Reporter

Imperial launches new-look interactive news service

12 March 2013

Imperial College London has launched a brand new interactive news website.

Imperial News is modelled closely on established news websites such as the BBC but will be unique in the UK university sector.

The site will feature expert opinion pieces alongside news of Imperial’s research and education activities, and users will be able to engage with Imperial by commenting on stories.

Imperial News has an adaptable layout, with a variety of column designs and lead story layouts that gives it the flexibility to respond to daily news. It replaces a chronological list of stories – standard for the sector – with a front page and series of themed sections on science, engineering, health, business, and college and campus, letting readers browse the subjects that interest them the most.

It has been tailored to make it easy to access content from a variety of platforms including touchscreen smartphones and tablets. Audio, video images and the written word will all be used to bring news and feature stories to life.

Caroline Davis, Head of Communications at Imperial, said: “As one of the world’s top universities, Imperial is a source of fascinating stories about new discoveries, student achievements and day to day life on our campuses.  In developing Imperial News we wanted to do justice to those stories, capturing their vibrancy through a window on the world of the College.”

“We hope people will enjoy exploring Imperial News and look forward to receiving their comments.”

The site will combine specially commissioned material with news and features from the College’s existing news channels such as press releases, the staff newspaper Reporter and the Imperial podcast.

Karsten Seipp, Senior Digital Designer and Developer at Imperial said: “We have designed the site to make it easy for anyone who is interested in science news and news about Imperial to be able to access it freely. A front page and a series of theme pages will help users to browse through content and once they have clicked through to a story, they will be offered a variety of other stories and links that may be of interest.”

Content for the site is produced and edited by staff from Imperial’s award-winning Communications and Public Affairs Division with contributions from the College’s Faculties of Medicine, Natural Sciences and Engineering, the Business School and support services.

The site will be edited by Kerry Noble, Research Editor and News Manager, and graduate of Imperial’s Science Communication MSc. She said: “I look forward to reading comments from colleagues and students across the College. I also want to encourage staff and students to contribute to the pages by suggesting story ideas and by writing their own stories.”

Imperial News is aimed at broad audience including the 22,000 current staff and students, 168,000 alumni and the general public.

“We hope Imperial News will inform and entertain anyone with an interest in the College’s work. The breadth of news and features could help school students researching course work, patients hoping to learn about the latest medical advances, and academics from other institutions seeking new collaborations,” Caroline Davis added.

Tags: News
Posted in Alumni, College, Research, Students, Your Voice | 2 Comments »

Celebrating sport

19 July 2012

On 21 June, Sport Imperial held the annual Imperial ARCS (Appreciate, Recognise and Celebrate Sport) event bringing together over 140 guests including students, staff, coaches, officials, volunteers, sponsors and partner organisations, as well as   alumnus Simon Dennis, Great Britain team rower and Olympic gold medallist. The evening closed with the recognition of students Adam Scholefield and Melanie Wilson, have both been selected by Great Britain to represent our nation in the London 2012 Olympics. Adam is the Vice Captain of the Water Polo team and Melanie forms part of the Rowing squad. 

Read an interview with Imperial’s two Olympians.

Tags: Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Medicine, London 2012
Posted in Alumni, College, Research, Students, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Presidential hat-trick

16 July 2012

Three Imperial alumni have been named President or President-Elect of prestigious engineering societies.

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Tags: Alumni
Posted in Alumni | 5 Comments »

Rocket Man

12 July 2012

Reporter met with Head of NASA and former astronaut Charles Bolden on 11 July and asked him to describe what it felt like to be in space and explain why he had come to Imperial to inspire schoolchildren to pursue science-related subjects.

Why do you feel it is so important to get children interested in science?

I think it is critical because it is our future. I was blessed to have had a mum and dad who did things and worked really hard to make the world better for me. Now it’s time for us to prepare today’s children so that they can pick up where we leave off when we aren’t here anymore.

How useful is a science degree?

