Making
Waves
D
iane Stewart models ‘Pour l’amour de
Cheveux’ a costume and headwear
designed by Caitlin Lewis-Ogden,
2nd year Costume Design and Construction
student. Caitlin’s stunning piece of millinery
took centre stage at QMU’s Costume
Showcase 2014.
Principal’s Introduction
Welcome to another packed edition of QMYOU. Over the last few months we
have enjoyed many successes and implemented numerous university events
and initiatives. On top of this, I am delighted that QMU is performing well in the
university league tables – moving up 10 places in the Complete University Guide
and 12 places in the Guardian League Tables. We have also enjoyed positive
feedback from our international students in the iBarometer with QMU ranked the
top university in the UK for ‘eco-friendly attitude’ and top in Scotland for ‘work
experience’.
Our work in knowledge exchange is having a positive impact on organisations,
businesses and communities. Our Media Practice Lecturer, Walid Salhab, has
used his unique stop-motion/time-lapse filming technique to capture the build
phase of The Kelpies, Scotland’s largest arts project. Walid’s breathtaking footage
of the 30 metre high horses’ heads attracted significant attention at the launch
of The Kelpies in New York, and is helping to put Falkirk on the global tourist
map. Employing our expertise in business and tourism, our business academics
have worked with Borders Journeys, an ancestral tourism company, to further
develop its strategic direction in this specialist tourism market to coincide with
VisitScotland’s Homecoming Scotland 2014.
Our research and knowledge exchange work in food and drink continues
to delight businesses and to attract media attention. Recently, our scientists
teamed up with an artisan tea company to offer consumers more nutritional
information about the company’s wide variety of speciality teas. In addition, our
food researchers have discovered that iQ Chocolate, produced in Stirling, can
improve the reaction times of Scotland’s rugby players. You can
read more about our work with eteaket tea on page 18 and 19,
and about the iQ Chocolate trials conducted with Scotland’s
rugby sevens on page 20 and 21.
Having recently presided over our graduation ceremony, I was
delighted to hear from many students who had already secured
employment even before attending graduation. QMU prides
itself on its robust employability strategies which are designed
to provide students with the skills, knowledge and attitude to
secure jobs in their chosen field. We are pleased to share details
of our Employer Mentoring Programme on page 8 and 9 and to
demonstrate, not only the advantages for our students, but also
the benefits to employers who share their valuable experience
with mentees.
We always enjoy hearing about our graduate successes. I
was delighted to hear how David Sharp, who is a graduate in
International Management & Leadership, is reaping the benefits
of his Masters qualification and enjoying great success with the
Japanese conglomerate, Nichii Gakkan. See page 22.
If you are a QMU alumni, please share your career successes
with our alumni team. If you are in business and feel that your
company could benefit from our research input, please speak
to our Research and Knowledge Exchange Unit. If you can
contribute to the success of the University in any way or to
the development of individual students through mentoring,
internships or scholarships, we would really welcome your input.
2
QMYOU / Principal’s Introduction
Professor Petra Wend, PhD, FRSA
Principal and Vice-Chancellor
Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh