Download Futures - Autumn 2007 - University of Hertfordshire

The Alumni Magazine for the University of HertfordshireBrand New XUHA new brand. A new magazine.A new era for your Alma MaterHogwarts AlumnusHon Doc Mike Newell on directing,Harry Potter, and his forthcoming filmFlying With GiantsAeronautical alumnus Frank Ogilviereflects on college life, deHavillandand the ‘Superjumbo’A Trip Down College LaneWe unearth an archive of campusphotos over half a century old…Watch the Skies…The Bayfordbury campusCelebrates the big (wet!) 40H e a rd itT h rough theGrape Vi n e …UH researches the best wines andthe best jokes in the world (Seriously).4663/TC/APIf undelivered, please return to Development & Alumni OfficeUniversity of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9ABAutumn 2007

LettersIf you have something to say about this first edition of your new magazine, a recentevent you came to, or about anything relating to the time you spent here in Hatfield,then we would love to know about it. Let us share your memories and news of yourreunions, weddings, business ventures etc with your fellow alumni, and help us tokeep you connected. We want to hear all about the Futures you were building whileyou were here… and so do all your old friends and colleagues.An Introduction to the FutureFrom Alison ColesA new name, new look, new format… A new magazine.Welcome to Futures; the new name for XUH, and anew voice for your alumni magazine. Thank you toeveryone who responded to our request forfeedback. Most of you did not think XUHrepresented alumni from all the Colleges andPolytechnic that preceded UH, and some of ourChinese alumni even mentioned the connotationsof death attached to the letter X. So going forwardwe have, Futures...F u t u res is also one of the first UH publications to showcasethe University’s new logo and brand (what better audienceto choose?), and so we have some great new features foryou. In this issue we’ve included a new letters page for yourfeedback… we report on Bayford b u r y ’s (very wet!) 40thbirthday party… we’ll be testing your memories with somesnapshot images from the past… sharing some of yoursuccesses in our new youH profile pages… and looking athow you can benefit from getting involved with the UHScholarship programme. We also catch up with HonoraryDoctorate and Hollywood director Mike Newell (Harry Potterand the Goblet of Fire, Four Weddings and a Funeral…)about his care e r, his current film project and what hethought of ‘Order of the Phoenix’…So why the new look? The University of Hertfordshire ischanging. Evolving. Retaining all of its core values whilstbecoming even more innovative and far-reaching intobusiness and the community – and you, our formerstudents are playing a large part in this change.Many of you are not so much ‘ex-UH’ as still very muchinvolved, and we want even more of you to be at theheart of what we’re doing.I recently returned from a round trip meeting newgraduates and more senior alumni in Malaysia andThailand. It was wonderful to receive such a warmwelcome, and to hear stories as to why internationalstudents choose to study at UH and how their careershave taken off since.In our next issue, we will tell you more of the new plans wea re putting in place to give you access to ongoing supportin your careers, and how you can utilise this amazingalumni network (of over 130,000 worldwide), and get backin touch with all your old classmates.I hope you enjoy the future of your magazine.Alison ColesHead of Development and AlumniP.S. To reduce our “carbon footprint” further (we are ranked #3among UK universities), all alumni outside the UK will re c e i v ean electronic copy of Futures. Please visit the alumni websiteto make sure we have your current email address. Indeed ifanyone would prefer an electronic copy, please log in tohttps://alumni.herts.ac.uk to check your record and see allthe latest news.Futures Letter of Choice…Thank you for your recent copy of the U of H Alumni Magazine – havingread it, I was moved to tell you this story. My name is David Elms and Ispent two and half years at Hatfield Polytechnic between 1982 and1986. Unfortunately, due to various circumstances, I didn’t complete myCombined Studies degree but I think it’s fair to say my time in Hatfieldhad a profound effect on my life. Although I was studying at the maincampus in Hatfield, I lived in halls for a period over at the then BallsPark campus in Hertford. During that time I met and fell in love with aGerman exchange student called Pia Gerhard, who spent six monthson the Business Studies course. During those six months we were veryclose but, after Pia re t u rned to Germany, we sadly couldn’t find a wayto be together. That is until Christmas 2006 when we got back in touch.For the last eight years I’ve been working in London for (and last sixyears as Chief Executive of) IFA Promotion Ltd - the body re s p o n s i b l efor promoting independent financial advice in the UK. However, for thelast 12 months I’ve also been living near Frankfurt in Germany. Icommute backwards and forwards each week, working three days inLondon and two days a week remotely from Germany. Did my time atHatfield help with what I’m currently doing? Yes - because re g a rdlessof whether I finished my degree or not, I associated with people whohelped teach me about aspiration and I cherish that lesson to this day.I’m now fortunate enough to be heading up a high profile consumerp romotional campaign which over the last twelve months helped over600,000 people to find a local independent financial adviser, and overthe same period generated over 5,000 pieces of positive consumermedia coverage. And the end of the story? After finding out that after 21years we were still very much the love of each other’s lives, Pia and Ia re finally getting married in July this year. Thank you, HatfieldPolytechnic - and Balls Park in particular (now sadly gone) will alwayshold an affectionate position in our hearts.David ElmsFantastic story, David – and many congratulations to both you and Pia.Thanks also for following up with the pictorial “evidence”! As an epiloguefor readers; David and Pia were subsequently married on Friday 13 July2007, in We t z l a r, Germany. Certainly not an unlucky day for some…Please send all letters to the Development & Alumni team at Universityof Hertford s h i re, Hatfield, Hertford s h i re, AL10 9AB, or email us at:alumni@herts.ac.ukWhilst I enjoy reading of the University’s successfulstudents and of new developments, what I re a l l ywant to hear about is the students with whom Is h a red my days at Hatfield. To that end, would it notbe possible to have some kind of forum in whichalumni members could keep in touch? With the bestwill in the world, in a world of very busy lives, it canbecome impossible to keep up with everyone youwould like, but you would still like to hear how yourfellow students have fare d .Hilary LaurieH i l a r y, we hear you, and we are in fact developing anexclusive Alumni Community Website where you can logon, create a profile for yourself, and search for all thoseyou knew during your time here! You can also use this siteto find out about all-things-alumni happening here at UH,and much more… The site is brand new, and is up andrunning, but we are currently still developing the searc hfacility – but please come and take a look, athttps://alumni.herts.ac.uk .We will report more fully onthe site in our spring ‘08 issue…Many thanks for organising (the Bayfordbury @ 40)event and congratulations to all who were involvedin running it. It meant a lot to those of us with pastconnections with the Bayfordbury Campus to beable to revisit it and run into people we knew onceagain. You had an excellent programme, includingthe competitions, the barbecue, the chance to seethe Pinetum, Observatory and Planetarium, theCake and the presence of our former Director, SirNorman Lindop. With the help of your marquee andgood timing, we managed to dodge the raindropsaltogether. My wife and I and all our friends had agreat time. Special mention for Jenny Harman,who hosted the Treasure Trail, which I'mhappy to say I won!Tony and Rene GardnerI’m glad you and Rene had as much fun as we did,Tony – in spite of the weather! Thanks to everyone whobraved the elements in June, and a further specialmention to our alumni events guru, Frances Elliott forpulling it all together. Go to page 16 for more on theday (including the ‘human-40’ photo!...).2 / futures / introduction futures / your view / 3

