set the “ambitious target” of 10,000 calls. He received over 17,000. “So we’ve got this huge mountain of data,” he says. The team are awaiting results and “with any luck it works.”

If it does, it will hold huge potential for creating a service which is fast, cheap and negates the need for a physical check-up. That means it could be used for large-scale screening trials for Parkinson’s which simply wouldn’t be possible otherwise.

In the meantime, Dr Little is applying similar principles to see whether they might help with the diagnosis and treatment of much rarer diseases. For instance, he’s tapping into the increasing ubiquity of smartphones

to see if they can help track symptom progression in people with a rare genetic disease called Friedreich’s ataxia, which also causes muscle weakness as well as loss of speech and hearing. The idea is that people with the condition and healthy controls will wear smartphones from which Dr Little’s team can collect data, such as how much they move about, and how much they are speaking to others. “The goal is to see if we can try and get ingrained information about how symptoms are changing just using smartphones,” he says.

The mathematical challenges are similar to the Parkinson’s research – how do you take the data you have – in this case vast amounts because the smartphone traces are recorded every 20 microseconds – and turn that into something meaningful for doctors or clinical researchers?

Beyond healthcare, though, Dr Little believes that mathematics holds the key to some of the biggest problems that we face today. Just look at climate change. “Without mathematical modelling we really have no idea how to make predictions of how the future climate looks,” he says. “The fact is that without having this quantitative view of our world we have no control over it. The first step of getting control over it is measuring things. And as soon as you have measurements, you have maths.”

Catherine de Lange is a science journalist and multimedia producer specialising in health, genetics, psychology and science careers. She has worked for New Scientist, Nature, the BBC and the Guardian.

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Alumnus Frank Haddleton (BSc Hons Metallurgy 1983; PhD Dept of Mechanical Engineering 1987) writes: “Up until the 1980s the

Department of Metallurgy had a darkroom for developing images (from microscopy, electron microscopy, etc.). I used it regularly in the 1980s as part of my doctoral studies. I found a negative from which I developed the attached photo (Aston 1966) in the darkroom once, and decided to take another photograph (Aston 1985) myself from the same vantage point. It was taken from somewhere high up in the Main Building, looking towards Aston Street. You will maybe recognise the fire station on the bottom right-hand side, and possibly the (now demolished) Lloyds Bank on the left-hand side. Of course, most of the buildings in the 1985 shot have now been demolished, but I would imagine that an up-to-date photo could easily be taken from the same vantage point, to show how the campus has developed over the past 50 years.”

We found Frank’s vantage point on Floor 7, where we were able to recreate the view for 2014. The new Aston Student Villages complex now takes up the central space, and, following the demolition of Dalton Tower in 2011, there is an uninterrupted view of the skyline once more.

Aston’s Campus:

Then & NowHISTORY

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Professor Helen Higson OBE is Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Aston, where she leads on outreach and recruitment, learning and teaching, and employability. The major part of her career was spent in Aston Business School, where she is Professor of Higher Education Learning and Management.

How did you first become involved with Aston University?

I started at Aston on the fifth of September 1985. And it was by chance. I was moving to the Midlands and I needed a job. Aston said “We haven’t got any jobs at the moment but we like you, so come on a temporary basis.” First of all I worked as a PA for the Pro Vice-Chancellor, then I worked for the Research Office, then for another Pro Vice-Chancellor, and then I did maternity leave cover at Aston Business School. I stayed there for 20 years.

One of the first things I noticed is that there’s much more capacity to be able to make a difference at Aston. You can mould jobs to how you want them. I also like the way the institution is embedded in the community. We were created by the employers of Birmingham in 1895 because they couldn’t find the employees they wanted and we still stick to that. We’re also incredibly friendly; you can be yourself here.

What are you currently working on?

My work is very varied, and it can change from day to day because as Deputy Vice-Chancellor you have to do what the Vice-Chancellor and your other senior colleagues need. One big task at the moment is making sure that students can come here if they can benefit from study at Aston, whatever their background.

I’m responsible for the learning and teaching experience and one of the things that’s preoccupying me at the moment is CLIPP [the Centre for Learning Innovation and Professional Practice]. We’ve got a

new team and they’re working with the [academic] Schools on redesigning the whole of the curriculum. I’m also responsible for employability. We have an aim that 100 per cent of our students will do a placement year, so I need to make sure that we’re strongly working towards that.

What is it about your job that motivates you?

As a Pro Vice-Chancellor you have the chance to appoint and then motivate good people. We’re like the conductor of the orchestra, who gets all the credit, but actually there’s a huge amount of work being done by lots of people. The other thing I like about my role is that people will come and talk to me. I like making connections – I’m the glue in the place.

Who has inspired you in your work?

