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professor sir jim mcdonald: and avery warm welcome to the university of strathclyde here at the magnificent barony hall whichwill be an excellent ceremony and we certainlyhave a full house today. and for those of you who have beenvisiting glasgow for the first time, i should say this is a very typicalweather that we are experiencing, seasonably cool for this time of the year but do put up with us. we have quite a number of graduandsset to become graduates
as we will work through todayfrom physics, and strathclyde institute forpharmacy and biomedical sciences, but on these special occasions weusually get some real treats. today, have an additional couple offeatures that you can enjoy. so, before the ceremony starts, and i will officially have us open in a moment, we will be conferring an honorarydegree on an outstanding scientist about whom you will hearsomething shortly, sir peter knight
who is with me immediatelyon the left. a great friend and a great friend to the institutionand has achieved a great deal with an enormous impact for the ukand internationally. and post the graduation of ourstudents, which is the highlight for the family and friends,of course, we will be awarding the alumni of the yearto debbie crosby from the clydesdale bank. one of our graduates, someone who has had a wonderfulcareer
and a great many years ahead in termsof the rest of her career but we want to recognise hercontribution to finance and banking. so quite a treat this morning, we should you have outby 19:30 tonight at that rate. nonetheless, please do enjoy theceremony and with that i will formally declare thiscongregation open and invite professor erling riis,the head of the department of physics,to introduce our graduate. professor erling riis:principal and vice chancellor,
i have the honour to presentto you professor sir peter knight. we have in front of us a true pioneer of modern theoretical atomic physicsand quantum optics. over the course of his career,sir peter has published more than 400 articles in international journalsand has become one of the most highly cited quantum opticians in the world. he is also, more than anyone,been the one, who has unitedand led a research field in the uk spanning thefundamentals of quantum physics
to the applied work supportinga growing photonics industry. many of us at strathclyde -myself included - owe a great gratitude to sir peter for his inspirationas a scientist, an international ambassador for the optics and for hisdetermined effort to represent our research fieldat the political level. i first got to know peter in his roleas coordinator of what was then the serc nonlinearoptics initiative in the early 1990's.
his work back then to support the ukquantum optics community was probably a contributing factorto me ending up here. more recently his impact has extendedfurther through his leadershipin establishing a uk quantum technology initiative. without necessarily appreciating itwe use quantum physics every time we use a piece of electronics - switch on the tv,pick up a phone, search the internet, etc.
however, so far we do not useanything like the full power of the weird and subtlenature of quantum physics. the harnessing of this andtranslation into a whole new industry is peter's vision for the next stage,which so far has received approximately 300 million poundsof uk government funding. this is an initiative, that alignsparticularly well with strathclyde's research activities and desire tocreate impact and we have done very well out of it. related to this is also peter's roleat the national physical laboratory,
where it was he, who originally gotus started on the journey, that has now led to strathclydeplaying a leading role in the operationof this national laboratory. peter received his doctorate degree at the university of sussexback in the early 1970's. he tells me that he was originallyan experimentalist, but somehow life in the lab was notkind to him and he became a theorist. personally i thinkthat was a great move. had peter been as successful inexperimental physics as he has been
in theory, experimental quantumoptics would have been a daunting disciplineto enter for the rest of us. he soon joined joe eberly,one of the theoretical leaders in quantum optics, at the university of rochester andafter various personal fellowships he ended up at imperial collegein 1979 where he progressed through the ranks to nowbeing an emeritus professor. he is also a former head of thedepartment of physics, principalof the faculty of natural sciences
and deputy rector for research, where he was responsible for thecollege's research strategy. sir peter is a past-presidentof the optical society of america and he was for 7 years a memberof their board of directors. he was president of the instituteof physics from 2011-2013 and made an honorary fellow in 2014. he has won a number of prizes andawards including the thomas young medal and the glazebrook medal of theinstitute of physics, the ives medal of the optical society of america andthe royal medal of the royal society.