NewsA new look for Universityof HertfordshireYou will have noticed that your alumni magazine looks different and has a new name.This redesign of the alumni magazine and use of the new logo is one of the first visible aspects ofthe University’s new brand. This re branding is a logical extension of the new strategic direction forthe University. UH is now one of the UK’s leading business-facing universities and has a strategy tobuild and expand on this position.For UH being business facing is about pioneering a new model ofa university focused on serving the needs of business and students, both in the UK andinternationally. From equipping world class graduates with the right mix of academic and practicalskills, to providing support and innovative solutions to businesses, UH focuses on empowering itsclients to meet the demands of the regional, national and global skills economies.This means all our courses have been developed with advice from business and the professions –so they teach the right skills and principles relevant in a fast changing environment. It means thatour researchers are working on cutting edge solutions to real life problems and that we encourageand support all staff and students to have an entrepreneurial attitude.As an example of this approach we are proud to have the largest number of externally fundedscholarships, sponsored by organisations including TMobile, Clydesdale Bank and HertfordshirePolice; all the Harry Potter films have included our graduates in the productions and we run agraduate consulting unit to bring a variety of staff, students, and alumni together to form a bespoketeam for solve business problems. It’s an exciting time!Every great learning experience involves an evengreater teacher. Many of us leave university with thememory of at least one particular individual whosedrive, passion and knowledge for their disciplinehelped, if not solely defined the paths our lives tookafter graduation. Each issue, we ask you to sendus those memories – stories of the people whoinspired you the most…Define InspirationFor more information contact us at alumni@herts.ac.ukAlumniAssociationYou may have noticed that UH has some very active alumniassociations around Wall Hall and Balls Park and in Malaysia and China,with new associations starting in Thailand and with AerospaceEngineers (watch this space!), but that a void exists for an umbrellaAlumni Association to bring everything together and represent you atthe highest levels in the University.We are delighted to announce that one of our best-known Alumni,Kate Bellingham, has agreed to be President of the new UH AlumniAssociation. Karin Hale, who has tirelessly assisted us in a totallyunofficial capacity for several years, will continue as Vice-President.UH AngelsWe are starting a new project, our very own version of ‘Dragons Den’.UH Angels will act as a bridge between alumni investors ande n t re p reneurs to help develop strong products or ideas. The entre p re n e u r swill pitch their ideas to the UH Angel requesting a capital sum in exchangefor a percentage of the company. There is no target age group for eitherthose pitching ideas or the UH Angels, it will be open to all alumni. This isan innovation in the sector as there are no other alumni offices in the UKrunning such a competition.Elliott Cushnie, the student placement coordinating the project, said: UH Angels has been designed to support andp romote our alumni’s entre p reneurial skills and support their chosenc a reers, ideas, passion and dre a m s .If you are interested in the project, contact Elliott Cushnie on01707 282807 or email E.1.Cushnie@herts.ac.uk for more information.My favourite lecturer during the course of several nursingpost grad studies was definitely Maggie Davidson whotaught the ENB998 nurses teaching and assessingcourse. I studied this around 1999 and later she taughtme "research methods" or something similar. What Iparticularly liked about Maggie was that she valued eachstudent as an individual and allowed us the opportunitiesto express ourselves in our own special way. I felt sheunderstood me as a person and not just as a nurse.When I was doing the course, I was always me, not justanother nurse, not just another student and I felt valuedfor who I was and the contributions I made. I would saythat I never found Maggie’s teaching boring, it wasalways stimulating. I felt Maggie was grounded in the realworld and had not forgotten what it was like to be anurse. The other thing I remember was Maggie alwaysresponded promptly to emails and requests for help, shewas very supportive with our assignment - you could askher anything without feeling stupid. I think Maggie was avery credible nurse lecturer. Julie ThomasFavourite lecturer? Well, mine would have to be ProfessorJohn Crawley who retired at the end of my first year.He initiated a love of ethology which remains with meto this day and the relevance of which I saw daily in myprofessional work. He was uncompromising but if youshowed a spark of interest in the subject (which wasmandatory in the first year), he nurtured this andattempted to help you understand the relevance of thetopic to life in general. My copy of 'Social Evolution' byTrivers - a book to which I was introduced by Prof.Crawley - is still being borrowed by others even thoughthey are not psychologists. The other person who sticksvery much in my mind is Dr Beryl Starr who encouragedme to see the link between my pre-existing medicalknowledge and developmental cognitive and biologicalpsychology. This knowledge was very useful whenundertaking prisoner assessments and case formulationand facilitated being able to pin down some areas ofarrested cognitive development for treatment.Hatfield gave me the opportunity to undertake my thirdand most enjoyable career (having previously trained asa nurse and worked as a Marketing Director in thepharmaceutical industry) and I am eternally gratefulfor the education I received there. Hilary LaurieKate Bellingham will be no stranger to many of you. Four yearsp resenting “To m o r ro w ’s World” made her face familiar to millions. Thenshe went on to present her own weekly show on Radio 5 Live, “The BigBang” on Childre n ’s ITV and other programmes for the Open University,BBC Schools and Channel 5. We could go on listing Kate’sachievements, but we would need a few more pages in Future s ….Welcome, Kate, and thank you Karin for all your past advice and help.F u t u res would love to hear any stories you have of those individuals that made the most impact on your studies andc a reers. Even if it was just last year, if you have memories of your lecturers that you would like to share, please sendthem to: alumni@herts.ac.ukThe authors of all stories featured in the magazine will receive a UH hooded sweatshirt, or a fleece jacket, so pleasedo remember to send your full postal address also. Many thanks to Hilary and Julie for the stories featured in this issue.4 / futures / university newsfutures / memories and lecturers / 5

What is this and what is happeningto the lady in the picture?Answer: We don’t know! - but wouldlove to find out if you can help solvethe mystery?!Did they strike oil?Answer: Well we don’t think so, butwould very much like to know whatall the machinery is for?– answers on a postcard please!(or via email, obviously!...)An oversized hamster run forgenetically modified giant rodents?!Answer: We jest of course! It is in factthe first ever wind tunnel, designedand built by W Allan Fox during hisforty years lecturing here… but whenwas it constructed? – can you help?P i c t u re kindly sent to us by GillianTaylor (formerly Fox)Was this the start of a degreein construction techniques?Answer: No. It was the laying of thefoundation brick of J block hostel,February 1961Name the people in the photo, andwhat was the event?Answer: From the right – W. Alan Fox,the Duke of Edinburgh and the Principleof the college (can you recall his name?)on the occasion of the official opening ofthe Technical College. Picture kindly sentto us by Gillian Taylor (formerly Fox)Do You Remember this?With over half a century of memories under its belt, since the days of HatfieldTechnical College, the University of Hertfordshire has seen many interesting erasand events, and captured many great snapshot images across its campuses.Here in the Alumni Office, we recently came across a forgotten archive offantastic photographs from UH yesteryear, and needless to say, many of themcontain a wealth of mystery! Each issue, we would like to share some of thesewith you, telling you what we do know about them – and hopefully in return, youmay be able to lift the shroud off some of the more cryptic areas for us also?!So blow the dust off, and enjoy…W h e re was the old library located?Answer: Behind the Main Reception inthe area which is now ComputerScience LabsWhich year was this picture taken?Answer: Our guess is somewhere inthe 50's, but can you give us anymore accurate information?A rea 53??…Did the Martians land here?Answer: If anyone can help us, whatis this and when was this complexdisplay created?Are you here? Who are all of these, and when was this picture taken?Answer: We have quite a lot of the people, but not all. The pic was taken in 1953 and the group is the deHavilland Aerospace Training School.Please let us know if you recognise anybody so that we can complete the “inventory”. Picture kindly sent to us by Joan and Duncan Woolard.6 / futures / UH Historyfutures / UH History / 7