I get very inspired by the students and I love that part of my work. The other person who’s inspired me is the Vice-Chancellor [Professor Dame Julia King]. If you want a quiet life, don’t work for her because she’s got real vision and yet she wants to be involved in everything. You want to do well for her because you know what she’s done for you and for the University.

Where do you see Aston in 2020?

The plans that we have for this lovely park [where Stafford Tower stood] are very exciting. I hope that we’ll have the 100 per cent placement take-up. I think we’ll be larger, but we have to guard against losing the things that are in our DNA. The Aston triangle represents the city, the University and the employers of Birmingham, and we must remember that.

Mee

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Q&A

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Despite the failings of Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Professor John Gaffney (above right) wonders: would he have been a better President than Hollande?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn is back. On Thursday May 16 he took a major part in a prime-time documentary about the Euro where he criticised Nicolas Sarkozy’s response to the 2008-9 economic crisis.

The following day, Welcome to New York, a film about his arrest after allegations of sexual assault in the city’s Sofitel hotel, was shown at Cannes at the festival fringe. The film, starring Gérard Depardieu and Jacqueline Bisset, which was made available online on a pay-per-view basis, gathered 48,000 views in its first 24 hours.

It is exactly three years since his Icarus-like fall from the summits of power to arrest, handcuffs and global humiliation. He was the head of the IMF, one of the most powerful positions in the world, and he was perfectly placed to become the seventh President of the French Republic in 2012. Then came the Sofitel moment.

It is a good story. The rich and powerful world leader who crashes to ruin, his ambitions all blown to the wind. But why are these stories re-emerging now? It is no coincidence that publicity about DSK is in inverse proportion to the sitting president’s popularity, or rather unpopularity. François Hollande is the most unpopular French president of the Fifth Republic, seen as not up to the job, but also incompetent.

So is the DSK issue telling us something about French politics? Well, the first thing to remind ourselves of is that Hollande is President of France because DSK isn’t. Hollande was the Mr Normal replacement in the Socialist Party primaries for the fallen Colossus. But the acute personalisation of French politics means that after two years of policy failures and record unpopularity, the unavoidable questions are: what would DSK have done as President, and would he have done it much better?

This raises very interesting questions about France and the relationship of the French to their rulers. For it is not just whether DSK

would have done better, but that asking the question in the first place speaks volumes. What would he have done? He would have applied social democratic policies very similar to those Hollande wants to pursue. He would probably have appointed the same ministers – with some variants. He would have combined a policy of growth at the European level and spending cuts at home.

Yet, crucially, it’s in the realm of action DSK was seen to excel. He would not have wasted two years pussyfooting around. He would have stood up to Angela Merkel. He would have written off the Greek debt, and started again with tighter rules and decisive action, and a bold Keynesian approach. In the French imagination, DSK is the antithesis of Hollande.

This brings us to the deeper significance of the whole affair. In spite – or because of? – the uncontrollable appetite, the clear obsession with women, the implied violence, the self-destruction, DSK is interesting and highly complex. But is he presidential? The tragedy for him and for France is that he was but he isn’t now.

What we see in these continuing echoes of “the DSK Affair” is the meeting of France’s public desires and private fantasies; the idea of harnessing the deeply deviant sexual power of one individual and putting it to – desperately desired – sound economic and collective effect, thus redeeming both the man and the country. It is a myth, but no less powerful for that. France has yet to get over its desire for providential heroes, and DSK is a symptom of its neurosis.

John Gaffney is Professor of Politics and Co-Director of the Aston Centre for Europe.

The full-length version of this article was originally published in The Conversation (http://theconversation.com/uk) in May 2014.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn: France’s Fallen Hero

COMMENT

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Alan Charters has the task of shaping Aston’s campus to respond to 21st-century demands. He tells Annette Rubery how he is doing it.

Forward

COVER STORY

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It is 9am on a cold Sunday in April. An exclusion zone has been placed around Aston University campus and 400 students have been evacuated.

People stand behind barriers, waiting, cameras poised. At 9.10, two booms ring out and Stafford Tower’s 21 storeys crumble and fall to the ground with impossible neatness, leaving behind them just a heap of rubble and a gigantic plume of dust. A pause, then cheers can be heard across campus. As people pick their way around barriers, heading back into the city, dust blows into their eyes. A woman in a café asks “Did you see the tower come down? We felt the ground shake.” Meanwhile, on Twitter, @GaganAggarwal writes: “Where friendships were created, essays written, secrets told, meals cooked, sleeps had, memories made. #RIPStaffordTower”. Birmingham’s skyline will never be the same again.

Despite the reflective mood, the demise of Stafford Tower is hardly a surprise. The last of the trio of 1970s tower blocks to come down on

Aston’s campus (Dalton and Lawrence bit the dust together in 2011), the removal of Stafford is part of a longer-term project to provide a landscaped space for the brand new Aston Student Villages development. The demolition (carried out by DSM – the same company that demolished the GEM sports centre and former Lakeside Conference Centre) was overseen by Alan Charters, Executive Director of Capital Development at Aston, who regards the work as a chance to unite the campus more effectively with

the surrounding areas.

