BU & Beyond 2012 - Bournemouth University

WE’RE THE KIDS
IN THE MEDIA
THE UPS AND DOWNS OF
BREAKING INTO A TV CAREER
CRIME
SCENES ON
DEMAND
TRAINING THE
NEXT GENERATION
OF FORENSIC
SCIENTISTS
Issue 14 | 2012
BU&
BEYOND
The magazine for Bournemouth University alumni
TWENTY
YEARS OF
GRADUATES
FROM 1992 TO THE
PRESENT DAY,
BU ALUMNI SHARE
THEIR STORIES
What’s the
surf reef
ever done for us?
BU & Beyond | 1

Alumni
Association
Don’t miss out on
the latest!
If we haven’t got your current
e-mail address, we can’t invite
you to events in your area or
send you our quarterly e-mail
newsletter for alumni. Send
us your latest contact details
at www.bournemouth.ac.uk/
alumni and we’ll keep you in
the know.
Find us on Facebook
Keep up-to-date with the
latest news and events, or
chat to us and your fellow
graduates using our Facebook
Page: www.facebook.com/
bournemouthalumni
Know someone who’s
not a member yet?
All former students of
Bournemouth University,
Bournemouth Polytechnic,
the Dorset Institute of Higher
Education and the pre-1976
Bournemouth College are
entitled to membership of the
Alumni Association, as are
those who’ve studied for a
BU qualification at one of our
partner institutions. Just drop
us a line to sign up!
Contact us
Alumni & Development Office
21 Lansdowne Road
Bournemouth
BH1 1RZ
United Kingdom
Web: www.bournemouth.
ac.uk/alumni
Email: alumni@
bournemouth.ac.uk
Tel.: +44 (0)1202 961083
2 | BU & Beyond
The Alumni Association exists especially to
keep former students in touch and involved
with Bournemouth University. We’ll keep you
up-to-date with what’s happening at your
university, as well as inviting you to events and
activities we think you might like.
Services for former students
Regular news and updates
We’ll make sure you don’t miss out
on BU news, updates from people
you studied with and special events
through BU & Beyond and our
regular e-mail newsletters.
Events and reunions
Alumni are welcome at a wide range
of events, from parties and reunions
to lectures and networking events.
Discounts on further study
Focus on your career with a discount
of up to 20% on postgraduate course
fees. Simply include details of your
existing BU qualification in your
application.
Replacement awards
We can issue replacement copies of
most award certificates and transcripts
for courses completed at BU.
Friend Finder service
Lost touch with an old classmate?
We’ll gladly forward a message, if
we’re in contact with them.
Sports on campus
Still living locally? Make use of our
great sporting facilities with special
rates on sportBU membership.
Library access
Borrow books and printed
journals from our award-winning
libraries with special reduced-rate
subscription for alumni.
Careers and placements advice
You can get free career and
placement advice for up to three
years after graduating and browse
graduate level opportunities through
MyCareerHub.
Special offers
Get special deals on mortgages,
savings and more from our partner
Santander, or enjoy a cut-price break
at a Holiday Inn or Crowne Plaza
hotel.
For full details of these and other
services for alumni, see: www.
bournemouth.ac.uk/alumni or give
us a call on +44 (0)1202 961083.

Welcome
Hello and welcome to the latest
edition of BU & Beyond, the
annual magazine we put together
especially for former students.
We’ve included a real mix of
articles this time round, to give you
a taster of what’s been going on at
the University during the past year,
as well as some of our exciting
plans and initiatives for the future.
You’ll also find updates from a
whole load of your fellow alumni
– it’s amazing just how many
different places you can now find a
BU graduate working or living!
As well as the magazine, don’t
forget you can stay in touch with
us using our website, through
Facebook and by e-mail. Visit us,
‘like’ us or sign-up for e-mails and
we’ll do our best to keep you up-todate
with news and opportunities
we think might interest you, and
there are lots of ways you can stay
involved in university life, too.
Thanks again to everybody who’s
contributed to this edition. For
those of you that we haven’t
featured yet, do let us know if
you’ve got an interesting tale to
share as it’d be great to include you
in the future.
Enjoy the magazine!
Alex Liivet
Alumni Relations Manager
What’s inside…
06
42
24
26
Highlights of the year
4 VC’s introduction
6 Making the Games
“happy and glorious”
10 Crime scenes on demand
11 Dementia Institute launched
13 Seeing beneath Stonehenge
Your fellow alumni
14 Twenty years of BU graduates
22 Reunions around the world
24 Photographers’ stories
Informed opinions
26 What’s the Surf Reef ever
done for us?
28 Professionalism and
public relations
32 We’re the kids in the media
The world of BU
36 Fusion at BU – our vision
for the future
38 Prepare for the
Festival of Learning
39 Introducing the
International VFX Hub
42 Summerball lives on!
BU & Beyond | 3

Vice-Chancellor’s
introduction
4 | BU & Beyond

Developments at
Bournemouth University
have been moving on apace
since the last time I wrote to you a
year ago.
The uncertainty about the future
of higher education has continued,
and just recently we saw evidence
in the press that some people are
definitely being put off University
by the higher fees. At BU we are
doing everything we can to educate
people about the value of higher
education and to provide accurate
information about the new student
fee system. I am sure there will be
many more changes to come as new
providers start offering different
types of courses, delivered in
different ways, creating much more
choice for students.
Over the last year BU has been
positioning itself at the forefront of
these changes, making sure that
we are well placed for a happy
and successful future. When I
last wrote to you, we had just
launched the new vision for the
University, BU:2018, which aims to
create a unique fusion of excellent
education, research and professional
practice, where the sum is greater
than the component parts (I explain
what this means in practice in an
article later on in the magazine).
Since then, we have also published
the Strategic Plan for 2012-18 which
will help us deliver our vision
through the BU community. We
will focus on encouraging staff and
students to work together to cocreate
and co-produce knowledge
and research, driving excellent
teaching and teaching innovation,
improving staff and student mobility
and networking, and aligning our
research themes to societal need.
We will need to invest heavily to
achieve our goals. An additional
£3m per annum will be put into a
Fusion Investment Fund, which
will support a range of practical
initiatives that will underpin and
deliver fusion. We will seek to
recruit an additional 80 academic
staff to ensure we have a better
University level staff-student ratio
by 2018. We will also invest more
than £20m in IT and £110m in our
estate up to 2018, to ensure that we
have the best facilities possible for
our staff and students.
The future of Bournemouth
University is being built on strong
foundations, as is evident from our
achievements and success over the
past year. I’m delighted to say that
earlier this year we were awarded
a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for
Higher and Further Education.
This national honour recognises
the National Centre for Computer
Animation (NCCA)’s contribution
to the computer animation industry
through its pioneering research and
excellence in education. It has also
been a very good year for securing
external grants and awards; we
have just heard that Bournemouth’s
bid to house a new National
Coastal Tourism Academy has been
successful.
Conservation remains a priority for
us, and our commitment to reducing
carbon emissions and improving our
recycling rates is as strong as ever.
We are currently installing a new
biomass boiler and are celebrating
our ‘First Class Honours’ in the
Guardian’s 2012 Green League.
From one of the greenest shows
in the UK to the greatest show
on earth! Many of BU’s staff and
students were involved in the
2012 London Olympics. We had
six torchbearers and lots of people
volunteering at the Games, and
students from BU’s Media School
were selected as one of only ten
universities across the country to
help broadcast the Games as part of
the Olympic Broadcasting Services
training programme.
I hope you feel as proud as I do to be
part of the BU community that works
so hard to achieve so much. It’s
going to be another exciting year…
Professor John Vinney
Vice-Chancellor
A royal
award for
animation
The talent, commitment
and knowledge of the Media
School’s National Centre
for Computer Animation
(NCCA) was officially
recognised earlier this year,
as BU received the Queen’s
Anniversary Prize at a
ceremony at Buckingham
Palace.
Forming part of the national honours
system, the Queen’s Anniversary
Prize is the most prestigious award
in UK education. The prizes awarded
recognise and celebrate outstanding
work which is making a real and
practical impact for the benefit of
human progress. BU was recognised by
the judges for “world-class computer
animation teaching with wide creative
and scientific applications” – yet
another endorsement of the outstanding
talent and achievements of staff,
students and alumni.
The NCCA has been at the forefront
of computer animation education
and research since 1989, conducting
research of international significance
and pioneering both undergraduate
and postgraduate courses in computer
visualisation and animation and digital
effects.
BU & Beyond | 5

Making the Games
“happy and glorious”
From torch bearers and
volunteers to technical
experts and behindthe-scenes
planners,
dozens of BU alumni,
students and staff
helped make London
2012 a stunning
success.
Guy and Tom Watts
Lisa Marshall
Colin Lynch
6 | BU & Beyond
The Torch
Bearers
The Graduate
Accounting and Finance
graduate Guy Watts
(pictured here with
brother and fellow BU
graduate Tom) carried the
Olympic Torch through
Sutton in south London
on Monday 23 July. Guy
was nominated and
selected as a torch bearer
in recognition of his
record-breaking rowing
achievements and his
founding of Streetscape,
a social enterprise
designed to get long-term
unemployed 18-25 year
olds back in to work.
The Student
Psychology student Lisa
Marshall had two reasons to
celebrate when she carried
the Torch through Lowestoft
only a day after she’d
been voted NUS Endsleigh
Student of the Year.
Lisa was nominated
because of her
determination to come to
university and study to
become an educational
psychologist despite
having had three major
surgeries in the last four
years. An active volunteer
and mentor both at BU and
in her home town, Lisa has
quickly become a positive
role model, working hard
to inspire people with
disabilities and their
families.
Helping other people is
Lisa’s main motivation for
becoming an educational
psychologist and she is
committed to helping
make sure people with
disabilities are present
in the community as
active citizens in order
to decrease people’s
misconceptions.
Commenting on her
achievements, Murray
Simpson of the Students’
Union was in no doubt that
Lisa is “a true role model
for students everywhere.”
The Lecturers
Three School of Tourism
lecturers helped carry the
famous flame as it passed
through Dorset.
Lecturer in leadership and
strategy with the Event
Management programme
Debbie Sadd was
recognised for 15 years of
volunteering as sports team
manager, school governor
and charity supporter, as
well as working at the
Olympic Park during the
Games.
Sports lecturer Alexis
Major carried the Torch as
an active member of the
sporting community since
the age of five. She has
competed at high level in
gymnastics and athletics,
as well as working with a
variety of local schools to
help pupils achieve their
sporting goals.
In Weymouth, Events
Management lecturer
Dorothy Fox was
recognised for her roles
at sea; she is chairman of
Bournemouth Lifeguard
Corps and two years ago
won gold in the World
Masters Sport Lifesaving
Championships.
New prosthetic
limb designed for
Irish Paralympian
Following a chance
meeting with prosthetics
company PACE
Rehabilitation last
November, Senior Lecturer
Bryce Dyer helped create
a prosthetic limb for Irish
cyclist Colin Lynch to use
at the Paralympic Games.
Bryce, who is a competitive
cyclist himself, worked
closely with Colin and
PACE to complete a design
in barely five weeks so that
the cyclist could test it out
at the following February’s
Para-cycling World
Championships.
With margins in paracycling
coming down to
mere tenths of seconds,
every possible advantage
counts and Bryce was
determined to create
something that went
beyond the norm. “There
are other athletes that
use cycling prostheses,”
he commented, “but I
just wanted to give him
something that was a little
bit mind-blowing.” Colin
was in no doubt about

the outcome of the work,
calling it “a massive leap
forward” and commenting
how it both increased his
power output and reduced
wind resistance.
The device is intended
to give a competitive
edge but, as with any
sport, there are rules
and regulations that the
design has to adhere to
so was created with those
in mind. Bryce said, “I
don’t want Colin going to
London and being overly
stressed because they
say he has something
that is advantageous or
just raising the question
because Colin is going
to want to have his head
in the game not on the
prosthetics.
“The limb is shaped
differently. It uses a
different method of
manufacture, and it’s
very, very aerodynamic
compared to conventional
prostheses. It’s designed
to give him maximum
speed and maximum power
transfer. He relies on a
combination of speed and
power and aerodynamic
efficiency and it was just to
try and give him something
that would ultimately help
and not hinder him in
races.”
Image© London 2012
BU & Beyond | 7

Image© London 2012
8 | BU & Beyond
“These were happy
and glorious Games”
IOC Chairman Jacques Rogge

Building
excitement on
the small screen
It came as no surprise
to learn that graduates
from BU’s National Centre
for Computer Animation
worked on the BBC’s
animated film promoting
the Games. Just under
three minutes long, the film
featured athletes preparing
and competing in a range
of landscapes, including a
BMX rider preparing at the
edge of a cliff and sprinters
and gymnasts going
through their paces on the
streets.
One such graduate is
Chris Dawson, a character
technical director at
Passion Pictures, the
company who created the
film to a concept devised
by creative agency Rainey
Kelly Campbell Roalfe
Y&R. “My role at Passion
means I design and set up
the rigs and tools we use
for character animation,”
explained Chris. “I also get
involved with simulation,
i.e. cloth and sometimes
fluids; basically anywhere
characters have to interact
with other objects. While
not actually animating the
characters I usually have
to provide support for the
animators when trying to
achieve difficult poses;
there were a lot of those on
the Olympics spot.”
The full version of the
trail was first broadcast
on BBC One in early July,
with shorter edits used
throughout the campaign in
the run up to the Games.
Remembering
a lost teammate
in film
A short film by final year
TV Production student
Chris Butler was on show
at the Olympic venues
throughout the Games,
after being named a winner
in London 2012’s short film
competition, Film Nation:
Shorts.
Dedicated to the memory of
Thomas Perrin, a fellow BU
student who was tragically
killed in a car crash at the
beginning of 2012, Pull
Together is a fictional
film which follows the
Bournemouth University
rowing team while training
for their biggest race of
the year. During training
they lose one of their
teammates, and it takes
all of their strength and
courage to pull together to
win the race in his memory.
Chris submitted his film
with the Olympic themes
of inspiration, courage,
determination and
teamwork. He said it was a
“fitting memory to a great
flatmate and friend.”
Representing the
Commonwealth
Games at the
Olympics
Two graduates working
for Glasgow 2014, the
Organising Committee for
the 20th Commonwealth
Games, also put their very
different skills to use in
London this summer.
Archaeology graduate
Gareth Talbot, and Public
Relations graduate Holly
Garland (née Wheeler)
both work for Glasgow
2014, the Organising
Committee for the 20th
Commonwealth Games.
Gareth, who graduated in
1996, is the Environment
& Sustainability Manager,
while 2004 graduate Holly
is PR Manager.
Seconded to the London
2012 Organising
Committee, Holly worked
on the news desk at
Olympic Park, as part
of the LOCOG Media
Team that served the
20,000 journalists and
photographers reporting on
the Games. Holly started
her career in central
government press offices in
Whitehall, working at the
Department of Health, the
Ministry of Defence and
then 10 Downing Street
before moving to London
2012.
Gareth worked with the
London 2012 Sustainability
Team, providing a
monitoring and auditing
role in the Olympic Park.
This involved keeping
an eye on the closed
loop waste systems, and
making sure the venue
operated according to its
environmental management
plans – you don’t want to
know what would happen
if this hadn’t run smoothly!
This marked a departure
from previous roles for
Gareth, one of which was
working at BU on the
Monuments at Risk Survey
and on the Archaeological
Investigations Project. This
followed a long stint as an
archaeological consultant,
before he moved to
Glasgow City Council
to prepare the Strategic
Environmental Assessment
for Glasgow 2014.
It just goes to show how
the education received at
BU can result in people
ending up in the most epic
of circumstances!
Students receive
training from
the Olympic
Broadcasting
Service
Bournemouth University
was one of just ten higher
education institutions
chosen by the Olympic
Broadcasting Service for
training selected students
to help film Olympic events.
Taking place on the Talbot
Campus, specialist sessions
gave students a thorough
understanding of how
the largest broadcasting
operation in the world
would be put together and
what would be needed to
make it a success. As well
as explaining to students
the part they could play,
filming the trials and
practices on the sports
fields allowed students
to try out newly-learnt
professional and technical
skills and gain as much
experience in filming
live sport as possible in
preparation for the Games
themselves.
Successful students later
had the opportunity
to apply for over 1,000
paid, entry-level jobs
from camera assistants
to commentary systems
operators.
BU & Beyond | 9

CRIME SCENES ON DEMAND CRIME SCENES ON DEMAND CRIME SCENES ON DEMAND
What better way to train forensic science students than with hands-on
experience of investigating a crime scene? The brand new Crime Scene
Training Centre on the Lansdowne Campus offers just this, with the
School of Applied Sciences now able to stage all manner of mock crime
scenes in a realistic but safe environment.
A
suite of rooms includes
a crime house with two
bedrooms, a bathroom
and a lounge-diner, as well as an
illicit drugs den and a bank branch
complete with counter and cash
machine. Inside the crime house the
scenarios include a burglary and
the discovery of the decomposing
body of a murder victim who has
been strangled by her own tights.
Students are expected to observe
and analyse the situation as well as
gather forensic evidence from the
scenes and complete the necessary
paperwork.
Home Office Forensic Science
Regulator Andrew Rennison opened
the centre in February and spoke of
the huge benefits of such realistic
training facilities. “Every part of
forensic science requires very
detailed and demanding training,”
said Andrew. “Facilities like the
one at BU play an enormous role in
training people at the front end in
the crime scene investigation side
of forensic science. If you get it right
at this end all of the forensic science
further down, through the labs
and into the courts is much, much
better.”
Demonstrator in Forensic
Science and former Crime Scene
Investigator Alex Otto is also
excited by the possibilities the
Centre offers. “The new Crime
Scene Training Centre provides
students with a great opportunity
to experience scenarios that are
as close to a real life crime scene
as possible,” she says. “It allows
students to fine tune their practical
skills, such as fingerprinting and
collecting forensic evidence in a
realistic situation. As well as these
practical skills, it provides the
students with an opportunity to
fine tune vital transferable skills
such as observation, teamwork and
communication.”
CRIME SCENES ON DEMAND CRIME SCENES ON DEMAND CRIME SCENES ON DEMAND
10 | BU & Beyond

DEMENTIA INSTITUTE
champions better care and support
It’s an interesting fact that while Dorset is home to one
of the oldest populations in England, it has the lowest
rate of dementia diagnosis in the country.
Unfortunately, this is not as good as it
sounds; it does not mean there are fewer
cases, but in fact suggests that local
health and social care providers are having
difficulty in providing accurate diagnoses.
Indeed, there is evidence that only a third
of those with dementia are likely to be
diagnosed, leaving many people without
the support and services they need.
“Only a third of those with dementia
are likely to be diagnosed”
Newly-launched this year, the BU Dementia
Institute (BUDI) is aiming to help raise the
standard of care and support offered to
people with dementia and their families by
working with a variety of public, private
and voluntary bodies across the south of
England. In particular, the Institute will
bring together research, education and
professional practice from right across BU
to develop training courses, consultancy
services and educational activities to shape
professional dementia care.
Opening the well-attended event in May,
Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim
McIntyre-Bhatty spoke of the importance
of BUDI’s work and how it was a great
example of society-led research. “It’s
really important that we understand the
context of the country and the way the
demographic is changing so that we can
support people in health and wellbeing
throughout their lives,” he explained.
“The Institute will bring together
research, education and professional
practice from across BU”
BU has already completed a variety
of research and projects focused on
dementia care including evaluating local
care approaches and producing bespoke
educational programmes for healthcare
providers. Ongoing projects promise to
cover an even broader range of themes and
activities, from studying rural dementia
initiatives across the world to examining
the possibilities for dementia-friendly
tourism.
The latest in
midwifery
practice
Bournemouth
University’s
branch campus in
Portsmouth has
been responsible
for training a
large proportion
of midwives in
Hampshire and the
Isle of Wight since it
was opened in 1998.
This year, a complete
revamp has ensured a
whole new generation of
midwives will be able to train in
the best possible environment,
allowing BU to continue making
a significant contribution to the
health and wellbeing of mothers
and babies in the area.
Part of NHS Portsmouth’s
redeveloped Community Health
Campus, the all-new Midwifery
Training Facility offers a realistic
hospital environment, the latest
industry-standard equipment
and high-tech audio-visual kit.
Students will be able to train in
an environment which replicates
what they will experience on
placement and when they
qualify as working midwives,
with a brand-new birthing bed,
a birthing couch, a profiling bed
and a birthing room warmer
worth £8,500 all available.
Other facilities include cameras
fitted to the skills lab, with
recordings available for students
to take away on a memory stick
to help them review their own
performance. The training facility
also includes two 50-seat lecture
theatres, a PC lab and a three-bed
practice skills room.
BU & Beyond | 11

Powering the
future, preserving
the past
Harnessing the energy in
Poole Harbour
Academics from across BU are working with
Transition Town Poole and the Borough
Council to explore the opportunity of harnessing
energy from tidal power in Poole Harbour for the
good of the community.
Poole Harbour is the second largest natural
harbour in the world and the Poole Tidal Energy
Partnership aims to harness the latent power
in the harbour in a way that is economically
sustainable, sensitive to the local environment
and contributes to the vision for clean energy.
The initiative ties in with BU’s efforts to help
develop the green economy, as well as with a
number of government initiatives. The goal is
to achieve economic growth and enterprise in
ways that restore the environment rather that
damage it.
Sharing the Swash
Channel Wreck experience
BU-led partnership project to make a
A 400-year-old underwater shipwreck
accessible to the community is on course, after
£141,200 of funding was secured from the
Heritage Lottery Fund.
Currently only accessible to divers, the Swash
Channel Wreck is an early seventeenth century
armed merchant ship lying in about eight metres
of water in the approach to Poole Harbour.
Collaboration between BU and the Borough of
Poole should make the shipwreck accessible to
a far wider audience, with finds from the Wreck
and information from excavation being passed
on to Poole Museum for display.
12 | BU & Beyond
On top at the Oscars,
on top in the tables
The annual roll-call of alumni who’ve contributed
to Oscar-nominated films was as impressive as ever
this year, with over 70 graduates spotted on the
credits for four out of the five films nominated in the
category for best visual effects.
BU graduates worked on Harry Potter and the Deathly
Hallows: Part Two, Hugo, Rise of the Planet of the Apes and
Transformers: Dark of the Moon, with Hugo named as the Visual
Effects winner on the night.
Barely two months later, BU was listed in Animation Career
Review’s listing of top places to study animation. Not only did the
National Centre for Computer Animation make the worldwide 20,
it was also ranked as number one in the UK and number two in
Europe. Animation Career Review also noted BU’s strong links with
the animation industry and top studios, and reports that magazine
3D has also ranked the NCCA number one place to study in the UK.
Graduate scoops Al
Jazeera documentary
award
Victoria Musguin, who graduated from BA (Hons)
Television Production in 2010, has received a
prestigious Al Jazeera award for her final year
project, the documentary A Different Face.
The documentary explores the life of Shaharzad Akbar, the first
Afghan female to study at Oxford University. Victoria told
22-year-old Shaharzad’s story through her eyes by giving her a
camera to film her life in Afghanistan, where the Taliban’s rule left
85% of women uneducated, fighting against war and the threat of
assassination.
Crowned the Winner of the New Horizon (second) award at the Al
Jazeera International Documentary Festival 2012, Victoria did not
believe at first that she had won the award on receiving a ‘dodgy’
looking congratulating email. She said, “I assumed the email was
hacked and ignored it, but decided to call in case and they said it
was already screened and the awards had happened. I found out
a week after the festival had finished, so I didn’t believe I had won
until the presentation video came through the post!”

Seeing beneath Stonehenge
Developed by BU archaeologists, Google Under-the-Earth: Seeing
Beneath Stonehenge is the first application of its kind to transport
users around a virtual prehistoric landscape, exploring this
magnificent and internationally important monument.
Using data gathered by researchers
and students during the Stonehenge
Riverside Project excavations, the
application was co-directed by Dr Kate
Welham, Head of Archaeology at BU, and
Professor Mike Parker Pearson, University
of Sheffield. Through funding provided
by a Google Factual Research Award,
researchers developed an informative
interactive layer that can be opened within
Google Earth.
“Highlights include a visit to the
Neolithic village of Durrington Walls
and a trip inside a prehistoric house”
The unique visual experience lets users
interact with the past like never before,
taking in a number of significant sites and
discoveries. Highlights include a visit to
the Neolithic village of Durrington Walls,
a trip inside a prehistoric house and the
opportunity to see reconstructions of
Bluestonehenge and of the great timber
monument called the Southern Circle as
they would have looked more than four
thousand years ago.
Dr Welham thinks that we could potentially
see a whole new layer in Google Earth
in the future. “Many of the world’s great
archaeological sites could be added,
incorporating details of centuries’ worth of
excavations as well as technical data from
geophysical and remote sensing surveys
in the last 20 years,” she said. The project
has already seen a huge level of interest
with thousands of people downloading the
application to investigate the landscape for
themselves.
Explore the virtual landscape yourself by
downloading the tool: tinyurl.com/underearth
Multi-Media
Journalism
graduate
wins BAFTA
2006 graduate Joe Casey,
who we featured in the last
edition of BU & Beyond,
has gone on to bag a third
award for his special
undercover report of care
homes for BBC’s Panorama.
Joe was awarded a BAFTA for
an episode in which he went
undercover entitled ‘Undercover
Care: The Abuse Exposed’,
which has also won him the John
Schofield Trust bursary at the RTS
Television awards.
Joe said the ceremony was almost
as exciting as winning the award
itself, saying “It was a great
experience being in the same
company of some of the biggest
names in television. There were
some people in there that I respect
for what they have achieved in
their career. Also it’s not every day
you are in a room with celebrities
like Rolf Harris on the left and Ricky
Gervais on the right of you!”
BU & Beyond | 13

20 years of graduates
This November sees the 20-year anniversary of BU gaining university
status. What better way to mark the occasion than through a look at
some of our graduates from the past two decades?
Lydia Ward
BA (Hons) Events
Management
2010
Originally from south Devon, I moved to
Bournemouth in 2006 to study for a four
year Event Management degree. During
these years I met and worked with some
fantastic people and was lucky enough
to make many great life-long friends. In
2008 I moved to London for a placement
year at The Royal Society of Medicine’s
event venue, One Wimpole Street. In
2010, having completed my demanding
final year at Bournemouth University,
I relocated back to London to work for
Banks Sadler, a market leader in the
Darren Jones
BSc (Hons) Computer
Aided Product Design
2009
After graduating, I returned to my
placement year company, Fireco in
Brighton. I was tasked with designing
a new fire safety product, Freedor, that
was launched in early 2011. Since its
launch, Freedor has won Best Passive
Protection Product at the Fire Excellence
Awards and Best Mechanical Award
at the British Engineering Excellence
Awards (BEEAs).
At the BEEAs, I was awarded Young
Designer Engineer of the Year 2011.
Since then, I have been improving
14 | BU & Beyond
Events Agency industry. Having lived
in London for two years, the fresh air
of Devon called me back and I moved
to Exeter to work for a large national
company. My job now incorporates event
management and business support and
has great scope for career progression.
Freedor’s design along with working on
a number of other products, including
the development of the product I
designed in my final year at BU.
Lindsey
Connett
Legal Practice Course
2007
After completing my Legal Practice
Course in 2007, I returned to work for
the Court Service before moving to
Devon in 2008 to complete my training
as a solicitor with Foot Anstey LLP.
After qualifying in September 2010,
I now practise in the area of clinical
negligence; specifically the abuse
of vulnerable adults by healthcare
trusts or private care providers. I
was part of the team responsible
for a settlement of over £7 million in
September 2011 for 165 claimants with
learning disabilities who had suffered
various forms of abuse whilst living
in the care of an NHS trust. I now
work full time, representing former
residents, on claims arising from
events at Winterbourne View, which
was the private hospital featured on a
BBC Panorama programme broadcast
in May 2011 which used undercover
reporting to show evidence of physical
abuse and bullying of residents by
staff.
Outside of work, having recently
discovered the world of running, I am
training for my first 10k. Anyone who
remembers me from my BU days will
recall I am the least likely person ever
to do this sort of thing! I am still in
Bournemouth frequently due to family
still living there, and it is always great
to see the ongoing building works and
buzz that surrounds BU.

Diane
Shepherd
(née Finlinson)
BSc (Hons) Nurse
Practitioner
2001
After graduating I moved to Harrogate,
North Yorkshire to introduce patient
streaming and facilitate the development
of Nurse Practitioners (NP) in the local
emergency department. In 2004 I became
the first Nurse Consultant in the UK
specialising in First Contact Care. I felt
incredibly fortunate to be able to develop
this role and continue to utilise my NP
skills in the process. In 2006 I completed
my Masters degree in Health Professional
Ross MacLeod
BA (Hons) Leisure Marketing
2005
After graduating I swiftly disappeared to Canada for the
snowboard season; I had planned this as part of my gap year
following four years studying in Bournemouth. This single
gap year turned into four, and I found myself spending time
in Borneo working as a dive instructor, beach lifeguarding
in New Zealand and travelling around South America. This
adventure was linked with annual summer returns to the
beaches of Dorset where I worked as a beach lifeguard for the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution, a job that opened the door
to being able to utilise my Leisure Marketing degree.
In 2010 I was given the opportunity to work at RNLI
headquarters in Poole covering a maternity leave over the
winter. I worked hard for the six month secondment and was
pleased when the position was made permanent. Nearly
three years on I’m still with the charity, working on safety
prevention campaigns to keep the British public safer around
the coast.
My advice to graduates would be don’t rush for the ‘grown up’
job – it will find you soon enough, make sure you’ve enjoyed
yourself first!
Education and found this enhanced my
existing knowledge and skills, whilst
also enabling me to design and deliver a
first contact care course using a blended
learning approach.
In August 2007 my husband and I made the
move to Victoria, Vancouver Island, British
Columbia (BC), Canada. On August 12, 2012
I completed my Masters in Nursing, Nurse
Practitioner and again hope to pioneer
the NP role within emergency care on the
Island. In March this year I became the first
non-physician, Director of Health Services
for BC Corrections, which is a provincewide
responsibility an amazing role that I
feel very privileged to hold.
Since moving to Victoria it has not all been
about building new careers! My husband
and I have enjoyed so many amazing
experiences such as sea kayaking, whale
watching, skiing, SCUBA diving in the
Pacific Ocean, and for me in particular the
fulfilment of a lifelong ambition to learn
to fly.
I continue to be eternally grateful to all
of my tutors as I realise how much they
enhanced my time studying. They gave me
back my passion for nursing, empowered
me to unlock the potential of my career as
a Nurse Practitioner and I can honestly say
that I have never looked back since.
BU & Beyond | 15

Tolu
Legunsen
MA Interactive Media
2005
When I left BU in 2005, I immediately
went into freelancing, trying to build my
portfolio in digital media as quickly as
possible. I worked with various clients
in the UK and Nigeria and got my hands
into everything: websites, e-commerce,
email campaigns, multimedia show
reels and a bit of video editing. I later
got a job at Ashridge Business School
as a Web/Flash developer and worked
there for a short while.
Whilst at Ashridge, I realised I had a
very broad skillset and I wanted to get
more involved in the full end to end
process of delivering digital projects. I
moved on from Ashridge in 2007 and
have since worked as Project Manager
for a number of reputable digital
agencies in London. Most recently
I helped to manage a programme of
work for National Rail Enquiries, which
consisted of delivery a new mobile
website and iPhone and Android
application. The National Rail mobile
site is currently most visited mobile site
in the UK and the mobile app is the top
10 in the Travel category of the Apple
App Store.
My course at BU gave me a wellrounded
foundation for everything I
have done so far. I’m now back into
freelancing (as a PM) and looking to
further my career in the area of Digital
Product Management and Strategy.
16 | BU & Beyond
Jihong Fu
MSc Events Management
2011
As an international student, I treasured
a lot of my time to live and study in BU.
Although I can’t boast that I’ve made the
full use of my university life, I did try my
best. I’ve learned and experienced so much
in the past year: I enjoyed the inspiring
lectures, the group works with arguments
and communication and all sorts of social
practice such as volunteering. Besides this
I’ve learned how to get over the culture
shock and live happily and independently
in a new country, make friends here and be
part of the community. Now, facing the real
world outside the campus, I’m still working
hard with dreams and beliefs. Time flies,
but what life has taught you will always be
with you.
Lynsey
Holbrook
BA (Hons) Leisure
Marketing
2002
Following graduation in 2002, I
moved to London and returned
to Jardine Communications, my
placement year employer and
specialist motorsport PR agency. I
worked across national motorsport
properties before being seconded
to Shanghai in 2004 to manage
BAT’s Chinese market activation
in the build up to the inaugural
Formula 1 China Grand Prix.
In 2006, I moved to Momentum
Worldwide’s London office as
Account Manager on Intel’s
sponsorship of the BMW Sauber
Formula 1 Team, progressing
through the agency while building
a specialism in international
sponsorship activation for the likes
of Nokia, Mobil 1 and most recently
UPS, for whom I led the integrated
activation of their groundbreaking
London 2012 Logistics partnership.
In my new role of Sponsorship
Director, UK, I am tasked
with leading the sponsorship
department’s growth strategy in
the post-Olympic marketplace and
establishing Momentum UK as the
agency’s centre of excellence for
international sponsorship strategy
and execution. Momentum UK’s
sponsorship client group includes
American Express, UPS, Mobil 1,
UNICEF, Ricoh and TAM Airlines.
Right now, there isn’t a job on the
planet (in Marketing anyway...) I
would rather be doing, but when
I’m not working I really haven’t
grown up at all - it’s all about a
good time with friends - preferably
in sunnier climes.