7 Alumni, 7 Days,7 Memories and DreamsPirada Vatanapanichkit and Ratchadaporn PichaisriswadKnown for centuries by outsiders as ‘Siam’, the predominantlyBuddhist Kingdom of Thailand is a beautiful and cultural Meccafor backpackers and tourists alike… and is also currently hometo over 200 UH alumni. Needless to say, when our very ownAlison Coles was presented with the opportunity to fly out toSoutheast Asia to visit them in July of this year, no amount ofarm-twisting was necessary.In collaboration with global education consultant, MentorInternational, a UH alumni event was organized for 12th July,at the Novotel Siam Square Hotel, Bangkok. The event wasnamed ‘7 Alumni, 7 Days, 7 Memories and Dreams’, and wascomprised of 7 specially invited alumni, who each gave a talksharing their experiences of studying in Hertfordshire, as well astheir career dreams and aspirations for the future. Each guestspeaker also gave their own words of advice to Thai studentsabout to follow in their footsteps by embarking on UH coursesin the 2007-08 academic year.The 7 guest speakers were: Mr Watcharin Kedsawapitak– a lawyer at Blumenthal Richter & Sumet, Ms KanokwanVajeesatayanuruk – event marketer for Elca (Thailand) Ltd., MsPirada Vatanapanichkit – Wealth Management Executive at KGISecurities (Thailand) Plc., Mr Sinad Mak-Arunkamol –Management Trainee at Unilever Thai Holdings Limited, MsKanokon Phongpissutinun – Senior Business DevelopmentManager for Barter Trade (Thailand), Ms Salila Srikanthawong– Media Planner for FCB Thailand, and Ms KamonnateRojratanawalee – owner of a garment manufacturing company.Also speaking as guests of honour at the party, were Alisonherself – who gave a presentation on recent successes andfuture plans for the University - and John Kelly, the DirectorWith international alumni relationsstretching out farther and widerthan ever before, the UH family treejust keeps on growing across theoceans. This issue, we look at thelatest country to blossom a socialand professional support networkfor Herts graduates, as we branchout to our fellow alumni in Thailand.of Mentor International who jointly hosted the “Alumni Party”with UH. As a thank you gift, Alison also presented mementosto the guests to commemorate the occasion.The event was an enormous success. A warming number ofinternational alumni and students attended, enjoying both thefood and the company, and the idea of encouraging individualsto meet, network, share stories of their time here in Hatfield,and hopefully make firm contacts for years to come wasdefinitely realised. Alison chatted to as many people aspossible, commenting: “Although it was my first time inThailand, there was no need to be apprehensive as everyonewas extremely friendly and listening to their stories made meproud of how well our alumni are doing in their careers. By farthe most amusing memories I heard were of seeing snow forthe first time ever and, you know, we really should have ricecookers in all our accommodation!”So, from all in the Development & Alumni team here in the UK, wewish great success and longevity to an active Alumni Associationin Thailand, and look forward to seeing you again, soon.His Not So Dark MaterialsFollowing the tail-smoke of the Nimbus 2000, the next fantasyseries to be adapted for the big screen will continue the trendof UH links set by the Harry Potter films…this time by starringone of our very own alumni, Michael Antoniou.Wi z a rds, Hobbits, Lions, Witches and Wa rd robes… it’s no secret that many of theHollywood success stories of the last few years, capturing the hearts of millions all acro s sthe globe (and age spectrum), have been born from the pages of fantastical literature. Andwith her students having worked on Batman Begins, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,and every Harry Potter movie to date, one particular offspring of your Alma Mater is aboutto get even closer to the magic.On the 7th December this year, The Golden Compass - the first of thecritically acclaimed fantasy novels from Philip Pullman’s His DarkMaterials trilogy - will appear on the silver screen… and with it, class of1997, University of Hertfordshire alumnus, Michael Antoniou.The film will see Michael playing the character of Kerim Costa, andfollows the fantasy adventure of a 12 year old girl as she attempts tofind a kidnapped friend in a world riddled with witches, wizards and allmanner of magical beings. “This is probably the best thing I’ve done sofar in my acting career,” he told Futures, “My role in the filmis very physically orientated so I had quite a bit of training includinglearning to do archery. It was a brilliant experience!”Having graduated with a degree in Performing Arts ten years ago,a part in this film is the big break Michael has been chasing. Thecurrent trend for the genre and notable success of the books (thisone known as Northern Lights in the UK, but released as TheGolden Compass in America) signals a sure-fire hit just beforeChristmas – and will see Michael share credits with the likes ofNicole Kidman, and the latest Bond, Daniel Craig. The down-toearthprofessionalism of his co-stars helped him to not feelintimidated however: “When you’re doing films there is no stardomthere. No-one has an attitude like ‘I’m a big A-lister’ – you just allcome together and work as a team and chat together”. “All my sceneswere with Claire Higgins of Hellraiser fame and Jim Carter, a veryaccomplished television and stage actor who has appeared in such filmsas Brassed Off and Bright Young Things. Experience is just pouring out ofthe two of them, watching them act the training I’ve had just clicks andfalls into place. I learnt so much working with them and really hope this film willlead to many more opportunities for me when I can put these skills into practice.Gradually the roles are getting bigger and bigger!”Being a graduate of Performing Arts however, acting isn’t Michael’s only passion.He also finds time away from pursuing a film career to dedicate to his other creative outlet– music. After years of playing on the London Circuit with his band ‘Fourth Inversion’,Michael has now set up a studio in his house in Luton where he has recorded a 14 track“pop/funk/dance” album as a solo artist, calling himself ‘Ammonite’.Vying for the attention of record producers is notoriously difficult, and so like anyone tryingto make it big in the industry these days, Michael has turned to the internet to build up hisown fan base: “This is where ‘MySpace’ comes in. I already have over 11,000 friends onmy site where you can listen to four complete tracks and link through to Amazon to buythe CD Album if you like what you hear!”In terms of his acting career however, 7 December could mark a big break for this UHalumnus, and only time – save a little wizardry and witchcraft - will tell if thesedark materials will lead to a brighter future for Michael Antoniou.To listen to Ammonite’s album visit:www.myspace.com/ammonitemusicor www.ammonitemusic.com8 / futures / Global Futuresfutures / Alumni Interview / 9

