glyndwr university inaugural and professorial lecture series 2012/13

Showcasing the nextgeneration of research

glyndwr.ac.uk

Inaugural and Professorial Lecture Series 2012/13

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about the series

how to book

Glyndwr University is proud of its world-leading research and enterprising focus, and the implications these have for business, industry and society. Our Inaugural and Professorial Lecture Series aims to showcase and celebrate the academic excellence of the University’s professorial staff, and bring leading research and thinking to the wider community.

Our Inaugural and Professorial Lectures are open to all and free to attend. Each lecture will be followed by a reception, where attendees will have the opportunity to meet the speaker and discuss the topic in more detail.

All lectures in the series are open to all and free to attend. Places are limited and are available on afirstcomefirstservedbasis,sobookingisrecommended.

To book your place at any one of these events please email [email protected] or call 01978 293466.

Thursday 22 November 2012, 7pm Industrial biopolymers: structure, function and applications. Professor Peter A. Williams

Thursday 24 January 2013, 7pm Understanding the Mysteries of Nature: Hydrocolloids in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries. Professor Saphwan Al-Assaf

Thursday 14 March 2013, 7pm What’s so special about specialist nurses? Professor Fiona Irvine

Thursday 2 May 2013, 7pm ScientificandTechnologicalSymbiosis- An Optical Perspective Professor Paul Rees

Thursday 20 June 2013, 7pm Widening participation and improving student retention: delivering justice for individuals, communities and economies or is it just a pipe dream? Professor Helen James

about the venueThe Catrin Finch Centre is a £3m state-of-the-art conference and performance centre that opened its doors in 2009. Equipped with ultra-modern, hi-tech audio-visual facilities, it has become a major hub for performing arts in north east Wales, playing host to small scale theatre productions, plays, music events, conferences and exhibitions. The centre is also used by Glyndwr University’s performing arts students for rehearsals and productions.

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Industrial Biopolymers: structure, function and applicationsProfessor Peter A. WilliamsProfessor of Polymer and Colloid Chemistry

Thursday 22 November 20126.30pm for a 7pm startCatrin Finch CentreGlyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW

Water soluble polymers are widely used in a broad range of industrial products and processes including foods, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, personal care products, paints and other coatings, inks, pigments, construction materials, adhesives,papermaking,papercoating,waterclarification,effluenttreatmentandmanymore.

The polymers may be natural or synthetic, with an array of molecular chemistries, structures and sizes. Although often present at very low concentrations they have a very significantinfluenceontheoverallpropertiesofproductsand on product processing. They have a number of key functionalities, including their ability to increase viscosity, form gels, stabilise dispersions and emulsions, induce particle aggregation and to facilitate the controlled release of active compounds.

There is a growing trend to move away from synthetic polymers and to use natural polymers derived from sustainable resources which, in addition, are also biodegradable. This lecture provides an introduction to industrially important biopolymers reviewing their structural and functional characteristics and highlighting recent developmentsinthisfieldofresearch.

05To book email [email protected] or call 01978 293466

Understanding the Mysteries of Nature: Hydrocolloids in food, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industriesProfessor Saphwan Al-AssafProfessor of Hydrocolloids andAnalytical Chemistry

Thursday 24 January 20136.30pm for a 7pm startCatrin Finch CentreGlyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW

One of the earliest examples of humankind’s aptitude for turning nature’s inventions to its own purposes was the use of acacia gums by the ancient Egyptians intheirhieroglyphicwritingandmummificationprocess. Nowadays, hydrocolloids are used as thickening, stabilising, gelling and emulsifying agents in various industrial sectors. Furthermore, the quest to understand how they function in their natural assembly, whether as part of cell wall or in connective tissues, hasledtoapplicationssuchasdietaryfibre,plantgrowth promoters, anti-aging and possibly many more in the future.

This lecture will explore the relationship between the molecular structures and conformations of these natural polymers which determine their functionality. To this end Professor Al-Assaf will draw on the work carried out at the Glyn O. Phillips Hydrocolloids Research Centre at Glyndwr University on acacia gums and follow its journey from Africa to the end use. In doing so, he will highlight how the indigenous knowledge and practice in dealing with these natural polymers can be extremely useful to explain the science and help to understand their natural built-in variations.



What’s so special about specialist nurses?Professor Fiona Irvine Professor of Nursing

Thursday 14 March 20136.30pm for a 7pm startCatrin Finch CentreGlyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW

There is a general consensus that clinical nurse specialists provide valuable care, and their role is much appreciated by both patients and colleagues. However, the empirical evidence to support this perception is limited and in the current economic climate, when the health service is required to take austerity measures, the role of the specialist nurse is under threat.

