Welcome Back

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all staff back and, in particular, to introduce myself to our new starters. I am a relative newcomer myself having recently joined the University in February from the University of Manchester. I hope that you feel as excited as I do about the start of the new academic year and the opportunities here at the Faculty of Science and Engineering.

The University is at a very interesting phase, with many new initiatives and projects ahead.  This includes a recent £4.1m investment in the Manchester Fuel Cell Innovation Centre, £855k investment in infrastructure upgrades in the JD Tower and a new student fabrication laboratory in JD East. In the medium to long term, we are committed to a £100m new build connecting to the west of JD Tower and a refurbishment of JD Central. We are opening a Sports and Exercise Sciences School in the Faculty and this will underpin a £40m investment in a new sports institute at the Etihad.

This is all great news but we have to focus on core business :). Our student enrolments are just about on target, as we are getting ready for the new term. There is a great deal of activity around improving and organising course delivery. I would like to encourage staff to produce video support for their courses as, in my experience, it raises the quality of the course for the students and reduces the workload of staff. As you are aware, course organisation, management, clarity of notes and assessment are all key themes for successful course delivery.

Finally, I would like to thank-you all, support staff, researchers and academics, for your hard work and dedication to the University and its students. I hope that this year goes really well for all of us.

Best wishes,

Professor Andy Gibson