AlumniProfilesName: Thomas LipscombYear graduated: 1998Course studied: HND Business Studies (Distinction)Current employer: T-MobileHave you - just like millions of other alumni around the globe – lost contact withsome of the best friends you will ever make in your life? Or wonder what so manyof those you shared your time with here in and around Hatfield are doing now?Then read on. Because you might just find one of them here…About meWhat is customer loyalty? What does the business need to do to deliver things in the shortestamount of time? I’ve always been interested and intrigued by the technology stuff, but I’ve alsoliked being at the commercial heart of the business. And that’s the great thing about productmarketing and T-Mobile in general – you get to move around and try different things. One of thethings I’ve learned is that it’s important to ask great questions. People who ask great questionsget a better understanding of the project they are working on and they help other people whoare afraid to ask questions. Once you join a company, make yourself known, and make surethat people above you know who you are and what you’re good at. That’s what I did. I’ve beenhere six years now and I’ve been promoted four times.Name: Rik KirbyYear graduated: 1994Course studied: MEng Electronics Digital SystemsCurrent employer: Renkus-Heinz Inc.About meOwing to my experience as a sound engineer, and my formal training as an electronics engineer,I am conversant with electronics projects both inside and outside the box. This has been aparticular advantage when involved in both new R&D projects, and in the maintenance anddevelopment of existing products. I have a commitment to personal service. At the end of theday, people buy from those they trust, and those that make the purchase easiest.Name: Adrian HullYear graduated: 2005Course studied: Information SystemsCurrent employer: Highways Agency, BedfordAbout meI’ve been competing in motorsport since a very early age and this passion has continuedsince I graduated from UH. I have been keeping an eye on the UH Racing team, they areindeed doing very well. I wanted to join the team myself while I was there but ironically withall the racing I was already doing, it was hard to find any free time. At the moment, as well asracing in a small local kart championship for a bit of fun, I've entered a scholarshipprogramme in partnership with the Spyker Formula One team. One lucky entrant will get thechance to test a Formula 1 car in front of the team. I’ve been racing in various saloons,Caterhams, Ginettas and Formula Ford. As well as being ambitious on the track however,I have always been very ambitious in my career also.Name: Sheila RobertsonYear graduated: 1997Course studied: MSc Occupational PsychologyCurrent employer: SMR Associates Ltd.About meI am an experienced HR professional, Occupational Psychologist and trained Lawyer. My experiencehas been in a range of organisations and prior to University of Herts I worked for various public andprivate sector organisations.These included The Sports Council, Abbey National Plc, and AshridgeManagement College.My philosophy about life is that there are many things to try and variety is important. I like to challengethe edge and seek to build up a comprehensive set of skills and knowledge. I always wanted tounderpin my working with academic training as I valued the way it makes you see the world diff e re n t l y.I seek to share this learning from work and academic means with organisations who are interested inchanging the way they do things. I believe that individuals only use a small portion of their potentialduring their working life and surfacing this adds significant value to organisations. Helping others tosee that life is exciting and testing boundaries of your abilities can only help you to grow as a person.Name: Bob CarterYear graduated: 1998Course studied: MBACurrent employer: Raytheon, Tucson, Az., USAAbout meAfter Graduation I moved to the USA to work for Raytheon in Business Development. I recentlybecame a Black Belt in Six Sigma and lead Raytheons corporate-wide efforts on Six Sigma forInnovation. I have become a leading voice on Six Sigma for Innovation and Growth and havewritten and published a book called “In2theStratosphere” (sub title Enabling “Out of this World”Performance).Name: Kate MorrisYear graduated: 1992Course studied: Diploma in Management StudiesCurrent employer: Self Employed…and currentlyMayor of St AlbansAbout meI have had a very diverse and long career, with Hatfield Poly employment and training somewherein the middle. I was a university librarian in California and New Zealand as well as librarian to theInstititute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales before working for HERTIS, and alinguist before that. But the most interesting bit, both to me and others, is probably the selfstarting bit of working for myself and the community for which my management training at BallsPark gave considerable support.10 / futures / Alumni Profilesfutures / alumni profiles / 11

So, shamefully fast-forwarding back to today, thro u g ht h ree extremely successful decades of film-making(pausing along the way to note such works as 1994’sbrilliant Four Weddings and a Funeral with Hugh Grantand Andie MacDowell, 1997’s Donnie Brasco, starringJohnny Depp and Al Pacino, 1999’s charming comedyPushing Tin, starring John Cusack, Angelina Jolie, CateBlanchett and Billy Bob Thornton, 2003’s Mona LisaSmile, featuring Julia Roberts, Kirsten Dunst and MaggieGyllenhaal, and in 2005, the fourth installment of a littleknownyarn about a bespectacled young boy with amagic wand and a scar on his forehead…), Futures asksMike what it felt like being a part of the Harry Potterphenomenon? “It felt like being chased by a freight train!”Having directed the Goblet of Fire - indelibly etching hisname into the future history of popular culture forever –Mike explains that it was nothing like any of the pre v i o u sexperiences he had in his career as a director; “They arecolossal films, with a colossal audience and a colossalbudget! And there is big pre s s u re to get it right.” As hewas passed the baton by the third film’s dire c t o r, Mexicanfilm-maker Alfonso Cuaron (Harry Potter and the Prisonerof Azkaban), Cuaro n ’s words of advice were; “Look out…i t ’s going to chew you up!” Exactly the advice Mikehimself passed on to David Yates when handing him thereins before tackling Order of the Phoenix. “Two and aquarter years,” he recounts, “two hundred days ofshooting – it just goes on and on. It reaches a point whenyou think, are you going to manage to survive thro u g hit?” Being very much an actors’ dire c t o r, Mike recalls thatone of the biggest challenges he faced was “pro t e c t i n gthe human element” of the story, against the “juggern a u taspect” of ‘more dragons!’ and ‘more elves!’ – the“dragon factor” as he calls it.But despite its challenges, he is extremely glad to haveworked on such an incredible production, and still has“ t remendous affection for everyone involved”. And when Iask if he enjoyed Yates’ Order of the Phoenix? - for whichhe attended the premier with his family earlier this year –the Hogwarts alumni replies with a resounding “Yes! Ve r ymuch” (despite over-hearing a colossus of a man shoutingover him to his companions on the way out; “Well, there ’sno doubt about it – that was much better than the lastone!”…) Not that Mike could compare the two himself,even if he wanted to, as he makes a point of neverwatching his own films again once they’re ‘in the can’, toavoid only looking at what he might have done diff e re n t l y....1994’s brilliant Four Weddings anda Funeral with Hugh Grant and AndieMacDowell, 1997’s Donnie Brasco,starring Johnny Depp and Al Pacino,1999’s charming comedy Pushing Tin,starring John Cusack, Angelina Jolie,Cate Blanchett and Billy Bob Thornton,So, no stranger by now to the pre s s u res of adapting amuch-loved book for the big screen, what attracted himto the project he is now completing; Love in the Time ofCholera? “I read the novel, and loved it. It’s so human.The characters are more real and rounded than anycharacters I’ve ever read. It was the humane heroism of ayoung man who simply refuses to stop loving someone,50 years after it is relevant in his life”. Mike’s firmg rounding in the theatre has helped him to earn areputation for working very closely with his actors, anddelivering great performances from them, and you can telljust from talking to him for the first time that he has ane x t remely personable manner which makescommunication both easy and enjoyable. “We tried to getthe homely feeling Marquez portrayed as his home town.I t ’s very dramatic, very vivid, very highly coloured – exactlyas it is in his book.” To capture the “intense vividness” ofColumbia, many locals were employed to add thatelement of realism, and famous Columbian singer Shakirawas also brought on board to sing traditional costania (or‘coastal’) music. “The people are dramatically outgoing ori n t roverted - even the paint on the walls and the noises alla round are dramatic, as are the extremities of poverty andwealth.” Having just completed post production, Love inthe Time of Cholera will be released in cinemas later onthis year, after which time - having worked on four largefilms consecutively - its director will be taking a welldeservedbreak from behind the camera for a while.2003’s Mona Lisa Smile, featuring JuliaRoberts, Kirsten Dunst and MaggieGyllenhaal...And so, with not only directing, but also executive pro d u c e rc redits for films such as Tr a ffic and High Fidelity to his name,Mike deems the film industry to be in a pretty good place atthe moment. Although he does admit that it is a much hard e rindustry to get into now compared to when he was startingout (“Guys like me just walked in”). He does maintainh o w e v e r, that one of the strengths of today’s industry is thatt h e re are a lot of talented writers out there at the moment,generating some great scripts – which is still a vitallyimportant element of film. “It’s all about what’s on the page”.When I began my interview with Mike, I professed that Iwanted to chat through some specific areas of his life andc a reer in no particular ord e r, so that I might go away andfind a nice narrative for the story - to which he wistfullyreplied; “Ah, yes… a nice narrative. Isn’t that what we’reall looking for?” Only us muggles, Mike. Only us muggles.14 / futures / hon. doc. interviewfutures / hon. doc. interview / 15

