The University of Salford, the University of Manchester and Manchester Metropolitan University are coming together to host Enterprise Futures 2013, a conference for postgraduate students which has been praised by Business Secretary Vince Cable.

The event at Manchester Town Hall on Tuesday 21 May will help prepare postgraduate students for a competitive job market by focusing on enterprise skills and intrapreneurship – the ability to be enterprising and creative within an organisation or company.

Students will learn about marketing business ideas, intellectual property rights and how intrapreneurship can enhance research. Successful business people and educational experts will deliver talks and sessions on the importance of entrepreneurship and there will also be networking opportunities.

The conference has been organised by a dedicated team of enterprise specialists from the three universities who want to share their specialist knowledge in the conference themes of collaboration, inspiration and opportunities.

One of the event organisers, Dominic Martinez from the University of Salford, said: ‘Whether you choose to be self-employed or work for a company, it is essential that you demonstrate creativity, innovation, resilience and both autonomy and the ability to collaborate. This event will put you on the right path for developing these skills and being successful in your career.’

Business Secretary Vince Cable commented on the initiative: ‘The experience of enterprise in education is key to improving levels of enterprise ambition, and helps to give people the knowledge and awareness of what it means to run a business and the skills they will need in order to pursue new opportunities.

‘The collaborative venture through the universities is to be applauded and will further help to foster the spirit of growth and enterprise, which is so essential to the future prosperity of the country.’

Enterprise Futures 2013, 21 May, 9am–6pm, Town Hall, Albert Square, Manchester.

A University of Salford study with charity the George House Trust has highlighted the North West of England’s growing population of older people with HIV and the lack of services for older HIV-positive gay men.

The development of antiretroviral medications has meant that people with HIV are living longer lives and many can expect to live well into older age. The age profile of HIV-positive people means that the over-50s is the fastest growing group in the UK, and a sharp rise can be expected by the end of this decade as more people reach this age.

In the North West there were around 1,000 HIV-positive people over the age of 50 in 2009, but this will double to nearly 2,000 by 2014 and more than triple to over 3,100 by 2019. The numbers are highest in Greater Manchester – and the city of Manchester in particular – where the study suggests attention should first be focused.

In light of the lack of research and services in this area, the University of Salford has collaborated with the George House Trust in Manchester to explore the needs of older gay men living with HIV. The Trust provides support to people living with or affected by HIV and is the largest HIV charity outside London.

Focus groups held with gay HIV-positive men who use the charity raised concerns about the NHS and its ability to care for them in the future, especially within the context of cuts to public services. It was important for them to remain independent for as long as possible and all of them wanted to be settled within a property. However, some feared the practicalities of being able to meet the financial obligations of a mortgage.

The study revealed a strong concern that long-term illnesses like HIV can affect a person’s mental wellbeing, and that support may be needed at some point in the men’s lives to deal with potential mental health issues caused by stigma and discrimination. The men expressed their wish to live a life free from stigma, to be accepted for who they are and to remain socially and sexually active.

They hoped for further medical improvements and for the side effects of their drugs to be reduced. Other worries included the long-term effects of medication and whether cuts to NHS resources would affect the cost of drugs.

Steve Myers of the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work said: ‘There is a need to develop services which will assist older gay men living with HIV. This group is growing and we need to look at how we will meet their housing needs, provide community support and ensure that counselling services are available.’

Rosie Robinson, Chief Executive of George House Trust, said: ‘We are delighted to have worked in collaboration with the University of Salford on this important study of what gay men living with HIV feel that they will need as they age.

‘Better and more effective treatments mean that people are living longer, healthier lives with HIV. If we are to remain responsive to the needs of people living with HIV, it is important that we consult with them about the kind of services they would like to see developed to adequately meet the needs of an ageing population.

‘This work will help to inform George House Trust’s response to service provision for older people living with HIV.’

The University of Salford is to launch a playwriting Masters degree which, for the first time in the UK, will be run in formal partnership with some of the country’s leading theatres.

The affiliation with Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse Theatre and the Octagon Theatre in Bolton will involve the organisations teaching two modules of the MA, offering aspiring playwrights a unique opportunity to learn from professionals and gain an insight into the running of major theatres.

The course will also be taught at the University of Salford’s MediaCityUK base, with facilities including an experimental performance space – the Digital Performance Lab – incorporating the latest audiovisual and broadcast technologies, and professional standard TV and radio studios.

Suzanne Bell, New Writing Associate at the Royal Exchange Theatre, said: ‘We are delighted to be partnering with the University of Salford in this new way of working. This supports our ambitions as an organisation to nurture and develop new talent, placing the role of the playwright at the heart of our work and ensuring this industry flourishes in future generations.’

Course creator and programme leader Jennifer Tuckett, from the University’s School of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences, commented: ‘The MA in Playwriting is the culmination of a new approach to industry-partnered teaching which the University has been pioneering for the last five years. In that time we have seen the number of students studying playwriting at the University rise from zero in 2008 to over 80 in the last academic year.’

A free launch event for the MA, taking place at the University’s MediaCityUK building on Friday 19 April 2013, will give prospective students the opportunity to talk to staff and learn more about the course, which will accept 15 students a year. Attendees can also take part in a free masterclass led by award-winning playwright Alistair McDowall, who is a winner of a Judge’s Award in the 2011 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.

The University of Salford has signed an agreement to support research, course development and student exchanges with the newly established Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) School of the Built Environment, Amity University in India.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed by RICS, Amity University and Salford in Delhi, the University will bring its world leading expertise in the construction and built environment to India alongside RICS in a venture which is the first of its kind.

The new school will be part of the Amity University and will be based at its campus in the National Capital Region of Delhi. It will teach subjects such as construction management, real estate management and quantity surveying.

Salford will contribute to a number of areas for the new school such as course development and collaborative research. There will also be opportunities to conduct student and staff exchanges between the two institutions.

Prof Mohammed Arif of the University’s School of the Built Environment has led a significant initiative in India in the last five years. As part of this, Salford has conducted research and several industry outreach workshops and seminars on issues such as green construction, offsite construction and low cost housing. More recently School of the Built Environment has been developing and delivering continuous professional development courses in India with RICS.

Fitness rooms, home cinemas and game zones are just some of the state-of-the-art facilities that will be available to Salford University students when they move into their new on-campus accommodation in September 2015.

Vice Chancellor, Martin Hall said: ‘Students today demand high quality accommodation that meets both their study and living needs. The days of students bunking up in a converted terrace house like TheYoung Ones did in the 80s are long gone.’

The new residences will offer students state-of-the-art facilities including wi-fi ready study spaces, ensuite bathrooms, home cinema rooms as well as modern open-plan dining and reception spaces.

This latest £64 million campus development will see University of Salford Villages Consortium, comprising investment company Equitix, construction firms Kier Property and Graham Investment Projects, and student accommodation operator Campus Living Villages come together to start construction later this year.

The University’s commitment to the environment, will ensure that the accommodation will be both environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient with a target of achieving an ‘Excellent’ BREEAM rating for the new residences (the standard environmental assessment method for buildings).

The new accommodation is just a small part of a long line of campus developments underway at Salford University. Following the opening of the world-leading MediaCity facility in 2011 the University has since fully refurbished and extended its iconic 1960s Chapman Building, completely modernising both the interior and exterior and creating a contemporary learning environment for students. Plans are also underway to construct a new ‘Gateway Building’ later this year with a theatre, studio and teaching and performance spaces specially designed for arts and media students.

Vice-Chancellor Professor Martin Hall said: ‘The brand new accommodation and excellent on-site facilities will enhance campus life by providing a fantastic base for our students. It’s a central part of our regeneration plans to offer a student experience that’s second to none in the UK.’

Sean McKeown, Commercial Director at Campus Living Villages, said: ‘The accommodation will provide modern student living within a green on-campus environment. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with the University of Salford as we continue to enhance the student experience for our customers.’

The accommodation will be open to students from the 2015/16 academic year when it will be managed by Campus Living Villages.

The Fast Show and Cold Feet star John Thomson passed on advice and tips from a 20-year comedy and acting career to Salford performance students on 20 March at a special masterclass held at MediaCityUK.

During the lively question and answer session with Comedy Practices BA and other performance students at the BBC’s Quay House, John talked about his experiences, from starting out in stand-up through his work with Steve Coogan writing and appearing in Knowing Me, Knowing You... with Alan Partridge, to his acting career, which has included roles on Coronation Street and Waterloo Road.