In this lecture Fiona will draw on her clinical experience and research work to explore the development of the specialist nurse role in the UK. She will consider some of the challenges that specialist nurses face in their day to day practice and the key successes of their role. This will include the areas of practice that are proven to be of most benefittopatientsandcolleagues;thetensionsthatspecialist nurses face in trying to remain true to the fundamentals of nursing whilst responding to the ever growing technical roles that they undertake and thedifficultiesassociatedwithdemonstratingtheeconomic value of the role.

Fiona will argue that specialist nurses are indeed a special group and that yielding to the seduction of cost savings by scaling down or closing specialist nursing services is ill conceived as it will inevitably lead to compromised patient care and increased costs.

Scientific and Technological Symbiosis - An Optical Perspective Professor Paul ReesProfessor of Optics: Metrology and Technology

Thursday 2 May 20136.30pm for a 7pm startCatrin Finch CentreGlyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW

The technologies developed to improve people’s eyesight werethesameasthoseusedtodevelopthefirstopticalscientificinstruments:themicroscope(around1590)andthetelescope (around 1600). In today’s world, it is impossible to fullyappreciatethescientific,philosophicalandsocialimpactof these two instruments, especially in the hands of Robert Hooke and Galileo Galilei.

Since the time of Galileo and Robert Hooke, advances in our understanding of optics, and our technological application of this understanding, have been at the very heart of a remarkable400yearsofscientificdiscovery.Oftenthetechnological advances have been driven by defence and consumerpressures,notscientificneed.Nevertheless,theeffect of this symbiotic relationship between technological developmentandscientificdiscoveryhasbeentoutterlychange our understanding of the world around us. This change shows little sign of slowing down.

Today, optical technology or photonics is universally present in our lives. This is no less the case in science. What were the milestones from the time of Galileo to the present day that had the greatest impact and why? What can we expect fromthescientificapplicationofopticaltechnologiesinourlifetimes?



Widening participation and improving student retention: delivering justice for individuals, communities and economies or is it just a pipe dream?Professor Helen James Pro Vice-Chancellor, Glyndwr UniversityProfessor of Widening Participation and Social Justice

Thursday 20 June 2013, 6.30pm for a 7pm startCatrin Finch Centre, Glyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW

Widening access to higher education remains a social and economic necessity, yet for too many university students, successful completion remains elusive. There is a well-established and substantial body of research literatureinthisareayetsignificantchallengesremaininrealisingthisagenda. Why?

This lecture will explore a new strategic approach to improving student retention. It will place this within the context of the ethical challenges that remain for universities in delivering widening participation. It will also illustrate how the research of Professor Helen James has been informed by being a woman immersed for over 30 years in work and educational worlds ‘owned’ by men. The experience of growing up in a working class town, where ambition is the antithesis of woman, adds a personal dimension to her thinking. The research has also been informed by the institutional journey of Glyndwr University. The institution’s achievement in widening access has been in tandem with improved student retention, an enhanced research reputationandastrongfinancialperformance.

Thislecturewillthereforedrawtogetherarangeoffactorsthatinfluencethecomplex subject of widening participation and delivery of social justice.


academic profilesProfessor Peter A. Williams Professor Peter A. Williams is Professor of Polymer and Colloid Chemistry and Academic Head of the Department of Chemistry at Glyndwr University. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by the University of Salford in 1982 and Doctor of Science in 2009. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry and has over 30 years experience in the synthesis, physicochemical characterisation, solution and interfacial properties of natural and synthetic water soluble polymers.

Professor Williams has supervised more than 20 PhD students and 10 MPhil students to completion and has been able to attract major research funding from Research Councils, Technology Strategy Board, EU, Welsh Assembly Government and Industry with grant capture in excess of £3.5M since 2000. He has published over 200 research papers, edited over 40 books and is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of the international journal Food Hydrocolloids which is one of the leading food science journals. He has organised more than 30 international conferences on behalf of the Royal Society of Chemistry, the Society of Chemical Industry, the Food Hydrocolloids Trust and the Cellucon Trust.

Professor Saphwan Al-Assaf Saphwan Al-Assaf is Professor of Hydrocolloids and Analytical Chemistry and the director of Glyn O. Phillips Hydrocolloids Research Centre at Glyndwr University. He graduated at the top of his year with a BSc in Chemistry at Mosul University. He obtained his MSc in 1994 followed by PhD in 1997 from Salford University working on the therapeutic use of hylan preparation (Synvisc®) for osteoarthritis sufferers. His contribution to the field of Hyaluronan research led to his international recognition through Life Membership of the International Society for Hyaluronan Sciences.