As Bayfordbury - the UH centre forastronomy and natural sciences –celebrated its 40th birthday this year,the stars were to align for a gatheringof past generations, good food, drink,music and conversation. A true day of‘fun in the yellow G2 dwarf*’ – whatcould possibly go wrong?...Well, despite taking place on the 16th June on thebeautiful open grounds of the Bayfordbury campus,the good ol’ reliable British summertime deliveredtorrential rain and earth-rumbling thunderstorms allday… but it didn’t spoil the mood one little bit.After a slow beginning (when we feared the lure of awarm, dry sitting room may have been too inviting formany of our guests!..), slowly and surely our intrepidscientists appeared – representing 4 decades, andculminating in over 150 alumni and staff.The large marquee erected for the day provided amplecover from the elements, and Food Hertfordshireprovided ample sustenance through a BBQ, Pimmsand a galaxy of strawberries and cream. And theweather didn’t stop the entertainment either; therewere shows in the Planetarium, a face painter for thealumni offspring, a mix of musical performances by thepupils of Sir John Lawes School and acoustic folk-actCinnamon Circus, and Sir Norman Lindop, LadyJoanna Staughton and Dr Bill Boardman cut the hugecelebration cake.The odd brief sunny spell also still allowed for atreasure hunt, tours of the Clinton Baker Pinetum, andtowards the end of the afternoon everybody joinedtogether for the 40-shaped photo opportunity – atestament to the celebratory spirit of all who attendedat the tail end of a very soggy day.* For those of us without a Bayfordbury-born degreein astrophysics; this is the official astronomicalcategorisation of our Sun!Cosmic Life Begins at 4016 / futures / reunion reviewfutures / reunion review / 17

Jolly GoodResearch FellowsGuffawing, drinking wine and sitting in front of ascreen for three days solid. Now does that soundlike academic research to you?...Well, if you ask UH’s very own Professor Richard Wiseman, or Dr Richard Hoffman, theanswer will undoubtedly be a resounding ‘yes’. Though perhaps not when done all atthe same time?...While combined, these three actions may seem to harken back to familiar student daysfor some of us (and you know who you are…), individually, they have been the subjectsof some serious and fascinating studies undertaken by research fellows here at UHwho may have taught many of you. And the aim? To look a little closer into someof the things we humans do regularly, but rarely give much thought to.Having said that, it’s been common knowledge for many years now, that drinkingmoderate amounts of red wine on a regular basis can bring with it certain,documented medicinal properties… Heck, in France they even give it to their kids atmost mealtimes. But until now, Dr Hoffman says that no-one has ever systematicallymeasured this across different types of red wine before, with a view to perhapsreporting back which ones are better for you than others. Which is exactly what heand his Erasmus student Conny Johansson have been doing.It has been well documented that the natural antioxidant resveratrol – found in the skinof red grapes – is one of the key components in red wine thought to be beneficial forour health. Not only is it known to help protect against such illnesses as cancer andheart disease, it also helps fight off many others, including neurodegenerativeconditions such as Parkinson’s Disease, and other forms of dementia. Recently,reseveratrol has even been found to extend lifespan, and so many people enjoyknocking back a glass or two quite regularly – happy in the knowledge that not onlyis it better for them than, say, white wine, or indeed pretty much any other form ofalcohol, but it’s actually doing them some good! But with countless types of red winebeing made and sold all across the globe, this is a very broad assumption. As DrHoffman explains: “as a result, they assume that all red wines are the same, but thisis certainly not the case, as the levels of resveratrol vary”.18 / futures / UH researchfutures / UH research / 19

Dr Richard Hoffman and Conny JohanssonFor those of you who aremore familiar with classic80’s sci-fi action movies- no, this had nothingwhatsoever to do withA rnold Schwarzeneger orlarge spherical computerchips up nostrils etcAnd so, by using new state-of-the-art High PerformanceLiquid Chromatography (known in scientific circles merelyas ‘HPLC’…) and Liquid Chromatography MassSpectrometry (or the infinitely more pronounceable‘LCMS’), Hoffman and Johansson have been able toseparate and collect the different compounds found inwine to measure the respective levels of resveratrol inparticular bottles of ‘vin rouge’. And this study hascaught the eye of the media as well, putting UH researchin the spotlight yet again; via BBC breakfast, lunchtimeand early evening news programmes, local radio stationMercury FM, and articles written for The Times, TheScotsman, The Welwyn and Hatfield Times, andInnovations Report.The ultimate aim of the study is to find the bottle of redwine that will do you the most good, with the wideragenda of persuading wine makers, suppliers andretailers to put information about how healthy the wine ison their bottles. “The long-term aim is for people to goalong to the supermarket and to be able to know at aglance the levels of resveratrol contained in the winesthey are choosing”. Cheers, guys!So, that’s the drinking underway… but where does the‘guffawing’ and sitting in front of a screen for days on endcome into all this? Well, few articles on research at UHfail to mention work being undertaken by ProfessorRichard Wiseman, and these two very human acts arejust two of the everyday occurrences documented in hisnew book, ‘Quirkology’, which looks at the psychologybehind some of the basic things we do… In this case,laugh, and absorb visual information.In May of this year, Professor Wiseman subjected twov o l u n t e e r, psychology re s e a rch assistants to three days infront of a screen, whilst 10,000 images flashed beforetheir eyes – each one for four seconds at a time. And itwas all part of his ‘Total Recall’ experiment.For those of you who are more familiar with classic 80’ssci-fi action movies – no, this had nothing whatsoeverto do with Arnold Schwarzeneger or large sphericalcomputer chips up nostrils etc - but was the practicalmethodology of a public experiment to help find outexactly what the memory is capable of when bombardedwith images. Placed in a custom-made glass laboratory,built inside Piccadilly’s Waterstone’s bookstore, twentynine year old Jenny Mirani, and thirty year old SarahWoods were streamed this series of images from 11am inthe morning until 5pm at night, across the space of threedays. After this, they were asked to point out how manyof the images they recognised.When this type of experiment was undertaken back inthe 70’s, results concluded that the human brain couldrecall around 70% of the images. UH’s ProfessorRichard Wiseman undertook this replication of thatexperiment, expecting that such incredible resultswould indeed be found again - suggesting that ourminds are capable of absorbing far more of the imageswe encounter everyday than we could ever imagine. Ifthe results were disproved, then it may just force somebasic marketing and advertising strategies to be lookedat from a new perspective…But first; laughter. Following in the footsteps of such gre a tscientific minds as Freud, Plato and Aristotle – all of whomstudied and documented humour in great detail – in 2001,Wiseman got the go-ahead from the BAAS (BritishAssociation for the Advancement of Science) to search forthe world’s funniest joke.By setting up an internet-based “LaughLab”, he invitedparticipants to submit their favourite joke on-line, give alittle demographic information about themselves, and thenon a scale of 1 to 5, rate how funny they found randomlyselected jokes that had been posted on the site.By the end of a year-long search, 40,000 jokes weresubmitted (naturally many of them were incrediblyfilthy!), and had been rated by more than 350,000individuals across 70 countries - and the results ofWiseman’s LaughLab have posed many interestingfindings and theories. Many of these stemmed frommini-experiments, based on particular kinds/groups ofjokes, involving such specific research as differentreactions between the sexes and social statuses, orparticular words and sounds which are deemed funnierthan others. Many findings also supported Freudiantheories about jokes acting as a psychological releasefrom the pressures of repressed unhappiness ineveryday life (loveless marriages, inadequate sexualperformance or even death for example…).But did Richard find his Holy/hilarious Grail? Is thereone almightily side-splitting joke that will always havethe last laugh as long as the sun burns down on ourplanet? And just how many of the 10,000 images didJenny and Sarah recall?Well, I’m afraid for the scientifically curious among you(and you know who you are…), you’ll just have to goout and buy ‘Quirkology’ to find out, won’t you?The ultimate aim of the study is to find the bottleof red wine that will do you the most goodProf Richard Wiseman20 / futures / UH researchfutures / UH research / 21

