Governors' biographies

Class 1 - EX OFFICIO GOVERNORS

Sir John Sunderland

The Chancellor  

Sir John Sunderland joined Cadbury Limited in 1968. He worked on both the confectionery and soft drinks sides of the business, on the Boards of Cadbury Ireland, Cadbury Schweppes South Africa, as a founding Director of the Coca-Cola Schweppes joint venture in 1987, and then as Managing Director of Trebor Bassett.

In 1993, he became Managing Director of the Confectionery Stream and a member of the Cadbury Schweppes Board. In September 1996, he was appointed Chief Executive and seven years later, he became Chairman. He retired in 2008.

Sir John is currently Chairman of Merlin Entertainments Group, a non-Executive Director of Barclays plc, a Director of the Financial Reporting Council, an adviser to CVC Capital Partners, an Association Member of BUPA, and a member of Council at Reading University. Until his appointment as Chancellor, he was also a member of Council at Aston.

He has held a number of Presidencies of trade bodies, including the Confederation of British Industry, the Chartered Management Institute, the Incorporated Society of British Advertisers and the UK Food and Drink Federation. He is a former non-Executive Director of the Rank Group plc and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts.

He was knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in June 2006 for services to business.

Professor Julia King 

CBE FREng MA PhD FIMMM FRAeS FIManEST CSci FInstP FCGI FRSA.

The Vice-Chancellor  

Julia King graduated from New Hall, Cambridge, with a first class Honours in Natural Sciences (Metallurgy) in 1975, followed by a PhD (in the field of fatigue and fracture) in 1979.  She then held academic posts at Cambridge and Nottingham universities before joining Rolls-Royce plc in 1994.  At Rolls-Royce she held a number of senior executive appointments, including Director of Advanced Engineering for the Industrial Power Group, Managing Director of the Fan Systems Business, and Engineering Director for the Marine Business.   In 2002 Julia became Chief Executive of the Institute of Physics, and in 2004 she returned to academia as Principal of the Engineering Faculty at Imperial College, London.  She became Vice-Chancellor of Aston University in December 2006. 

Throughout her career Julia has held a number of senior public appointments and has continued to support universities and voluntary bodies in various roles.  She is a director of the Engineering and Technology Board, a non-executive director of the Technology Strategy Board and the DIUS Strategic Board, and a member of the Ministerial Group on Manufacturing.  She has just stepped down after four years advising the Ministry of Defence as Chair of the Defence Science Advisory Council.   She led a Royal Academy of Engineering Working Party on ‘Educating Engineers for the 21^st Century’ which published its final report in June 2007, and plays an active role in encouraging women and young people to go into science and engineering-based careers. 

Julia was appointed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, in March 2007 to lead the ‘King Review’ to examine the vehicle and fuel technologies that, over the next 25 years, could help to reduce carbon emissions from road transport. The interim analytical report was published in October 2007, and the final recommendations in March 2008. 

Julia has published over 160 papers on fatigue and fracture in structural materials and developments in aerospace and marine propulsion technology.  Her research has been recognised through the award of the Grunfeld, Bengough and Kelvin medals.  In 1997 she was elected to Fellowship of the Royal Academy of Engineering and in the July 1999 Queen’s Birthday Honours she was made a CBE for ‘Services to Materials Engineering’.  She is a Liveryman of the Goldsmiths’ Company, and an Honorary Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge, and of Cardiff University.   

Professor Helen Higson

Professor Helen Higson is Senior Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Aston, where she leads on External Relations, including international relations, recruitment, outreach and employability, as well as Registry and Planning functions.  

Helen graduated from Newnham College Cambridge, and subsequently gained an MA from the Open University and a PhD from Birkbeck College, London University. She has worked in the university sector since 1983, reaching a number of senior management positions including Director of Quality, Associate Dean Undergraduate Programmes and Head of Learning and Teaching. The major part of her career was spent in Aston Business School, where she is Professor of Higher Education Learning and Management, and where she leads the International Foundation Programme and the innovative Foundation Degree in HE/FE Management and Administration.

In 2003 Helen founded the Centre for Higher Education Learning and Management of which she remains Convenor.  She has undertaken extensive research work in the areas of employability and work-based learning, intercultural learning and strategic issues in HE management.  In 2008 Helen led the team which was awarded a Jaguar Land Rover Arts and Business Award with the MAP Consortium “for the partnership which best embeds culture as a core element of employee development”.  She has edited (with Julie Green) six editions of a Learning and Teaching Good Practice Guide.