With a science degree you can do anything you want. For example my daughter did a chemical engineering degree and some of her classmates ended up on Wall Street working as analysts advising people on investments, based on what they knew about engineering principles.

Why do you think people are still so fascinated in space and space travel?

I think space holds a fascination for humans as it helps us to try to answer a question which has been around since humankind came into existence- is there any possibility of life on another planet? Space allows us to go to distant planets and maybe someday other solar systems to see if there is life elsewhere.

Do you think that life on Mars is a realistic possibility?

It’s a very realistic possibility – whether or not we’ll find life today remains to be seen. We know everything is there to sustain life – its got water, its got ice. We don’t know much about its atmosphere but we are going to hopefully going to find out when we send Curiosity to Mars in August. I was certainly looking for life when I went up in space but didn’t see anything!

How does it feel when you blast off?

You lie on your back during the countdown, then you hear the ‘5,4,3,2,1’ and then three main engines fuel up loudly and you feel like the space shuttle is falling over. Then suddenly it straightens up and then you lift off really gently. The force is only 1-G and it takes just eight-and-a-half minutes to get into space.

What does it sound like when you go into space?

It is very loud! My experiences have all been on the space shuttle and the shuttle has lots of pumps and motors churning all the time – it is a pretty noisy place like being on a factory floor but after a while you kind of ignore it – your ears become atuned to it so it didn’t sound as loud as it really was.

How do you feel once you are up in space?

The first thing you experience is a floating feeling and then you get a really fuzzy head as all of the fluid in your body rushes to your head, making you feel like you have the worst head cold. The best way to overcome this is to go to the toilet which helps get rid of the headache. It’s the same when you return to Earth – you have to gulp down huge amounts of water on re-entry.

Can you describe the view from space?

In a space craft you circle the Earth once every 90 minutes and so you see the sun rise and set 16 times every normal Earth day. It is incredible! Also the constellations in space are brilliant – it is like an incredible exhibition. As an African American before my first mission I wanted to study the continent of Africa before I left so I could identify all the countries from above, What I didn’t realise was that up in space you can’t see any lines like you can on a map – it was just one big island! Seeing it from above with no political divisions was very emotional for me – it all looks very peaceful.

What happens to your body when you return from space?

It doesn’t matter if you go for a few days or a few months your body needs to adapt in the same way. You have to do lots of deep knee bends and the muscles take some time to know how to respond after you have been in microgravity. The thing which takes a bit more time to return to normal is your balance – your inner ear completely goes to sleep without gravity as you have no reference for the human body body other than vision. In space which way is up and which is down are not important!

— Emily Ross-Joannou, Communications and Development

Tags: Outreach, Physics
Posted in Alumni, College, Research, Students, Uncategorized | No Comments »

NASA head visits Imperial

12 July 2012

On 11 July over 300 schoolchildren got the chance to put their questions to a real-life astronaut as Head of NASA Charles Bolden came to Imperial to encourage schoolchildren from underrepresented groups to follow a career in science, technology, engineering and medicine (STEM). Reporter’s Emily Ross-Joannou went along to listen to the talks .

As well as Charles Bolden, the event featured talks from alumni Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE and Professor David Southwood, former Head of Department at the Blackett Laboratory at Imperial who went on to be the Director of the European Space Agency. American folk singer Beth Nielson Chapman entertained the schoolchildren in between speakers with space-related songs. The day was organised by the Outreach Office and Senior Teaching Fellow Dr Mark Richards (Physics).

Dr Richards gave the welcome speech, introducing the schoolchildren to Imperial, challenging common perceptions of the stereotypical crazy scientist and emphasising that people from all walks of life come to the College. “If you are able – our doors are firmly open,” he said.

Maggie Aderin-Pocock MBE

Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock gave an enthusiastic speech about the power of dreams. She revealed that as a child she had always imagined she would become a space scientist and although she hasn’t made it to space (so far) she describes herself as doing the next best thing – building things which go into space such as satellite parts. She talked to the children about a number of projects she has worked on including the Aeolus satellite, due to be launched in 2013, which will monitor climate change from space.