He emphasised to students the importance of hard work in establishing yourself as a comedian and of the ‘rite of passage’ of pub and club open mic nights which can help aspiring comics hone their acts and learn to deal with tough crowds and disappointments.

Having recently returned to the stand-up circuit himself, John told students that the most important qualities for a comedian starting out, apart from being funny, are warmth and likeability on stage. He treated the audience to a brief first public performance of a new comedy character which he will be incorporating into his act soon, while admitting that acting is still his favourite occupation.

Commenting on the comedy industry today, John said: ‘I don’t think it’s that different from when I started out. I still think there’s no substitute for getting out on the live circuit and performing, and it’s also really important to watch and learn from other comedians.’

He also believes the University’s campus at MediaCityUK offers students huge opportunities, saying: ‘It has been the case in the past that the TV comedy and entertainment world was very London-centric, but MediaCityUK is in the process of changing this and Salford students are in the right place to take advantage.’

The University’s Comedy Practices course leader, Lisa Moore, commented: ‘It’s important that students have realistic expectations about the comedy business and John was very honest when it came to discussing potential pitfalls. At the same time though, he was warm, encouraging and thoroughly hilarious.’

Salford lecturers have lined up a number of other famous local comedy performers and writers to give talks to students in 2013.

Aspiring Premier League stars can gain just as much from studying Wasim Akram as Gareth Bale, now that aeronautics researchers at the University of Salford have discovered that cricket-style reverse swerve is an important factor in how modern footballs behave in the air.

The addition of rough surfaces intended to make balls go faster has had the unintended side-effect of creating the same aerodynamics as a cricket ball that’s been used for 40 or more overs the researchers say in a study that has won the Catherine Richards prize for the best paper published in journal Mathematics Today in 2012.

The researchers, led by Dr Edmund Chadwick from the School of Computing, Science & Engineering, found that if a high degree of spin is applied to the football which is similar to the forward velocity of the ball, then an unexpected pressure difference will be created, leading to strange movement in the air.

Older footballs didn’t experience this kind of issue since they had a more uneven surface, with seams and smooth surfaces creating a more complex flow of air. Instead the researchers compare the new footballs to cricket balls which gradually get rough on both sides, producing reverse swing, originally used by Pakistani cricketers such as Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis.

Although the Salford team would require simulations to prove individual cases they do believe that it might exonerate Robert Green from his ‘howler’ against the USA in 2010.

Dr Chadwick said: ‘There was a lot of talk about altitude and the ball being too round at the time of the 2010 World Cup, but we’ve seen with that ball and its successors the addition of rough surfaces to increase speed also makes the ball more unpredictable.

‘Applying too much spin will cause movement that the player did not intend and, while this can be beneficial in fooling goalkeepers, it certainly reduces accuracy when striking the ball hard. Better players will need to adjust their games to these new balls and, like much else in sport that will ultimately come down to practice.’

A postgraduate student from the University of Salford who works as a transplant co-ordinator was voted Best Nurse 2013 by British Malayali (a group for South Indians living in the UK).

Agimol Pradeep works at Central Manchester University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust in the Renal Transplant Unit where she regularly witnesses the shortage of organs donated by people of South Asian descent. National figures show that South Asians wait three times longer than white people for a kidney transplant due to the difficulties in finding a successful match.

Agimol’s PhD project aims to tackle the problem by exploring the views of South Asian people to understand why they are reluctant to become donors. She is working with community and religious leaders, GPs and intensive care units to implement strategies to increase South Asian organ donation, educating Asian people about the benefits of organ donation and of joining the donor register.

Agimol said: ‘I consider this award as an appreciation from the community, by the community and for the community in saving lives. I dedicate this award to all those special people who believed in me and helped pass on the important message of organ donation among the South Asian community.

‘I acknowledge this award as an acceptance and understanding of the need for this study by the Asian community.’

The study is funded by the British Renal Society and supported by the NHS Blood and Transfusion Service. Agimol is supervised by Professor Paula Ormandy at the University of Salford’s School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Work and Mr Titus Augustine, Clinical Director of Transplantation at Manchester Royal Infirmary.

Professor Ormandy said: ‘Agimol truly deserves this award. She is dedicated to improving the lives of patients and works tirelessly through her research to achieve this. The award is a clear recognition by the South Asian community that they consider her work to be important.’

The ‘living dead’ are being invited to shuffle down to MediaCityUK on 7 March for an exclusive preview of a new BBC TV zombie drama.

Organisers from the BBC’s new writing department Writersroom and the University of Salford are hoping the public will enter into the spirit of the occasion and come dressed as the undead for the screening of episode one of In the Flesh, a new BBC Three series starring new acting talent alongside famous names including The Royle Family’s Ricky Tomlinson and Kenneth Cranham (Shine on Harvey Moon and Hot Fuzz).

At the preview, being held at the University’s MediaCityUK building on Thursday 7 March, the audience will also get the opportunity to quiz the show’s writer, Dominic Mitchell, and director Jonny Campbell, whose credits include Doctor Who, Ashes to Ashes and television film Eric & Ernie, along with Kate Rowland, Creative Director of New Writing at the BBC.

The event is the first in a series of MediaCity Masterclasses offering aspiring writers the chance to learn from BBC professionals working in genres including soap, sitcom, children’s TV, and television and audio drama.

Set in the fictional village of Roarton soon after thousands of the dead were reanimated in one night, In The Flesh is the story of teenage zombie Kieren Walker and his reintegration into the local community and the heart of his family. With its central themes of redemption, forgiveness, acceptance, denial and what it means to be alive or dead, In The Flesh is a complex look at what happens when families get a second chance at mending their past and working together towards an unpredictable future.

Jennifer Tuckett, University of Salford lecturer in Creative Writing and co-organiser of the Masterclass series, said: ‘It’s fantastic to build on our partnership with BBC Writersroom and we look forward to working closely with them to bring in some of the most exciting writers working for the BBC over the next few months.’

Research by the University of Salford, University of Manchester and prosthetics company Blatchford’s Endolite Technology Centre will help to enhance the mobility of people with above-knee amputations by improving the energy efficiency of prosthetic legs.

When walking with a single prosthetic leg, above-knee amputees typically use up to 60% more energy than people who are able-bodied, causing fatigue and a 40% slower walking speed. These difficulties can hinder an amputee’s mobility and, as a result, affect their quality of life.

The energy storage and return capabilities of prosthetic legs are crucial to improving an amputee’s gait and mobility, but most prostheses only store and return significant energy below the knee and in an uncontrolled way.

To overcome these problems the team of engineers and prosthetists will explore the potential for using hydraulic technology to harvest and store energy from the parts of the prosthesis that absorb power, and then return that energy to the parts that do useful propulsive work.

The results will be used to develop new prosthetic leg designs which have increased functionality and require less energy from the amputee.

The project lead, Professor David Howard of the University of Salford’s School of Computing, Science & Engineering, said: ‘This is an opportunity for truly transformative research, leading to more biomechanically efficient prosthetic legs, enabling amputees to walk faster for longer and therefore lead more active lives.’

Salford is the only provider of prosthetics and orthotics higher education in England, focusing on teaching, research and enterprise. Many of its graduates are now leaders in the profession, both nationally and internationally.

The three-year study is supported by a grant of £672,000 from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Fashion students from the University of Salford have collaborated with an up-and-coming online retailer to create a range of exclusive party dresses.

As its name suggests, the website only sells little black dresses (or LBDs) and 17 students had their winning garments – ranging from a striking fringed leather design to a mini dress with Perspex sleeves – photographed at Manchester photography studio Photolink before going on sale online.

Nathalie Gibson, Editor at Little Black Dress, commented: ‘Here at Little Black Dress we feel honoured to work with the award-winning Fashion department at the University of Salford on a real project.

‘We were overwhelmed by the professionalism of all the students from start to finish. The design standards were exceptional and we would definitely consider using the students again to design dresses.’

Fashion lecturer at the University’s School of Art & Design, Paul Marsden, added: ‘Our students were really excited by the opportunity to design for an online retailer and the project was a great success.

‘The garments were designed and made to a very high standard with the expectation that some would be selected for sale and featured on the Little Black Dress website.

‘Through the many practical projects which form part of their course, our Fashion Design students are familiar with the demands of a ‘live’ project and the benefits it brings, including exposure within the industry, a body of distinctive and professional work for their portfolios, and the experience of working with and selling to a real fashion company.’

The University of Salford has been awarded £170,000 to develop a unique nursing course for the care of acutely ill patients which will be taught across Europe.