“Where Stafford Tower sat just presented a great gateway opportunity from Corporation Street and Steelhouse Lane into the campus, straight the way through to Woodcock Street

and on to the Science Park,” he says. “We wanted a genuine green space, open to both the public and students. When it is finished there will be a mixture of enhanced paths around Chancellor’s Lake, more grass, more fruit trees – a really fabulous space at the heart of campus.”

“Where Stafford Tower sat just presented a great gateway opportunity into the campus”

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Stafford Tower is, however, only part of the Estates team’s vision. As Charters explains, the challenges which the University faces are in many ways the same ones that existed five years ago – the modernisation of an old estate and the provision of appropriate residential, teaching and research facilities – yet he is now also taking into consideration rising student expectations, due to the introduction of fees, and rapid growth following the Government’s decision to lift the cap on student numbers. The recent completion of the Aston Student Villages project – which began as a kernel of an idea as long ago as 2006 – has been timely, not just because the old towers had come to the end of their natural lives.

“We now have space for just over 3,000 students who want to live on campus, which enables us to serve all of the first years, our returning students and a large proportion of our overseas students all the way through their time at Aston,” he says. “And it keeps the community sense – the staff who run the residencies are Aston University staff, so the students get the pastoral care and attention, as opposed to us hiring a third-party provider.”

This work follows a £5 million project, completed in 2011, to restore the Victorian swimming baths on Woodcock Street, which the University bought for £1 in 1980. Other projects have included an extensive refurbishment of the Library and the creation of both the EBRI building and Aston Brain Centre. Yet there is still a third of the Estates plan to complete, and that will focus on the north end of the campus.

At the end of last year, Aston took the former BCU/BIAD building back into its possession, and this will form a new home for Aston Business School. “We also want to demolish the current Students’ Union building in front of it, so that the Business School has its own front door overlooking Gosta Square. We are moving the Students’ Union into the Viscom building, which is a fantastic, big, open space. The other people who are growing and looking for new homes are Languages and Social Sciences and the Photonics Institute. The top of the north wing of the Main Building will be refurbished for LSS and the bottom will house Photonics.”

Further developments include the demolition of the south wing of the Main Building to create a piazza outside the University’s front door and a reorganisation of the ground floor to focus on student-facing services. Add to this plans for a brand

new academic venture – Aston Medical School – and there is no doubting that the motto of the University, Forward, is just as relevant now as it always was.

“Astonishing, inspirational changes have occurred during the last five years at Aston,” adds Charters. “There is more still to come and I look forward to walking you around in 2020 to see what we have achieved.”

Got views on campus developments? Tweet us @AstonAlumni

“Astonishing, inspirational changes have occurred during the last five years at Aston”

How Twitter said goodbye to Stafford Tower

@WordsInStone Came to @AstonUniversity with three, now there are none. #RIPStaffordTower You archaic legend.

@tommymarlow Fire alarms at 4am... 3 toilets & 2 showers between 18 people... Meeting the future Mrs Tommy... #RIPStaffordTower

@LizInch947 #RIPStaffordTower I’ve only known you since September, but you were a part of my skyline from Block A1 and will be missed.

@willh919 #RIPStaffordTower unexplained fire alarms (after ball hit sensor) Rasheeda telling me she’d seen better legs on a piano...

@andrewcocks Never again will students share a kitchen between 9 and a bathroom between 18. Farewell #StaffordTower – you legend.

@BTtowerBrum #RIPStaffordTower my old friend. If there is a tower heaven, you’re there with Dalton and Lawrence.

COVER STORY

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COVER STORY

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Copper is one of the oldest metals known to civilization. Occurring naturally in humans, animals and plants, it’s been mined for 5,000 years and its uses are manifold. Copper and

its alloys can be found in everything from household wiring and agricultural poisons to musical instruments and the food we eat.

Yet, beyond its ability to nourish and to conduct heat, copper is also a powerful antimicrobial agent. Long before microbes were known to exist, people instinctively used the metal in food preparation and as a medical aid. The ancient Egyptians, for example, used copper compounds to treat open wounds and sterilize water. The Aztecs used it to cure sore throats, while people in Persia and India applied it to boils and eye infections.

More recently, following major outbreaks of MRSA and Clostridium difficile in UK hospitals, scientists have again turned to copper as a possible solution to the problem of antibiotic resistance – a big factor in the rise of hospital-acquired infections.

“These healthcare-associated infections are transmitted when you’re in hospital, and basically

the organisms are passed from person to person, or more usually from healthcare worker to patient by touch,” explains Peter Lambert, Professor of Microbial Chemistry at Aston. “So if you’ve got a working surface that becomes contaminated, somebody touches it and then touches someone else and the organism is passed on that way.”