Dan Sheerin
MSc Computer
Animation
2000
After graduating, I landed my ideal job
as a Visual Effect Artist for Mill Film
up in London, working on Blockbuster
movies such as Tombraider, Black Hawk
Down and Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets. After a couple of years I
was offered the opportunity to work
for Jim Henson’s Creature Shop, which
had produced many of my favourite TV
shows and films as I was growing up.
It was an inspirational place to work
surrounded by so much creativity.
In 2005 I was approached by Sony
Pictures Imageworks and offered the
chance to work overseas in Los Angeles,
California. I loved the idea. My intention
was to work there for two years and
return to London but nearly seven
Anna Stocks
BSc (Hons) Archaeology
1999
Following graduation I worked for
several archaeological contractors, before
returning to the University to work on the
‘Archaeological Investigations Project’.
This involved travelling around the
country gathering information about the
archaeology being undertaken across
years later I am still in LA with my
wife and two children and am now the
Technical Animation Supervisor here at
Imageworks. I specialize in developing
Procedural Animation Solutions and
have just completed Men in Black 3 and
The Amazing Spiderman.
Thanks to BU my career started with a
bang and has continued onwards and
upwards ever since.
England, during which I met a wide
range of people working in archaeology.
It also helped me to get a thorough
understanding of British archaeology as
it required me to read several thousand
archaeological reports a year!
Since 2005 I have worked as Planning
Archaeologist for Warwickshire County
Council, providing detailed archaeological
advice on schemes varying in scale from
small house extensions to large airport
extensions and quarries. Recent sites
I have been involved in have included
several Late Iron Age and Roman
settlements, a Bronze Age settlement and
a medieval church and graveyard.
Sometimes it feels like I never escape
archaeology, as much of my leave is also
spent exploring other sites and historic
towns across the UK and Europe. I am
hoping to spend some of my leave this
summer this year and next doing a
geophysical survey of a newly identified
Roman fort over in Wales, providing it
stops raining long enough!
Gaby Pfeifer
BSc (Hons) Psychology
2010
My time at Bournemouth University
marks a significant turning point
during which I acquired the skills and
knowledge base to realise a career
change into science. I enrolled in BU’s
Psychology course in 2007 with a rather
vague conception about the subject,
but soon learned about its many
applications and especially started to
appreciate Psychology as a scientific
discipline.
Following graduation in 2010, I went
on to do a Master’s degree in cognitive
neuroscience at the University of York. I
am now working on a PhD project at the
Brighton and Sussex Medical School,
aimed at understanding how the
brain enables us to store and retrieve
memories.
My work involves testing young and
elderly volunteers as well as patients
with Alzheimer’s disease on memory
tasks whilst they lie in an MRI scanner
that takes snapshots of their brains.
This research allows me to build on
my degree and I thoroughly enjoy
the opportunity to now contribute to
Psychology myself.
BU & Beyond | 17

Justin Hancock
BSc (Hons) Business
Information Technology
1997
After graduating in summer 1997, I worked for
six months in the UK to save up to go travelling in
Australia. I worked and travelled around Australia
for 12 months on various IT contracts. At the end
of that time I was offered sponsorship and decided
to stay on, ending up with a brilliant job working
for a US software company with offices in Sydney. I
worked and travelled in Asia, America and even back
to Europe with the job, which included three years of
working in Malaysia.
I returned to the UK in 2005 and started working for a
mobile internet software company (mainly server side
software). Again I travel lots with the job, mainly to
the US Midwest. This eventually led me into Big Data
solutions using HBase and Hadoop. Currently I work
for a startup in Reading that analyses social media
data in a large HBase cluster; we have more than
100,000,000,000 tweets in the platform and growing.
My studies at Bournemouth provided me with the
foundation to build a strong career; the low level
knowledge of databases has always been useful. I
still sometimes apply that knowledge and insight
today and can’t thank my lecturers enough for the
work they put in, which helped me succeed.
18 | BU & Beyond
Roland
Götz
BA (Hons)
International
Marketing
Management
1996
From 1992 to 1996 I studied
at Bournemouth University.
I often remember the time in
Bournemouth and about every
third year I come back to spend
a few days there.
Rafe Benli
BSc (Hons) Environmental Protection
2003
After completing my studies,
I worked for a multinational
engineering company, and
then put my honours degree
to good use by travelling for a
year around the world (I highly
recommend Argentina).
You never really get travel out
of your system but, since then, I
have built a career working in the
public sector, from Maidstone to
London and now in Melbourne,
Australia. I have specialised in
local address management and
have become quite the expert
on international regulations,
After graduating I returned
to Germany, working as a
freelance translator, marketing
consultant and lecturer.
In 1998 I took up my first
employment at the Krefeld
Adult Education Centre,
a public further education
institute. I was responsible for
the developing, implementation,
marketing and administration
of training-courses. That
was in fact my gateway to
the training business. In the
following years I worked for
another training provider and
a software company. In 2002 I
took up a position as a Course
Administration Manager at the
local policy and community
engagement for place names and
addresses.
One of the things I have enjoyed
in all of my roles is public
speaking. You never know how
it’s going to go, but it’s quite a
thrill.
Now, I am living in Australia and
one of my future goals is to build
an eco-home with my wife.
Thanks Bournemouth University
and here’s to the class of 2003.
local Chamber of Commerce and
Industry. In June 2011 I went
“back to my roots” and returned
to the Krefeld Adult Education
Centre as Head of the Nature &
Health Department.
However, my private life has
also changed a lot. In 2008 I got
married and we moved into a
little house. Last year in October
our son Daniel was born and
has changed our life again.
Former lecturers and fellow
students are welcome to contact
me at roland.goetz@krefeld.de

Helen Soden
BA Media Production
1992
I left Bournemouth University in 1992 and did what anyone
wanting to break into TV does – unpaid work experience. After
learning invaluable lessons such as how to defrost a fridge and
how to make a fake guitar out of household objects, I got my big
break as a researcher on Clive James’s Review of the Year. It was
whilst at GMTV that I moved into producing and directing and
eventually became a Senior Producer.
After a stint working on This Morning with Richard and Judy,
I became a freelance Series Producer and worked for a number
of different companies including Ricochet, Brighter Pictures
and September Films in London and LA. I started working
for Twenty Twenty Television in 2005 as Series Producer on
Bad Lads Army Privates Exposed. Three years ago I became
a permanent member of staff and set up the Children’s and
Daytime departments.
I’ve been nominated for two BAFTAs and have exec produced
seven series for CBBC including The Big Performance with
Gareth Malone. I now work a three day week, which is perfect,
as I can spend lots of time with my gorgeous two year old little
boy.
Liz Willingham
(née Lean)
BA (Hons) Public Relations
1993
Following an exciting placement in the Harrods press office I was
tempted back to the bright lights but my need for the coast was
strong and I have made the Bournemouth area my home since
graduating. It became a very different place to live beyond student
life and it has served me well.
I moved to Poole and gained a position in a full service agency as
account executive. I then moved to Poole Pottery as their PR manager
before going freelance. Never planning to grow a business, Liz Lean
PR Ltd developed quickly and 14 years on we are one of the most
established agencies in the region, based in beautiful Sandbanks.
The path of ‘bigger fish in a smaller pond’ has suited me well and I
am fortunate to have built up a fantastic client base and a great team
whilst juggling family life with two children, aged 13 and 8.
BU & Beyond | 19

Russell Wilkes
BSc (Hons) Engineering
Business Development
1994
After graduating, I gained employment
locally with Penny & Giles (now Curtis
Wright). While there I found the broad
range of subjects I’d studied, from
software and hardware to accountancy
and marketing, placed me strongly for
externally-facing roles, understanding
customer requirements and transforming
them into products. My role involved
working with all the Formula 1 and GT
Car teams on telemetry and analysis
solutions. From there I moved into
more specialist IT companies, focusing
on winning projects and successful
delivery. This led me to engage with
many different companies looking to
solve business challenges with people
and IT. As the industry changed I
progressed into outsourcing (BPO) where
the opportunity to lead multi disciplined
teams, focused on winning contracts,
enabled me to build further on the
management skills I learned during my
years at Bournemouth University. I now
lead large and complex outsource bids for
European financial institutions, the most
recent in excess of £600M.
The mix of skills and qualifications I
gained while studying at BU have truly
made a measurable contribution to my
career. Best of luck to everyone at BU.
20 | BU & Beyond
Emma Robinson
BA (Hons) Business Studies
1998
Since graduating, I qualified as a Chartered Certified Accountant and have worked as a
contractor for a number of years within industry at a strategic level, until I had my first
child. Whilst not returning back to industry after children due to the heavy commitments
of travelling, I decided to work in practice. This gave me the flexibility I needed to work
around the children as well as giving the firm an advantage of having someone that has
worked on the ‘clients’ side of the fence, someone who can see the practical issues that
are not experienced whilst working in practice.
This led me to helping SMEs develop their business especially in these poor economic
times. I now work as a business development consultant, business coach and mentor.
This has many rewards in that I see businesses grow and flourish all through business
planning and mentoring.
I often think back to my BU days which seem only like yesterday. I remember the great
lecturers who inspired me in my career, the days on the beach, the Summer Balls, the
friends I made and of course the hard work, all made my days at BU so special. BU was
such a great place to study and the support was fantastic… happy days…
Charmayne
Chung
BA (Hons) Television
Production
2004
Life’s been an exciting ride so far! After
graduating I was lucky enough to get
a stint as a runner in Molinare, a film
and broadcast post production facility
in London for a few months before I
returned home to Malaysia.
I was engaged with another production
house upon returning to my home
country for a few months before I
decided to venture into something new.
I’ve joined MNC Wireless Berhad, a
leading mobile marketing and digital
company in Malaysia as an executive.
Over the years I’ve gained tremendous
knowledge of the industry and diverse
experiences. Work is ever changing and
there’s always room to grow.
Currently, I am working as a manager
for the company’s Content Management
and Music department and also
as a Label Relations Manager for
WOWLOUD which is the first cloudbased
music streaming service in the
country.