he was elected a fellow of the royalsociety in 1999 and knighted in the queen's birthdayhonours list in 2005 for his work in optical physics. peter is by no meansthe kind of person, who just retires to lookafter the grandchildren. he is currently senior fellow inresidence at the kavli royal society international centre at chicheleyhall where he supports what is described as 'a new home ofscience' where scientists, technologists and engineers can meet,
discuss and develop their work. he has in the past been chiefscientific advisor at the uk national physical laboratory and currentlychairs their quantum metrology institute and is a board member of the uk nationalquantum technology initiative. he continues to advise the ukgovernment on scientific matters. it has been an exceptionally fruitfulexperience for me to work with sir peter over the last quarterof a century. he has been a friend, a close allyand a strong supporter
of our activities at strathclyde andthe way we seek to bring the benefit of ourwork out to the wider world. it is with great pleasure thereforeprincipal and vice chancellor that, with the authority of senate, i askyou to confer upon sir peter knight the degree of doctor of sciencehonoris causa. professor sir jim mcdonald: i createyou a doctor of science, peter, it's a great pleasure to invite youto the university of strathclyde and many congratulations. well done. professor sir peter knight:now is my chance to say a few words.
firstly,i am so delighted to be here. i've collaboratedwith strathclyde university for many years. it's always been a joy to behere and see the creativity and the inventiveness of what we seehere in this great university. it's nice to see some of my oldfriends here, colleagues. let me say a little bit about how mycareer and strathclydehave some parallels. john anderson,
in his will in 1796, insisted that he felt that it wasnecessary to have a place of 'useful learning'. it is kind of odd that he, as a professor of natural philosophy, didn't think that his alma mater didthat, but we are delighted that that vision turned into theuniversity of strathclyde. a place to pursue new knowledge, impart it to the next generation
and to apply it for the common good,to address major global challenges and to create new technology. now those kinds of vision statements about what a university should dodrives strathclyde. curiously, it also drives imperialcollege where i spent most of my working life. there are parallels. imperial college is a kind of youngersister of strathclyde. you had a royal college of scienceand technology.
we were founded as a royal college ofscience in london, rather a long time after you were. we were not founded until 1845. so we are your junior sister,but we share this common aspiration that not only should we do great science but that science should beapplied to change the world we live in. science is really something thatshould be fundamental to the way we live our lives.
it creates the new economy, the science budget, which soundsa lot of money, five, 6 billion per annum spent, is not a spend,it is an investment. it creates the new economy. now who's going to create that neweconomy but you as our new graduates? the new graduates have been given thetools by the university of strathclyde to helpchange our world. so let's focus on your subjects,the new graduates. life scientist, biologist, physicist,
what can you do and what will you do? well, of course, life sciences is oneof the great successes of the uk economy. pharmaceuticals play an enormous role in generating employment, wealth, and conquering diseaseand relieving suffering. it is a fantastic achievement of the british scientific enterprise that this translation from lifesciences and fundamental biology
into that kind of discoveryhas been transformational. how about physics? one of the things that is worth stressing about strathclyde is that you undertakea spectrum of activities from the fundamental to technologychanging developments and in particular in photonics. university of strathclyde is a worldleader in photonics, it has the institute of photonics.
why is it important to the uk? because photonics contribute, rather unexpectedly perhaps to some, to a greater proportion of theuk gdp than pharmaceuticals. that is kind of unknown to manypeople and the activities of folks here in strathclyde have led to the creationof companies and employment and it contributes 85,000 jobs
around the uk. it has enabled us to do so much morein terms of advanced manufacturing. the iphone that many of you haveand i hope they are on silent, is manufactured with at least 18different sorts of lasers. many of which were developed here inscotland and very much by alumniof this university. so this universityhas given you your chance, it has equipped you with the toolsthat this great university has given. to work out ways in which you,as our new graduates,
can help us change the world for thebetter, to make sure that we staya knowledge-driven economy with the kind of insightsthat you have been given in this great universityto play your role. i'm very conscious of the honourthat i'm given here at strathclyde. it has been a wonderful opportunity to meet everybody here again, old friends, and to be able toarticulate my view that what you are doing here
in strathclydeis of enormous importance to us. thank you. speaker: principaland vice-chancellor, in the name of the universityand by the authority of senate i present to you these studentsfor the degree of doctor of engineeringin photonics, joseph andrew thom. for the degreeof doctor of philosophy for research in the departmentof physics,
amy jane maclachlan. niall david simpson. for research in the strathclydeinstitute of pharmacy and biomedical sciences, nor zaihana binti abdul rahman. jenny may crowe. kelly anne etherson. rhona jane galloway. thomas harwood.
jana katharina hiltner. laura hutchison. laura kate jeffrey. nurkhalida kamal. alaa abbas a kashmiry. steven robert katchur. sajjad ali khan. felicity elspeth lumb. nicola louise mcginely.
shakhawan khalid mawlood. mireia puig. louise ritchie. kirsty anne robb. robert john slack. for the degree of master of researchin drug delivery systems, stephen amoah-nyako. in drug discovery, hazel june ramage.