The early recognition of an acute deterioration in patients is crucial if they are to receive the best quality care and timely admission to critical care areas. The award from the European Commission’s Lifelong Learning Programme will be used to provide student nurses with the knowledge, skills and experience to recognise and respond appropriately when a patient’s vital signs indicate that they are becoming acutely unwell.

Students from partner universities in Finland, Germany, Spain, Cyprus, Slovakia and Winona in the USA will attend the course, and each country’s academics will participate in teaching on the course as it moves around Europe on an annual basis.

The programme being held at Salford engages Greater Manchester Critical Care Skills Institute to teach the management of acute illness, North West Ambulance Service for an exploration of the emergency services and the RAF for the treatment of military personnel in conflict zones.

Students will participate in clinical scenarios in the University’s hi-tech Simulation Laboratory which contains computer-controlled mannequins in a hospital ward environment. The simulation of human patients means that students can develop their skills in a realistic environment before coming into contact with real people.

They will also examine pertinent issues such as the use of physical or chemical restraining methods in rapidly deteriorating patients.

In a pilot study by the University of Salford and architects, Nightingale Associates, it was found that the classroom environment can affect a child’s academic progress over a year by as much as 25%.

The year-long pilot study was carried out in seven Blackpool LEA primary schools. 34 classrooms with differing learning environments and age groups took part.

The study took two lines of enquiry. The first was to collect data from 751 pupils, such as their age, gender and performance level in maths, reading and writing at the start and end of an academic year.

The second evaluated the holistic classroom environment, taking into account different design parameters such as classroom orientation, natural light and noise, temperature and air quality. Other issues such as flexibility of space, storage facilities and organisation, as well as use of colour were evaluated.

This holistic assessment includes both classroom design and use factors to identify what constitutes an effective learning environment.

Notably, 73% of the variation in pupil performance driven at the class level can be explained by the building environment factors measured in this study.

Current findings suggest that placing an average pupil in the least effective, rather than the most effective classroom environment could affect their learning progress by as much as the average improvement across one year.

Professor Peter Barrett, School of the Built Environment, University of Salford said: ‘It has long been known that various aspects of the built environment impact on people in buildings, but this is the first time a holistic assessment has been made that successfully links the overall impact directly to learning rates in schools. The impact identified is in fact greater than we imagined and the Salford team is looking forward to building on these clear results.’

The pilot study was commissioned by THiNK, the research and development team at Nightingale Associates. The practice will use these initial findings to inform their designs and work with schools undertaking refurbishment or build new projects to maximise their investment in the learning environment.

Design Research Lead, Caroline Paradise from Nightingale Associates, said: ‘We are excited by these early findings which suggest that the classroom plays an important role in pupil performance. This will support designers and educators in targeting investment in school buildings to where it will have the most impact, whether new build or refurbishment.’

Through these promising findings, the study will continue for another 18 months and cover another 20 schools in different areas of the UK. This study is being funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

One of Salford’s most famous graduates, Peter Kay, returned to the University in October to launch its new dedicated comedy course for budding writers and performers.

Household name Peter first discovered a talent for stand up comedy back in the 1990s when he studied for an HND in Media Performance at Salford. Since winning the North West Comedy Award in 1996 he has gone on to achieve huge popularity with That Peter Kay Thing, Phoenix Nights, Max and Paddy’s Road to Nowhere and sold-out national stand-up tours.

Peter was at the University’s MediaCityUK campus to launch its new comedy pathways course for performance students who want to develop their skills in sketch writing, physical comedy and clowning, sitcom and stand-up while exploring the roots of what makes people laugh, the business of a career in comedy and the cultural importance of the art form.

Students were excited to meet Peter and to hear about his experiences as a professional comedian. Many felt inspired by his incredible career and hope to follow in his footsteps.

Course Leader Lisa Moore said she was: ‘Astonished and delighted at the support received by industry professionals, and excited about the huge potential of the degree.’

Comics John Thomson (The Fast Show and Cold Feet) and Smug Roberts (Phoenix Nights) were also in attendance at the event which was compered by another Salford graduate, Karl Lucas (Phoenix Nights).

Other famous Salford performance graduates include Sir Ben Kingsley, Robert Powell, Christopher Ecclestone, Jason Manford, Steve Edge, Maxine Peake and Shobna Gulati.

Up-and-coming writers will have the opportunity to learn from one of the UK’s leading TV dramatists in a question and answer session at the University of Salford’s MediaCityUK building on Wednesday 10 October.

Award-winning screenwriter Sally Wainwright, creator of BAFTA and Emmy-nominated series At Home with the Braithwaites and writer of ITV detective drama series Scott & Bailey, will be in conversation with BBC Creative Director of New Writing Kate Rowland at the ‘Face 2 Face’ event, organised by BBC writersroom as part of Manchester Literature Festival.

Sally will offer members of the public with an interest in writing professional advice drawn from a career which encompasses shows such as Coronation Street, Emmerdale and drama Unforgiven, for which she received a Royal Television Society award in 2010.

Earlier in the day, founder of BBC writersroom Kate Rowland will hold a workshop for University students on how to get scripts produced.

Lecturer in Creative Writing, Jennifer Tuckett, University of Salford lead for the workshops, said: ‘This is a unique opportunity for our students to learn from one of the most senior figures at the BBC. The BBC have been impressed with our facilities and are using our Digital Performance Lab in MediaCityUK for both events, so we hope this is the start of regular collaboration.’

The University of Salford is to work with the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities on a project which will find new ways to trace and communicate with the owners of 930 empty homes across the region.

Experts from the University’s Housing and Urban Studies Unit and Salford Business School will be using innovative ways to trace absentee owners and encourage them to bring their property back into use.

The problem of empty homes in Greater Manchester is a pressing one. There are 25,000 empty properties in the region and if they were all brought back into the market they would help address the 100,000-strong social housing waiting list.

However the reasons for being the owner of an empty home are extremely diverse and even more difficult to address. Homeowners can be located almost anywhere, be of any ethnic or age profile and may be unwilling or unable to do anything with the house due to finance, emotional attachment or family breakdown.

The aim is to bring 930 homes back into use during the project, but more importantly, to learn lessons that can be applied in Greater Manchester and, eventually, further afield.

To help solve the problem the researchers will be working with officers from Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council to develop new techniques. This includes exploring how social media could engage with empty home owners, as well as linking owners to housing organisations that will be able to manage the empty home on their behalf.

The project is funded through a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) which is a government backed scheme to bring academics at the cutting edge of their fields into business and other organisations.

Dr Lisa Scullion is the researcher from the Salford Housing and Urban Studies Unit who will be working with Tameside Council. ‘This is not only a widespread problem, but a difficult one to solve,’ she said.

Two graduates from the University of Salford’s School of Art & Design will see their fashion designs and photography in clothing stores nationwide after scooping both first prizes in a prestigious fashion industry competition.

Natalie O’Hare, who graduated this year with a BA (Hons) in Fashion Design, won the design award of the fourth Warehouse Design Competition, while BA (Hons) Fashion Image Making and Styling graduate Rachel Hannaway was chosen as winner of the photography category.

Organised by clothing label Warehouse and the British Fashion Council (BFC), the competition was open to students from the 34 institutions across the UK which are members of the BFC’s Colleges Council, who were invited to submit their graduation year portfolios.

A judging panel including representatives from Warehouse, the BFC and Grazia magazine chose the winners for their impressive design ability and creativity, and Natalie and Rachel will now join Warehouse for a six-month paid design placement. Natalie will then see designs from her collection produced and sold in selected Warehouse stores across the UK, while Rachel will be responsible for photography for the collection’s campaign.

The University’s Fashion programme leader, Bashir Aswat, said: ‘Both Natalie and Rachel were very talented and determined in their studies and the quality of their work was considered and professional. We’re really pleased for them both and wish them all the success in their future careers.’

Natalie commented: ‘Winning the graduate competition has been a fantastic experience. I’m really excited and very lucky to be given the opportunity to launch my collection with Warehouse. Having my designs sold in top high street stores is something many students dream of and for me this is now a reality.

The University of Salford has formed a new partnership with basketball team Manchester Magic to create more opportunities for young players and improve performance.

Salford hopes to play at the top level of national university basketball and aims to attract top players from all over the country. Joe Kilpatrick and Muftau Akintoye are the first Magic players to enjoy the benefits of the partnership, studying at Salford and playing for both the University and Magic teams.