Walking the Mortar BoardsFounded in 1996, the last decade hasseen the University of Hertfordshire ArtsProgramme grow into a world classplatform, for a diverse, cultural mix ofmusic, dance, theatre, literature, comedyand the visual arts, for students, schools,the local community and beyond. As welook forward to a heady calendar of eventsin the coming season*, we talk to ourUHArts Executive, Susie Barr about theuniversity’s growing role in promoting andenjoying the arts in the region.P i c t u re the scene. Earlier this year, thetypical evening tranquility of The Street onthe deHavilland Campus, was rhythmicallybeaten into submission by the echoingsounds of Korean drums, and the entireaudience of The Weston Auditoriumdancing down the concourse in unison.So successful had the amazing Kore a ndrumming group Dulsori been in their aimto fill their audience with the true, stirringspirit of the ancient festival, that thecelebration continued right out of thedoors of the theatre, and literally had them‘dancing in the street’ outside.“It was amazing to see,” Susie recounts, “(Dulsori) carried ondrumming as they came off the stage, and everyone just gotup out of their seats and followed them out into The Stre e tlike the Pied Piper! It was definitely one of the highlights ofMayfest, the University’s annual arts and music festival, thea t m o s p h e re was incredible”. And she should know. Havingtaken up her post in March 2005, as the University’s ArtsExecutive, Susie Barr helps UH to promote more than thirtyevents per year, across a diverse and accessible range of artforms and venues. With the £3 million Weston Auditorium, astate-of-the-art 456 seat venue, opening in 2003, and twogallery spaces for contemporary art exhibitions, the universityhas become a major part of the venue network for theE a s t e rn region. It enables professional artists and companiesto form around two-thirds of the seasonal programme ofevents, and local amateur and community groups to enjoyperforming on a world class stage also. “The best part iswhen you have a full house, there ’s always such a buzz”Susie explains, “When you come out at the end and feel thatexcitement that you only get from a live show”. Over the lastfew years, the auditorium has opened it’s curtains for showstoppingperformances from the Royal PhilharmonicO rchestra, Red Shift Theatre Company, Union Dance,Jongleurs Comedy, Orquesta Cache, Scamp TheatreC o m p a n y, and Theatre is… to name but a few.But not only this, a big part of the UHArts programme is top romote new, exciting and challenging artists as well – findingshows which, as Susie says, are “really unique, and alsounique for the venue”. For example, one such event takingplace on Sunday 4 November this year, is a Childre n ’sConcert with book illustrator, James Mayhew, who will benarrating and illustrating classic stories live on stage, whilstaccompanied by the University’s own resident orchestra thePhilharmonic at UH. Also, hot off a sell-out run at theEdinburgh Festival (and award-winning documentary forSky TV), Thursday 4 October, will see disabled comedy actAbnormally Funny People performing their hilarious stand-upshow (for the over- 1 6 ’s only!).This year, as well as it’s own events, UHArts has managedthe University’s sponsorship of key community eventsincluding Hitchin’s Rhythms of the World festival, the largestf ree festival of world music in the UK, attended by thousandsof people of all ages, cultures and backgrounds. As part ofthis UHArts supported a performance on the main stage bya folk band called Mawkin - headed up by one of our ownmusic composition students. They also sponsored theKaleidoscope festival in Welwyn Garden City (whichcelebrates cultural diversity in the local area), and the worldrenowned International Organ Festival in St Albans.UHArts also ventured into the world of new writing,collaborating with UH Press (the university’s publishing house)and the school of humanities to launch the University ofH e r t f o rd s h i re Writing Aw a rd. Susie admits that even she wassurprised to “receive entries from 36 diff e rent countries andf rom entrants aged between 13 and 86!” but is delighted thatthe competition spanned the globe. The top twenty storieshave been published in an anthology Vision and is availablef rom UH Press. UHArts is also excited to announce theU n i v e r s i t y ’s support for the launch of a new venture with theH e r t f o rd s h i re Music Service in September, to promote theimportance of singing in primary schools.And so with the seasonal programme getting bigger, louder,w i d e r, funnier and even more colourful each year, what doesthe future hold for the arts here at UH? “Well it’s early days,and there are no firm plans at the moment” Susie pro f e s s e s ,“but we are beginning to look at how we can develop theUHArts and UH Galleries programme into an allencompassing ‘arts centre’ here at the University ofH e r t f o rd s h i re. “Definitely worthy of a standing ovation”.*Concessionary tickets are available to alumni for all eventson the UHArts programme.If you would like to receive the Calendar of Events for thiscoming season, please contact the UHArts Box Office on01707 281127, email uharts@herts.ac.uk or visitw w w. h e r t s . a c . u k / u h a r t sIf you would like to purchase a copy of Vision please contactUH Press on 01707 284654 or email uhpre s s @ h e r t s . a c . u k22 / futures / spotlight on...UH Artsfutures / spotlight on...UH Arts / 23