Time and motion studies have shown that healthcare workers touch surfaces – commonly made from stainless steel or plastic – in the region of 300 times an hour, so keeping them sterilised is a big priority. “While it’s true that you can wipe solid surfaces with disinfectants and biocide sprays,” says Professor

Lambert, “wouldn’t it be smart if you had a surface that was intrinsically antimicrobial – so if you touched it with infected hands, the organisms would die?”

This was the question that Professor Bill Keevil and

colleagues at the University of Southampton asked when setting out to research the role of copper in hospitals. Laboratory-testing by the Southampton team showed that copper could prevent horizontal gene transfer on surfaces such as door handles, trolleys and tables. The next step was to test it in a

Our greatest alloy

“Wouldn’t it be smart if you had a surface that was intrinsically antimicrobial?”

Each year there are at least 100,000 cases of hospital-acquired infections in the UK, some of which result in disability or death, and which cost the NHS in the region of £1 billion. Yet clinical tests by Aston scientists have shown that copper alloys are a powerful weapon in the war against infection.

RESEARCH

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RESEARCH

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clinical environment, and with this in mind, the Copper Development Association approached Aston University – already known for its close links with clinical colleagues at the Queen Elizabeth and Selly Oak hospitals in Birmingham – to carry out the world’s first trial of copper touch-surfaces in the clinical setting of an acute care medical ward of a working hospital.

“With a very modest amount of money, the Copper Development Association funded this trial, which we did on a medical ward at Selly Oak,” says Professor Lambert. “And not only did we do all the microbiology testing at Aston, but the people who actually worked on the wards all had an Aston link as graduates and postgraduate students in Life and Health Sciences.”

In addition to Professor Lambert and Dr Tony Worthington (Senior Lecturer in Clinical Microbiology), the team included Aston’s Dr Anna Casey, Dr Deb Adams, Dr Tarja Karpanen, Dr Laura Wheeldon, Dr Preena Mistry, Lisa Miruszenko, and Christian Lowden, and was led by

Professor Tom Elliott (Consultant Microbiologist and Deputy Medical Director at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust, and a visiting Professor at Aston).

“In the surgical ward we made sure that half of all the touch surfaces were made from copper alloys, and the other half remained standard. Every day, we’d go in and swab all those surfaces – a huge amount of work – and we’d see what the normal level of bacteria was on those surfaces, so we could compare it to the copper surfaces. In case there was some

bias (because people could see the copper colour), we swapped the surfaces over and tested again.”

When microbiologists analysed the swabs back at Aston University, the findings were remarkable. Even after a busy day on the ward,

with items such as hand-rails, tables and pull-light-switches having been touched by numerous people, there was a 98 to 100 per cent drop in the amount of harmful organisms on the copper surfaces.

“To ensure that science has an impact on everyday health is a special skill”

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Copper Facts

> The Romans obtained their copper from Cyprus. The word copper and chemical symbol for the element, Cu, come from the Latin word cuprum after the Greek word for the island of Cyprus.

> Copper is man’s oldest metal, dating back more than 10,000 years. A copper pendant discovered in what is now northern Iraq goes back to about 8700 BC.

> The Statue of Liberty contains over 179,200 pounds of copper.

> One of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in Israel is made of copper instead of animal skins.

> Copper-rich foods include oysters, kale, mushrooms, seeds, nuts, bacon and chocolate.

> Copper is mixed into the paint used on the underside of ships to prevent seaweed, algae and barnacles from sticking to the vessel.

> A copper strip barrier can keep snails and slugs from entering your garden. The slime they generate creates an electrical charge when contacting the copper and discourages them from crossing.

Following Aston’s trial, a multi-centre study has been carried out in the United States, and there are further trials underway in Europe. Professor Lambert believes that using copper touch surfaces will be a significant step towards combating hospital-acquired infections in the future, if used as part of a ‘care-bundle’ of procedures (including measures such as regular hand-washing, rolling up sleeves and screening healthcare workers for MRSA).

“The bottom line is, with a copper-containing surface you will kill organisms – we’ve shown that even the nastiest bugs are killed within an hour,” he concludes. “Even without cleaning the surface, they would be dead. And if that’s a bed rail or something being touched by a vulnerable patient, that’s very important.

“But imagine the logistics of going onto a busy surgical ward, winning over the nurses and patients. It’s not easy. To ensure that science has an impact on everyday health is a special skill – I’m very proud that Aston has done this.”