Before 1992
Of course, our history goes back much further than 1992! We also have thousands of
alumni from the days of the Dorset Institute of Higher Education and the pre-1976
Bournemouth College
Anne Arnold (née Plant)
1979
After graduating in Humanities (Law
and French) I studied as an external
student of the City University, London
and the Inns of Court School of Law
and was called to the Bar in 1981. My
interest in languages continued and in
1985 I met my future husband whilst
learning Greek at night school!
I retired from my post as Director
of Legal Services for the Dorset
Magistrates’ Committee in 1999 when
I took up a judicial appointment as the
Resident Stipendiary Magistrate for
Brighton. Following my appointment
as a Recorder on the Western Circuit, I
transferred from Brighton to Portsmouth
in 2006. I now sit as a District Judge
in the Magistrates’ Courts and as a
Recorder in both the Crown and County
Courts dealing with criminal and family
cases and am also a member of the
Sentencing Council.
I keep in touch with other alumni
including Julia Cutler (now Woodward)
who is a Senior Crown Prosecutor and
Stephen Nicholls who by a remarkable
co-incidence now sits in my former
court in Brighton! From time to time I
also see Mike Dineen, one of my former
BU tutors, who is an Immigration Judge.
I would love to hear from any other
members/tutors of the class of 1976-9!
Serena Greenslade
1979
After a brief spell as a trainee accountant
I decided to return to my earlier studies
and concentrate on one of the most
important skills a person can have –
communication.
I qualified as an elocution teacher in 1994
and have recently started teaching via
webcam and Skype. I now teach elocution
to pupils all over the world from my home
in Wimborne, with pupils in Brazil, New
York, Australia, Dubai and Poland.
Most of these pupils want to soften their
accent so that they can be understood
more easily by colleagues; those pupils
whose first language is English just want
to improve their speaking skills. The
most common fault is that they speak too
quickly and mumble. Pupils who have
English as an additional language usually
need help with the vowel sounds, words
like ‘road’ and ‘rod’ can easily sound
exactly the same.
It can get a bit confusing with all the
different time zones but luckily I haven’t
had to teach in the middle of the night
yet! I also teach adults and children locally
and enter pupils for New Era Academy
of Speech and Drama exams and Victoria
College of Music and Drama exams.
www.afraid-of-speaking-a-speech.com
Judge Gerard Angoh
1978
I am currently a Judge of the Supreme
Court of Mauritius. I graduated in 1978
from the Dorset Institute of Higher
Education, now BU, with a degree in
Law and Economics. My student days
were an inspiring experience, including
the very friendly feel, the quality of
student life and the special interaction
that happens in a relatively small
community of students. I got admitted
at the Council of Legal Education in
London and was called to the Bar from
the Middle Temple Inn in 1979.
Prior to becoming a Judge, I spent
a few years in the private practice
before joining the State Law Office as a
prosecuting counsel. I then worked as
a Magistrate. From 2006 to 2008, I was
the Director of Public Prosecutions. The
quality of education received at DIHE
has shaped to a great extent my career
path and has contributed in fulfilling my
dream of working in the legal field.
I am the proud father of three adult
children. My eldest daughter is a
barrister and lives in London. Working
as a judge is very rewarding but at the
same time very stressful. Exercising is a
great release and I spend my free time
cycling.
BU & Beyond | 21

Reunions around the world
Bournemouth University staff have been out and about
meeting alumni across the world this year.
China
In March, Pro-Vice-Chancellor
Professor Matthew Bennett and
International Officer Chris Davis
welcomed alumni to an evening
drinks reception in Beijing.
Ghana
As well as hosting an alumni reception in Ghana this April, BU staff met
alumna Augusta Adjei-Frempong and the home economics class she now
teaches at Cape Coast University.
22 | BU & Beyond

Thailand
Vice-Chancellor Professor John
Vinney hosted a well-attended
reception at Bangkok’s Grand Hyatt
Erawan in May.
India
February saw former Deputy Vice-
Chancellor David Willey host a
dinner for students past, present
and future in Mumbai.
Join in!
Sign up for our e-mail updates,
like our Facebook page or
follow @bmthunialumni on
Twitter to get invitations to our
future events.
BU & Beyond | 23

2008 Photography graduate Phil Hill
is chasing his dream to be a travel
photographer in Australia
It is easily 40 degrees out here;
it’s December and hotter than
the best possible UK summer’s
day during a heat wave! Just one
of the thoughts going through
my head as I crouched down
to photograph a brilliant white
pelican that landed on the beach
in front of me. This is Western
Australia and only a few short
weeks earlier things could not
have been any more different.
I was a 9-to-5 product
photographer in bustling London
spending most weekdays sat in
front of a computer screen doing
cut outs and touch ups, when I
wasn’t expected to cure cancer
on a daily basis. A job that I was
very lucky to get and hang on to in
the current climate of the creative
industries. Then I upped and left,
heading to Perth, a city further
away from any other city on the
entire planet, a ghost town in
terms of media!
Why? A lot of people asked,
even offering to drive me to
the doctor’s while the NHS
was still free. It was simply
“ Creating images has
never been more fun.
”
24 | BU & Beyond
Photogr
the world
because I never wanted to be
an indoor photographer; my feet
itch constantly in that I love to
travel. The question now is, is it
still possible to be a self-sufficient
freelance travel photographer
in a world of dwindling image
sales, the expectation of pro-bono
commissions and the declining
newspaper and magazine
markets? This is what I am here to
find out.
Back to the beach and I am hoping
a giant fish-eating bird doesn’t
bash me or my camera as I slowly
edge my way closer to get the shot
I want. So far so good, chasing the
dream has led me to this far-flung
corner of the globe and I’m loving
every minute of it. Creating images
has never been more fun.

aphing
David Hather completed HND Business
Studies in 1972 and is now a successful
photographer in Bolivia
Bolivia – a strange reality – one
day I was tear-gassed and
squirted by a water canon
whilst photographing a peaceful
protest against the building of a
highway through part of Amazonia. I
always was an environmentalist, and
Amazonia is especially important as
40% of the world’s oxygen comes from
these rainforests.
Now that this week has passed, we
are all looking forward to the next
folkloric entrada (parade); this one
staged by Universidad Mayor de San
Andres, the local university which
seems to have an endless number of
students. Participants are donning
their folkloric costumes (I think Bolivia
has 160 or so different dances),
practising their steps and then taking
to the streets.
Photographing the entradas can be
hazardous too! At times I have been
mowed down by Thinkus Warriors,
knocked out of the way by Morenada
dancers in their masks and barrelshaped
skirts and whacked by
Tobas Jungle Warriors with their
skull headed spears. It’s all good fun
though!
I love to photograph the entradas as
they are so vibrant and colourful but
to really get the adrenaline going put
yourself in the middle of the protest
march – of which there seems to be
one every day in the capital, La Paz.
I was last tear-gassed in 1995,
but Black October 2003 left 50
protesters dead, killed by government
marksmen. It has been relatively
quiet since then but the Tipnis
demonstration illustrated how
democracy is in Bolivia. In July, I
and many Pacenos (people of La
Paz) signed a letter to Dag Terje
Andersen, President of the Norwegian
Parliament in Oslo, nominating that
these indigenous peoples be awarded
the Nobel Peace Prize for their
defence of children and the planet.
BU & Beyond | 25

What’s the
Surf Reef
ever done for us?
Professor John Fletcher explains how the School
of Tourism is examining the impact of Boscombe’s
much-discussed Surf Reef
26 | BU & Beyond
About the author
Professor John Fletcher is Director of
BU’s International Centre for Tourism
& Hospitality Research and a Fellow
of the International Academy for
Study of Tourism and a Fellow of the
Tourism Society. An internationallyrenowned
economist, he is highly
regarded for his pioneering work in
tourism impact and development
research.
Boscombe’s Artificial Surf
Reef was hailed for its
innovative approach
when first constructed but
has since run into difficulties
due to part of the reef losing
its form. Now, researchers in
the International Centre for
Tourism & Hospitality Research
and the Market Research Group
are conducting a three year
longitudinal study to determine
its dynamic economic impact.
Although the signs on the
beach currently state that the
surf reef is not working, from
an economic point of view
nothing could be further from
the truth. The first year results
of the study show that the
artificial surf reef has attracted
business and tourism to the
Boscombe area, particularly on
the seafront. The vast majority
of tourists who were surveyed
(almost 93%) had heard of the
reef prior to visiting the area
and a significant number of
them (more than 20%) had
come to Boscombe to enjoy
water-based leisure activities.
The study also showed that
those visitors coming to the
area for water sports activities
stayed longer and spent more

than those not attracted by
watersports.
The unique study involves
collecting qualitative and
quantitative data from
businesses and visitors over
a three year period, enabling
lessons to be learned both in
terms of the methodology of
measuring dynamic impacts
and also in terms of the nature
of the development and how
this has influenced urban
regeneration. The results will
show the contribution that
the artificial reef makes to
business turnover, income and
the number of jobs supported,
as well as tracking changes
“The artificial surf
reef has attracted
business and
tourism to the
Boscombe area.
”
in investment in the area.
Business owners are asked to
provide lists of suppliers, and
those suppliers located either
in Boscombe or in Bournemouth
are also surveyed to identify
the way in which the economic
effects of the reef create
secondary impacts on the wider
economy of Bournemouth. The
visitor survey examines how
much staying visitors, day
visitors and residents spend
in the local area, together with
their visit motivations and this
is used to determine the level of
local income and employment
generation.
Many local businesses have
provided anecdotal evidence
that suggests that more
visitors are coming to the
area and that the reef “has
put the area on the map.”
These statements have been
backed up by estimates of
visitor numbers, with visitors
to the Boscombe waterfront
area increasing by 30% since
2009. Even businesses not
located on the seafront have
felt positive changes. Social
changes in Boscombe are more
evident, although there have
been a number of regeneration
events that can claim to have
contributed to the positive
vibes and it is difficult to isolate
the effects attributable solely to
the reef. The area has become
increasingly more ‘artistic’ and
‘retro’ in nature and some of
this can be traced back to the
emerging ‘surf culture’.
The benefit of this new
demographic profile is
important from an economic
perspective. Business owners
were asked directly if they had
noticed a change in the type of
clientele using their business
since the surf reef opened.
Many owners stated that since
the reef has opened they feel
the area has attracted people
with more disposable income.
The study is being funded by
The Crown Estate’s marine
stewardship programme,
which provides support for
“Even businesses
not located on
the seafront
have felt positive
changes.
”
practical projects, relevant
research and other initiatives
that help improve the status
and management of the marine
estate. The Crown Estate
is one of the nation’s most
diverse property businesses
encompassing urban, rural,
and marine assets which
include around half of the
foreshore of the UK and almost
the entire seabed out to the
12 nautical mile territorial
limit. The marine stewardship
programme was established
in 1999 to help strengthen The
Crown Estate’s commitment to
good environmental practice,
sustainability, and taking the
long-term view in actively
managing the estate.
What businesses away
from the seafront in
Boscombe are saying:
“I think it [the reef] has
helped slightly; it’s brought
more people who like retro
furniture in to the area.
People have moved in to the
area because of the reef,
therefore they are buying
furniture for their new flats
and the type of people
coming in to the area are
the type who like retro stuff.
It’s good for me.”
(Business established 2008)
“It’s attracting creative
people, more discerning
clientele, to the beach and
seafront. They may not have
made it to my shop but the
type of people on the front
have improved massively.”
(Business established 2011)
“Yes, it’s the white collar
guys, that’s what I’ve
noticed more: people who
have money are taking up
the surfing or wind surfing
as a hobby and they do
travel down as Boscombe
is accessible from London
unlike Cornwall so they will
come down for the day to
have a go.”
(Business established 2006)
BU & Beyond | 27

profession or craft?
Professor Tom Watson looks at professionalism and public relations
28 | BU & Beyond
Public relations has aspects of
professionalism and a desire
for recognition. It shows
some characteristics of a profession
such as a professional body and
trade bodies, aspects of education
in universities, a body of knowledge
that is available but accessed by few,
and codes of ethics and practice. On
the other hand, it is similar to a craft
which has no thresholds for entry.
Indeed, anyone can style themselves
as a public relations practitioner or
“PR” person.
I also add that, despite efforts going
back 25 years, public relations and
communications management are
not embedded in MBAs in this
country which demonstrates their
lack of standing amongst business
and management. So we have an
occupational field which exhibits
more craft characteristics than
professional ones; in which “custom
and practice” is held in greater
esteem than “best practice” or
informed judgement.
An example is the continuing
widespread use of Advertising
Value Equivalence (AVE) as an
effectiveness metric. The most
recent international study in 2009
found that it was used by around
35% of practitioners. In 2010 the
Barcelona Principles damned it. The
CIPR has rejected it last year as a
valid measurement in Excellence
Awards entries, yet in 2010 60%
of Excellence Awards winners
included AVEs in their range of
evaluation methods, and 32% of
2011 entries used it.
No university would teach that
AVEs are a valid and reliable
measure, yet anecdotal evidence
from graduates and placement
students is that innumerable PR
managers cling to it like limpets.
Partly this comes from clients and
employers, but I’d argue that the
reason is that most PR practitioners
are craft-based technicians who
see little need for Continuing
Professional Development (CPD)