Helen is a member of Aston Business School's Operations & Infomation Management group, and also set up the School's Quality Unit. She has been a Subject Reviewer for the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) and from 2003 to 2008 was a member of the HEFCE Quality Assurance Learning and Teaching strategic committee and the Quality Assurance Framework Review Group. She has worked extensively with the Association of Business Schools and the Higher Education Academy and is the Aston key contact for the Business Management, Accounting and Finance (BMAF) Subject Centre. Helen is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (FRSA) and a Fellow of the Association of University Administrators (AUA), for whom she is also a mentor for the Postgraduate Certificate.

Helen Higson was awarded an OBE in the 2011 New Year Honours list.

Professor John Edwards

Executive Dean of School

Professor John Edwards is Professor of Operational Research and Systems and Executives Dean of Aston Business School (ABS).

John graduated from the university of Cambridge in 1973 with a BA in first class Honours in Mathematics. He completed his PhD in Operational Research ( manpower planning) at University of Cambridge in 1980. John joined Aston 1978 and has held a number of senior roles with the business school including Deputy dean of head of Facility, prior to taking on the role of Acting Executive Dean in January 2011.

Research

His interest has always been in how people can and do (or do not) use models and system to help them do things. For many years he has studied the development and uses of various types of system in management and administration. His current interests cover three overlapping themes: Knowledge Management, Business Processes and Decision Support.He has recently been working on applications of knowledge management in financial services and health. He is Editor of the Journal Knowledge Management Research & Practice.

Professor Robert Berry

Executive Dean of School   

Robert Berry earned a PhD in Computer Sciences from the University of Texas at Austin in 1983. His prior experience included working for a small consulting firm, Information Research Associates, where he co-created the PAWS simulation modelling language and environment.   From 1984 to 1987 he led a small team developing analytic performance modelling software for Boole and Babbage, Inc. In 1987 Robert joined the IBM T J Watson Research Center in New York to explore the automation of computer performance management. He moved to Austin, Texas in 1992 and joined IBM’s AIX team to lead the development of novel performance measurement and modelling tools. The advent of Java in the early 90’s presented him with new opportunities for innovation in instrumentation and analysis of virtual machine environments.  He returned to the UK in 2000 to join the IBM Development Laboratory at Hursley, near Winchester. He served as IBM’s Chief Technology Officer for Messaging Technology from 2004-2008. 

In 1999 Robert was elected to the IBM Academy of Technology, a group of 300 leaders from across IBM’s technical population - with members from Research, Development and Services. The Academy of Technology is charged with identifying “white space” opportunities for the company. From 2005-2007 he served as Vice President for the Academy, covering Europe, Middle East and Africa. In 2000 he was appointed IBM Distinguished Engineer – an executive position for technical leaders in IBM.   

Since 2002 Robert has also been active with universities - most notably having executive responsibility for growing the relationship between IBM and Imperial College. He sits on the advisory board for the Imperial College Tanaka Business School Innovation Studies Group, and is also a visiting professor in the Department of Computing at Imperial College. Robert is a member of the ACM, and also served for four years on the executive board and as secretary/treasurer for ACM Sigmetrics.   

Throughout his career Robert has explored the challenges of instrumenting large complex software systems and then using that instrumentation to interpret the behaviour of those systems. This interest and the resulting discoveries have led to approximately 50 patents for IBM in the area of instrumentation and performance analysis. While serving as CTO for Messaging he provided initial leadership to IBM’s Event Processing initiative, as well as championing a new initiative to introduce real-time qualities of service into middleware software. He has authored over 30 refereed publications, numerous book contributions, and has given many invited talks at international conferences. He is presently serving as secretary to a Royal Academy of Engineering study on the future competitiveness of the UK given the profound changes taking place in Information and Communications Technology. 

Robert and his wife, Jennifer, have been married for 22 years, and have two children, Emma and Colin. He enjoys fell-walking in the Lake District, gardening and photography. 

Professor Pamela Moores OBE 

Executive Dean of School  

Pam Moores is Head of the School of Languages & Social Sciences at Aston. She studied French, German and Linguistics on the Modern and Mediaeval Languages tripos at Girton College, Cambridge, graduating In 1972. She completed her PhD on the writing of French communard, novelist and journalist, Jules Vallès at Leicester University In 1977. After working briefly at Coventry College of Education, the University of Warwick and for the Open University, she joined the Department of Modern Languages at Aston in late 1978. 