RESEARCH

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Aston Annual FundFirstly, a big thank you for your gifts to the Aston Annual Fund. Due to your generous support we have been able to implement ten projects across campus, including the provision of easy-access mini-buses for the Students’ Union and the continuation of our University Wide Language Programme, ensuring that students can have access to free courses in French, German, Spanish, Mandarin or Arabic. Through our Woodcock United campaign, you also helped us to raise funds for the redevelopment of the historic Doug Ellis Woodcock Sports Centre.

As we approach our 50th anniversary in 2016 we hope that all alumni will consider lending their support to our programme of scholarships and other projects across campus. Every single gift is appreciated and helps us to give Aston students a head start at university and beyond. We’re proud to say that our students come from diverse backgrounds, and that we have a very low drop-out rate across our courses.

We expect to be in touch with you in February/March as part of our new Aston Annual Fund campaign, when we hope to update you on Aston news and upcoming events.

In the meantime you can find out more about the AAF on our website: www.aston.ac.uk/alumni/make-a-gift/ or by contacting Geoff Savage via email at g.savage@aston.ac.uk.

The Charter SocietyThe Charter Society was established this year in order to recognise the significant support given to the University by alumni on the run-up to our 50th anniversary in 2016. Donors giving £1,050 or more to the University in a single academic year are identified as members and are invited to an exclusive annual reception, offering a chance to speak personally with the Vice-Chancellor and to hear from guest speakers. Being a part of this Society will inspire your peers and fellow alumni to consider their gifts to Aston and remind others of the importance of supporting higher education.

All alumni and friends of the University are invited to join The Charter Society and, as a result, increase their engagement and input into the future life of Aston. We offer opportunities to build relationships with other Charter Society members and senior staff which are beneficial both to themselves and to the University.

For more information please visit our 50th website: www.aston.ac.uk/50/support-us or contact Jonathan Carter via email at j.carter2@aston.ac.uk.

How can I help? Chunbin Zheng was the third person to receive the Gwen Kingston Prize in 2011

Leaving a LegacyA bequest in a will is often the most significant gift that a person makes. We’re grateful to have received a number of legacy gifts which have helped us to enhance and develop many different areas of the University, from the student experience to research.

One student that has directly benefitted is Nandini Rao, who was the first of many to receive the Gwen Kingston Prize. Gwen worked as the University’s Examinations Officer – a job that brought her into contact with international students, whom she recognised often require more support than home students.

As well as achieving top results in her first year, Nandini was a student representative and participated in Aston’s peer mentoring programme. She says: “Receiving the Gwen Kingston Prize was extremely motivating and made me work even harder in my second year.”

As well as being a positive way to make a difference, legacy gifts also help to reduce the burden of taxation on your estate. You might already know what you would like to give to, or you may prefer to have a confidential discussion with us to find out how you could help.

If you’re thinking of leaving a gift in your will, please contact Sarah Pymm at s.e.pymm@aston.ac.uk.

If you would like to support Aston students or research through one of our fundraising initiatives, read on for more details…

SUPPORTING ASTON

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Plans to develop a new medical school for Birmingham, which will support local trainee doctors with scholarships, have received

high-profile backing from two influential members of Birmingham’s business community. West Midlands’ High Sheriff, Dr Tim Watts, and Aston Villa Football Club’s Emeritus Chairman, Sir Doug Ellis OBE, have both generously pledged their support for Aston University’s 50-50 Campaign, which will fund five Aston medical scholarships a year for the next ten years.

The creation of Aston Medical School (AMS) – which will include a research institute focused on vascular diseases – was announced by the University in June. The facility, which will be based on campus, is scheduled to open in autumn 2017 and will cater for 100 medical students each year.

A total of 20 medical scholarships will be set aside for students from hard-to-reach communities within Birmingham and the Black Country. Of the 20 scholarships, five will be specifically funded through the 50-50 Campaign, which is designed to coincide with Aston University’s 50th anniversary in 2016. The remaining 80 places will be open to international students and students across the UK, which will in turn help to fund the scholarship programme. Trainee doctors will qualify with an MBChB degree (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Science) and a ‘mini’ business MBA, providing clinical and business training.

Dr Tim Watts believes that a new Medical School will create a real legacy and bring significant health benefits to the region. “I have made it my aim to shine a light on the innovations that make this region stand out and few projects are as ground-breaking as the launch of Aston Medical School,” he says. “Not only is this a huge boost for students from hard-to-reach communities, but it will also create local doctors for the local area, improving the health and wellbeing of communities.”

Sir Doug Ellis OBE said the new Medical School would undoubtedly lead to better social mobility and opportunities within Birmingham and beyond: “Aston University and the West Midlands region have always been very close to my heart; I’ve lived and worked in and around Birmingham since 1948 and I can think of no better legacy than to be associated with a new Medical School within the city. I am pleased to support such an exciting project and would encourage others to follow my example.”

