Teacher training graded ‘outstanding’
Loughborough received the highest possible grade from the Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted) in an inspection of the University’s secondary initial teacher training (ITT) provision. In an assessment of its management and quality assurance, Loughborough received ‘Grade 1: Outstanding’, with the inspectors highlighting several particular strengths – strong leadership, which results in continuous improvement in the course and exciting innovations in its content; outstanding attention paid to the trainees’ needs; very effective training; excellent documentation; and well-designed selection procedures, resulting in the recruitment of very talented trainees. Loughborough trains up to 150 secondary school teachers a year through its PGCE courses in Design and Technology, Physical Education and Science.

Lecturer is a jolly good Fellow
Loughborough lecturer Professor John Dickens was one of just 50 people selected to receive a National Teaching Fellowship from the Higher Education Academy this year. The accolade was awarded to Professor Dickens in recognition of his imaginative approach to teaching Civil Engineering, his methods of recording student achievement and his efforts to make life easier for students with disabilities. As director of the Higher Education Academy Engineering Subject Centre (EngSC) and of the Engineering Centre for Excellence for Teaching and Learning (engCETL), which was launched this year, Professor Dickens is heavily involved in the work of both Loughborough-based centres to promote the enhancement of student learning nationally.

Opening the doors to higher education
With activities under the Widening Participation (WP) banner continuing to develop, a WP Monitoring Forum was held for the first time this year to allow staff and Students’ Union representatives, plus partners from local schools and colleges a chance to feedback on and input into key WP initiatives. Top of the agenda were schemes aimed at improving the social opportunities and representation of mature students, and the Widening Access Through Sport (WATS) project, which focuses on exposing Muslim young people to higher education environments using sport as the vehicle.

Making maths count
Loughborough’s Mathematics Education Centre was this year chosen to host the management of the North Leicestershire Further Mathematics Centre. Funded by the Department for Education and Skills (DfES) and overseen by Mathematics in Education and Industry, the Centre is one of 50 being set up across the country to form the national Further Mathematics Network. The Network aims to give all school and college students the opportunity to access further mathematics, which expands of the content of A level maths and is of particular benefit to anyone wishing to study maths-based subjects at university, such as computing, engineering or maths itself. The Centre will also promote mathematics to local GCSE pupils.

CSI Loughborough!
Potential crime scene investigators descended on Loughborough in March to investigate a suspicious death – all in the name of National Science Week! Following the theoretical discovery of a woman’s body on a beach, teams of local college pupils used forensic analysis lab techniques to piece together what happened to the woman and decide whether the death was an accident, suicide or murder.

Throughout National Science Week a packed programme of events at the University enabled school groups and members of the public to celebrate science and its importance in people’s lives. Other events held included a robotics workshop, a chance to make and test frisbees, and a workshop on ergonomic mobile phone design.

Trio’s design success
Loughborough students claimed three top honours at this year’s RSA (Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce) Design Direction Awards. Design and Technology’s Peter Humphery received the HEAD Trust Award in the Design for Debate category for ‘SEDATAIR’ – his futuristic system that allows air passengers to travel under sedation in special capsules. Peter’s design could help to reduce passengers’ fear of flying, allow them to arrive more refreshed, and increase on-board security. Chris Johnson, also from Design and Technology, was awarded the Helen Hamlyn Research Centre Award in the Inclusive Worlds category for his digital radio for users of all ages and abilities. Art and Design student Zoe Hargreaves was awarded the John Lewis Partnership Internship for her beautiful printed textile designs.

Building blocks for the future
Popular children’s toy Lego provided the inspiration for the engineers of the future, thanks to a competition piloted at the University this year. Around 80 children from eight local primary schools were challenged to build a robot based on an ocean theme, with current Engineering undergraduates acting as mentors to provide help and advice and ignite the children’s interest in university and engineering. The project culminated in the summer when the schools brought their robots to the University to compete against each other in various tasks in the Lego League Final.

Designs on display
Hundreds of the University’s final year students exhibited their work at this year’s two degree shows in June. At the School of Art and Design’s show, jewellery, fine art and exquisite printed textiles, developed for use by the fashion and interior design industries, were just some of the styles of artwork on display, with the students’ portfolios showing their work from conception to completion.

The Industrial Design and Technology show featured working prototypes, models and graphics of the students’ inventions. At the exhibition three students were awarded Innovation Prizes by LATI (Loughborough Advanced Technology Initiative) and Loughborough University Enterprises Ltd for their inventive designs. The awards went to Marc Bull for ‘Beatpantz’, the world’s first wearable drum kit, which converts tapping on the trousers to an audible drum sound heard through headphones; Benjamin Hubert for his ‘puff out lights’ – interactive ambient lighting which is turned off by blowing the top of the lamp; and Hannah Plevin for ‘Cooksmart’, an electronic cooking and recipe collection device.

Dyeing to get into science
An EPSRC-funded Chemistry project to get more young people interested in science proved a huge success in 35 schools across Leicestershire and the South West of England this year. The project – run by the University, with the Royal Society of Chemistry and the University of Bristol as project partners – was aimed at GCSE and A level students. Chemistry solar energy kits were sent to each school, giving students first hand, practical experience of scientific research. By experimenting with different dyes, from sources such as strawberries, cherries and teabags, students were asked to find which produced the highest electrical power, when used in dye-sensitised titanium dioxide photoelectrochemical solar cells.

Design show brings triple success
Loughborough this year claimed three awards at the New Designers show – the foremost event in graduate design. Industrial Design and Technology graduate Hannah Plevin received the KBSA (Kitchen, Bathroom and Bedroom Specialists Association) Award for her electronic cooking instruction and recipe collection device, designed to encourage quick preparation of healthy meals; and Ben Hubert was presented with the Corus Award for his ‘puff out lights’ (pictured belwow). The third award went to a group of Printed, Woven and Multi-Media Textiles graduates, who received the Brintons Collective Award, given in recognition of one institution’s work that collectively exhibits outstanding artistic ability.

A colourful life
Fun for all the family was the order of the day at an event hosted by the University as part of Family Learning Week. ‘Creating a colourful life’ enabled families to be creative and learn at the same time through the science of colour. The young and the not so young were all able to make paints, use colour for forensic investigation and decorate mugs to take home.

Capital designs
Loughborough University scooped the top student prize at the Society of Artists Agents (SAA) Illustration awards in April, for the second year running. Former student Rachel Harper was awarded £1,000 for her winning artwork which featured the London Eye. Two other former Loughborough students, Stephen Waterhouse and Lucy Truman, made the final shortlist of professional entries. The SAA Student Award encourages up and coming illustrators to show their work alongside that of professionals. The brief – New architecture by Tube, bus and river – invited illustrators to produce artwork encouraging Londoners and visitors alike to explore the new architectural changes to the capital’s skyline.