Magic coach Peter Paraskeva will take the reins of Salford’s men’s team and the University will share its expertise in sports science, strength and conditioning, the management of injuries and rehabilitation during the long-term collaboration.

Performance analysis will take place at the University’s state-of-the art Human Performance Laboratory which contains an extensive range of biomechanical and physiological equipment.

James Crowley, Head of Sport at the University, said: ‘This is an excellent partnership for the University which will raise the standard of sport at Salford while also developing the wide range of mutual opportunities in working with Manchester Magic.’

Joe Forber, Chairman of the Board of Trustees at the Amaechi Basketball Centre (the home of Magic) said: ‘Dealing with the University has been a fantastic experience. Salford has shown a real desire to create a true and enduring partnership.

The University of Salford is looking for volunteers to help them excavate historic Chadderton Hall as part of Greater Manchester’s biggest ever archaeological project.

Volunteers of all ages and abilities are needed between 10 and 22 September 2012 to find out the secrets of the Hall which was thought to have been originally built in the 13th Century and went through several incarnations before being demolished in 1939.

The University archaeology team believe there is the potential for a number of very exciting finds since the Hall was variously used as a stately residence, menagerie, boarding school and even a pickle factory. During World War One, the nearby park was also used as a barracks for Australian and New Zealand troops.

More famous for trying to wipe out humanity (in science fiction at least), robots can in fact improve our quality of life considerably, according to a University of Salford researcher who’s been taking them on visits to old people’s homes.

Antonio Espingardeiro has been bringing robotic cats, seals and humanoid robots to a series of retirement homes in order to address the isolation and boredom often felt by their residents.

By programming his robots with a range of interactive games and activities, he’s not only entertained the elderly, but has also helped to bridge the gap between them and younger generations as the robots become a source of fascination and discussion during visits.

The project is part of his PhD, which is about the ethics of human and robot interaction. Antonio is particularly focused on the elderly because they can suffer from an ‘emotional deficit’ – not having enough interaction with younger people. According to his research these machines can provide cognitive assistance, supervision and entertainment which can be translated into an immense set of benefits for vulnerable groups.

He said: ‘The population of the UK is growing older and, as a result, a lot of people are being left isolated and lonely, even in the best care settings.’

Antonio has worked with over 74 people plus carers, relatives and managers in care and extra care facilities during 45-minute sessions stretching back eight months. During this period he has been able to record remarkable improvements in the happiness of the people he’s been working with.

‘The robots are a novelty at first,’ he said. ‘But they are also less threatening than entertainers or other people who come into homes to interact with people. And since you can programme them, I’ve been able to make sure that something different happens every week, so the visits never become stale.’

Antonio is also conscious that his project isn’t just about ‘buying a robot for granny’, but a meaningful way of bringing generations together and improving everyone’s quality of life.

The University of Salford has extended its range of courses to include postgraduate nursing and healthcare management programmes specifically designed for international students.

A unique one-year Graduate Diploma in Health will offer international students a pathway to further study by teaching them the English language within a health context. It will also introduce different styles of learning which encourage critical and independent thinking.

On successful completion of the diploma, students can choose from one of two new courses which will develop their skills to postgraduate level and encourage critical comparisons of health concepts.

The MSc in International Nursing teaches advanced research skills and offers practical experience in Salford’s state-of-the-art simulation laboratory. Students learn how to deal with medical scenarios in a safe environment by training with computer-controlled mannequins that can display various symptoms and have a pulse, bleed, cry, sweat and talk. They also have an observational placement in a clinical environment.

Students who choose the MSc in International Hospital and Health Service Leadership and Management will study subjects such as health economics, decision making and project and change management. They will also work alongside NHS managers during a placement to learn best practice.

The courses build on the existing MSc in Leadership and Management for Healthcare Practice which was created for NHS professionals but also proved popular with international students.

Senior lecturer Dr Debbie Roberts said: ‘These courses are uniquely tailored to international students who want to develop their careers, and the wider advantage is that highly skilled nurses and healthcare professionals will return to their home countries to share the benefits.’

Six budding student scriptwriters from the University of Salford have won the chance to see their work performed at a special showcase on Wednesday 21 March thanks to a joint project from the University and the BBC celebrating the opening of MediaCityUK.

Over the last six months ‘Write by the Quays’ offered students the opportunity to work with BBC Writersroom North to develop short plays about or inspired by Salford. And now six winning students, whose names will be revealed on the night, will see their works performed at the BBC’s new MediaCityUK home in front of an audience of BBC staff and members of the public.

More than 130 entries were received for the competition from Salford students studying subjects as diverse as Law and Social Work as well as Creative Writing, English and Drama.

Judges included actress Shobna Gulati, who plays Sunita Alahan in Coronation Street; Creative Director of New Writing at the BBC Kate Rowland; Omar Elerian, Associate Director at the Bush Theatre in London; and University of Salford Lecturer in Creative Writing and deviser of the project Jennifer Tuckett. They had a difficult task selecting the winning plays, which will performed by professional actors and directed by Elizabeth Newman, Associate Director at the Octagon Theatre Bolton and head of the theatre’s new writing department.

Shobna Gulati said: ‘This project is a unique celebration of the opening of MediaCityUK, offering students an important opportunity to work with the BBC, learn about the industry and see whether scriptwriting might be a possible career for them.’

Jennifer Tuckett commented: ‘Over the course of six months over 500 students at the University have participated in workshops with the BBC and 80 students have taken part in a targeted course focused on producing work for Write by the Quays.

‘The chance for all of these students to see that one day they could be working for organisations such as the BBC at MediaCityUK has been invaluable. Many have said that they now feel that writing and working for the BBC might be future career paths they could seriously consider.’

The University of Salford is running a ‘flash fiction’ writing competition with the chance to win a Kindle as part of its World Book Night activities.

World Book Night is a celebration of reading which involves thousands of volunteers giving away copies of their favourite books to people in their local communities. It will be held on 23 April in the UK, Ireland, Germany and USA.

The University’s flash fiction competition is open now to staff, students and the public in two categories: six word stories and 100 word stories. One of the earliest and most famous examples of the six-word story was reportedly written by Ernest Hemingway: For sale: baby shoes, never worn.

The winner will be presented with a Kindle at an event in the Clifford Library on the evening of 23 April. The runners up will each receive a £10 book voucher and their entries will form part of the evening’s celebration of books.

As World Book Night is all about sharing books, the University’s library will also be hosting a book exchange during the week of 23 April. The library is currently accepting readers’ old books so that exchanges can take place during the week of 23 April.

Head of community and student engagement, Linda Richings, said: ‘We’re really looking forward to reading the flash fiction entries. The evening of 23 April will be an entertaining celebration of the words people have written and the books that have given their readers great pleasure.’

From Beryl Bainbridge to Anthony Burgess and William Wordsworth to Jeanette Winterson, the North West of England has been home to some of the country’s greatest novelists, screenwriters and poets.

Now the University of Salford is searching for new talent to enter a creative writing competition with stories, poems and memoirs inspired by their experiences of the region.

Entrants to Write Northwest can interpret the theme in any way they choose but judges, including The Curry Mile author Zahid Hussein, will be looking for a distinctive ‘Northwest’ flavour to the writing.

The overall winner can look forward to a free semester of teaching on a University of Salford Creative Writing MA course of their choice, and the work of the winner and runners up will be published in an anthology by Liverpool-based writers’ co-operative and small publishing house Erbacce Press.

Works can take the form of a single poem or a short story or memoir of up to 1,500 words and there is a £2 fee per entry. The competition closes on Friday 9 March with results announced on Saturday 31 March.

Competition organiser Dr Ursula Hurley, Senior Lecturer in English and Creative Writing, said: ‘This is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the heritage, culture and unique spirit of the North West of England. We hope to inspire new and established writers to create something special. All the shortlisted authors will be published in an internationally-available anthology, and we hope to work with the winner to develop their talent even further.’

The University of Salford’s Graduate Gateway scheme will be running again at the beginning of February, providing intensive skills coaching to boost employment prospects to any North-West-based graduates.

The three-day course takes place on the 1–3 February 2012 with 25 free spaces. Based at the University, the graduates, who must be unemployed or ‘under-employed’, will receive coaching from business experts in skills such as presenting, building their personal brand and will take part in intensive workshops.

One of the highlights of the scheme is a day of leadership training run by the Army at a centre in Hulme.

The Graduate Gateway has been running for Salford graduates since 2009, funded by the European Social Fund, but is now open to a wider pool of people as the University believes it can help boost regional skills in a difficult jobs market.