Throughout her career Maggie has worked for the Ministry of Defence, presented television programmes about space and she now focuses her efforts on inspiring schoolchildren about science and her career – a role which saw her awarded an MBE for Services to Science Education.

Maggie admitted that despite her ambition she struggled with dyslexia at school and still found maths really hard when she arrived to begin her Physics undergraduate degree at Imperial. “Luckily my tutors nursed me through the course. I clearly remember running down the corridor to ask a Nobel Laureate who worked at the College to help me with my maths homework – he was so helpful-in fact I found it an incredibly nurturing environment.”

Encouraging the schoolchildren not to get deterred from their dreams she says: “I think there is a bit of scientist in all of us – it isn’t about being white or being male it is about having the drive, the vision and the curiosity.”

Q and A with Charles Bolden

The event built up to the arrival of Charles Bolden to the stage and he didn’t disappoint- taking multiple questions about his experiences in space. Charles has been to space four times – once on Columbia, twice on Endeavour and the final time on Discovery- with his longest flight lasting just nine days. “My first time in space was awesome, exhilarating and exciting but I was also anxious to do everything right. I wasn’t scared as we had spent a lot of time training and were confident that there was a huge crew on Earth monitoring our every move.”

Charles admitted he never dreamed of going to space and came from a very segregated area of North Carolina in the USA – when he was growing up all the visions of astronauts he saw were of white men. “What pushed me was meeting the late Dr Ron McNair, an African American astronaut. He asked me if I was going to apply for a space programme and I told him I was worried I wouldn’t be chosen but he convinced me to go for it.”

Commenting on the potential of a science degree he said: “If a child takes STEM-related course there is no door that is closed to them. They can do anything they want.” He also encouraged the pupils to “study hard and not to be afraid of failure”. He went on to relate how even he questioned his career path shortly after his first trip to space when the space shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds into its flight in 1986 however he said he was determined to stay on the space programme even after being aware of the risks. “I really think it is human destiny to explore,” he explains. Although Charles now has a more administrative role as head of NASA he admitted: “I’d like to go back to space but who knows!”

Charles noted his excitement about NASA’s Mars Space Laboratory (MSL) mission which Imperial’s Professor Sanjeev Gupta (Earth Science and Engineering) is involved in. “I am really looking forward to 5 August when the Mars Rover called Curiosity will land on Mars. Scientists involved in the project across the world will experience seven minutes of terror as that is how long it will take for the radio waves to reach Earth and for us to find out if the project has been successful. Then we can begin to discover what the atmosphere is like and importantly whether we are alone and if there is life out there.”

Charles left to a cacophony of applause and the schoolchildren seemed suitably wowed. “Working at NASA has always been a dream and hearing Charles Bolden speak today was a great experience,” said 16-year- old Charles from City of London Academy in Islington. “I hope to study physics at somewhere like Imperial so it was amazing to get the chance to come here,” he added.

— Emily Ross-Joannou, Communications and Development

Read the full interview with Charles Bolden.

Tags: Department of Physics, Outreach
Posted in Alumni, College, Research, Students, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Love on campus

30 May 2012

Imperial alumni Idy Law (Civil Engineering) and Anthony Leung (Computing), who graduated in 2004, returned to the South Kensington Campus for a pre-wedding photoshoot on 12 April. Idy shares their story:

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Tags: Civil Engineering, Computing
Posted in Alumni, Students, Your Voice | No Comments »

Alumni Reunion

29 May 2012

The 2012 Alumni Reunion took place on Saturday 12 May, as part of the inaugural Imperial Festival. Nearly 1,000 alumni registered their attendance and, with the sun shining, enjoyed catching up with old friends, rediscovering the campus and trying out some of the hands-on scientific demonstrations on offer in the Festival’s research zone.