for the degree of master of sciencein advanced physics, david george mclellan. in nanoscience, christopher murray. for the degree of master of physicsin physics, matthew brown. andrew john farrell. ross johnston. gemma king. craig scott murdoch.
adam michael ross. scott james thomas. samuel anderson. alan ian brown. nick bruce. matteo demelas. martyn alexander hunter. jonathan jarrett. steven lennox.
gregor mcdowall. stacey nicolle mitchell. david newton. philip doyle. anthony james howley. in physics with specialisationin complex systems, mathias weisen. in physics with specialisationin nanoscience, elaine katrina adair.
in physics with specialisationin photonics, james denholm. mark james carmichael. in physics with specialisationin quantum optics, leon chan. benjamin alan ross. karen wallace. for the degree of master in sciencein biochemistry, ross joseph kerr.
colin sloan. in immunology, rhiannon williams. in pharmacology, lindsey ann bennie. jennifer d'alessandro. ciaran docherty. osamudiamen okungbowa. for the degree of bachelorof science in physics,
ryan brebner. hayley carroll. zoe eleanor davidson. jennifer anne evans. samantha hume. ryan fraser patrick mitchell. andrew paterson. jan schniete. gioan tatsi.
syed ali sinan amjad. nathan dalgleish. craig doris. ryan healy. luke kavanagh. lee mccann. jamie mackle. jack martin. david donald matheson.
kieran mitchell. carolyn sarah o'dwyer. andrew samuel phillips. nicholas quinn. heather simmons. ryan speirs. scott donald whiteside. anna whyte. samuel robert beattie.
sean joseph deighan. michael gates. james gill. thomas edward healy. emma jane henderson. lee jardine. jonathan lui. stacey leanne mcdevitt. amy kathleen mckelvie.
gwen morris. callum reynolds. callum ian runciman. andrew smith. rhys ferguson. connor wasson. callum kirkpatrick. andrew monaghan thomas. in physics with teaching,
joanne baillie. nicole slavin. nikki toal. hannah mairi sutherland. in biochemistry and immunology, alina dana paduraru. diana onodelia rios szwed. andrew cox. anthony sean duffy.
andrea lovdel. peter smith. rachel burke. daniel grant. in biochemistry and microbiology, mark mackenzie harris. rebecca elizabeth mchugh. klaudia norko. carolin peper.
jennifer nicoll rae. anthony patrick starkey. stephen john ballantyne. in biochemistry and pharmacology, calum hugh fergusson hunter. lauren elizabeth rodger. stuart mcewan. morgan mckenzie. helen malley.
simone lynzie melrose. peter james miller. scott james mitchell. callum andrew baxter. clare friel. paula seyi-ogedengbe. darren walker. safia ali. in immunology and microbiology,
laura elizabeth kennedy. ellis beltrami monaghan. ryan craig houston. alexander sebastian mcintyre. graeme mark steele. julia margaret stubbins. rebecca lee tonner. yee kay hazel yung. holly crook.
kirsty mary maclean. in immunology and pharmacology, simon david fisher. olivia hannah louise davison. jennifer ann dickson. sophie jane dunlop. ben johnston. megan macpherson. dale morgan.
frances seehafer. sinead cahill. aurelija gerlinskaite. claire haughey. rachel lisa wilson. lyndsay mckerns. in biomedical science, louise claire bann. robyn campbell.
jordanna magee. nicole susan dailly. catriona gilmour. nikita hoikay grover. stephanie hickey. victoria jardine. cokine kayya. roshanak kianpour. brian lafferty.
emma-jayne daly mcelhinney. kristina mcevoy. charlene mckechnie. murray james mcpherson. cameron garroch paterson. craig alexander ian polonis. maaria saleem rana. ryan liam shearer. caroline mary summers.
namrta bhopal. robyn dawson. claire duffy. scott david hawklyn. jed lennox. aliyah anber shafiq. jade slaven. in forensic biology, emma heddleston.
kayleigh mcleish. nicole toni widdowson. gordon williamson. alistair david john barr. sarah louise duffy. luke mcgill. stephanie mcgill. jennifer macis. abigail sara miller.
rebecca jane orr. alan daniel outram. in biological sciences, alexia asch-d'souza. teal acara hunt-richards. professor sir jim mcdonald:well, ladies and gentlemen, wonderful celebrations and thanks for joining in the process, it alwaysbrings more life to the hall. as we conclude the graduationprocess,
as i mentioned at thestart of the graduation, we are now going to haveanother special part of this day. we will now inviteprofessor eleanor shaw, from the hunter centrefor entrepreneurship, to introduce ouralumna of the year. please. professor eleanor shaw: principal andvice-chancellor, i have the honour to present to you debbie crosbie. graduates, friends,families and colleagues,
i am delighted to introduceyou all to debbie. today, we are celebratingthe class of 2016. this is your day - many congratulationsto all of you and to your families. you've earned your degreeand the right to stand proud as a graduate ofthe university of strathclyde. you now join a strong family of over 154,000 alumni and as you take your next stepsin your personal development
and your careersyou can continue to put "useful learning"into practice by contributing both economically and socially. the university of strathclyde isrightly proud of the achievements of its alumniand each year we celebrate the outstanding achievementsour alumni through our alumnus,or as in the case today, our alumna of the year award. this special award is one of the ways
in which strathclyderecognises and celebrates the outstanding contributions whichits alumni make to their chosen field, in the uk and overseas. recipients of this award are inspiredindividuals and role models for strathclyde students, alumni,staff and the wider community. this is particularly true in the caseof today's recipient: debbie crosbie. the award recognises debbie'soutstanding contributions to financial services and isrecognition of the ground-breaking achievements which debbie has made
across the banking sector andthroughout the scottish economy more widely. particularly in this year ofinnovation, architecture and design, this award is recognition too of debbie's innovative attitude and behaviour and the contributions she had made acrossthe banking sector. debbie is joined todayby her husband craig, daughter charlotte, her mother sylviaand her partner ray -
i am pleased to warmly welcome youand hope you really enjoy your day. you've got lots to be proud of. debbie crosbie graduatedfrom strathclyde in 1991 with an honours degreein industrial relations. following a spell withthe prudential assurance company, debbie joined the clydesdalebank in 1997. she soon started to specialise in it and by 2004 she was responsible forthe governance and management of the bank's it investmentin the uk,
including quality assurance,risk and security. in 2008, debbie was appointed chiefinformation officer and in this role,she was instrumental in unifying the differentinfrastructure and operating systems of both clydesdale and yorkshirebanks, no easy task i am sure! however debbie rose to the challenge and indeed wasso effective in this role that in 2011, her responsibilitieswere expanded to include oversight for payments,
collections and recoveries as well asall back office processing for the bank. in 2014, debbie joinedthe boards of clydesdale bank and national australia group europe as an executive directorand in january 2015, debbie was appointed to her currentposition as chief operating officer. in the short period since then, debbie has reallymade her mark on the bank. in february 2015 debbie became actingchief executive officer
and took charge of the uk business just as it startedto plan its separation from the national australia bank. even after the new permanent ceo tookup his post, debbie maintained her involvement in the demerger project.she met investors and analysts in australia and europe to promote the meritsof a standalone clydesdale bank. in februaryof this year clydesdale bank
becomean independent uk company again and completedits initial public offering. debbie was there when the companysuccessfully listed on the london stock exchange where its shares have risen by 50%in just four months. the bank is now poisedto enter the ftse 250. debbie made history when she becamethe first female executive to sign scottish banknotes - i'm lucky to haveone in my hand here today -
strong evidence, indeed,of the contributions which debbie has so farmade to the banking sector and more widely to the achievementsof women in business. away from banking, debbie served asa non-executive director of the scottish court service for 3 years during which timeshe was also chair of their audit committee. debbie has also provided evidenceto the uk parliament's inquiry into women in the workplaceand she is a fellow of the chartered
institute of bankers. over her career,debbie has displayed ambition, boldness and innovation -important values which are shared bythe university of strathclyde and valueswhich today's class of 2016 are encouraged to embrace and todemonstrate throughout your careers. it is with great pleasure, therefore, principal and vice-chancellor, that i ask you to present the alumnaof the year award to debbie crosbie.
professor sir jim mcdonald:debbie, many congratulations on becoming our alumna of the year. you are a role model, of course, for our colleaguesin the business school, but our scientists and pharmacistsand physicists, they can take inspirationfrom your wonderful achievements. wonderful to have you back againand looking forward to developing our relationship withyou further. ladies and gentlemen, debbie.