As a lecturer in French at Aston, Pam has taught on a wide range of courses, served on numerous committees, and played a central role in the management of Modern Languages. She became Head of the School of Languages & European Studies in August 2003. Under her leadership the School has significantly expanded its range of academic activities in humanities and the social sciences and established its new identity as the School of Languages and Social Sciences.

Pam’s personal research interests centre on the French media, particularly analysis of the print media, coverage of election campaigns, Issues of regulation, and representation of women in the media. 

Professor Helen Griffiths

Executive Dean of School 

Professor Helen Griffiths has worked with a range of industrial partners over the past 20 years including Upjohn, Amersham, Nestle, Unilever (3 divisions) and Enzo who have shared interests in inflammatory disease, nutrition and ageing. She has >100 peer reviewed publications, serves on advisory boards for BBSRC and Research into Ageing, is on the Metabolism Theme Panel board for the Biochemical Society and  is secretary to the European Society of Free Radical Research.

Current funders include Unilever, Enzo, EPSRC, BBSRC, EU FP7, Alzheimer’s Research Trust UK, Dunhill Medical Trust and Midtech. Her team comprises 2 postdoctoral scientists (plus one shared in another lab) and five PhD students.

Adèle MacKinlay

The Chief Operating Officer

Adèle MacKinlay is Chief Operating Officer at Aston University, responsible for the welfare of staff and students, through the direct leadership of Human Resources, Staff Development, Equality & Diversity, Student Support, Residences, Sport and Recreation, Health & Safety, Security, Campus Services, Chaplaincy, the Library, and the primary liaison between the University and the Students’ Guild.  Adèle is the University’s Secretary-Registrar.

Prior to joining Aston University in 2009, Adèle’s career was spent primarily in the Financial Services sector.  She worked in a number of senior executive positions, marketing, operational and administrative, at MBNA EBL (now Bank of America) and then moved to a ‘portfolio career’, working for a financial services consultancy company, as well as providing executive coaching to individuals and teams in both the public and private sectors. 

Adèle studied languages at Salford University.

Alastair Hewgill

The Chief Financial Officer

Alastair Hewgill was Group Finance Director and Interim Chief Executive at The Vitec Group plc from 2002 to 2009.

Vitec Group is an international provider of products and services for the broadcast, photographic and entertainment industries, and is fully listed on the London Stock Exchange.

Prior to that he held senior finance positions within GKN plc over a period of 11 years, including Finance Director of GKN Aerospace Division and Head of Corporate Finance for the group.  Previously, he was a management consultant with Coopers & Lybrand Deloitte, specialising in the industry and commerce sector.

Alastair has a BSc Honours degree in statistics from St Andrews University and is an associate of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.

Class 2 - LAY GOVERNORS

Dr Paul Golby CBE, FREng 

The Pro-Chancellor (Chairman)

Born in Market Bosworth in 1951, Paul Golby was educated at Hinckley Grammar School and at Aston University, where he graduated with a first class honours degree in Mechanical Engineering.

He went on to gain a PhD, again at Aston, as a result of research into offshore oil structures whilst training as a graduate engineer with Dunlop.

Following a series of management appointments with Dunlop and BTR, Paul joined the Board of the ‘mini conglomerate’ Clayhithe plc, in 1992.

He joined East Midlands Electricity in 1998 and became Chief Executive of E.ON UK (formerly Powergen) in 2002. Since that time, he has steered E.ON through two multi-billion pound acquisitions to become an organisation with an £8.5bn turnover, employing 16,000 people.

He is a Top Executive Committee member of E.ON UK’s parent group, E.ON AG, the world’s largest investor-owned power and gas company, and a non executive director of AEA Technology plc.

Paul is a frequent commentator on the UK Government’s scientific and energy policy.

He is Co-Chairman of the Energy Research Partnership, and a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Energy Institute.

Paul is married with three grown-up children and lives near Stratford-upon-Avon. He is a keen equestrian.