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Tags: Alumni, Festival 2012
Posted in Alumni | 3 Comments »

Vox pops

24 May 2012

At the recent Imperial Festival, Reporter spoke to visitors to find out:

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Tags: Alumni, Festival 2012, Vox pops
Posted in Alumni, College | No Comments »

Festival fever!

24 May 2012

It’s midday on Saturday 12 May on the South Kensington Campus – the sun is shining, bunting and balloons frame the buildings, 1920’s jazz music is floating through the air and the site is alive with staff, students, alumni and their families and friends – all here for the inaugural Imperial Festival.

On 11–12 May the College opened its doors to the public and invited them to take part in hands-on demonstrations, music, dancing, stand-up comedy, street performances and art.

“The idea of the Festival is to provide an annual glimpse into some of the exciting work going on in Imperial laboratories today,” explains Tom Miller, Director of Communications and Development. “It gives people a chance to quiz the scientists on the front line about their discoveries and to learn or discover something they didn’t know Imperial was involved in.”

Conceived two years ago as part of a review into the membership and purpose of the College Court, the original idea for a festival event was born out of the desire to engage people, institutions and organisations outside of Imperial. Its potential to reach broader audiences including staff, alumni and supporters as well as the general public, was met with the decision to run it over two days and partly on a weekend to make it family friendly. The final format had four key elements, starting with a gala dinner on the Thursday night to celebrate staff achievements over the year, the launch of the new Court on Friday, an Alumni Reunion on Saturday, and the Festival itself on Friday evening for adults and on Saturday afternoon for families.

The event was organised in- house by a team led by Natasha Martineau – Head of Research Communications (Communications and Development) – who took on the mammoth task of creating the College’s biggest ever public event working with colleagues including Harriet Martin and Katie Weeks, and colleagues from across College, especially those in Commercial Services and Facilities.

We wanted to lift the lid on the amazing work that goes on at the College

“The main thinking behind the programme we put together was to lift the lid on the amazing work that goes on at the College, and to make it available to anyone who might be interested in what we do and how it affects their daily lives,” explains Natasha. “When you work here you sometimes forget what a privilege it is to have access to this work, and the passion of the people who do it.” Research undertaken by the team revealed that lots of staff and students across College were already involved in public engagement activities. Hoping to draw from this group, an invitation went out to all departments and institutes. Each one came back with a suggestion or two of something they wanted to contribute to the festival – leading to over 30 interactive displays in and around the marquee on the Queen’s Lawn.

Along with a call for proposals came a set of guidelines for the demonstrations. Each group had a relatively small space and was asked to focus on talking with visitors – from young children to members of the Council – and giving them something to handle. “We wanted to move away from the Power Point and posters you might find at academic conferences,” explains Natasha, “and create an environment where our many audiences could have a two way exchange with the scientists and where their questions and ideas might inform or stimulate the way we do research”. Professor John Seddon (Chemistry) got his first taste of public engagement at the Imperial Festival and explains how he enjoyed considering what demonstrations might work using his 14-year-old son as a testing ground to ensure they would be interesting to a public audience. “We had to put on demos that were within the constraints of being safe, nontoxic, non-explosive and not too smelly, but that would make people stop at the stand and think ‘that would be a fun thing to do’.”

John enthusiastically presented a range of experiments at the Festival – including a petri dish full of ferrofluids that, when you applied a magnetic field from below, formed beautiful spikes aligned along the magnetic field. He also did an experiment with corn flour and water to illustrate the properties of materials that could make flexible body armour for soldiers or skiers but would immediately solidify in an accident and offer good protection on impact.

Outside the context of the Festival, public engagement is becoming an increasingly important part of the expectations of public bodies that fund research. “In a way I welcome this approach,” says John, “We get public funding, so we have to justify what we are doing, and it’s also a good way to encourage a new generation of scientists to come forward.”