Mary Macfarlane from the University’s Careers Service explained: ‘We recognise that many graduates are unemployed or “underemployed” – working in roles not suited to their skills.

‘This scheme provides a solid grounding in skills such as leadership and communications and practical job-seeking skills to help the participants get onto the career ladder.’

One such graduate is Chris Burrows. ‘I’ve ended up working for 5live on the Breakfast Show,’ he said. ‘It’s directly linked to the contacts I made during the Graduate Gateway and further networking I did. I had a few offers from the Gateway networking event and I definitely chose the right one.’

A social media marketing and search engine optimisation (SEO) course run by Salford Business School has now come to the University of Salford’s new state-of-the-art facility at MediaCityUK.

Starting on 26 January, the Manchester SEO and Social Media Marketing course provides the key knowledge and skills people need to work in the growing SEO and social media marketing industry. Participants have the opportunity to learn from leading experts in the Manchester SEO community and the programme leads to internationally-recognised certification by the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organisation (SEMPO), all offered right at the heart of the region’s digital and media economy.

Anthony McLoughlin from Accrington graduated from the course in November last year and has already found that it has helped him completely change his career path for the better.

While working as a technical clerk at a conservatory roofing company, he began to take an interest in digital marketing. He explained: ‘I didn’t mind my job, but I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do with my life. I started to read up about Pay Per Click advertising and then progressed into taking an interest in SEO. I found it so interesting that I decided I wanted to develop a career in the SEO industry.’

Commuting from home once a week and participating in online discussions and self study using the online training material from SEMPO, it was not long until Anthony was able to write a blog post about a career in SEO using his newly gained knowledge and skills.

‘The Search & Social Media Marketing course has helped me tremendously,’ Anthony continued. ‘Before the course I barely knew anything about SEO and social media marketing, and now I can talk confidently about the subjects and give advice to people.’

And, it was not long until Anthony was offered a job as a Digital Project Co-ordinator at Burnley-based Tone Digital Marketing Agency.

‘Learning from industry speakers from the Manchester SEO community was the main highlight of the course,’ he said. ‘They gave me some fantastic advice and inside knowledge that only people in the industry know, and I’m adopting the advice and “secrets” in my new role right now.’

Work on making objects disappear from vision by the University of Salford’s Professor Allan Boardman has been named the third biggest physics breakthrough in 2011.

Professor Boardman worked with colleagues from Imperial College London on a paper which outlined how it is possible to bend light around objects to make them appear invisible.

The paper was judged by physicsworld.com to be third in the list of ten most important breakthroughs in 2011.

Physics World is the world’s leading physics magazine. Every month, it publishes features from the world’s top physicists and science writers and the top ten list was compiled from these articles.

Professor Boardman’s theoretical work involves the use of meta-materials which are tiny coils which have the ability to bend light around them. This means that when light strikes an object which is covered in meta-materials, it moves around it rather than reflecting – causing it to be invisible.

The applications of this technology are wide-ranging. Being able to control light has enormous potential for computing, medicine and for communications with processing speeds being able to be hugely increased.

Professor Boardman said: ‘I’m proud to be part of a team that has been included in this list. Meta-materials and work with light has the potential to make a huge difference to people’s lives and, by establishing some of the theory we have made an important leap in making this a reality.’

Twenty years’ worth of studies into the rates of parasitic infection among pregnant women have found that women in the West are far more likely than their Chinese counterparts to carry organisms which have been linked to miscarriages and infant physical and mental damage.

The University of Salford’s Professor Geoff Hide and his colleague Professor Zhao-Rong Lun, of Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, looked at all studies of Toxoplasma gondii incidence in pregnant Chinese women between 1990 and 2010, comprising thousands of women, and discovered that around 10% were infected.

In contrast, 20-60% of women in continental Europe were found to have the parasite which is transmitted by cats and in undercooked meat.

The researchers put this difference down to the way in which food is cooked in the two regions since raw meat (such as smoked ham) is far more commonly eaten in the West. In the US and UK, infection rates are also higher, at around 20%.

Toxoplasma gondii is generally harmless but with large numbers of women infected, some experience miscarriage or give birth to children with physical defects. Some studies have also linked it to schizophrenia.

The findings represent a first because most of the Chinese studies were not translated into western languages – a barrier Professors Hide and Lun were able to work together to overcome.

‘These findings represent a first look at regional differences in the distribution of this parasite,’ Professor Hide said. ‘Our theory is that, especially in continental Europe, women are eating much more raw meat than in China.

‘Although the risk to each woman is low, with infection rates of up to 60% the study certainly reinforces existing advice about avoiding cat litter and raw meat products.’

Toxoplasma gondii infection in pregnant women in China was published in the journal Parasitology.

An iconic Lowry painting will come to life in Manchester and Salford on Saturday 12 November 2011, thanks to members of the public and some stunning digital technology brought together to celebrate the opening of the University of Salford’s new MediaCityUK building.

Manchester artists Alastair Eilbeck and James Bailey have created ‘Lowry to Life’, a unique art installation combining LS Lowry’s 1954 painting ‘Piccadilly Gardens’ with cutting-edge technology and digital projection. The installation is part of the University’s ‘Believe’ free multimedia event opening the doors of its MediaCityUK facility to the local community.

Visitors to Piccadilly Gardens in Manchester city centre and Salford’s MediaCityUK can literally become part of the art as cameras and motion capture technology transfer their movements to specially-illustrated characters taken from Lowry paintings which will appear in a giant projection of the original Lowry work at MediaCityUK.

With deep roots in Salford and Manchester and his position as one of Britain’s pre-eminent painters of life in the industrial North of England, Lowry was an obvious choice for former University of Salford student Alastair, who now works for marketing and technology company Amaze, on which to base the installation. ‘I’m very interested in art in public spaces,’ he said, ‘and much of Lowry’s art depicted people in public scenes, so there was a common link from the start.

‘During my research into Lowry and his work it became clear that he was very interested in the characters in his paintings, and in fact many of the figures in group scenes were identifiable as real people he knew.

‘It made me think that, if we could somehow use members of the public to animate Lowry figures in a painting, it would be an appropriate way to celebrate his work and bring it to a new audience.’

Having received the blessing of the Lowry estate, and working with creative software developer James Bailey, Alastair developed Lowry to Life, an extremely ambitious art installation involving motion capture, skeleton mapping, projection and networking across sites in Manchester and Salford. He chose Piccadilly Gardens, one of Manchester Art Gallery’s collection of Lowry works, as the basis for the piece as it depicted a street scene which for the most part still exists in Manchester city centre today.

Motion sensor cameras set up in front of canvases in Piccadilly Gardens and at MediaCityUK will film members of the public moving and, in real time, will reproduce their movements in a digital Lowry figure. In Piccadilly Gardens, the Gardens themselves will be the backdrop to the moving figures while over at MediaCityUK, characters from Piccadilly Gardens and MediaCityUK will be combined and integrated into a digital projection of Lowry’s Piccadilly Gardens painting on a screen at the University’s new facility.

The end result will be a reimagining of Lowry’s artwork with moving characters walking through the painted version of Piccadilly Gardens. And each of the animated figures will be based on actual people from some of Lowry’s most famous paintings, including ‘The Lying Man’, ‘The Cripples’ and ‘A Day Out at the Prom’, all produced by Lowry around the similar period to Piccadilly Gardens. Wirral illustrator Maria Pearson has painted each of the characters from four different views so they can be shown from differing angles on screen when reacting to the movements of visitors.

‘The effect of the moving figures in the painting will be similar to split tin puppets,’ said Alastair, ‘which I think will capture the spirit of Lowry and I hope it’s an interpretation of his work of which he would have approved.’

Alexandra King, Piccadilly Partnership Director at CityCo, Manchester’s city centre management company which is supporting the event, said: ‘It’s great to be involved with this innovative project which brings a much-loved painting of a familiar public space to life. We hope visitors will take part and have the image of themselves in the modern day gardens beamed over to the Salford screen. Working with the University of Salford and Metrolink, we’ll be able to demonstrate just how close Piccadilly is to MediaCityUK.’

Lowry to Life is just one of many exciting experiences on offer at the University of Salford’s Believe event at its MediaCityUK site. From being filmed with creatures from BBC’s Dinosaur Planet to playing video games on huge iPad-like touchscreen tables, there will be a wide range of digital showcases and entertainment for visitors to enjoy.