A New Horizon…Would you welcome support with your employment and career development?Do you work within organisations that recruit graduate potential?Could you be a potential candidate to “shine”?Career Development and Graduate Employment services(CD&GE) has relocated to the MacLaurin Building inBishop’s Square on the Hatfield Business Park. You mayrecall us previously being located in the LearningResource Centre on the College Lane Campus. TheMacLaurin Building, named in honour of the University’sformer Chancellor Lord MacLaurin is designed to supportthe University’s growing relationship with businesses inthe region. As the University’s business hub it is the ideallocation for the CD&GE whose role is to help create abridge between our graduates and business (includingthe professions).The location move is the first stage for the CD&GE indelivering its range of enhanced products and servicesto support its clients including students, staff, alumni andemployers. Over the coming months, the team will bedeveloping many new services and activities, as a partof a the UHTalent project. This is a significant part of theuniversity’s strategy to extend its support to our studentsbeyond the point of graduation and to make it easier forrecruiters to do business with us.We are working towards:• Networking opportunities for students to meet withemployers or those who can help them start up inbusiness• Extended career development support to alumni andinviting alumni to mentor undergraduates on lifeskills/employability (thank you to all who havevolunteered)• Making it easier for employers to find the right peopleto work in their organisations• Increasing opportunities for students to gain insightsto the world of work• Providing up to date and relevant labour marketinformation that keeps our students and staff informed• Extended vacancies databases where employers canadvertise and students and alumni can find jobs• Offer a range of products and services that help staffto support our student’s employabilityTo give you a taste of how these new services will benefityou, we have outlined a few of our plans in terms of howthey may benefit you individually, and indeed how theymay benefit the organisation you work in or your ownbusiness:From us to you (how our plans can benefit youindividually)…….• We’ll be introducing a new menu of products andservices that make it easier for you to match yourneeds for support (workshops, online services,networking opportunities)• Piloting of a “life skills and employability” mentoringscheme – many of you have already registered aninterest in this, we will be in contact again shortly.An opportunity to help as well as improve your personaldevelopment• Development of our ”jobs and careers” resourceson-line for you to access in the future. So the endof University doesn’t have to mean the end of ourrelationshipFrom us to your organisation (How our plans can benefityour place of work)...• Offering an increased number of business workshopson graduate recruitment and retention to help your HRareas find and keep the right people• Annual events enabling business to business andbusiness to university networking• Making it easier and cheaper for your organisation torecruit directly from us - database and campaigns tosupport employers with targeted vacancy advertisingand recruitment.We look forward to working with many of you in thecoming months as we progress with our exciting plans.If you are interested in finding out more please contactcareers.advisory@herts.ac.ukShine with usWe will proudly be showcasing individuals’achievements, through our “Shine” boards inour new centre and on-line. Don’t be shy, helpus to help you shine! If you would like to shareyour story since leaving UH with us, pleasee-mail us at care e r s . a d v i s o r y @ h e r t s . a c . u k .We look forward to hearing of yourachievements……..Niluka Kannangara, Information and Communications Officer,Rukia Mojid, Graduate Employment OfficerAnusha Everson, Director for Graduate Employment24 / futures / UH Businessfutures / UH Business / 25

Planes, Dames andAeronautical-mobilesHaving found both thecareer and the girl of hisdreams here, for the manwho knows too muchabout aeroplanes, the 60’swere not so much‘swinging’ as ‘flying’ forFrank Ogilvie… and hesays he owes it all to histime in Hatfield.best way to travel. As a boy, Frank grew very used tohaving planes around him: “From the outset I neverwanted to fly planes but I thought they were fabulous andI wanted to design them!” When his family emigrated toCanada in 1962, he decided to come to England andthe facilities of Hatfield Technical College to pursuehis passion. Here, he was taught mechanicsby Dr Chapman (who has since had theChapman Lounge on College Lanenamed after him), and also remembers aparticular lecturer by the name of DavePhilpot. Frank recalls “For the sort ofperson I am and the way that I learn t ,you didn’t do better than Hatfield.”Amongst his fellow peers, thre eparticular alumni spring to mind; JohnMounce, who managed Air NewZ e a l a n d ’s engineering organisation formany years, Colin Brain, who held a verysenior post at the A&AEE Boscombe Downand Rod Trailer – who went on to become verysenior at Boeing, and re t i red two years ago.For the most part of his career however, Frank has beenmaking (air)waves working for AirBus, where he nowheads up a team of 61 people managing the Loads andAeroelastics Team at Airbus UK in Filton. In layman termsto suit the more routinely grounded, he describes hiswork as analysing things when they go wrong on planes.“My family don’t like flying with me…” he quips, “…Iknow too much!” For 11 years until December 2006Frank worked in Toulouse in France on the A380 projectas Director of Aerodynamics and Deputy Head of OverallAircraft Design No simple project, as the Airbus 380 is30% bigger than the ubiquitous Boeing 747.These days, Frank stays in regular contact with his almam a t e r, meeting with academics at UH twice a year todiscuss curriculum development. He says: “My advice tot o d a y ’s aerospace courses would be to include alinguistic element as so much of the aerospace industryhas moved out of the UK.”Seeing the enormous changes his old college hasundergone since he graduated in 1968, Frank is certainthat UH still provides the same invaluable learningexperience to those following his slipstream into theindustry. “What is good is that it’s gone from a TechnicalCollege to a Poly to a University and that it’s still cateringfor the same people in aerospace – but has adapted tomodern life.”Our first Aerospace Engineering Reunion will betaking place in a reception and dinner in “TheHangar” on the old Hatfield aerodrome on theevening of 16 November 2007. Please directyour enquiries and bookings for this event toS.L.Fox@herts.ac.uk .UH alumnus, Frank Ogilvie is, well – for want of a betterw o rd – very frank about the value that his education andexperiences here have had on his life. “The education Igot at Hatfield was the foundation for everything I’vedone. If I did it again I’d do it exactly the same!”Since graduating, Frank has carved an extremely fulland varied career through the aerospace industry.He has been involved in many landmarks in thehistory of aviation, such as a student exchange withSud Aviation in Toulouse in the south of France,where the first ever Concorde 001 was built, thebeginnings of business travel in the sky (“The 125Business Jet was a rip-roaring success!”), and aproject in his early career looking at vertical take-off:“It was very Star Trek!”. But not all industry landmarkswere deemed so positive. Seeing British Aerospace –Regional Aircraft in Hatfield close down affected Frankon a very personal level: “I have a tremendousemotional attachment to the Hatfield site” he tellsFutures, speaking of his affinity with theformer aerodrome.Having studied here back in the Technical College daysof the 60’s (1964-1968 to be exact), Frank re m e m b e r swhen the male/female ratio skewed heavily in the favourof Y- c h romosomes… in the 1,200 students re g i s t e re dat the time, only 20 of those were female. His luck soonchanged however, with the introduction of the LifeSciences courses - when “the girls arrived and the funreally began!” One such girl, studying Bio-Chemistry inthe newly opened department, was Sonia Yv o n n eC a r p e n t e r. The girl Frank was destined to marry.F r a n k ’s interest in aeroplanes began at an early age.G rowing up in Johannesburg, South Africa, Frank’sengineer father travelled a lot in his work and in such avast country it soon became obvious that flying was the26 / futures / Alumni Interviewfutures / Alumni Interview / 27