Dr Khurshid Ahmed CBE

Khurshid Ahmed has had extensive involvement in Community Development at a grass roots level on both a voluntary and paid basis, demonstrating his strong personal commitment to tackling discrimination and disadvantage. His interest originally burgeoned from within his own community as Secretary of the Dudley and Sandwell Pakistan Welfare Association. It was here that he learned to foster relations with other communities and later joined Dudley Community Relations Council in 1974 (which he chaired from 1997 until 2002). This enabled him to represent the interests of all sections of Dudley’s local communities and to develop an insight into the multiple deprivation experienced by minority ethnic communities. 

Overall, he has accumulated over three decades of experience gained in highly complex local authorities, with over fifteen years at Chief Officer/Chairperson level. He was Assistant Chief Executive and Head of Race Relations and Equal Opportunities at Birmingham City Council from 1984, and served on the official enquiry into the Darnall disturbances in Sheffield in 1995/96. In these capacities he has represented the City Council at regional, national and international events. 

Penny Barber

Ms Barber, who is an Aston graduate (MBA, 2001), has, since 2003, held appointment as Chief Executive of Brook in Birmingham, a charity providing confidential, free sexual health services, advice and support to young people in the region. She originally trained as an accountant and auditor, and spent the early years of her career in a variety of Chartered Accountancy posts across the private sector (including the engineering, manufacturing, retail and construction industries). Between 1993 and 2001 she worked at this University, as a member of staff in the Aston Students' Guild where she served as Acting General Manager on three occasions totalling fourteen months, and, more recently (from 2001 to 2003), she was Chief Executive of Sandwell Citizens Advice Bureau.

Ms Barber has extensive experience in the voluntary sector, including founder membership of one national pressure group and a term of office chairing another. She was also a member of the Aston Business School's Advisory Board between 2004 and 2007.

Geetu Bharwaney

Geetu is a graduate of Aston (First cohort of IBML, International Business/Modern Languages, 1989). She has 22 years experience in helping organisations to develop the high performance of key people.

She founded Ei World, in 1999, one of the first companies entirely focused on emotional intelligence research, development and evaluation. Geetu and her colleagues have implemented projects in 25 countries and have introduced the concept of emotional intelligence in highly diverse sectors such as professional services, global consulting, higher education, primary schools, health, military, industrial, mining technology, financial services, construction, sports associations, FMCG, government departments and public-private partnerships. She has implemented projects in the UK, Germany, France, Finland, Spain, South America, North America, Africa, South-East Asia, Australasia and India.

She has assessed the emotional intelligence of over 6000 people and has directed research incorporating Emotional Intelligence assessments to inform a clear perspective on the capabilities needed in support of business strategy and goals.

She is trained in several measurement tools for emotional intelligence for use at individual, team and organisational levels and equips others in these tools. She pledged all the royalties from her book 'Emotionally Intelligent Living' (Crown House Publishing, 2001) to fund educational, health and voluntary sector initiatives. She has authored and co-authored several papers and chapters on emotional intelligence including 'EQ and the Bottom Line'.

Geetu is a member of the Ei Consortium, a leading group of practitioners and academics who research and promote best practices in the field of emotional intelligence development. She was awarded her masters degree in Psychology & Health with Distinction (City University, 2005). She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development (FCIPD).

In her spare time, Geetu is Trustee of a charity Children4Music, an initiative for children to play music for other children in difficult situations. Inspired by the musical talent of young people during recent concerts, Geetu is now learning to play violin.

Dr Christine Braddock CBE

Christine Braddock holds appointment as Principal/Chief Executive of the Birmingham Metropolitan (BMet) College. Previously, she acted in the same capacity at Matthew Boulton College of Further & Higher Education and Sutton Coldfield College, in advance of their merger to form BMet, and, prior to that, she was Senior Education and Training Adviser in the Home Office with national responsibility for Work-based Learning and Women’s Education. She is particularly interested in those disadvantaged from the education system and those held in penal establishments. In her current capacity she has responsibility for over 7,500 16-19 year olds and at least 50,000 students in and around Birmingham. 

She has been appointed to the Board of the new national Quality Improvement Agency for Lifelong Learning, and is active in the promotion and development of the Further Education sector. Additionally, she is a Board member of Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce; a member of the Regional CBI Council; Deputy Chair of Birmingham Forward; and Deputy Chair of Midland Heart. Last year she was appointed Chancellor of Birmingham Community College. 

She is actively involved in all aspects of education and training within the West Midlands region, supporting key skill sectors in their development, and has been an active supporter of the work and development of Aston University over a number of years.