and other forms of life-long learning.
They don’t challenge AVEs because
it’s the easy way out and many
don’t know about alternatives.
My view, expressed in recent
academic papers, is that public
relations has long operated in
two, diverging strands: PR/
publicity which emphasises
tactical, short-term activities and
the more strategically-oriented
organisational communications.
Since the middle of the last century,
PR/publicity has become the
dominant practice model.
It is the organisational
communication and corporate
communications practitioners,
however, who are more engaged
in life-long learning because
they work in environments that
value knowledge and informed
judgement, and understand the
need for personal development.
“Custom and practice is held
in greater esteem than best
practice or informed judgment”
As a former consultancy MD, it
has long concerned me that so
few consultancy directors have
any formal management training. I
don’t mean MBAs but there should
be some training they undergo
as they enter middle and senior
management appointments. The
Public Relations Consultants
Association (PRCA) attempted this
a decade ago with its Diploma in
Consultancy Management but that
faded away. It is notable that it has
just revived it, and not before time.
“The public relations sector can’t
keep aspiring for professional
respect without major changes”
I would add that the major
communications groups, such as
Omnicom, have sizeable training
and education programmes. They
are excellent exceptions rather than
the norm.
So what should be done? My
answers are uncomfortable as the
public relations sector can’t keep
aspiring for professional respect
without major changes:
• Re-start the Chartered Institute
of Public Relations (CIPR) with
higher entry standards and a
robust CPD and training tariff for
continuing membership, like the
long-established professions;
• Turn the CIPR’s CPD programme
into a proper training programme
where doing a visit to a local
radio station doesn’t count for
CPD points;
• Encourage publicists, who are
often very good at their craft,
to form a UK Publicity Society
that focuses on “custom and
practice”;
• Expand PRCA’s Consultancy
Management Standard to include
formal mid-career education
as one of its measurable
benchmarks;
• Get more investment in
education from the PR sector.
At present, its “investment”
is placements, internships and
guest lectures. That’s very
welcome but it is at nil cost.
The sector should be fostering
training and education to
develop its own future managers
and leaders;
• Promote UKPR as the world
leader in organisational and
corporate communication, with
the best trained strategists,
managers and leaders.
“Anyone can style themselves
as a public relations
practitioner”
This is the starting point of a
discussion and others will be able
to add to this list – and challenge
it. Too often the discussion about
“talent” for the PR sector focuses
on entry-level training. It’s time
that it looked at development
and retention of that talent that it
already employs.
About the author
Professor Tom Watson is
professor of public relations
in the Media School. He was
chairman of the Public Relations
Consultants Association in
2000-2002 and is a Fellow of it
and the CIPR. Tom established
the International History of
Public Relations Conference in
2010.
BU & Beyond | 29

Haven’t we come
a long way?
Software Engineering Management graduate of 2000 and
Managing Director of Exploit the Web Doug McLean muses
on 17 years of technological change
I
was an undergrad at
Bournemouth for the final five
years of the second millennium.
It was an exciting time for me –
living away from home for the first
time, thrown together with dozens
of strangers from around the world,
blah blah you’ve all been there.
It was a pretty exciting time to be a
budding software engineer too, not
that I realised it at the time.
The general public were just
starting to comprehend what
was widely referred to as “The
Information Superhighway”. Most
people didn’t know what WWW
stood for. Google had not yet been
born, and Internet Explorer was just
an idea whispered between techs
(Bill Gates was in charge back then
and he considered browsers to be
beneath Microsoft).
“
Take a moment to
appreciate how amazing
our technological world
has become.
”
30 | BU & Beyond
Like quite a lot of people, I got my
first mobile phone in 1996. It didn’t
have WiFi. It didn’t have a data
plan. It didn’t have WAP (remember
that?) I once phoned customer
services to ask if it was possible
to send a text message from one
network to another (Orange to
Vodafone I think it was) and the girl
actually laughed as she told me no.
Did it have a camera, you ask? Don’t
be silly, where would you have put
the film? Even one of those newfangled
Kodak APS film cartridges
would have been too clunky (but
only just).
The thing is, for all the innovation
and incredible achievements we’ve
seen since those dark days, not least
a certain blue-and-white web-based
community of about a billion people,
the Internet is still an open, free
place where anyone can and does
contribute. With mobile phones,
games consoles, etcetera finally
catching up, it’s more inclusive
than ever. My 70-year-old father
who couldn’t programme a video
recorder when they were at their
zenith in the late Eighties recently
called me on Skype from his iPad,
partly to complain about the poor
range of the WiFi hotspot he was
using. In Zimbabwe.
Anyone who has the ability to use
a mouse and keyboard can create
themselves a web page, can upload
their pictures to Facebook and their
videos to YouTube, can say their
piece on Twitter. The latter of these
is gaining infamy as the place where
people are meeting the boundaries
of free speech and getting in trouble
for it, but then if you stood on a
soapbox in the high street making
jokes about destroying America or
advocating racial hatred you’d get in
trouble there too.
So don’t stress yourself out about
the new “timeline” design, or the
fact that The Man can read your
tweets. Don’t fret about the lack
of 3G signal in the valleys of rural
Glamorgan and don’t burst a blood
vessel about your Bluetooth devices
not syncing properly across the
Cloud. Take a moment to appreciate
how amazing our technological
world has become. Maybe even
allow yourself a little pride in simply
being part of the human race.

GETTING AHEAD
IN THE APP BUSINESS
Graduate Danielle Newnham’s forthcoming
book promises to share her expertise in mobile apps
with the world
After completing my Public
Relations degree in 2000,
I came back to London to
work in the music industry working
with record producers, DJs and
artists before moving to the more
glamorous industry of fashion – but
it wasn’t until I entered the very
early world of mobile apps in 2006,
that I felt truly at home.
“It’s really about finding a
solution which can’t be better
served by another platform.”
I was on the founding team of the
award-winning mobile app studio
ubinow which creates apps for the
likes of Cadbury, Universal Pictures
and Jack Daniel’s, leaving only to
go on maternity leave. Since then,
I have decided to write a book
about the industry, interviewing
key pioneers about what it takes to
create a successful branded app and
game. I have also just co-founded
another startup called We Make
Play which creates playful digital
experiences for well-known brands
such as Channel 4 and Hotmail.
I am responsible for PR, HR, finance
and business development which
means I am often having to pick up
new skills and learn about areas of
business I did not have previous
experience in. There is no typical
day and you have to ensure that you
are serving the brand, the agencies
they use and, ultimately, the end
user of the app or game.
The key to success in mobile is the
same for any campaign be it PR,
marketing or advertising; regardless
of platform, it’s about asking the
right questions at the beginning.
Who is your target audience and
what message do you want to
give them? We often find that a
branded game might work better
for the brand if their demographic
is young males and they are after
engagement, whereas a mobile
site may work better for a retailer
who simply wants to allow their
customers to purchase goods whilst
on the move. It’s really about finding
a solution which can’t be served
better by another platform.
“Apps are a big part of the future
of creative communications”
Once you have decided on the
appropriate content and platform
then you have to look at how your
app is going to be received. We
encourage clients to look at existing
analytics if they have to see how
and when their customers are using
their product or service. Most are
surprised to see the percentage of
customers using mobile in place of
web, print, press and TV today.
The mobile app markets are filled
with hundreds of thousands of
apps so you have to make your app
visually effective and easy to use.
Don’t clutter your app with lots of
add-ons; do one thing brilliantly
and your users will thank you. In
order to stand out from the crowd,
be innovative. This can mean using
the latest capabilities of the handset
you are creating the app for. Some
of the best apps use functionality
which the user already knows and
likes such as using the camera
view for augmented reality to find a
local restaurant or using the music
playlist you listen to to help you with
your fitness app. Then you have to
PR your app to ensure your target
audience know it exists!
Apps are a big part of the future
of creative communications and
the fact that the Bournemouth PR
course now covers Interactive Media
Strategies shows how pioneering
this course is.
Danielle’s book Mad Men of Mobile
will be published next year.
BU & Beyond | 31

media
We’re the kids in the
2011 Interactive Media Production graduate
Georgie Wishart shares her thoughts on starting
out in the world of work
Bournemouth University is
famed for being one of the
best universities in the country
for undergraduates wanting to study
television production. It’s a Skillset
academy with a state-of-the-art Sony
HD studio and a buzzing central media
hub for students to grow and develop
as creatives. But what lies ahead of
these dewy-eyed graduates on taking
their first step off campus?
32 | BU & Beyond
It’s no secret that it’s hard to get a
good graduate job in this generation,
but in the media industry there are
more fresh graduates with relevant
degrees than there are jobs in the
entire market. A UCAS search shows
525 courses under the keyword
of ‘Television’ and most of those
courses will accept around 100
students. That’s approximately 50,000
students graduating with a Television
Production degree every year. Getting
your foot in the door has become the
hardest it has ever been and requires
more resilience than you ever knew
you had.
However, the world of television
production can still be very alluring.
The so-called ‘glamorous’ media
industry is going to be attractive to
a naïve eighteen year old, especially
when their parents are trying to
nudge them onto a more reliable

career path. Who wouldn’t want to
be one of the Mulberry bag-carrying,
Martini-sipping moguls that make
television and get paid a disgusting
sum of money to do so? This appeal
may have been strengthened if
they’d won tickets to Live & Kicking
in the late 1990s and ever since then
they’d dreamed of pointing a camera
at Jamie Theakston for an hour and
heading home in time for Countdown.
No? Just me?
Having a media famed university such
as Bournemouth or Ravensbourne on
your CV will give you a slight head
start in the graduate game alongside
some solid work experience. The most
successful of our flock had managed to
weasel their way onto popular shows
such as Spooks and American Idol
from a young age. Bournemouth does
present a six week compulsory work
placement as part of the course during
the summer between your second and
third degree year, providing a valuable
learning curve for those looking to get
started in TV. This is the first taste of
how difficult it is to get noticed, even
when you’re offering to work for free.
I and three other students struggled
to acquire a placement and in the end
were forced to take some initiative
and form our own production
company. We hired ourselves out
to businesses that were looking to
have promotional or documentary
material created. It was a rewarding
and creatively challenging period,
where we each developed our chosen
specialism and made contacts with
some great professionals. Overall, it is
highly likely that we gained more real
world experience than some of the
students working at big production
companies, who were only required to
make tea and photocopy. This was an
insight into what it takes to be a kid in
the media: you have to be determined,
confident and be able to develop
relationships with people.
Developing relationships is the
backbone of getting work in the
television sector. We are all aware
that nepotism is synonymous with
the media industry and continues to
plague new graduates. Your welldeserved
promotion at the postproduction
house is much more likely
to be handed to the MD’s stoner
son than to you, the bright and
hardworking graduate. But take away
the sometimes unfair and dark side
of the nepotistic and you’re left with
the idea that getting a job in your
dream industry is as easy as making
friends. When you’re working fifteen
hour non-stop days for weeks on end,
it makes sense that you would want
people around you that you enjoy the
company of and, more importantly,
that you trust to do a good job. Quality
programming and good films are,
more often than not, made by friends
who work well together. Wouldn’t you
rather place your eggs into a basket of
someone that you trusted?
Working in television is no cakewalk
for a graduate. Once you’ve got your
foot in the door, chances are the work
will be back breaking, the hours
long and the pay minimal. You may
have heard of the term ‘runner’, the
role in which a television production
newbie must begin. A runner’s job
is to manage the overflow of work
from other departments and generally
help out wherever they are needed.
This can range from lunch runs,
coffee runs, tea runs, dinner runs
and afternoon snack runs, to oiling
up onscreen strippers and generally
being treated like an inferior being.
However, if you’re lucky, you may meet
an incredible group of people that take
you under their wing and give you a
small boost up the telly ladder.
There is a sad, unspoken side to the
industry that comes with the long,
antisocial hours, which ironically is
the lack of time to nurture personal
relationships. It’s a challenge, and
often leads to media industry workers
developing relationships together as
they understand the day to day life
of one another. It can be difficult for a
partner to work the office 9 to 5 whilst
you are working 12 hours a day, 6 days
a week. It may feel as though you are
neglecting them and it is here that you
will require a level of understanding
that they may not able to give you.
Where relationships falter, you turn to
your friends and the pub – a common
theme with the ‘old school’ television
crews. Alcohol can become a daily
staple for the hardworking television
freelancers who suffer from fatigue
and loneliness. Drinks after a long day
on set may come as a welcome relief
and, as a graduate looking to make
connections, this can be difficult to
avoid.
But the world of television, with all
of its runner baiting and boozing, is
a thing of magic and mystery. All of
the long hours and the stressful days
become worth it because you fall in
love with the industry and, if you’re
anything like the graduates that I
know, you have a passion to create
quality programming. The moment
that you see your name in the credits
of a broadcasted programme for the
first time is one you’ll never forget. If
you’re still considering an attempt at
‘living the dream’, there is only one
real piece of advice that I can bestow
upon you. Never think you are better
than this, because the moment that
thought creeps into your head, it’s
all over. Just keep dreaming of that
Mulberry bag.
BU & Beyond | 33

