A leap in the league
Loughborough this year leapt to its highest ever rating of 6th place in the Times Good University Guide, placing it with Oxbridge and the London trio of Imperial College, London School of Economics and University College London. In the individual subject tables, Loughborough topped the league in Communication and Media Studies; Hospitality, Leisure, Recreation, Sport and Tourism; and Librarianship and Information Management, with nine other subjects in the top ten.

Simply the best
The Loughborough Student Experience was confirmed as the best in the country this year, when the University was named winner of the hotly contested Times Higher Education Supplement award for the UK’s Best Student Experience. The award is the only THES award that is voted for by students, who were asked to rate various aspects of the University, including its extracurricular activities, amenities, sports facilities and academic performance.

Earlier in the year, the results of the second National Student Survey showed that Loughborough continues to impress its students, with the University gaining a top five placing among full-time students. For the survey, students were asked to rate their satisfaction, out of a maximum score of five, in seven areas of their degree programme – teaching, assessment and feedback, academic support, organisation and management, learning resources, personal development, and overall satisfaction. For the second successive year Loughborough was ranked top in the ‘learning and resources’ category. In the individual subject areas, nine of Loughborough’s 23 departments topped their subject tables, with Physical Science ranked first in each of the seven areas of assessment.

Fifth Queen’s Anniversary Prize presented
Her Majesty The Queen presented Loughborough with its fifth Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education in February, an achievement unbeaten by any other university. This latest award was given in recognition of Loughborough’s outstanding and widely respected work in evaluating and helping to develop social policy-related programmes.

“The University’s contribution to social policy through high quality research, with a record of relevance, practical orientation and innovation, is an outstanding example of how excellence in research can be applied with wide impact and benefit. It has influenced policy makers and legislators in the UK resulting in better targeted policy, in particular as it affects neglected and disadvantaged groups.”

Loughborough joins esteemed group
In August Loughborough joined the highly-respected 1994 Group – a set of 19 internationally recognised universities that share a commitment to research excellence, high quality teaching and an outstanding student experience. Together the Group’s members are able to engage in a coherent and positive manner with key stakeholders and play an increasingly pivotal role in shaping policy in the higher education sector.

University marks 40th anniversary
Loughborough this year celebrated the 40th anniversary of its University Charter, awarded on 19 April 1966 in recognition of the excellence achieved by Loughborough College of Advanced Technology and its predecessor colleges. Celebrations began in February with a cake cutting at the University’s meeting of Court and continued throughout the year with concerts, receptions and lectures, culminating with an alumni reunion which saw more than 200 graduates meeting up with old friends to reminisce about their Loughborough days. A book – Loughborough University, the first forty years, 1966-2006 – was also published to mark the anniversary.

Land deal lays foundations for the future
In April the University purchased a 23-acre area of land, which will help propel Loughborough into the spotlight as the centre for sporting excellence and innovation. Acquired from 3M Health Care Limited, with significant financial support from the East Midlands Development Agency (emda), the land will enable the University to foster its research and business agenda and to accommodate the national offices of various UK sporting organisations. The purchase augmented the campus to 433 acres.

British University in Egypt moves forward
March saw the formal opening of the British University in Egypt (BUE) – a ground-breaking initiative with the strong support of the British and Egyptian governments that will provide a British style education and produce graduates who are attractive to major Egyptian, UK and international employees. For the last three years Loughborough University Enterprises Ltd has provided advice on university management, administration and organisation to the team developing BUE’s academic programmes. Loughborough has now established a formal partnership with BUE and the University will be undertaking a validation exercise of BUE’s programmes in 2007.

Memorandum signings facilitate cooperation
The Vice Chancellor of Pakistan’s NWFP University in Engineering and Technology Peshawar visited Loughborough in April to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the University. The MOU cements a partnership agreement that will help to further strengthen Loughborough’s international links and assist Pakistan in its aim for its universities to become more research intensive.

A second MOU signed this year will help to facilitate academic cooperation between Loughborough and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. It will enable Loughborough and IIT Delhi to explore the possibility of exchanging information and collaborating on research and teaching, jointly organising conferences and short courses, and undertaking student exchange programmes.

Graduate School launched
October saw the launch of the University’s Graduate School, which was established to raise the profile of postgraduate activities and to help ensure Loughborough continues to deliver the highest quality experience for postgraduate students. The University’s first dedicated postgraduate open day is planned for March 2007.

Major new facilities opened
Loughborough continues to invest in the fabric of the University, with several new facilities opened this year.

The Photovoltaics (PV) Laboratory, the largest dedicated PV research facility in any UK university, was opened in May. PV technology enables the conversion of sunlight directly into electricity without the production of harmful carbon dioxide emissions. The facility represents a multi-million pound investment by the University, together with the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), emda and industry.