debbie crosbie: principal, vicechancellor, professor shaw, graduates, distinguished guests,ladies and gentlemen. i am very honouredto receive this award today. i'm very grateful for professorhillier for nominating me for this award and i wouldjust like to thank professor shaw for the very kind introduction. i feel very privileged to be joiningthe long list of previous winners. and if i'm honest,slightly surprised. as i reflect on the wealth of talent
that the university has nurtured overmany years, and the contribution that it's madeto sports, science, commerce and culture,that its graduates have made, i don't consider my achievementsto be particularly special. what i do recogniseas special however, is the grounding that my life andeducation in glasgow has given me. firstly at school in bearsden and of course secondly here atthis great university of strathclyde. whilst our exact place in thehierarchy remains a favourite
for political debate, i still firmlybelieve that the scottish education system is still thevery best in the world. the reputation of our teaching andlearning attracts students from far and wide and our sense of community ensuresthe warmest of welcome in our cities and on our campuseswhen students arrive here. our quality of life encourages manyto continue to live and work in scotlandbeyond their graduation. and that is as true today as it waswhen i graduated now
just about exactly25 years ago to the day. in 1991, when i was sitting exactlywhere you are, i'm not sure i truly understoodhow special graduating was. at 21 i was a young graduate - i'm sure you're already thinkingthat - but the combined wisdom, support andencouragement of my family, every teacher, ever tutori've ever encountered, i realized that despite all of that it was now up to meto make my own way.
so very luckily,i soon joined the clydesdale bank, one of scotland's oldest brands and it was indeed a place where i'dopened my first bank account when i was only 14 years old. at 29 i was given the great honour tojoin their executive committee - if i'm honest, probably slightly outof my depth but very keen to learn. as eleanor has so kindly outlined, i've had the chance to do manydifferent jobs in the bank and i have been fortunate to workwith many talented people.
i've been involved in some veryspecial projects, however i realise only now howimportant the grounding that i received at this university was in every stepof developing my career. so please, graduates,really enjoy today, because you've got a fantastic start, but do have the confidencein your own ability to learn and develop and in finishing, i would like to passon one little known fact
and give youa little piece of advice. as i said earlier, i opened my firstbank account with clydesdale bank i've been its chief informationofficer, its chief executive officer, and i'm on the board. and, fantastic that i got theopportunity and privilege to be the first lady to sign a banknote. however, as i finished university i participated inthe milk round process. as you can imagine, i was very keento join clydesdale bank,
as a glaswegian who had opened myfirst bank account there it was a clearfavourite choice for me. i went through the process, and i went through a series ofinterviews and i have to tell you, at the last hurdle they rejected me. fortunately i did secureanother job with prudential and the clydesdale bank very quickly saw the error of its ways andrecruited me five years later. the reason i tell you that story isbecause as young gruduates
you now have a fantasticgrounding and great opportunity and everything is not gonnago to plan. so you must take your greatgrounding, your stamina, your enthusiasm and your great ambition, which i'msure you have, and who knows where you could all be in 25 years. so finally... i'd just like to thank my familyfor their unwavering support, and thank the universityfor this great honour.
i wish you all the best. professor sir jim mcdonald:debbie, thank you very much for that. in the contextof the science faculty, debbie's last story reminds me of theeinstein quote that we only failwhen we stop trying. and debbie clearly keptthat tenacious approach to building her career. i should also tell you,by way of confession, just to give you an idea of the times
that the university financesare these days, that 20 pound note that professor shaw showed youactually belongs to debbie. (laughter) i just felt i hadto share that with you. but, anyway, let us turnto matters importantly for today. let me again, ladies and gentleman, reiterate our welcome to all of youat this important ceremony - a day that none of you will forget.
it marks the successful conclusion ofmany years of hard work - you've now graduated in frontof your proud family and friends and you shouldhave the satisfaction now that you're beginningthe next stage of your lives equippedwith an excellent education, and we've seen a great product of oureducation here in debbie and her speech, and also you have hada great student experience - and, of course,now with a strathclyde degree.
you have a valued passportto your future career. today, we welcome visitors from allover the uk and - indeed - all over the world - we are delightedto see each and every one of you here at today's celebrations. for me, as presiding officer, it's agreat honour for me to perform the cappingexercise. it's a simple - but ancient - ritualrooted variously in china of some 2,000 years agoand in the middle east really marking the transitionto adulthood from childhood.