Believe is free of charge for visitors and is also supported by BBC Radio Manchester. And thanks to Salford City Council, Metrolink and Transport for Greater Manchester, there will be free tram travel from Piccadilly Gardens and Eccles to the event, plus a free Salford QuaysLink bus service from Salford Crescent railway station and Salford Shopping City.

Believe is open from 10.30am–5.30pm on Saturday 12 November at the University of Salford, MediaCityUK, Salford, M50 2HE.

The University of Salford and BBC Writersroom North are launching a talent search on Tuesday 18 October to celebrate the opening of their new sites at MediaCityUK.

‘Write by the Quays’ will offer the University’s students the opportunity to write ten minute plays about, or inspired by, Salford. Entries will be judged by a panel including actress Shobna Gulati (Sunita Alahan in Coronation Street); Kate Rowland, Creative Director of New Writing at the BBC; Tamara Harvey, Associate Director at the Bush Theatre, London; and Jennifer Tuckett, Creative Writing Lecturer from the University’s School of Humanities, Languages & Social Sciences.

Six winning plays will be produced by the BBC and performed at its recently opened MediaCityUK facility in March next year, giving students a unique opportunity to work with the BBC and giving the audience of BBC staff the chance to learn about Salford through the students’ work.

Earlier this month the University of Salford also opened the doors to students at its new MediaCityUK campus, which provides a wide range of courses and qualifications at one of the UK’s most advanced teaching and research spaces, encompassing state-of-the-art facilities including HDTV and radio broadcast studios, digital media and performance lab, editing and post-production suites.

Jennifer Tuckett said: ‘This talent search builds on the work the University of Salford has been doing for the last three years on creative writing courses as part of the Playwriting Network, a range of partnerships between the University, leading theatres and BBC Writersroom North, which we now plan to expand.

‘Write by the Quays develops the relationship between students, the University and the BBC and also celebrates our joint move to MediaCityUK.’

On Tuesday 4 October, the University of Salford threw open the doors of its new MediaCityUK facility to hundreds of students as teaching started for the first time.

Among the 9am starts were those studying broadcast systems and digital audio technologies. Overall 1,500 students and staff will be based for all or part of the time at the new building.

Sited next door to the main BBC buildings which contain six national departments including Sport, Children’s and Five Live, the University facility is also close to the many digital and creative businesses located in the Greenhouse.

To take advantage of this growing media hub in Salford, and help secure further research and placement opportunities, the University has formed partnerships with a number of major digital and media companies: including Adobe, Avid, and Carnegie Mellon University in the USA.

New student Antonia Bolcas, who’s studying journalism and broadcasting, is hoping to use these partnerships to her advantage. ‘MediaCityUK is one of the reasons why I chose Salford University, along with its good connections with the BBC,’ she said.

‘The building is very striking and impressive – it’s like nothing I’ve seen before in my life! I’m really looking forward to studying here and hope to use the opportunities available to eventually work for the BBC.’

The new facility boasts workspaces such as HD TV studios, radio broadcast studios, an immersive research facility, a digital media and performance lab and integrated post-production facilities at the very cutting edge of what is used in industry.

‘I think the building is amazing and very high tech – it gives students the chance to see what it would be like working in the industry,’ said Kirsty Hunt, who’s studying TV and radio production.

And for Dr Andrew Cooper, the Academic Director of MediaCityUK, the first day of teaching marked a major milestone in the development of the whole site. He said: ‘For me, the excitement of today is the students arriving and making the whole of the MediaCityUK environment come to life.’

Staff and students from the University of Salford have returned from Uganda where they helped a children’s charity reach over 2,000 people for HIV and AIDS testing.

Uganda has one of the highest HIV/AIDS infection rates in the world but testing and education levels are low, especially in remote communities. The charity Teams4U uses sports to reach children in rural Uganda, allowing them to experience something of a normal childhood while also carrying out the wider health agenda of educating and testing people for infection.

Fourteen volunteers from the School of Health Sciences spent 11 days in the Jinja, Kumi and Dokolo assisting the Teams4U school sports programme. They coached youngsters in team games and lent their expertise to the project’s medical team.

Lecturer Wendy Munro explained the impact: ‘The local medical team had been testing about 10 people a day, but this increased to over 200 a day while we were there. Of the 2,000 people we tested around 40 were positive.’

The trip was Dr Phil Graham-Smith’s second time in Uganda supporting the Teams4U project. He described the experience: ‘At times it was an emotional rollercoaster; we spoke with men, women and children who tested positive and we heard tragic stories about children being orphaned because their parents had died of AIDS.’

Liam Mahoney, a third year applied sports science student, said: ‘We realise the difficulties that children face in Uganda and how privileged we are to have a university education. We all feel that we’ve helped to make a difference in the communities we entered.’

Third year physiotherapy student, Adam Newall, was similarly affected: ‘This has been the best and most rewarding 11 days of my life which made all the fundraising worthwhile.’

Two University of Salford studies of over 250 homeless people and those who work with them have contributed to a major new report into the complex causes of homelessness in the UK and proposes solutions to the problem.

As part of the ‘Understanding Complex Lives’ report which was launched last week at an event chaired by Channel 4’s Jon Snow, researchers from Salford carried out interviews with homeless people in Stoke-on-Trent, Nottingham and London.

They discovered that homelessness was often the culmination of a long process which could include drug and alcohol addiction and abuse which started early in life, and that most people they spoke to had only become homeless later on in their lives.

The University of Salford contributed two separate studies to the report which highlights first findings from four projects that make up the ESRC’s Multiple Exclusion Homelessness Research Programme.

The first project, which had input from the University of Lincoln, interviewed 104 homeless people in Stoke-On-Trent. The research team uncovered a range of complex lives which often included severe childhood traumas, unsettled early lives and dysfunctional social relationships.

The researchers concluded that simplistic solutions based solely on the provision of housing were ultimately ineffective without specialised targeted support work.

In the second project carried out with colleagues from Nottingham Trent University, researchers conducted interviews with 108 homeless people and 44 service providers in Nottingham and London.

The researchers found that support agencies which routinely interact with homeless people identify a range of priorities and approaches in their work. Projects that were most successful in helping homeless people were those able to offer flexible personalised encouragement and support at the service user’s own pace.

Dr Phil Brown led the Stoke-On-Trent study. ‘There are a number of popular myths about homeless people – that they chose to be there or that they don’t care about what happens to them,’ he said. ‘Our research has challenged this perception. Many people are extremely motivated and are far from victims, but people need opportunities and, most importantly, people who are willing to help them turn their lives around.’

Professor Peter Dwyer led the Nottingham and London study and echoed his colleague’s views: ‘Working with agencies we found that there is a mixed approach. All of the support workers are extremely dedicated, but the most successful were permitted to spend a lot of individual time and work flexibly with their clients to tackle the formidable barriers that homeless people face in overcoming their social exclusion.’

Research at the University of Salford is on track to solve the age-old problem of leaves on the line delaying trains.

Leaves, as well as snow and rain, cause problems for trains because they reduce traction and cause wheels to spin on acceleration or to lock when slowing down.

Wheel slip/slide protection (WSP) measures in traction and braking systems are currently used to overcome the problems, but do not give instant data about the conditions of the track to the drivers and train operators. This means that drivers rely on rough estimates based on weather reports or track-side sensors which tell them to drive more carefully.

Salford scientists are working on a solution using sensors on the train that will show contact characteristics and conditions of the track – including the maximum adhesion available in real time.

The information obtained can not only be used by drivers to determine the maximum acceleration or braking forces they can apply, but also to enhance the advanced control and condition monitoring for trains of the future that are also being researched by the scientists at Salford.

Professor of Control and Mechatronics at Salford, TX Mei said: ‘Train driving isn’t like driving a car. Loss of traction is much more difficult to feel and more difficult to compensate for.

‘The contact mechanics at the wheel-rail interface are extremely complex and difficult problems demand sophisticated solutions in order to deliver reliable and accurate results.’

The technology being developed by the Salford team involves the use of a number of carefully selected mathematical models of a rail vehicle to mimic train dynamic behaviours in response to different track conditions.

Those models are compared with the real vehicle (through the measurement output of vehicle mounted inertial sensors) and the best matched outputs are then processed using an artificial intelligence decision making method to give live information about the track conditions.

The result is that wheels don’t spin on the tracks, preventing damage and increased costs. It also saves time because drivers can be optimally efficient in the speeds they travel at rather than using the current guidelines.

Furthermore, the system will make better use of energy – which will save on carbon emissions and fuel consumption. Trains will also be able to stop more precisely at stations and won’t overshoot platforms.