Dr Sandra Shefelbine (Bioengineering) is a big fan of public engagement and has worked with the BBC, the Dana Centre and the Wellcome Trust. Sandra was keen to get involved in the Festival and gave a lecture on how bones work (called Skeletons out of the closet).

“I think any time you try to describe your science to a lay audience, it benefits how you look at it, and events like this help to spark the intrigue of science at an early age.” she says. “I could describe everything in terms of equations or super-complicated modelling but in order to explain it in a way in which everyone can understand, you have to break it down into what is really important. That often leads me to start thinking ‘Why do we normally talk about it in such a complex way – is it really necessary?’”

The Festival attracted around 7,000 people over the weekend, which is a clear sign of the public’s interest in science, and the event is being fully evaluated by the team over the next few weeks. The hope is that this will become an annual event. “We had so many suggestions, I hope we can return to them in coming years. I also hope the Festival will continue to help public engagement become an integral part of the life of a researcher at Imperial,” says Natasha.

“I think it was the sense of wonder that captured people’s imagination,” muses John, “and as a demonstrator it was also a lot of fun!”

Read what some of our visitors thought of the Festival here

See a slideshow of images from the day here

— Emily Ross-Joannou, Communications and Development

Tags: Alumni, BBC, Bioengineering, Chemistry, Commercial Services, Communications and Development, Facilities Management, Festival 2012, Wellcome Trust
Posted in Alumni, College, Research | No Comments »

Imperial Festival welcomes thousands of visitors

11 May 2012

Thousands of visitors including members of the public, alumni, staff and students were in party mood on the College’s South Kensington Campus this weekend, as they explored the Imperial Festival – a two day insight into the wonderful and surprising world of life and research here at the College.

Organisers estimate that around 7,000 people in total came to the Festival on Friday evening and across Saturday. Over the two days visitors had the opportunity to try their hand at surgery thanks to Professor Roger Kneebone’s pop-up simulation, have a pint with a professor, meet robots and take part in hands-on demonstrations by Imperial researchers.
Nearly 1,000 alumni alone registered to attend the alumni-specific events on Saturday while good weather saw curious passers-by join science fans and families who had already heard about the Festival.

One of the organisers, Natasha Martineau, Head of Research Communications, said:
“Imperial’s first Festival went better than many of us dared to imagine, with hundreds of staff welcoming thousands of visitors to the event. Around each corner there was yet another opportunity to discover something new about the work of the College. We’re very grateful to everyone who made it all possible, and of course to the sunshine, which made a big contribution to the festival atmosphere on campus this weekend.”

See below for a Festival slideshow as well as tweets and photos from the Festival’s Storify stream.

Posted in Alumni, College, Research, Students | No Comments »

Postgraduate Graduation 2012 – As it happens

8 May 2012

On Wednesday 9 May postgraduate students and guests from over 65 countries will be taking part in Imperial’s 2012 Postgraduate Graduation Ceremonies at the Royal Albert Hall.

Congratulations to all our new graduates, and welcome to the Imperial alumni community. We hope you, your friends and family have a very memorable day. Follow the day’s events here, and share your tweets, videos and photos, using the hashtag #ImpCol.

Tags: Awards and Honours, Students
Posted in Alumni, College, Students, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

Imperial runner completes marathon challenge

25 April 2012

Congratulations to Imperial’s marathon runner, Sam Bell, who completed the London Marathon this weekend, raising over £3,000 for the Rector’s Scholarship Fund.

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Tags: London Marathon, rector's scholarship fund
Posted in Alumni | No Comments »

London Marathon quiz night raises £800 for Rector’s Scholarship Fund

9 March 2012

On Tuesday 21 February, teams of staff, students and alumni pitted their wits against one another in a fundraising quiz organised by Sport Imperial’s Sam Bell, who will be running the London Marathon in April in aid of the Rector’s Scholarship Fund.