but today, of course, we mark yourtransition into the future of your career, whatever that may be. for each of you - when i touchedyour head with a cap - it was a formal acknowledgementof your hard work. it recognised the days spent in thelecture theatres in the laboratories and the nights in the library -of course, and ultimately the passing of your examinations. that particular cap, incidentally,was a gift to the university, just a couple of years ago,from the glasgow school of art
who designed it and manufacturedit for us in honour of our fiftieth anniversaryof the award of a royal charter. and, of course, as you finish yourtravails as students, thomas edison - the famous americaninventor and industrialist said that - "genius is 1% inspiration and 99%perspiration". i'm sure in thestrathclyde student's case - those percentages might havebeen a little better than that! today, you have become strathclydealumni,
and you are the latest of our torchbearers - like many generationsof graduates before you. strathclyde students are some of theuk's most highly sought after by the employers including rr, siemens, gsk, astra zenica and many others from the businesssector from the public and academic sectors. in a recent survey, strathclyde wasrecognised in the top five uk universities producing the highestnumbers of chief executives.
and with all you've successfully comethrough - i know you would agree - that you couldn't have done thiswithout the support and encouragement of your families and friends. it's fitting that we acknowledge their part in the successfulcompletion of your university studies. our graduates -and the university at large - owe them an enormous debtof gratitude. as the first in my own family to haveattended university -
as it happens -here at strathclyde, in the dept of electronic andelectrical engineering - i know the importance of such support. i am sure that today's graduates -and our university staff - would like to takethis opportunity to thank your families, friends,and supporters for all that they've doneto make today possible. thank you very much indeed. (applause)
sir isaac newton - the historicalphysicist, said - "if i have seen further,it's because i've stood on "the shoulders of giants." there's no doubt that your familiesand friends have provided those shoulders for you to stand on. and for our academic staff toothis is a very important day becauseyour success is their reward. strathclyde has worked hard toprovide you with a high quality education, and, a first classuniversity experience - for all of
our students,regardless of background. so let me now invite our newgraduates to join with me - in thanking our staff - for all thatthey have done to support you in your journey and achievements.thank you. you should be aware that we were established in 1796. this is our 220th anniversary,and, throughout our history, the university of strathclydehas remained faithful to our founding principles.
we were established - and i quote -"for the benefit of all mankind". it is worth noting that we were theonly higher education institution established in scotland during thetime of the enlightenment - a real distinction forthe university of strathclyde. and we are now driving our modernstrategy forward in that same exciting spirit - making it whollyrelevant to the 21st century. our founder - professor john anderson, a physicistor natural philosopher - had strong links with benjaminfranklin - the american inventor
and academic. franklin was one of the founders ofthe university of pennsylvania in 1751 - with the motto of"useful knowledge." this directly influenced johnanderson, along with his friends, resonated beautifully withstrathclyde's motto of "useful learning"and never has this philosophy been so relevant since our establishmentover 200 years ago.
this motto - known by all of ourstaff and students - still defines our purpose as a leadinginternational technological university. across our campus - and in thebuildings you will have passed on your way tothe barony hall today - our academics and students are developing drugs to diagnose andfight diseases and illnesses and, for example, we have two drugs enroute to clinical trials and one of our spinouts -
mironid - just this week raised4.5m pounds to fund the development of drugs totackle degenerative kidney disease, cancer and inflammatory disease. we are producing energy technologies and policy solutions to tackleclimate change and to establish a low carboneconomy. we are revolutionising globalmanufacturing and helping to create the 4thindustrial revolution - the so called industry 4.0.
our students continue their work inafrica to establish water and power supplies and to deploy health careapproaches for remote communities. they are bringing prosthetic limbtechnologies to those in need in india and many areworking to inform public policy & national economic strategy. they are providing people withopportunities to transform their lives and the lives of their familiesand, as i referenced earlier, we still attract many firstgeneration university students to strathclyde
and finally - we are giving businessand industry the tools that they need to be more innovative, to promote economic growth,to create jobs and provide us all with a more sustainable and healthyquality of life. these are some of the reasons thatwe've had a terrific sequence of independent recognition of what wedo and how we do it. over the past 4 years we've won thetimes higher education uk research project of the year,
uk university of the year, followed by becoming the ukentrepreneurial university of the year. and with regard to education - in themost recent teaching quality assessment - we were delighted toreceive the highest possible ratings for our teaching qualityand methods. this was acknowledgement of ourcommitment providing our students with the best education & experience. in december 2014, the national ukassessment of research quality
was published - this happens every5-6 years - and we were pleased with the results. they confirmed that strathclyde is has the number one physics department in terms of research qualityin the uk. number four in pharmacy & biologicalsciences, number four in chemistry. a real wonderful achievementby the faculty of science. complimented by ourengineering faculty,
7 of their 8 departments arein the uk top 10 - 3 in the top 3 and four number onea year in scotland. our business school rising throughthe rankings for research at number 6. a wonderful achievement. our humanities and social sciencesfollow suit. wonderful achievements from our gpp,the department at number 10 in the uk and number 2 in scotland. excellent results in law,sws and history. so real intensity, real focus aboutimpact and useful learning.