The Salford team is currently at the final stage of completing its study and is looking for an industry partner to help develop the system further.

A University of Salford Product Design student has seen his coursework successfully turned into a sales success after his work experience company placed it at John Lewis stores.

Paul Humphreys spent eight weeks on placement at audio visual furniture company Alphason, working one of the designs he’d created during his course into a real product.

Alphason Designs run a live design brief with the University each year and during this project Paul came up with the ‘Pebble’ TV stand which he worked on with the design team at Alphason in order to simplify, manufacture and create a feasible mass produced product for market place.

The design team at Alphason continued the design process of ‘Pebble’ after Paul left and it has now been launched into the market with major retailers including John Lewis already having placed firm orders.

Paul said: ‘This placement was a real eye-opener for me. It took the theoretical work I’d done at Salford and put it into practice. Working with Alphason’s design team was a great experience.’

His tutor on the BA (Hons) Product Design course is Craig Despard. ‘Paul’s high energy and commitment has resulted in this excellent achievement, something his tutors are very proud of. It also reflects the Product team’s emphasis on the employability of our students.’

Alphason’s commercial director Paul McCarthy said: ‘At Alphason we are particularly proud of our ‘Designed in Britain’ label and so we are delighted to foster and nurture the talents of some of the country’s young designers in this way. We were delighted with the standard of entries submitted which made judging difficult. But Paul was a clear winner with his Pebble stand.’

The University of Salford has secured £300,000 from the European Union to take technology widely used in the games and movie industries to the health care professions, by developing an MSc in Clinical Gait Analysis.

The new Masters will train physiotherapists and clinical scientists to use gait analysis equipment to examine people who have difficulty in walking and interpret the results to provide more effective treatment.

Though originally developed almost 30 years ago for healthcare, the gait analysis technology struggled to become widely adopted. Instead it was seized upon as a quick way of creating animations – notably in computer games and movies – and has become much more advanced and widely re-adopted for medicine.

Despite this, there is no specialised training in the use of the equipment – a lack which Salford’s new course is designed to solve.

The course, which will be developed throughout the next year ready for 2013 admissions, will sit alongside a large portfolio of gait analysis at the University headed by Professor Richard Baker.

The University’s facilities are already used by local surgeons and professional sports teams to treat walking problems and improve an athlete’s speed and, as similar facilities become more common in medical settings, the course will provide skilled operators.

The course will be developed alongside two other leading centres in gait analysis: VU University, Amsterdam, and the Catholic University, Leuven, Belgium. The grant has been awarded by the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme.

Professor Baker said: ‘This grant acknowledges Salford’s position as a European leader in clinical movement analysis and our commitment to becoming a centre for excellence. Providing training in this area will help bring a far better standard of treatment to people with walking difficulties.’

For the first time the University of Salford is opening up its successful Graduate Gateway scheme to all North West based graduates – providing intensive skills coaching to boost employment prospects.

There are two, five-day courses available which run in November and January with 25 free spaces in each. Based at the University, the graduates, who must be unemployed or ‘under-employed’, will receive coaching from business experts in skills such as presenting, building their personal brand and will take part in intensive workshops.

One of the highlights of the week is a day of leadership training run by the army at a centre in Hulme. The graduates will also work on projects which they present in front of employers who, in the past, have included Deloitte, and web company UKFast.

The scheme has been running for Salford graduates since 2009, funded by the European Social Fund, and is being opened up to a wider pool of people as the University believes it can help boost regional skills in a difficult jobs market.

Mary Macfarlane from the University’s Careers Service explained: ‘We recognise that many graduates are unemployed or ‘underemployed’ – working in roles not suited to their skills.

‘This scheme provides a solid grounding in skills such as leadership and communications and practical skills to help the participants get onto the career ladder.’

One such graduate is Chris Burrows. ‘I’ve ended up working for 5live on the Tony Livesey and Stephen Nolan shows,’ he said. ‘It’s directly linked to the contacts I made during the Graduate Gateway and further networking I did. I had a few offers from the Gateway networking event and I definitely chose the right one.

‘Getting into media jobs is quite tricky and I’m finding it relies very heavily on networking to progress. Although I’m not quite where I want to be yet I’ve made big strides since graduating.’

Salford City Council’s planning panel has unanimously granted planning permission for the development of a £38m Arts Building for the University of Salford which will provide state-of-the-art performance and teaching spaces for students and the local community.

Featuring a theatre and performance spaces, the new building will house students studying in areas such as music, design and performance and forms part of a major redevelopment of the University campus.

As well as student spaces the new building will also include a café, and the theatre and studio facilities will be used to give performances and exhibitions open to the public. There will also be tuition and social learning areas to help students achieve their full potential in the best possible environment.

The new building is just part of an ambitious plan that is already underway with the refurbishment of the existing Chapman Building. The Arts Building will be sited adjacent to this development – creating a welcoming public space in the centre of the campus which will become a hub for students, staff and local people.

And, as part of the University’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions and improving campus sustainability, the new building will have the world-leading BREEAM accreditation status.

Students from the School of Media, Music & Performance and the School of Art & Design will be the predominant users of the building, vacating the current Adelphi and Centenary Buildings. Students from these schools will also be housed in the new facility at MediaCityUK which opens on 4 October 2011.

The project is being worked on by planning consultants, Turley Associates and work will begin in the autumn of this year for completion mid-2014.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Martin Hall said: ‘This building and our wider Campus Plan are part of the University’s strong commitment to the regeneration of Central Salford, in the context of the City Council’s vision for this area and the work done over many years by the Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company.

‘It will be an important cultural centre for the people of Salford and will provide our students with a space to allow them to fully develop their skills.’

The University of Salford will be the first higher education institution to offer a master’s degree in Robotics and Embedded Systems taught in both India and the UK, when it launches an MSc in Robotics and Embedded Systems in September 2011.

The degree will combine four months’ teaching in embedded systems – computer systems designed to do one or a few dedicated and specific functions – in Mumbai, with the remaining eight months at the University of Salford’s Centre for Advanced Robotics headed up by Professor Samia Nefti Meziani who has led academically on developing this partnership.

There is significant market growth forecast in the area of robotics and embedded systems across sectors including aerospace, nuclear, automotive and petrochemicals.

A recent study by the Indian National Association of Software and Services Companies predicted the industry will triple its market size by 2015. Robotics and embedded systems are essential for creating sustainable manufacturing and autonomous systems businesses in India.

Salford Vice-Chancellor, Professor Martin Hall said: ‘We are very pleased to be partnering with ThinkLABS. We intend to provide excellent technical education with an appropriate blend of practical exposure.

‘The course being taught at two locations and environments will help the students take in the nuances of industry developments in both countries and will be a great tool for knowledge transfer.’

ThinkLABS is a pioneer in the fields of hands-on science and technology education in India, and is an incubated company of the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) Bombay.

Gaurav Chaturvedi, Director Vice-President of ThinkLABS, added: ‘The robotics and embedded systems arena is set to witness a high growth stage. Currently, the embedded space is witnessing a gap between the skill set required and that which is available.

‘We are collaborating with the University of Salford to bring in their technical expertise – with robotics at Salford being one of the leading courses in the UK. We believe that this reputation, together with ThinkLABS’ established technical expertise in the field of embedded systems, can lead to an instrumental part of the growth story of this industry.’

Students who don’t fancy joining organised clubs are to be given the chance to try sports on a drop-in basis, thanks to £149,298 of funding from the National Lottery Fund.

The Give Sport a Go programme is run by the Students’ Union and will last for three years – allowing Salford students to take part in six sports in an informal way without having to commit to joining student teams or get involved in competitive play.

Students interested in basketball, football, netball, badminton, squash and racquetball will initially be able to attend drop-in sessions held by coaches from the governing bodies, including the Football Association and England Basketball.

Following the initial sessions, the students will have the option to increase their participation in any of the sports up to the level of friendly competitions and leagues.

The whole year’s programme will conclude at Easter with a festival of sport where local clubs will be able to recruit the newly enthusiastic students as participants, coaches, volunteers or officials.

Tracey Robert, the Activities Manager at the University’s Students’ Union said: ‘The reason that we bid for this funding is that our research has shown that many students have to juggle their studies with jobs and childcare responsibilities so they can’t commit to regular organised sport.

‘Give Sport a Go isn’t competitive and is extremely flexible, so that even the most reluctant student can get involved. We’re really pleased to have won the funding and we firmly believe that it will help many more students keep active both during their time with us and for the rest of their lives.’