Student designs shine in London
On display at New Designers
SwimHare Pace Setter | Byron Goodsir
Moving at a chosen speed, this swimming training aid uses LED
lighting to provide an accurate marker for pace and gives the
swimmer opposition and extrinsic feedback.
Sue | James Wood
An entirely user-centred sewing machine, designed to address
the usability and desirability issues of current models and subtly
attract a new generation of users to a sustainable lifestyle change.
Cupcollect | Jonathan Kettle
A recycling bin that aims to stop some of the 2.5 billion take-away
cups used annually in the UK ending up in landfill. The device
crushes the cup and punches a token out of its base which can
then be used as part of a customer loyalty scheme.
34 | BU & Beyond
Biomass Fuel Producer | Ian Sansom
A waste-minimising, money-saving tool that turns paper and
cardboard into a specially-shaped fuel brick with optimal burn
characteristics.
Alternative Coach Seating | Mark Shaddick
Offering a flexible solution for long-distance road travel, this
special ‘sleeper bus’ setup allows a coach to be quickly converted
from daytime seating to fully flat beds that offer every passenger
their own personal space.
Buddy Bag | Lewis Plowman
Aimed at diabetic children aged 3 to 7, the Buddy Bag incorporates
a compact, safe and discreet section for storing insulin and
equipment.
1992
1994 1998 2001

Several final year students exhibiting at BU’s Festival of Design and
Innovation went on to take their designs to an even wider audience this year,
attending the prestigious New Designers event at London’s Business Design
Centre. Billed as the place to see the country’s brightest design graduates,
New Designers played host to a total of ten BU students this year.
Aircraft Seating Environment | Matthew Cleary
Elegant, lightweight and repositionable aircraft seating designed
to offer individually customisable personal space for each
passenger.
The Warning Buoy | Oskar Yngvi Lharneson
An advanced, sea-powered zone-marking buoy that uses a
hydrophone to measure the frequency of passing vessels and give
appropriate audio and visual alerts.
Other great ideas showcased by
students during the twentieth
year of the popular Festival
ranged from a rapid towel dryer
to audio effects for DJs. As
ever, the models, prototypes
and ideas on display got a great
deal of attention from visitors
including fellow students,
graduates and industry
professionals.
2005 2007 2011
Punda Packs | Matthew Piper
This special donkey pack saddle is designed to help transport
water over great distances in countries such as Kenya while
avoiding pain and discomfort to the animal.
Enhanced Dining Experience | Robert Jones
A project aiming to create an eating experience that better reflects
modern gastronomy, enhancing the colour, smell and temperature
of food in a way traditional plates and bowls cannot.
Festival of
Design &
Innovation
BU & Beyond | 35

“It’s life Jim, but not as we know
it”. Life sometimes does imitate art
(or, indeed, Star Trek), and the world
of higher education is certainly
changing beyond all recognition.
We are shifting from an age of
certainty to an age of uncertainty,
driven primarily by changes to the
way that English universities are
funded. Whereas previously we used
to receive a block grant from the
Government; that money has now
been re-directed through student
loans so a university’s income is
directly linked to the exact number
of students it teaches.
Now, for the record, I think it’s
absolutely right and proper that
a university’s income should be
determined by how many students
choose to study there, and of
course, its research funding. But
it does mean that our finances are
much more variable and difficult
to predict. And of course, success
now hinges largely on being able
to attract a suitable number of high
quality applicants; a task that takes
on a new level of complexity when
tuition fees, and therefore student
expectations, are increasing at the
same time.
This is why we needed a new
approach. We have to continue to
offer the same excellent academic
experience that we have always
offered, but we also have to think
of new ways to add even more
value to our students’ educational
experience. Earlier this year the
“ Creating the most
stimulating, challenging
and rewarding university
experience.
”
36 | BU & Beyond
Fusion at BU
Vice-Chancellor Professor John Vinney explains BU’s exciting
new vision.
University Board approved a new
vision for Bournemouth University:
“Creating the most stimulating,
challenging and rewarding
university experience in a worldclass
learning community by
sharing our unique fusion of
excellent education, research and
professional practice and inspiring
our students, graduates and staff to
enrich the world”.
It is a vision I want us all – alumni,
staff, and students - to share as we
seek to establish BU as a world class
centre of academic excellence in
education, research and professional
practice; a learning community with
a truly global reach, combining the
elements of Creating, Sharing and
Inspiring to deliver the ultimate
experience for all.
But rewind a moment. A unique
fusion of excellent education,
research and professional practice
– what does that actually mean?
Don’t all universities offer education,
research and professional practice?
How is that different to what BU was
offering when I was studying there?
Well, I’m glad you asked, and as an
alumnus of BU’s predecessor myself
I fully recognise the importance

of the question. The difference
is the integration and synergy.
This concept of fusion is a new
direction for the University, and
one which I am confident will put
us in a unique position as higher
education continues to change
around us. The aim is to provide
a highly personalised student
experience, where students are
actively engaged in all aspects of
their learning. For example, they
will receive an excellent education
through lectures from academics
who are at the top of their field,
and through the opportunity to
work collaboratively and share
knowledge with their peers.
We will invest in new facilities
and IT provision, and encourage
our lecturers to make full use of
new technology and teaching
innovations.
We want our students to be
involved in, and aware of, research
relevant to their subject areas so
that they develop critical thinking
skills, appreciate the importance
of knowledge generation and
experience the joy of discovery.
Finally, it is important that the
courses they study prepare them
for professional practice, having
been developed and shaped
through close collaboration with
industry. And all students will have
the option to undertake a work
placement while studying at BU.
We have already made great
progress towards this vision – BU
has more students on professional
placements than any other
university in the country. But there
is still some way to go, and it can
be difficult to visualise what fusion
will actually mean in practice. To
that end, I’ve developed a mock
student testimonial to illustrate
what I imagine a typical student
journey will look like by the time
we reach 2018…
“I chose to study at BU because I
wanted something more than the
‘traditional’ university experience. I
wanted to be sure that I was going
to get a job afterwards, so I looked
for the university with the most
placement opportunities and the
highest graduate employment rates
in the country.
“I also wanted some flexibility over
my future career – I wasn’t 100%
sure if I was going to go down the
corporate or academic route – so
it was important to me that my
University combined research and
professional practice opportunities.
I heard a lot of my friends at other
universities complain that they
couldn’t get hold of their lecturers
because they were off ‘in the
field’ doing research. That always
surprised me – I was out in the
field with my lecturers, and a few
months later I was helping them
write up and present the results. I
even co-authored a scientific paper!
“They prepared me very well for the
Boardroom too. During my final year
I undertook a consultancy project,
which gave me some invaluable
experience solving the sort of
real problems that I’m going to
encounter in the world of work.
“When I was choosing my
university, I wanted to be confident
that I was getting good value for
money and that I would have all the
support and facilities that I needed.
So I looked for a university that
Research
Fusion
Education Professional practice
consistently scored over 80% in the
National Student Survey.
“Finally, I wanted to go somewhere
where I would be more than just
a student, so I chose a university
that is famous for its sense of
community, the quality of its
student engagement, and that really
listens to the student voice.
“And even now I’ve graduated I
still feel part of the BU community.
In fact, I’ve offered to come back
and speak to current students about
my new job. I might even offer
some students on my old course a
consultancy project – there’s one
particular problem I could definitely
use some help with!”
We will need to invest heavily to
bring this story to life, both in terms
of our people and our facilities. This
will be a challenging and exciting
vision to deliver, but I am confident
that if we all pull together – as
alumni, students and staff – we can
make fusion a reality at BU.
In a word, we need you! Our alumni
have an important role to play in
creating the BU community; sharing
your experience and expertise, and
inspiring the ‘next generation’ of
students.
BU & Beyond | 37

Coming soon:
the Festival of
Learning
Planned for June 2013, BU’s first
ever Festival of Learning will open
the University’s doors to a much
wider public, in order to showcase
the best of what we do and share
the benefits of higher education
with our local community.
There will be contributions from all our
academic Schools and Professional Services
for members of the public, community groups,
local businesses, schools and (of course!) our
alumni. Activities taking place during the
Festival will include:
• Short courses including project management,
archaeology and creative writing
• Guest lectures and public debates such as
rediscovering Dorset’s Darwin, the role of
trade unions and the future of renewable
technology in Dorset
• Interactive exhibitions showcasing the
best of BU’s research and professional
development
• Workshops including CSI Bournemouth,
kitchen safaris and celebrating local food
• Many more activities for young, old and
everyone in between!
Organisers are keen to welcome alumni
to the event, which promises to be a great
opportunity to keep up-to-speed with the
latest developments in your subject area, make
contact with the BU staff you remember or
show your friends and family just how much
fun it is learning at BU!
Provisional dates for the Festival are 3 to
14 June 2013. Further details will be made
available in the coming months but, in the
meantime, if you would like to receive more
details as they become available, if you
have ideas about what you would like to see
featured, or if you would like to get involved
with the Festival, please contact Dr Rebecca
Edwards at: redwards@bournemouth.ac.uk or
+44 (0)1202 961206.
38 | BU & Beyond
Brand buzz from students’
giant artwork
A ten-strong team of MBA students and Media Production
postgraduates sparked plenty of public interest with their
unusual brand-building project for car manufacturer SEAT
earlier this year.
One of two university teams chosen to take forward the concept they’d
pitched, the group decided to produce a giant artwork of the company’s
logo on a large nine by eight metre sail canvas, decorated by the painted
feet of the general public. The logo was carefully stencilled on to the handstitched
canvas and laid out in Bournemouth Gardens on one of the first
sunny days of the year, with hundreds of passers-by dipping their toes into
multi-coloured paints and adding their own personal touches to the creation.
There was a real buzz to the event and a crowd gathered towards the end
of the day as the stencil was removed, revealing the brightly coloured logo.
SEAT is featuring the work online and plans to run the project with groups
of BU students again in the future. The company also plans to hang the
completed canvas in their Barcelona headquarters.
Lunchboxes over the Atlantic
Senior Lecturer in Food Safety Philippa Hudson received an
unexpected email from a group of school children in the USA who
were interested in the research she had undertaken into the effects
of temperature and cleanliness in children’s lunchboxes. In the research she
had identified that 99% of all lunchboxes were kept at unsafe temperatures
prior to the consumption of the food and that many lunchboxes were
regularly reused without having been cleaned, thus encouraging bacterial
growth.
The children, in the sixth grade of Rollings Middle School of the Arts in
Summerville, South Carolina, developed the idea of a “Magic Blox Lunch
Box” which is placed into the freezer prior to use so that the content can be
kept at a temperature that will reduce the growth of bacteria on the food.
They have also been considering how to maintain the integrity of the food,
making the box easier to clean and developing a functional yet appealing
design.
Philippa has since been in touch with the children and their teacher to offer
advice and feedback on the construction, materials and prototype concept,
helping the children develop the lunch box for entry in a competition.