Just two days earlier the Keith Green Building, home to the University’s Defence Technical Undergraduate Scheme’s (DTUS) Typhoon Squadron, was opened by Lieutenant General Sir John Kiszely KCB MC, director of the MOD Defence Academy. Loughborough is one of just five universities to be part of the DTUS, which the MOD established to support sponsored students studying for engineering and science degrees, all of whom are committed to becoming officers in the Army, Royal Navy, Royal Air Force or civil service.

The Loughborough-based Systems Engineering Doctorate Centre, which is home to a new four-year Engineering Doctorate in Systems Engineering (EngD), was launched in September. A multi-university initiative comprising Loughborough, Bath, Leicester, Strathclyde and Queen’s University Belfast, the EngD offers an alternative to the traditional PhD to better suit the needs of industry.

The £5m extension to the Sir Frank Gibb Building, which houses the Centre for Collaborative Construction Research, was completed this year. The building’s innovative design was recognised later in the year when it was named Building of the Year at the Property and Construction Leicestershire 2006 Awards.

Going green
This year saw the first ever BEST (Building Environmental Sustainability Together) Awards – a joint initiative between the University and Students’ Union that aims to recognise individuals and groups who have shown real commitment to green issues. The awards ceremony also marked the launch of Loughborough’s commitment to the Higher Education Carbon Management Programme, the focus of which is to reduce emissions across the campus.

Later in the year a £1.3m scheme began to construct a combined heat and power (CHP) plant on campus, enabling the University to generate its own electricity. CHP plants significantly reduce carbon dioxide emissions and make use of the heat produced when electricity is generated, which a conventional power station would normally reject as waste. The plant will be operational in early 2007.

Confirming its ‘green’ commitment, the University launched an initiative in November that offers its 3,000 staff the chance to offset the pollution they create during the course of their work by planting trees. University staff use various forms of transport to travel for or to and from work, all of which add to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. The ‘Trees for Loughborough’ scheme will help to increase awareness of the damage caused to the planet by carbon emissions and enable staff to help in the reduction.

Honouring their achievement
This year honorary degrees were conferred upon 24 distinguished people, in recognition of their contribution to industry, academia, business, sport, the arts and society.

Ade Adepitan, Hon DUniv
Ex Paralympian and TV presenter

Professor Harry R Allcock, Hon DSc
Evan Pugh Professor of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University

Steve Bell, Hon DLitt
Cartoonist, political illustrator and graphic satirist

Julie Bradshaw MBE, Hon DUniv
Record-breaking long-distance swimmer and part-time lecturer at Loughborough University

Dr Peter Davies, Hon DTech
Chief Executive Officer, PERA

Peter Harrison, Hon DTech
Chair of The Peter Harrison Foundation

Charles W Hull, Hon DTech
Chief Technology Officer of 3D Systems Corporation, USA

Nigel Irens, Hon DTech
Boat designer

Professor Trevor Kletz, Hon DTech
Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Visiting Professor at Loughborough University and Texas A&M University

Professor Lily Kong, Hon DSc
Vice Provost (Education), National University of Singapore

Iris Lightfoote, Hon DUniv
Chief Executive Officer of the Leicester and Leicestershire Racial Equality Council

Lim Swee Sway, Hon DTech
Minister, Prime-Minister’s Office and Second Minister for National Development, Singapore. Graduate of the University

Dapeng Lou, Hon DTech
Vice-President of the International Association of Athletics Federations

Sudarshan Maini, Hon DTech
Chairman – Maini Group, Bangalore, India

David Mellor, Hon DTech
Royal Designer for Industry

Hugh Morris, Hon DUniv
Deputy Chief Executive, England and Wales Cricket Board

Dr Alex Moulton CBE, RDI, FREng, Hon DTech
Designer of the Moulton Bike and Hydrolastic and Hydrogas Car Suspensions. Former Vice-President of the Royal Academy of Engineering

Jeremy Newton, Hon DUniv
Director of the Louise T Blouin Foundation

Sir Keith O’Nions, Hon DSc
Director General Science and Innovation

Professor Adrian Smith FRS, Hon DSc
Principal, Queen Mary, University of London

Rod Thorpe, Hon DUniv
Former Director of Sports Development, Loughborough University

Margaret Tomlinson, Hon DUniv
Lay member of the University’s Council

Sir David Wallace, Hon DSc
Former Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University

Professor Alan H Wickens, Hon DTech
Visiting Industrial Professor, Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University

pictured from left to right Ade Adepitan, Iris lightfoot and Sir David Wallace