The project is headed-up by Professor Asif Ahmed, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Health at Aston. Under his leadership, the School’s research arm – the Aston Medical Research Institute – will have a particular focus on vascular diseases related to women’s health such as pre-natal conditions and problems during pregnancy. Professor Ahmed said that an additional Medical School would boost Birmingham’s reputation for healthcare innovation and help to address the city’s “shocking” infant mortality rate, which is 60

per cent above the national UK average.

“We are extremely delighted that Sir Doug Ellis and Dr Tim Watts are among those to already have pledged their support to Aston’s 50-50 Campaign and their support will help to fund two of our first five scholarships for our first intake,” he said. “Research shows that medical schools have the ability to improve

health outcomes in the communities in which they are founded. Birmingham currently only has one medical school in comparison to six medical schools based in London. We want to create local doctors for the local region and address the region’s serious health inequalities.”

If you are interested in finding out more and/or lending your support, please contact Andrew Harris, Executive Director of Campaigns, Tel: 0121 204 4560, Email: andrew.harris@aston.ac.uk.

Investing in Birmingham’s Health

Aston alumnus and High Sheriff for the West Midlands, Dr Tim Watts, presents a cheque to the University for its new Medical School facility. Left to right: Imraan Ladak (CEO of Pertemps Medical Group), Professor Dame Julia King, Dr Tim Watts (Life President of Pertemps) and Professor Asif Ahmed.

Two business leaders have lent their backing to the 50-50 Campaign – a new scholarship programme for Aston Medical School.

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Where Are They Now?1970s

Steve Hill (BSc Electrical and Electronic Engineering, 1978) joined Lucas Aerospace as a graduate engineer, where he was involved in developing some of

the world’s first Full Authority Digital Engine Control (FADEC) Systems for Rolls Royce jet engines, technology that is fitted to most wide-bodied commercial jets flying across the world today. In 1995 he was appointed Engineering Manager to provide functional leadership to electronic design and specialist engineers. Then, in 2003, he was appointed engineering manager of the Hydro Mechanical Test facility, overseeing the design validation of fuel, pump, metering and actuation products that, along with the FADEC, comprise the fuel management system. In 2008 he moved into his current role of Aftermarket Technical Support Director, and, last year, celebrated 35 years’ continuous service with the company.

Sajid Shah (BSc Electrical Engineering, 1977 and BSc Mechanical Engineering, 1979) is an unusual case amongst alumni as he was the first

person to graduate from Aston with two undergraduate degrees. After graduation he became a Chartered Engineer in both the Institute of Mechanical Engineers and the Institution of Electrical Engineers, as well as obtaining an MA and a PhD. He has had a very exciting, challenging and interesting career which has encompassed a wide variety of roles in Asia, Europe, Africa and the USA. He is happily married to Seon Young and has a 20-year-old son called Laurent. Sajid writes: “Together we have a very active social and family life and in our spare time we travel and play golf a lot”.

Mustaza Salim (BSc Civil Engineering, 1978) runs and operates a private highway in Malaysia. Over a career spanning 36 years, he has served in both public and private sectors, mostly in infrastructure planning, construction and financing. He sits on the Boards of several private companies involved in construction and engineering. From 2010 to 2014 he was a council member of the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia. He is also a founder member and Honorary Secretary of the Aston University Alumni Association Malaysia. He lives in Kuala Lumpur with his wife, and spends weekends on the golf course.

1980sShahed Latif (BSc Managerial and Administrative Studies, 1989) lives in San Francisco, in the US. He is a partner at KPMG with a career spanning 27 years. He has travelled throughout the world and now works out of the Silicon Valley Office in the US. He wrote one of the first books on Cloud Computing in 2009 and works with many of the leading high tech companies. He now leads the High Tech Practice specialising in Cybersecurity. He is a boy-scout leader and sits on the advisory boards of a number of start-up companies. He is also the Chair of the Audit Committee of the first American Muslim College in Berkeley.

Sue Gee née Gallagher (BSc Managerial and Administrative Studies, 1988) met her husband, Lewis Gee, in week one of her course at Aston. They were allocated to the same tutorial group and started dating in week two. They will have been together 30 years in October. They have two children; their eldest has just finished her first year at Pembroke College, Oxford, studying History. Their son has just completed his ‘A’ Levels. He is planning to study Management/Marketing/Business and intends to visit Aston shortly to investigate one of the courses.

1990s

Husband and wife Daniel Earp (Managerial and Administrative Studies, 1995) and Joanna Earp (Managerial and Administrative Studies, 1997) recently made a trip back to campus to show their two boys where they met. Since leaving Aston, Joanna has worked for Unilever – first as a sales trainee and then in marketing. She is now the Skin Care Marketing Director for Unilever UK/Ireland and is accountable for the P&L and brand plans across the Simple, Dove and Vaseline brands. Daniel qualified as a Chartered Accountant with PWC after graduating. He then moved into industry, working as a Financial Controller at TNS (now Kantar), Reliance Security and Added Value. He is currently the Head of Finance at Hastoe – a not-for-profit housing association. Of their trip to campus, Joanna writes: “From some angles nothing has changed (Main Building, Guild, Sacks of Potatoes), however the other side of Aston street is unrecognisable, with so many new buildings. We particularly enjoyed popping into the Woodcock Sports Centre and being shown around the new halls of residence.”