Introducing the International
VFX Hub
Closer networking with the industry, better
commercialisation opportunities and high-profile festivals
of animation and visual effects are all on the cards with the
launch of a new five-year initiative.
Bringing together The Media School possibility of bringing some of the
and the Arts University College high-profile studio talent there back to
Bournemouth, the International Bournemouth to act as ‘practitioners in
VFX Hub aims to raise the profile of
Bournemouth as a centre of excellence
residence’.
in the field of visual effects and Many other outward-facing
animation. The Hub is designed to act projects are being coordinated by
as the initial point of contact to the the Hub, including an Animation
huge amount of creative and technical and VFX festival and competition.
expertise available at both institutions, The competition will be open to
and provide commercial outlets small teams of students and recent
and links to industry for students, graduates from around the country,
graduates and academic staff.
who will be expected to produce a 15-
30 second sequence of animation/VFX
One of The Hub’s first initiatives has in response to a chosen professional
been to open a commercial animation brief. Entrants will live on campus
and visual effects studio. Called Rock. for eight weeks, during which time
Paper.Film, the studio is run by BU they will have 24 hour access to
graduate Dean Wright and has already workstations and animation packages
finished several productions. Dean is in the National Centre for Computer
currently bidding on more jobs and is Animation. Judging and mentoring
always on the lookout for students and will be by a panel of industry experts,
graduates who want to work for Rock. and it is hoped that in addition to a
Paper.Film.
cash prize the winning team will also
be given internships at one of Soho’s
In May of this year staff visited
some of the top studios including
top visual effects companies.
DreamWorks Animation, Pixar, The VFX Hub is run by Project
Lucasfilm/ILM, Digital Domain, Director Peter Truckel and Business
Method Studios, MPC and The Mill. Engagement Consultant Lindsay
The visit was a successful first step Watson. Peter started his career
towards setting up a network of as a VFX cameraman, working on
industry contacts to help placement movies such as Blade Runner, Krull
students and graduates find
and Aliens. He was also the in-house
employment, as well as exploring the VFX Supervisor at The Moving
Picture Company before becoming a
commercial director and opening his
own company, Big Bang Productions.
Lindsay is originally from Toronto
and has been involved in media
production since leaving university,
working as the marketing coordinator
at CAKE Entertainment and as the
digital marketing lead at Cameron
Mackintosh’s headquarters in London
before joining The VFX Hub earlier
this year.
Calculating the
value of music
tourism
Associate Dean Caroline Jackson
recently co-authored research
on music tourism entitled
Destination Music for UK Music,
an umbrella organisation for the
music industry.
The study, led by Professor Adam
Blake, drew on unprecedented access
to more than 2.5m anonymised ticketing
transactions, the study found that music
tourists contribute at least £864m a year to
the UK economy. Other important findings
included:
• Large-scale live music across all
regions of the UK attracts at least 7.7m
attendances by domestic and overseas
music tourists;
• Collectively they spend £1.4bn during
the course of their trip;
• This is a positive contribution of £864m
to the national economy and equivalent
to 19,700 full-time jobs;
• Although 5% of all music tourists come
from overseas, they contribute 18% of
total music tourist spending.
Professor Adam Blake commented that
this was the first comprehensive study of
music tourism to be undertaken in the UK
and expanded on its findings. “The data
on where music-goers come from confirms
that large numbers of them do travel around
the country to go to music events, and
significant numbers come from overseas,”
he said. “However, it is important to note
that our definition of a music tourist is
hugely conservative, and that we did not
analyse the vast numbers of non-ticketed or
smaller capacity events. Subsequently, the
true value of music to UK tourism will be
much higher.”
From these findings, UK Music issued a
list of recommendations to Government –
including the implementation of a national
live music tourism strategy.
BU & Beyond | 39

Get volunteering
with SUBU
The Students’ Union has a long history
of helping the community through
student volunteering schemes – but did
you know that alumni are welcome to
join in too?
Whatever you passions are or whatever your
reason for volunteering, SUBU has something
to offer you. Perhaps you would like to work with
young people at a youth club, or maybe take part
in some conservation work at the weekends?
Whatever your interest, SUBU’s website is full to
bursting with all sorts of different opportunities that
last from a day to a couple of weeks.
If you’re no longer a student, the chances are that
you will need to fit your volunteering around work
and family – but that’s not a problem, as there
are plenty of opportunities at the weekends or in
the evenings. For example you could befriend a
disabled young adult and help them access the
social life that you might take for granted – all it
would take is a trip to the pub or cinema and you’re
off! Or how about being a football coach, an events
helper at the weekend or a mentor for a young exoffender.
You can find your perfect volunteering match online
using criteria such as time available to volunteer,
interests and keywords. So if you want something
specific or on a certain day, you can use the search
function or click on our calendar.
If you are yet to crack the job market we often
have longer term volunteer opportunities, such as
internships for the RNLI or volunteering with the
Red Cross. Taking part in volunteering might be
the make or break element for you in your next
job interview. You’ll have lots to talk about and
volunteering can really show employers that you
are a committed and conscientious person worth
employing.
So if you have a bit of spare time and you would like
to give something back to the
community, head over to www.
the-hub.org.uk to explore
what’s on offer, register as a
volunteer and receive alerts
about new opportunities.
40 | BU & Beyond
Taking the guesswork out of
house-hunting
Rip-off landlords and dodgy houses that are falling
apart – just what every student dreads when looking for
somewhere to live during their studies. Now though, a
new website by BU student Ben Oakenfull might well
make finding the right place to live a bit easier by giving
students a platform to share ratings and reviews of their
accommodation.
Known as Uni Shack, the site was born out of the Business Information
Technology student’s experiences while hunting for a student
house. Ben had spotted that he and his fellow students were given little
opportunity to find out more about the property and the agent before they
were being asked to sign a contract and hand over substantial sums of
money. “We were quickly taken round a dozen houses and before we knew
it we were putting a £2,000 deposit on a property we didn’t really know
about,” he said.
This lack of information and the need to make a quick, informed decision
created the light bulb moment for the site, which is designed to let students
leave reviews and comments about their current property and landlord or
letting agent. With a steady stream of past and present tenants adding their
reviews, it’s already a useful resource for anybody trying to decide on a
student let.
Ben aims to make the site as balanced as possible and is already talking
with landlords about adding the facility for them to log in and comment on
their own properties, so that site users get both sides of the argument. “No
doubt a student may have a bad experience, but if a landlord says ‘I did x y
and z,’ I think it’s good to show both signs of the coin,” said Ben.
Uni Shack is mostly based on Bournemouth rentals at the moment, but once
there are more properties on board Ben plans to roll the site out to students
across the rest of the country.

From left: Ripeka Templeton, Shane O’Meara,
Josh Ockenden, Lucy‐Jane Quinlan, John
Doughty & Jessie Morrell
Josh Ockenden
Lucy‐Jane Quinlan & Shane O’Meara
Lucy‐Jane Quinlan
Ripeka Templeton
Photos above courtesy of Dollhouse Pictures Ltd.
Harrison Wall, Director of WEAVERFISH.
Photo by Fanka Georgieva.
Graduates produce
award-winning film
Graduates Harrison Wall and Mark Maltby walked away
with the ‘Audience Choice’ award at this year’s Bootleg
Film Festival in Toronto.
Weaverfish is a self-funded feature film based around a group of friends
who take over a secluded river creek in the restricted grounds of
a condemned oil plant for a night of partying. It focuses on Reece, a shy,
introverted 19 year old whose weekend takes a turn for the worse when
he notices those around him fall victim to a grossly disfiguring infection.
The group have to escape back to civilisation, and begin a race for survival,
untangling a surprising and shocking conspiracy.
Harrison commented that despite working on a shoe-string budget of
£10,000, their TV Production course had given them a positive attitude to
independent film making and an incentive to “just go out and do it”, as well
as teaching them how to be creative with little to no budget!
The pair also recruited a team of current students including Ruth Lilley, Jack
Harrison, Alex Morrison and
Karen King. They had worked
with the students on previous
productions Cyberbeat (2010)
and The Snatching (2010) and
had been incredibly impressed
by their work. Weaverfish took
18 months in total to produce,
including 16 days to shoot.
WEAVERFISH one sheet.
Artwork courtesy of
Joanna Thomson.
BU & Beyond | 41

Summerball lives on
The institution that is the Summerball survivors photo is still going strong, with the traditional morning after pictures taking place yet
again in 2011 and 2012. Graduates of the nineties might like to check out the Bournemouth University Alumni Association Facebook
Page for photos from their time.
42 | BU & Beyond

Support the next generation…
Library and campus facilities
Music, sport and the arts
Hardship grants
Gifts made to Bournemouth University support today’s students and make BU an even better place
to study. From helping students in financial difficulty to developing life-enhancing extra-curricular
activities, the support of alumni and friends can really make a difference.
To find out more about supporting Bournemouth University
or to make a gift, talk to:
Claire House-Norman
chousenorman@bournemouth.ac.uk
+44 (0)1202 961080
Or visit www.bournemouth.ac.uk/donate
Scholarships and bursaries
Grant Robson
grobson@bournemouth.ac.uk
+44 (0)1202 961473
BU & Beyond | 43

Did you know?
•BU graduates can receive up to 25% discount on
postgraduate fees
•We offer scholarships ranging from £1,000 to up to half
the value of your fees
•You can choose to pay your fees in three instalments
With our six-year, £130m investment programme,
and an inspiring range of postgraduate degrees and
short courses, it’s an exciting time to rediscover your
career options.
What’s more, 87% of our postgraduates go on
to employment or further study within six months
of graduating.*
Join us at an Open Day to chat to an academic
and discover how further study at BU can enhance
your employability.
Open Day dates:
Wednesday 21 November 2012
Wednesday 27 March 2013
Wednesday 12 June 2013
Make your
future bright
with a Master’s
degree from BU
Embark on the next stage of your success story
Find out more:
www.bournemouth.ac.uk/stage
+44 (0)1202 961916
*Destination of Leavers from
Higher Education Survey, 2009/10. Terms and conditions apply.
44 | BU & Beyond
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