Stuart Doughty, CMG

Mr Doughty has over forty years of experience in the sphere of Civil Engineering, and has occupied during that time senior management positions in a number of major construction companies - including John Laing, Tarmac Construction and Alfred McAlpine plc - with responsibility relating to such major projects as the Channel Tunnel, the Conway Crossing, the M1 Motorway widening and the rebuild of Birmingham Airport. 

His most recent substantive role, held until 2005, was as Chief Executive of Costain plc, a company operating in the Heavy Civil Engineering, Petrochemical and Building sectors, and he has, both before and since, chaired several companies concerned with construction and manufacturing.

He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of both the Institutions of Civil and Highway Engineers. His expertise and distinction were most notably recognised in 2005, when he was made a Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for services to international trade and investment. He has also, for the last twelve years, served as an active and enthusiastic governor of the King’s School, Worcester.

Dr Mark Goldman

Dr Goldman has been Chief Executive of the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust since 2001. In this capacity, he has been involved in developing and leading clinical services, as well as progressing major organisational change. Along the way Heart of England has become one of the largest and most successful NHS foundation trusts. It was named as Acute Healthcare Organisation of the Year by the Health Service Journal in 2006. 

Dr Goldman qualified in medicine, and subsequently (in 1985) became Senior Lecturer in Surgery, at the University of Birmingham. His special interest is vascular surgery, and he was an NHS consultant between 1985 and 2001. During that period he became Medical Director of the-then Birmingham Heartlands Acute NHS Trust (in 1993), and he was also a member of the Modernisation Team, which formulated the Health Service's 10-year plan.  

Paul Pharaoh

Paul Pharaoh was born in Derbyshire and educated at Bishop Vesey's Grammar School, the University of Manchester and Liverpool College of Commerce. He qualified as a solicitor in 1971 and has practised in Birmingham ever since.

He is a partner at Martineau, where he chairs the Education Sector Group. Paul has wide experience of the law of higher and further education, advising on constitutional and public law issues, collaboration between institutions, professional regulation and charity law. He is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of Education Law Journal and a consultant editor to The Law of Higher Education, published in 2006.

Paul was a member of the Council of the Law of Society of England & Wales from 1990 - 2002, where he held responsibilities for legal education and dealing with professional misconduct. Until 2009 he was an adjudicator for the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Currently he is a lay member of the disciplinary panels of CIPFA, the Taxation Disciplinary Board, the Institute for Learning and the Nursing & Midwifery Council.

He has been a governor of Lakes College West Cumbria since 1999 and is a trustee of some community organisations in West Cumbria.

Michael Russell

Michael Russell was born 1945 and educated at St Philip’s Grammar School in Birmingham. He qualified as a Charted Accountant in 1969. 

Michael was a partner in KPMG from 1986 until his retirement In 2000. During his time with the firm, he advised numerous charitable bodies on financial and taxation matters, including business strategy, management of risks, and mergers and acquisitions. 

Michael is currently Chairman of the Finance and Major Projects Committee at Aston University, having previously served in the same capacity on the University's Audit Committee, and is a Justice of the Peace. He is also a Trustee of a number of charities working in the medical and housing sectors and is an advisor to the Princes Trust. 

Surinder Sharma

Surinder Sharma took up his post as National Director for Equality and Human Rights at the Department of Health in October 2004.  Surinder has worked in the diversity field for over 30 years, gaining a reputation for success and excellence along the way. 

As a fully qualified lawyer, he began his career with the Commission for Racial Equality in 1978, gaining the strategic knowledge base on which his subsequent career was built.  He has been a Councillor at Leicester where he chaired the Housing Committee and chaired Leicester Racial Equality Council. 

His career has taken him into a variety of different organizations: BBC Television, Littlewoods Retail and Ford Motor Company, where as the European Director he managed a European Team during a period of radical European transformation.  He was a Commissioner at the Equal Opportunities Commission, where he chaired their Legal Committee.

He is also a member of the Conference Board of the European Work Life Diversity Forum and a Trustee of the National Space Centre.  He is also a member of the Ministry of Defence Diversity Panel, and a member of the Global Diversity & Inclusion Council at Novartis AG in Switzerland where he was a Consultant to the company on Diversity & Inclusion for over 3 years.

Surinder relished a challenge when he took on his role as National Director for Equality and Human Rights. The NHS is the third largest employer in the world, and to ensure real equality of opportunity for such a huge and diverse workforce as well as equality of access for every individual to the personalised health or social care services they need was no small challenge. His stated ambition was to make the NHS - and the Department of Health - the best at tackling the equality and human rights agenda.