From 1997 his research at Glyndwr University has mainly focused on the structure-function relationship of hydrocolloids, molecular assemblies and radiation chemistry of hydrocolloids. He has published over eighty papers and holds nine patents. Professor Al-Assaf is a member of the International Journal of Food Science and Technology editorial board, technical expert to the International Atomic Energy Agency and served as a consultant to a number of international companies.

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Professor Fiona Irvine Fiona worked as a district nurse and a Macmillan nurse specialist before moving into academia. Fiona has a long standing affiliation with Glyndwr University. She completed her diploma in Nursing studies and her PhD at Glyndwr and worked here as a senior lecturer in district nursing from 1995-2002. Fiona moved on to work at Bangor University and has since held Chairs at Liverpool John Moores University and Staffordshire University.

Fiona returned to Glyndwr in June of 2012 to take up the position of Professor in Nursing. She says that she is delighted to be able to return to Wales and continue her research career, which is primarily focused on the organisation and delivery of health and social care services and on language and cultural awareness.

Professor Paul Rees Paul Rees is Professor of Optics: Metrology and Technology in the Institute of Arts, Science and Technology at Glyndwr University. He obtained his BSc and his PhD in Astronomy at University College London. His early research work was on high resolution spectroscopy of the interstellar medium, before he moved to writing astronomical software systems at University College and then Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. This work led him to the Software Group at the Isaac Newton Group of Telescopes, supporting the operation of the UK telescopes in the Canary Islands.

In 1998 Paul assisted in the start-up of Telescope Technologies Limited, created by Liverpool John Moores University to design and build a new generation of research-class robotic telescopes, which includes the Liverpool Telescope and the Faulkes Telescopes. Paul led the systems engineering effort for these telescopes as well as contributing to the company management.

In 2008, Paul joined the team at OpTIC developing large optics fabrication methods for the ESO Extremely Large Telescope. Since then, he has built up and led the optical metrology effort at OpTIC as part of the Ultra Precision Surfaces programme.

Paul has been a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society since the early 1980s. He describes his professional passion as “making complex optical systems work”, combining his physical sciences background with his engineering, operational and commercial experience.

To book email [email protected] or call 01978 293466


academic profilesProfessor Helen James Professor Helen James has degrees from Leicester and Sussex Universities, a doctorate from the University of Bath and professional accreditations as a Chartered Engineer and European Engineer. She is a Fellow of both the Higher Education Academy and the Institute of Mechanical Engineers. Helen’s route to professorship is somewhat unconventional. Leaving school at 16, she undertook an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering before draughting and designing armaments at Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd. Moving to Marconi Space Systems, she worked on environmental testing, analysis and systems design on European-wide satellites. She subsequently worked in a number of further education colleges and universities before joining the North East Wales Institute of Higher Education (NEWI) in 2001. Helen was part of the executive team which was recruited to transform NEWI seven years later into a university for North East Wales, Glyndwr University.

Professor James has held a number of Board Directorships and is currently Chair of both North Wales Science (Techniquest Glyndwr - which she originally founded) and the Wrexham Science Festival. She has received accolades for her work in public understanding of science, widening participation and women in science and engineering.

arts and entertainment season highlightsNovember 2012 -March 2013Join us for music, comedy, dance, talks, lectures and more…

Greg Davies ‘The Back of my Mum’s Head’ tour - Wednesday 7 November

BBC National Orchestra of Wales Sunday 2 December

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves 8 - 26 December

Milton Jones ‘Work in Progress on the Road’ - Sunday 6 January

Rhydian Live in concert Friday 8 March

Al Murray The Pub Landlord ‘The Only Way is Epic’ tour - Sunday 17 March

Michael Jackson tribute concert Friday 22 March

Chris Addison ‘The Time is Now, Again’ Saturday 23 March

To book: 01978 293293 orwww.glyndwr.ac.uk

Join our mailing list:[email protected]

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Our lecture series play an important role in bringing leading research and thinking to the wider community for discussion and debate.

If you have any ideas about topics that you would like to see explored through future lectures, or want to have your say on the lectures you have attended, we would love to hear from you.

If you would like to join our mailing list you can email us at: [email protected] or you can get involved online via our campus blog: http://glyndwruni.edublogs.org/

Glyndwr University, Mold Road, Wrexham LL11 2AW

Tel: 01978 293439 Fax: 01978 290008 E-mail: [email protected]

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glyndwr university inaugural and professorial lecture series 2012/13

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