The Salford project, which was bid for jointly by the Students’ Union and the University’s Development team, is also being supported by Salford Community Leisure who are providing facilities, and Swan’s Travel who are helping with transport.

A University of Salford student has been nominated for a Heart of Salford Award in recognition of her outstanding contribution to volunteering in the city.

Jessica Prosper, 23, is an MA Human Rights student who is originally from Miami, Florida. She was an active volunteer in the USA and continued to make a difference when she arrived in Salford.

Jessica volunteers for Revive – a local charity that works with asylum seekers and refugees – and she is basing her dissertation on her experiences there. She also volunteers for the University of Salford Community Action Teams, helped to write Salford Volunteer Centre’s charter and is a fundraiser for Victim Support.

Julia Spencer of the Student Life department explains why she nominated Jessica for the award: ‘Every time I speak to Jessica she has found another way of helping a valuable cause and getting involved with the local community.

‘Her boundless energy and positive attitude make a real difference to the organisations she volunteers for and the lives of others.’

Heather Walker from Victim Support also sings Jessica’s praises: ‘Jessica is a much valued volunteer for Victim Support. She is very enthusiastic, full of ideas and has done a fantastic job as a fundraiser.’

When she finishes her course in September, Jessica plans to volunteer for the Florida Guardian ad Litem Program which works on behalf of Florida’s abused and neglected children.

She will remember her time in Salford fondly, saying: ‘Everyone I have spoken with has been encouraging and supportive, and always willing to provide advice or suggestions.

‘Working with such a strong and innovative volunteer community here in Salford has been an inspiration and I am honoured that I was able to contribute during my short time here.’

The Heart of Salford Awards will be held at Buile Hill Park Hall on Wednesday 29 June from 1.00pm and 4.00pm.

A comprehensive study of the number of foreign basketball players across Europe over the last 30 years has revealed that countries with higher numbers of overseas squad members perform better at international tournaments – with important implications for not only other sports, but other skilled occupations.

The study by University of Salford sports economist Professor David Forrest with colleagues from Spain and Italy, looked at basketball as an example of skills ‘spillover’.

Using statistical analysis they were able to demonstrate that European countries which were more open to overseas players – particularly those from North America – saw a benefit in the skill levels of their players, as demonstrated by results at international level.

Professor Forrest explained: ‘There are many arguments over whether imported labour is good for economies, however by using sport as an example, we are in the unique position to be able to measure international success empirically.’

Professor Forrest and his colleagues believe that their findings can apply equally to other skilled professions such as media or medicine where different skills and methods are passed between workers.

It also impacts on the major football leagues across Europe, though Professor Forrest believes that the English premier league is a special case.

‘Unfortunately for the national team, English football, unlike European basketball, attracts the very best players from around the world,’ he said. ‘In this case the numbers of foreigners is high enough that the Premier League actually benefits all countries by passing shared skills outside England.’

The study comprised every European country’s player records and international results between 1986 and 2007, and included the countries formed by the break-ups of the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia. All in all they found that the average number of overseas players increased from just over two per team in 1986 to 5.5 in 2007.

This was particularly heightened by the impact of the Bosman ruling in 1995 which allowed sports players to move freely between clubs when their contracts expired.

Professor Forrest concluded: ‘While we can’t say what an optimum number of overseas players in a squad would be, these findings do show that a larger number of people from a highly skilled culture does make a positive impact on their domestic colleagues.

‘We’d be confident that this would apply as much to a British IT firm as it would to a Croatian basketball team.’

Impact of importing foreign talent on performance levels of local co-workers, J Alvarez, D Forrest, I Sanz, JD Tena is published in Labour Economics, the Official Journal of the European Association of Labour Economists.

The University of Salford has officially launched a suite of hi-tech radiography scanners which will help train the next generation of radiographers to diagnose life-threatening diseases such as early and late stage cancer.

The 24 May launch of the University’s new Susan Hall Imaging Facilities means that Salford is now one of very few universities in the UK which have a CT scanner to train radiography students in diagnostic scanning and research techniques.

The event – which attracted over 60 high-profile radiography experts – saw the unveiling of a new £300,000 Toshiba Aquillion CT scanner, as well as two new computed radiography x-ray rooms.

The facilities will be used to train radiography students to diagnose diseases such as breast, colon and lung cancer using life-like dummies called ‘phantoms’, which mimic human tissue.

As well as radiography practice, the equipment will also enable students and academics to further their research into issues such as appropriate pressure used in breast cancer screening, as well as emotional intelligence in the mammographers who perform these procedures.

The facilities are named after Susan Hall – a radiographer who spent all her working life in the Manchester area before she passed away last year. Friends and members of Susan’s family joined staff, students and industry professionals to celebrate the new facilities at the official launch event.

University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Martin Hall said: ‘I am extremely proud of the role our radiography students and academics play. These excellent new facilities will be a huge boost to their study and research, as they work hard to research and detect a range of serious diseases.’

As well as making use of the hi-tech University facilities, radiography students at Salford spend around 50% of their time in clinical departments, learning how to apply the theory they have learnt at the University during their studies.

Professor Stuart Mackay, representing the Directorate of Radiography at Salford, continued: ‘These new facilities will enhance our students’ learning immeasurably, by providing them with the very latest technology, and as realistic an experience as possible, to diagnose diseases and injuries.

‘Our academics and industry partners, too, will benefit from this scanning technology, through improved research opportunities that have the potential to make a real difference to the experiences of patients undergoing scanning treatment.’

A student film from the University of Salford has been nominated for a national Royal Television Society Award – despite its slightly fragrant subject matter.

Creatures of the Compost by MA Wildlife Documentary Production student Justine Allan has been nominated in the Postgraduate Entertainment section of the student awards to be held on 20 May in Bradford.

Her film is aimed at children, and focuses on the wildlife which lives in and around a compost heap at the bottom of a garden. It takes in the whole ecosystem which depends on the heap: from fungus right up to badgers.

Justine, who’s from Bramhall, had to make a few sacrifices for her film. She was advised that to film badgers she should wear a pair of socks for a week, then leave them for a further week in the place where the badgers were so they could get used to her scent.

She also had to fill her parents’ shed with rotting fruit for some of the sequences in the film, which also includes footage of insects, slugs and hedgehogs.

Having graduated last year, Justine now works for a government communications department. She says that she wanted to make a film about something which is commonplace but often goes unnoticed. ‘A lot of wildlife films focus on exotic animals,’ she said. ‘But I wanted to show people, especially those who live in cities, that there are interesting things happening right at the bottom of the garden.

‘Children particularly love slugs and creepy-crawlies and I certainly had them in mind when making Creatures of the Compost.’

Salford has a strong tradition in the RTS awards, both at professional and student levels, having won at least one award every year for the past six.

Head of the School of Media, Music & Performance, Professor Erik Knudsen said: ‘We’re thrilled for Justine who is continuing a proud tradition for the School. The creativity of our students is a constant source of pride, and their achievements will only be strengthened when we start teaching in our new facility at MediaCityUK from the end of the year.’

All of the films from the Wildtrack series including Justine’s were broadcast on Sky and through the University’s partnership with Channel M.

The University of Salford’s Centre for Applied Archaeology is giving people from Greater Manchester the chance to join them on one of their digs at a site which has previously uncovered thousands of Bronze and Iron Age and Roman artefacts.

The two, five-day sessions at Mons Pool in Nottinghamshire will take place over two weeks in August and will include full training for even the most inexperienced excavator as well as transport from Manchester.

Mons Pool and Ferry Lane Farm are located on the sand and gravel terraces of the river Trent in Nottinghamshire, close to Newark. The site is to be quarried by Lafarge Aggregates Ltd and so, for the past ten years, they have funded commercial archaeological works.

The site itself is a 12 hectare rural Iron Age and Romano-British settlement landscape, and includes Bronze Age and Neolithic occupation phases. Over the last three years alone over 10,000 pottery shards as well as tools, coins and brooches have been found, and even human and animal remains.

As part of their work to help people gain an understanding of archaeology and the techniques involved, Salford’s professional archaeologists will be providing full training, equipment and accommodation as well as travel from Manchester.

Senior Archaeologist, Brian Grimsditch explained: ‘The Mons Pool site is a great place for beginners to learn about archaeology. It has dry sandy soil and you are almost guaranteed to find something at every dig.’

There is a £100 cost for each five day session which meets the costs of accommodation and travel. Week one is 8–12 August. Week two is 15–19 August.