Stephen Lai (BSc Building Economics and Measurement, 1984) is the founding President of Aston University Alumni Hong Kong. He is the Managing Director of Rider Levett Bucknall overseeing China, Hong Kong, Korea and Oman offices. A highly regarded quantity surveying and project management expert, he has 30 years’ extensive knowledge and experience of

various projects in Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan and the Middle East. He is the immediate past President of the Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors, a Board Member of the Construction Industry Council, a Member of the Infrastructure Development Advisory Committee of Hong Kong Trade Development Council, and a Member of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) of Xuhui District, Shanghai. Mr Lai is a sought-after conference speaker for quantity surveying and construction across the region.

Amit Vyas (BSc Combined Honours, Computer Science and Business Administration, 1999) lives in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. He is the co-founder and CEO of Nexa, a integrated digital marketing agency, which was founded in 2005 and is currently ranked number 1 in the UAE for website

development and search engine marketing. Amit moved to the Middle East in 2005 and has also co-founded a number of technology start-up companies and holds Directorships and Advisory positions in a number of other companies.

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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.

2000sYusuke Yamada (BSc Managerial and Administrative Studies, 2008) has been working for Toshiba Corporation’s Nuclear Division since September 2008. During that time he has assumed roles of increasing responsibility, primarily in business

development and strategy. In 2012 he was seconded to Westinghouse Electric Company in Pittsburgh, US, to work on a project for NuGen, which plans to develop nuclear power plants at the Moorside site in West Cumbria. He relocated to the UK in February.

Ronan Fitzgerald (MA Applied Linguistics, 2008) worked at reception at Aston for three years after graduating, deciding his plan to stay in academia wasn’t for him. Starting a band and promoting local gigs led to an interest in marketing. As Marketing Assistant at another university, he developed a flair for digital marketing, studied for a

qualification in that subject, and headed to Costa Rica, volunteering as Communications Officer with a charity. All this led to a job with Wesleyan assurance society in Birmingham as Marketing Content Manager. Ronan has stayed involved with music and plays in a band called Nerve Centre with three other Aston alumni.

Max Pullen (BSc International Business and Management, 2012) gained first-hand commercial experience as President of Aston Students’ Union, whilst founding UK charity Born to Thrive. Securing a place on the prestigious Mott MacDonald Graduate Scheme, he is now a Junior Management Consultant, advising organisations in the

private and public sectors, most recently the Department for Education and Highways Agency.

After graduating, Agnes Jacobs (BSc IBML French, 2012) undertook the elected role of Vice President for Education and Welfare at Aston Students’ Union. She was part of the team that re-wrote the bye-laws, managed an Appreciative Inquiry into the personalisation of the student experience, and organised a programme of events to welcome the 2012 cohort of international students. Following

this, Agnes worked in the University Marketing Department as Marketing and Events Assistant. Then, in October 2013, she moved to London to take on the role of Careers Events Assistant at Imperial College, where she works on various events to help connect students with employers.

Sabah Hussain (Business and Management, 2013) returned to Aston University to work in the Development and Alumni Relations Office following her degree. A budding designer, Sabah recently beat thousands of hopefuls to audition for BBC Two’s Great British Sewing Bee, where she had the chance to showcase her creativity in front of the

judges. Also discovering a passion for Muay Thai boxing, Sabah has become an avid student of this combat sport, regularly attending fight nights in support of her instructors.

Alex Fisher (BSc Combined Honours Psychology & Sociology, 2010) decided to utilise the research skills from her degree and quickly joined Kantar Worldpanel’s (formerly TNS) graduate scheme, working with top grocery manufacturers like Unilever and Procter & Gamble to form their strategy and product offering. After three years of helping to shape the grocery market at Kantar, Alex has recently joined the Revenue Growth Management team at H. J. Heinz, with responsibility for getting the best financial returns from deals and promotions.

Rachna Shah (BSc European Studies and English Language, 2011) returned to her placement year employer, Friends of the Earth, after graduating. She has worked to help hundreds of people to campaign on issues that they are passionate about, specialising in environmental issues and biodiversity. In 2012 she was shortlisted for the Sheila McKechnie Foundation

Environmental Campaigner award. Following a year working for youth education and empowerment charity, Envision, she returned to Aston to run the Professional Mentoring Scheme, pairing business professionals with Aston University students to help prepare them for the Placement Year.