strathclyde continues to demonstratethe ability to have disproportionate impacts - mainly through theproduction of you - our excellent graduates & post graduates - but alsoin the quality of our research - and the highly effective ways we'vedeveloped for the transfer of our knowledge with industry& public sector partners. it is clear that the scottish higher education sector is fulfilling an important roleas a driver for sustainable economic growth - and strathclyde has adistinct role in this national
and international objective. universities should be seenas a national investment. with an annual scottish governmentinvestment of around 1.1bn pounds in higher education - the sector delivers 7bn poundsof value back to our economy each year. in a recent independentreview of strathclyde - our university was expected todeliver an additional economic valueof around 1.5bn pounds
to the scottish economy over the next5 years - one of the highest contributorsin the sector. we can see the activity going on.last july, we were delighted to welcome hermajesty the queen and the duke of edinburghto formally open our 100m pound technologyand innovation centre that sits between george streetand albion street - you may have seen the enormousbuilding on the way here today. 700 academic staff and researchersare there working closely with
industry on pharmaceuticalmanufacturing, applied photonics, plasma physics, space technology, informatics, energy techand aerospace engineering. in there we have companiesinteracting through innovation mechanismswith our academics. thomas edison called his technical team and laboratories his"inventions factory." the tic is our"innovations factory."
the achievements of our students andstaff in the faculty of science gives me great confidencefor the future. let me give you just a small numberof summarized headlines. you cannot have noticed or failed tonotice the announcements around gravitational wave detectionand in the physics department, doctor nicholas lockerbie was partner in the international researchproject detecting the existence of gravitational waves, confirming amajor prediction of albert einstein's 1915 general theory of relativity,
and for the first time scientistsobserve the ripples in the fabric of space-timecalled gravitational waves. this is through the major project called laser interferometergravitational-wave observatory, or ligo, being a large-scalephysics experiment to detect these. i just came back from a businesstrip from hong kong yesterday, where i was there with a group ofsome 30 university presidents from around the world,and tom rosenbaum,
who is the president of caltech, where much of this work was seated, gave a presentation at the samesession i was talking to and he made positive referenceto strathclyde as a contributor tothis world impacting event. also in physics, professor paulmckenna is working on activities that will have a major impact onadvancing smaller, cheaper, laser-drivenparticle accelerators and their potential applications,effectively on a tabletop.
research involving professor bobbingham in physics found a novel way of creatingintense optical tornadoes - there's an image for you - adiscovery that could revolutionise the understandingof how matter behaves under extreme conditions and,of course, even physicists douseful things occasionally. i can say that as an electricalengineer, i always feel physicists are wannabeelectrical engineers. i don't know if i'm showinga bias here, perhaps i am.
the physicists are looking at themodelling and prediction of rogue waves in oceans, which arecapable of destroying ships. that has been simulated by physicistshere at strathclyde, christopher gibson, alison yao and professor gian-luca oppo,and they presented a mechanism for studying information of roguewaves using optical systems. professor iain hunter was among seven leading scientists appointed to the scottish scienceadvisory council,
established to advise the scottishministerial group from 1 february, a very prestigious activity. and i thought long about sharingthis one with you given it is just before lunch buti should tell you that foam made by tiny frogs could be used to deliver antibioticsto help prevent infections. that worked involveddoctor paul hoskisson sarah brozio and dimitrios lamprou, driving that research forward,analysing the foam from tungara frogs
native to central americaand caribbean islands, finding that was very highly stable and people taking up drugs andreleasing them at a stable rate. wonderful lateral thinkingto come up with these ideas. one of our students, jo zhou, was the winner in the creativethinking category of the santander big ideascompetition for enhancing digital security, winning 3.5 thousand poundsfor her rhythm tapping project, and last but not leastprofessor alastair florence,
of the strathclyde institute forpharmacy and biomedical sciences, who has led the growth of anoutstanding research centre called the centre for continuousmanufacturing and crystallisation, revolutionising the way in whichmedicines will be manufactured, produced, driving down costsand increasing efficiency and working hand in glove withpartners from gsk, astrazeneca and novartis, to the extent thatwithin our new tech building, we host the first uk national centrefor pharmaceutical manufacturing. so this is the exciting context inwhich you should view your awards.