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Tags: London Marathon, rector's scholarship fund, Sport Imperial
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A head (and heart) for business

15 February 2012

“This Glaswegian has something to shout about,” reported the Financial Times about Professor David Begg, and indeed how right they were. With nine years as Principal of the Business School under his belt, David has seen the School’s income double, rise 45 places in the Financial Times rankings and establish a world-class reputation in innovation and entrepreneurship. With a determination to bring the School into the heart of what Imperial does, he has ensured close working with other faculties and has aimed to bring the wisdom of business to all of the College’s work.

Reporter caught up with him on the eve of his retirement:

What do you consider your greatest achievement during your time as Principal?

I think I leave the Business School in a much better place than I found it. Imperial has bought into our significance, not just as a Business School, but working for and behalf of the rest of the College. We are very proud of having beaten Oxford and Cambridge in the last Research Assessment Exercise and of the staff we have hired as a consequence. Our reputation is well established and our operational and academic staff continue to do a fantastic job.

How do you see the relationship between the Business School and the rest of Imperial College?

Imperial has been increasingly and magnificently supportive. Quite rightly, they were a bit sceptical at the beginning, but as we have proved ourselves, they have seen the benefits of the Business School and as a result, created the space and opportunities for us to be able to achieve our aims.

What do you think is the biggest difference between the Business School you joined nine years ago and the one you leave today?

We now have a highly ranked Business School that is going to grow and become more successful in the future. When I started, we had to take more risks, as there was a lack of certainty about what we were able to achieve. We now know what we can do and how to make it happen.

What are you going to miss the most?

The 6am starts! No, seriously, in this job, you build a community of colleagues and friends – it’s really more like a lifestyle then just a job – and that will certainly be a very big change for me when I am no longer Principal. Though rest assured, I will not be looking to take it too easy in my retirement – I will be keeping an eye out for my next challenge!

Do you know what that is likely to be?

Head of English cricket or Governor of the Bank of England perhaps?! I haven’t had a chance to consider my options yet. Everyone says take your time and don’t rush into things, so I’m following this advice and am quite relaxed about what’s going to happen. Indeed, for the immediate future, I am going to make myself available to the Business School on a part-time basis, so I can support Dot [Griffiths] in her role as Acting Principal and ensure a smooth transition.

What do you think the Business School will look like in 10 years time?

I think it will be integrated even more closely with the rest of the College and conferring on Imperial students a unique business advantage whatever faculty they happen to be in. I also see our executive education offering growing and a strengthening of our capability in economics. Indeed, this would prove useful for the rest of Imperial where more and more areas are in need of economic evaluation. I also think risk is another huge area of opportunity. At the College, we have experts who cover risk in a number of areas such as train crashes, earthquakes and drug failures but we don’t yet have a means of integrating all of them in an Institute for Risk Management. Nor do hardly any other universities in the world. Imperial could be a real international leader in that field and the Business School should and would play a large part in that.

Any words of wisdom for your successor?

Go for it! Imperial is a community, so having good relationships around the College is as important as having a clear vision of what you are trying to do. You need to be able to motivate other people to believe in your vision and crucially, be able to execute it. By and large, academics are great at strategising but hopeless at execution! Strategy is not the hard part, it is the details of making it happen. A Principal cannot achieve much single-handedly and a great part of the effectiveness but also the pleasure of the job, is the team you build around you. I’ve been very fortunate, Dot has been a rock during my time here, as have all the other people we have recruited as we’ve gone along. A new Principal will eventually be responsible for building a new team, and we’ll see how that transpires. It’s a great job because there are so many positives. With a School that is in great shape, it should be a great challenge for whoever follows.

— Tanya Gubbay, Communications and Development

Tags: Business School, Staff
Posted in Alumni, College, Research, Students, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Imperial marathon runner raising funds for scholarships

26 January 2012

Staff member Sam Bell, Services Manager for Sport Imperial, will be running the London Marathon in April to raise funds for the Rector’s Scholarship Fund.

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Tags: London Marathon, rector's scholarship fund, Sam Bell
Posted in Alumni | No Comments »