Nicholas Tamblyn

Nick Tamblyn, who is an Aston graduate (BSc, Managerial and Administrative Studies, 1979) and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, has, since 2003, held appointment as Finance Director of Perkins Slade Limited, one of the largest independent regional insurance brokers in the country. This company primarily acts for a wide range of larger corporate clients and amateur sporting and leisure associations, with gross written premiums of approximately £50 million.

His senior-level experience in Chartered Accountancy and his strong financial, commercial and management skills have been developed in both domestic and international environments over the last twenty-five years, during which he has held roles as Finance Director and as Chief Executive of listed and private companies, as well as a Partnership with KPMG LLP. He is currently Chairman of the Audit Committee at Aston University.

Stewart Towe, CBE

Stewart Towe is Group Managing Director of Hadley Industries Holdings Ltd.

Stewart was awarded a CBE in 2008 in recognition of the leading role he has played in regional affairs - most notably within the Black Country - and through achievement and service to the community.

He is highly proactive at the public/private sector interface; encouraging businesses to become involved with regeneration and education throughout the region.

In 2007 he was appointed Prince Charles' Ambassador for the West Midlands for Business in the Community.

Paul Williams

Paul Williams is a recently-retired FTSE 100 Group Human Resources Director with many years of global experience in five blue chip companies - namely, Smith and Nephew plc (1998-2007), Rolls-Royce IPG plc (1996-98), Glaxo Holdings plc (1991-96), HJ Heinz Limited (1984-91) and NCR Computers Limited (1968-84) – covering five different business sectors. He has held since 2004, and continues to hold, office as President of Smith and Nephew KK Japan, and in this capacity is figurehead for key customers, compliance and group-level co-ordination. 

During his career he developed considerable expertise of top team “dynamics”, organisation design and development, global executive reward, remuneration committee effectiveness, and international diversity. He has also enjoyed significant involvement in Government-related and not-for-profit activities: most notably in connection with a current review of parliamentary pay and allowances for MPs, Ministers and the House of Lords; as a member of the Senior Civil Service Pay Review Body; as a former Advisor to the Board of the Forensic Science Service on remuneration matters; and as Chairman of the Devonshire House Management Club.  

He is also a member of the Conference Board Global Human Resources Council, which meets on a quarterly basis to develop HR thinking and to exchange best practice from a worldwide perspective.  

Class 3 - ACADEMIC STAFF MEMBERS

Dr John Fletcher

John Fletcher is a lecturer in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry Aston. He was born in Kent and lived as a child in London and Manchester. 

John gained a first class degree in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University in 1969. He gained his PhD from Imperial College for research carried out while working for the C.E.G.B. at their research laboratory, C.E,R.L, Leatherhead. He joined Aston in 1972 as a lecturer in the then Department of Chemical Engineering. 

John knew little of Birmingham when he started at Aston. He soon became involved in politics in the City, joining the Labour Party in 1974. He was a member of the West Midlands County Council, 1981-1986 serving on the Highways and Passenger Transport Committees. 

He has always been involved in the use of computers for calculations in engineering. His current research interests include the applications of Clifford Algebra, and he is a member of the Knowledge Engineering Research Group. 

He has, since he started at Aston, been an active member of the University Chaplaincy community, and is currently a member of the Chaplaincy Committee and Treasurer of the Free Church Chaplaincy Committee. 

He is currently president of the Aston local association of the University and College Union, formerly the A.U.T. 

Dr Andrew Sutherland

Dr Sutherland received his training as a synthetic organic chemist as a Ph.D. student at Manchester University where he synthesised a variety of natural product analogues. Subsequently, as a postdoctoral associate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1992-1994, PI Professor J Rebek Jr) he gained invaluable early experience of combinatorial chemistry through the synthesis and subsequent deconvolution of soluble combinatorial libraries. After a year spent at Warwick University as a temporary lecturer and a three-year period spent as a lecturer at the Nottingham Trent University, he moved to his current position, in Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry at Aston University, in October 1998. 

Class 4 - STUDENT MEMBERS

Merghani Ibrahim

The President of the Guild of Students, 2011/12 

Ben Smith 

The Vice-President (Education and Welfare) of the Guild of Students, 2011/12