Collegian RhapsodyHow Brian May, T-Mobile, WillmottDixon, and scores of others aremaking a difference, by awardingexcellence through our UHScholarship Programme.‘The pure pursuit of knowledge is stimulating andrewarding to all mankind – I am proud to help thiswork to continue to flourish.’ Brian May 2007Celebrating and awarding excellence throughscholarships is really important to us and we wantto encourage our most talented students to becomeeven greater at what they do. Whether they’restudying fine art, engineering, geography or teaching,all of our scholars have the ability to make asignificant contribution to society and we want toplay a big part in making that happen.With over 125 externally funded scholarships up forgrabs, our most talented freshers will benefit fromfurther financial support next year. Our scholarshipsprogramme has gone from strength to strength with anumber of new sponsors lending their support to theprogramme. New signings include the HertfordshireEducational Foundation, Watford & North West LondonBusiness Awards and the Lord & Lady Lurgan Trust.We are now daring to say that we think we have moreexternally funded scholarships on offer than any otheruniversity in the UK….we’re awaiting challenges to this!So, what does it mean for our students? Thep rogramme supports students studying a huge varietyof courses and those with the highest UCAS pointsa re selected on entry to the University. All of ourscholars are encouraged to develop a relationship withtheir sponsors from day one and we are always keento build links between our students and the big wideworld of business. Our Tesco marketing scholar,Natana Sandy, will be undertaking a work placementat their Head Office next year and is thrilled to havebeen selected to receive the award: ‘On the very daythat I received my congratulations phone call I hadbeen talking to my Mum about how I was going tomanage financially whilst I was studying. I am from asingle parent family and have one brother and thre esisters, one of whom is at Uni. When I heard the newsI was completely overwhelmed and couldn’t believewhat I was hearing, I called my Mum straight awayand she was so proud of me.’Natana is one of a number of scholars who are now onwork placements and receiving careers advice from theirsponsors. Even better still, our scholars are going on towork for their sponsors. Jamie Skipworth graduated witha degree in Computer Science and joined his sponsors,Experion Intergrated Marketing (formerly ClarityBlue), ontheir graduate training scheme... ‘I am so surprised thatmy scholarship has led to this and am thankful toExperion for providing me with such a great opportunity.They have an excellent graduate scheme, which involvesgraduates being rotated around different departments ofthe company so I am learning fast and each daypresents new challenges.’ Over to you…..As an individual alumnus, you’re probably sitting on thetrain, in your lounge, or in your office wondering…whatdoes this mean for me and how can I make a difference?Well, many of you already are - by giving to our AlumniFund you have collectively raised enough money tosponsor nine scholarships next year. This is a fantasticachievement and, once we’ve made the awards, we’llkeep you up to date with who your students are and howyour funding has helped them.Some of you may be working for companies who arehaving problems recruiting high calibre graduates (otherthan yourself of course!) or making themselves known tothe student community. We can help them address theseissues so get them to give us a call.Others of you may be swinging around in your leatherDirector’s chair thinking back to your Uni days andwondering how you could make a difference tosomeone’s life and give something back to UH?Or maybe you’re a member of one of our rapidlyexpanding Alumni Associations and would like to raisemoney as a group and support a student from yourcountry. All of our scholars write thank you letters to theirsponsors and this would be a great way for you to findout what it’s like to study at UH in 2007 and how thingshave changed since you left.If you’d like to find out more about theprogramme….contact our Development Officer,Joanne Wearne on 01707 281273 or e mailj.r.wearne@herts.ac.ukNatana Sandy, scholarship recipient28 / futures / UH ScholarshipsJoanne Wearne, Development Officerfutures / UH Scholarships / 29

Klerissa Johnson,Alumni Find CampaignLeader3 0 / future s / campaigns and eventsD a t e What WhereOctober 200708 Inaugural Golf Day Brocket Hall, Hertfordshire10 India Alumni Reception & Reunion Delhi30 Thailand Alumni Reunion BangkokNovember 200702 Malaysia Alumni Reunion & INTI Graduation Kuala Lumpur16 Aerospace Engineering Reunion &DinnerHatfieldDecember 200719 Alumni Xmas Party Ele House, HatfieldApril 200803 China Alumni Reception & Reunion Beijing05 China Alumni Reception & Reunion Shanghai08 China Alumni Reception & Reunion Hong KongIf you would like details of any of these events, or would like help with organising an event for yourspecific year-group or faculty, please contact us on 01707 284035 or email alumni@herts.ac.ukWho you call?Eight weeks. 2,000 alumni. £27,000. How youhelped this year’s team of volunteer callersbreak all previous records for students infinancial hardship…Who ever said that sequels can never better theoriginals? After all… there ’s The Empire StrikesBack?… The Godfather: Part II?… maybe evenperhaps Ace Ventura II: When Nature Calls?…(no, really…). But when it comes to UH callingcampaigns, now there ’s even more evidence toback the argument.The tenth Alumni Fund campaign exceeded allexpectations, as alumni donated over £27,000to an Alumni Scholarship Fund. Thanks to theg e n e rosity of a huge number of you the campaignwill fund eight gifted individuals. This is atestament, both to the loyal support you, our exstudents,have towards your alma mater, and alsoto the hard work and dedication shown by ourstudent callers.Lead by Klerissa Johnson - the Development &Alumni Team’s student placement - the team spenteight Strepsil-filled weeks calling almost 2000alumni to chat with them about the campaign.And the result was far more than just a fundraisingsuccess story.For example, 86 alumni expressed an interest inmentoring current UH students who are followingin their footsteps… 40 individuals off e red placementsto students within their respective businesses… andjust by chatting with alumni it helped us find out moreabout what we can do to keep you benefiting fro myour life-long relationship with us. Many of you askedfor more information about our sports facilities,Library access, UHarts performances, and eventaking your studies further by coming back; allbenefits of being an Alumni Card holder.As a new team is formed to gear up in September,the bar has definitely been raised. Every donationmakes a difference to those with financial barriers,deterring them from the chance of highereducation. With your help, more gifted students willbe able to graduate from university, regardless oftheir background, and I’m sure you will help tomake this campaign even more of a success thanthe last amazing achievement.We try to contact as many of you as possible witheach campaign, but if you’d like to inform us ofupdates to your details, or donate to the AlumniFund, please contact our Alumni Manager, JeremyReid at: j.l.reid@herts.ac.ukThank you to Klerissa, and to all who have donatedto our Alumni Scholarships Fund.Our connection with youOur alumni team is dedicated to supporting you in both business and leisure.To this end we have secured discounts and benefits available to all our alumni, including• Discounted magazine subscriptions - www.alumni-subscriptions.co.uk• An online Web Community that you can access 24-7 – https://alumni.herts.ac.uk• Up to 20% off car hire with National Car Rental• Up to £12 off Merlin Entertainment Group venues• Discounts on postgraduate study courses• Careers advice and mentoring programmes• Opportunities to find your old friends - at our re-unions, online or by contacting us• Support with organising reunions• Free subscription to the UH Alumni magazine: Futures• Discount at selected Saracens home rugby matchesWith a one-off £10 payment, Alumni card holders also benefit from the following great off e r s :• Discounts at UHArts events• Free entry to the University’s Learning Resource Centres• Discounts on external borrowing• Discounts at Hertfordshire Sports Village on the de Havilland Campus• Discounts at Next Generation Sports Clubs• Associate membership of the UHSU Bar Club• 5% discount on conference facilities at the Fielder Centre and deHavilland Sports & Social ClubApplications for the Alumni Card, which costs only £10 can be made at www. u h s h o p . c o . u kFor details of these benefits visit https://alumni.herts.ac.ukor contact us on +44 (0) 1707 284035 or at alumni@herts.ac.ukFor the latest range of UHmerchandising featuring the newbrand go to w w w. u h s h o p . c o . u kDevelopment & Alumni Office University of Hertfordshire, Hatfield AL10 9AB EnglandTelephone. +44 (0)1707 284035 Switchboard. +44 (0)1707 284000Email. alumni@herts.ac.uk Website. https://alumni.herts.ac.ukfutures / benefits and merchandise / 31