you are now graduates of a universitythat places students at the heart of all that we do - that valueseducation & research excellence - and that supports close connectionswith society at large and the business world. and - with regard tointernationalisation - the world's best universitiescontribute, collaborate and compete on the international stage. we are no different. our institutionalglobal partners include
in the united states: stanford,new york university and mit. in china we are working withtsinghua & peking universities, and the hong kong universityof science & technology. in singapore: nanyang technologicaluniversity & the national university of singapore.and we have a raft of strong partnerships across europe. our students benefit directly from being part of aninternational university - this helps them emerge withthe skills necessary to help
scotland play itsfull part in the world. our students have been exposed todifferent cultures and traditions - as we attract studentsfrom more than 100 countries. most importantly, today's graduates leave hereunderstanding their obligations as global citizens. however, as well as growingour global impact, we also take our localresponsibilities very seriously. we have provided leadership in theglasgow economic leadership board -
seeking to build glasgow's economicstrength in key sectors. if you will, emulating the innovatorsfrom the end of the 19th century, beginning of the twentieth century, in life sciences, low carbon energy, manufucturing, finance and business, and, of course, we are drivingmany of the activities that have led to the success of theglasgow city deal, bringing 1.2 billion pounds worth ofinvestment in our wonderful city. we remain - with some pride -
the leading scottish researchintensive university for widening access to ourprogrammes for students from some of the most challenged communitiesin scotland. these numbers are always important. this year alone we've attractedsome 990 youngsters from those communities. in this hall, last week,we had the third annual graduation from the children's university. and i am the chancellorof the children's university,
where we reach out to youngstersfrom communities around glasgow where thereis perhaps two generations of worklessness, where theyhave never attained much more than maybe fourth-year education atschool but now we bring the families here to strathclyde. every youngster is givena learning passport so they go to the kelvingrove artgallery, they get a stamp. they got to the glasgow sciencecentre, they get a stamp. they go to night classes,they get another stamp
till they fill that bookand then they become graduates ofthe children's university. so last week i had 120 youngsters - for a change there wereabout 3-foot tall so i didn't quite get the samerepetitive strain injury - coming across this stage in theirrobes with their mortarboards. their chests puffed up, their heads held high, with their mums and dads, most of them never having been acrossthe threshold of a university before.
that's what strathclyde is about, groundbreaking research,outstanding impact to society and economy but with our doorswide open for those of talent that seek to beeducated here in our university. so if i characterisestrathclyde in 2016, i would describe us as havingambition, focus and momentum with the agility and commitment tothe delivery of our strategy so necessary to absorb the continuingchallenges in our sector. it is a privilege for me to lead thisgreat institution -
with the superb support i get from myexecutive team as well as our broader community of academic, professional servicesand support staff. i believe strongly that our founder -john anderson - would recognise what weare doing today as the realisation ofwhat he sought to establish during the scottishenlightenment. strathclyde now seeks,in our modern society, to be an agent for positive change inglasgow,
in scotland, the ukand on the international scene. most importantly - i am certain thattoday's graduates will have enormous impacts on societyand that - 2016 can become a "vintage year". so, in this context and - as youleave this hall today - you leave not just with an award -but also with a responsibility. today's graduatesnow join our alumni, who number over 170,000 individualsfrom around the world. whatever you do with your degree -
and wherever you may choose to work - remember that as well as academicscholarship 'useful learning' also means applying your knowledge for thebenefit of others, making a positive impact foryourselves & the communities you belong to, respecting diversity, valuing freedom of expression andthought, and, particularly in this day as wego to the referendum booths,
reaching conclusions& resolving disputes by reason. these characterise the corevalues of your university. finally, let me returnto today's celebration. we are all here to mark theachievements of those who have been awarded their degrees. so - on behalf of the university - i would like to extend my sincerecongratulations to you all and wish you every successin your future careers. please stay in touch with us& let us know about your progress.
well done, and please enjoy the restof this very special day. so that wasn't so badafter all, was it? ladies and gentlemen, it's always a great pleasurefor the staff in these events. as i move to conclude the ceremony, i should tell you that wewill process the stage party and the studentswill process through the hall and go over to the lord todd hall, which is about 100 yards offto the right as you leave.
to families and friends andsupporters please join us, i think there are refreshmentswaiting for us. we might be able to minglein the gardens where i look forwardto meeting a few of you. i now declare this congregationclosed and please be standing.thank you very much indeed.