After graduating, Debbie Barrett née Morris (BSc Business Administration and Social Studies, 2001) joined the Admissions & Marketing Department at the University of Westminster and continued working in higher education student recruitment. She is married to fellow Aston graduate Matthew Barrett (BSc Business Administration and Social Studies, 2001) and is currently enjoying being a full-time mum to their three young daughters. Matthew is currently an Assistant Housemaster at Shrewsbury School.

Since 2013 Eva Tabora (BSc International Business and Management, 2011; MA Public Policy and Social Change, 2013) has been working for French bank Société Générale in the Private Banking division, Hambros. During this time she has assumed various roles geared towards increasing brand loyalty and developing client relations. While studying for her

Masters, Eva worked with Midlands-based asylum-seekers help centre, St Chad’s, which provides support services ranging from daily essentials, such as food and clothing, to learning opportunities.

CLASS NOTES

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Aston Students’ Union President for 2013/14, Neil Bushell, reflects on his year in office.

Throughout my year as President, I have become increasingly aware of the changing mentality of students towards their experience and expectations of university life. Looking back to my own first year, one of the key things that I picked up on was the difference in work mentality between the first-year and final-year students. Whereas final years would remain focussed in the Library seemingly every hour of the day, the first years spent the majority of their time concentrating on student experience and extracurricular activities. Over the last two years, this mindset appears to have changed.

This situation poses a potential catch-22 for students. The increase in tuition fees has led students to focus on their academic studies and assessments (which I cannot say is a bad thing, personally). However, this focus can potentially detract from their involvement in things that allow them to develop their interpersonal and team-working skills, such as society and club management. In other words, the opportunities that help them to stand out when it comes to graduate employment. It seems to me that – despite Aston’s high employability rate – many students have the

difficult task of managing both the academic and non-academic activities that will make them into well-rounded graduates.

Yet I strongly feel that this success in employability at Aston is due to the desire of our students to advance and improve. In a strategic review conducted in 2013 by Aston Students’ Union, all students across Schools and degrees identified employability as something the Union could help them to develop. My wish for the future of Aston is that the Union, through interaction with the University, continues to make sure that opportunities for personal development are always available. If we can ensure this for future students – and continue our excellence in placements – then I do believe that Aston will continue to stand out in the field.

Neil Bushell studied Human Psychology at Aston University with an integrated placement year. His placement was with St Andrews’ Healthcare and allowed him hands-on experience in both clinical and forensic psychology. Neil’s term in office started in July 2013 and came to a close in June 2014, after which he took a summer job as a camp counsellor in the United States. He is currently exploring the option of working in either mental health services or human resources.

Student voice

“What do you mean, you left your course work in Stafford Tower...?”

Colin Whittock’s Campus Life

CAMPUS

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This series of images by an unknown photographer documents the late Baroness Thatcher’s visit to Aston Science Park in 1983, when she was Prime Minister. The Park was opened in February of that year in a refurbished factory premises on the corner of Lister Street and Dartmouth Middleway. In her book Diary of an Election, Carol Thatcher recalls two eggs splattering down the side of the campaign bus as it pulled up outside Aston Science Park. She writes:

“That unfriendly reception was continued inside when Councillor Clive Wilkinson, a board member and leader of Birmingham Council’s Labour Group – who had already had the red carpet taken up in protest of Mum’s visit – told her that he resented her trying to make political gain and get kudos from her visit to the Park.”

However, the Iron Lady was undaunted and completed the tour with her “campaign consort”, Denis, following closely behind.

The Lady’s Not For Turning Back

In 2016 Aston celebrates 50 years since the granting of its Royal Charter. If you have photographs or memories that you would like to share with us, please get in touch. You can contact us by telephone (Tel: +44 (0)121 204 4540) or email (alumniInfo@aston.ac.uk), or simply visit us in the Development & Alumni Relations Office at Aston. You can access further information about upcoming events, the University’s history and our research activities on our 50th anniversary website: www.aston.ac.uk/50

FROM THE ARCHIVES...

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InTouchASTON

Staywith www.aston.ac.uk/alumni

Get connected...

Earlier this year we refreshed the Aston alumni website (www.aston.ac.uk/alumni/) to make it easier to navigate. See below for a quick tour of some of the features.

50 GREATS: Link through to our 50th anniversary site where you can read interviews with inspiring alumni.

EVENTS: Keep up-to-date with alumni events and networking opportunities with our new calendar.

BETTER MENUS: We have improved the navigation to allow for quicker and better browsing.

CONNECT: Stay connected with us and each other; update your details online.

Development & Alumni Relations Office, Aston University, Aston Triangle, Birmingham, B4 7ET United Kingdom

@AstonAlumni /AstonUniversityAlumni AlumniInfo@aston.ac.uk Aston Alumni Community

NEWS: Read the latest news from your alumni community and the University.