A team of second and third year Keele students studying for a BSc in Information Technology Management for Business (ITMB) have been crowned national champions, with a cash prize of £500, at the second leg of 2009 ITMB student competitions, organised biannually by e-skills UK.

The students role-played pitching their arguments on how to cut £2b (5%) from the education budget over four years before a government panel.

The competition, at King’s House Conference Centre in Manchester, included participants from all current ITMB universities.

At the same event, Keele first year ITMB students were close runners-up to UCL in a poster competition. Their presentation addressed some effective communication strategies that should be deployed by employers in order to engage the younger generation of undergraduate students.

These competitions are part of the ITMB student development process, focusing particularly on getting them ready for the rigours of IT Management for Business.

e-skills UK is the Sector Skills Council that provides strategic leadership for the ITMB programme in collaboration with major graduate recruiters in the IT and Business sector. Together, they provide summer placements, internships and graduate careers.

Construction and maintenance company J & S Seddon Building has developed a green sedum roof on the site of an innovative new pharmacy centre at Keele University.

Ged Carr, contracts manager of J & S Seddon Building, pictured on the green roof created by the construction company at Keele.

Thousands of plants have been used to help the building blend in with the landscape and extend roof life by improving drainage through the retention and absorption of a large percentage of rainfall.

The sedum plants are expected to extend the life of the roof by saving on the cost of re-waterproofing and acting as an extra layer of insulation.

This new green space is also likely to provide a natural habitat for birds and insects.

The green roof was installed as part of the creation of a new focal entrance of the existing Hornbeam building at the campus, which houses the University’s School of Pharmacy.

This year the company also completed an external re-cladding refurbishment of the adjacent Dorothy Hodgkin Building also won by competitive tender along with another smaller project on campus – the extension and refurbishment of the university’s Observatory

These projects, together with other work undertaken on campus at the same time, saw up to a 100 J & S Seddon Building operatives on site – and ran throughout summer and autumn to round off a busy year for the Stoke-on-Trent based company at the university.

The building has been completed alongside J & S Seddon Building’s existing programme at Keele – a partnering contract which has been operating on-site for eight years – to update student accommodation.

Alan Nixon, managing director of J & S Seddon Building, which has its headquarters in Fenton, Stoke-on-Trent, said: “The buildings have been given a new lease of life to support the learning environment for students and staff and are evidence of the enormous investment in facilities that the university has made in recent years.”

Press released issued by J & S Seddon Building.

Keele University students got together with Newcastle Borough Council to help clean up an area in Wolstanton this week.

Student volunteers collected a total of 23 bags of rubbish, debris and overgrown vegetation from where two paths lead down to the back of Wolstanton Retail Park, which Community Warden Joanne Morris then disposed of safely.

Joanne also provided all the equipment, including litter picking sticks, bin bags and high visibility jackets. Residents using the path to access the retail praised the good work the volunteers were doing.

Keele Volunteer Experience Project Leader Becky Wardell said: “This was a great opportunity to show that Keele students are responsible and valuable members of the community, who really do care about the local environment. It was also a great opportunity for us to work in partnership with Newcastle Borough Council.

“We are all responsible for the litter that we throw away, and hopefully, seeing a clean environment will encourage the litter bugs to be more respectful of the environment in future.”

If you would like to find out more about student volunteering at Keele, contact Becky Wardell at volunteering@kusu.keele.ac.uk or Tel: 01782 733626.

Keele University Students’ Union is making merry this Christmas with a festive indoor and outdoor market.

The Christmas Market takes place on Tuesday, December 8, from 10am to 4pm, with fresh local produce on sale outside on the central concourse area and gifts and crafts available in the Ballroom.

Stalls range from local farm fresh beef and pork to fresh fish and delicatessen goods to handmade glass, jewellery, Christmas cards and vintage homeware. Mulled wine and mince pies as well as live carols from the choir should all add to the festive atmosphere.

The star attraction is two real reindeer which will be outside on the concourse, along with their sleigh, between 11am and 3pm.

Marketing Manager Emma Walker, who is organising the event, said: “We are really looking forward to a fun event which will start the festive season with a bit of Christmas magic. Visitors will find unique Christmas gifts and lots of fresh local produce to stock their Christmas dinner table with, plus the opportunity to have their photo taken with real reindeer! We look forward to welcoming students, staff and local residents alike.”

For more information, or if you would like a stall at the Christmas Market, contact Emma Walker or Lee Bradshaw on 01782 733814 or marketing@kusu.keele.ac.uk

Artists from Staffordshire, Shropshire and Cheshire have been praised for the quality of the work submitted for an open exhibition in Keele University Art Gallery, which will run to 16 December.

This is Keele’s fourteenth open show and the exhibition provides a showcase for artists in the region and gives visitors an opportunity to see and buy from a wide range of selected original work.

The judges ‑ Arts Advisor, John Rhodes, artist, Tony Wild, and artist Michael Sadler ‑ selected work to be included in the exhibition and picked the prize winners.

First prize of £300 went to Amanda Latham, of Hoole, Chester, for “The 3 Graces”; with a second prize of £100 to Joan Darlington, Howle, Newport, for “Novice Waiter”. Third prize of £50 was awarded to Rose Perry, Ellesmere, for “Wot u c is wot u get”.

Highly Commended by the judges were: “Landscape with flowers”, by Lucy Bennett, of Congleton; “Longton Dawn” by Phil Chatterley of Biddulph Moor, Stoke-on-Trent, pictured; “A Country for Old Men”, by Doreen Coombes of Nantwich, Cheshire, “Hare At Sunset” by Kate Gandolfo of Rudyard, Leek; “Glass, Plastic and Foil” by David Walton, Burton-on-Trent and “Untitled 2” by Joanne Fyfe of Crewe, Cheshire.

Opening the exhibition, Keele University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Janet Finch, said: “This exhibition is one of the highlights of the year for the Keele University Art Gallery. The standard of work is amazing. It has been a record year for entries.”

A total of 446 works were submitted by 151 artists from the three counties and 112 were accepted for the exhibition.

Exhibition organiser, Marion Gidman, said: “Since its launch, the Three Counties Open has proved an outstanding success in attracting entries of the highest quality from artists throughout Cheshire, Shropshire and Staffordshire.

“The aim of the exhibition is to give artists in the region the chance to show their work to new audiences. The standard this year has been excellent and it has proved very difficult for the judges to make their final decisions. I am sure they will prove an outstanding attraction for visitors to the Art Gallery at Keele University.”

In this year, 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Darwin and the 150th anniversary of the publication of ‘On the Origin of Species’ a UK scientist has used Darwin’s seminal work on Natural Selection in helping to define the biological essentiality of the second (silicon) and third (aluminium) most abundant elements of the Earth’s crust.

The lack of any clear or significant biological essentiality for both of these elements is a mystery as all other abundant elements of the Earth’s crust are known to be biologically essential.

Dr Chris Exley, Reader in Bioinorganic Chemistry at Keele University and a world authority on the ways in which aluminium impacts upon life on Earth, says natural selection is often interpreted as ‘survival of the fittest’ but what is often not appreciated is that the selection processes themselves are niche driven, which means that those characteristics which convey fitness in one environment may not convey fitness in another, perhaps adjacent, environment or niche. This is both the strength and the beauty of natural selection and it can be applied to cellular biochemistry as it is applied to speciation of organisms.

Aluminium is biologically reactive, while silicon is biologically inert. Natural selection informs us that the non-essentiality of aluminium is explained by its non-participation in biochemical evolution due to a complete lack of its biologically reactive forms.

On the other hand the biologically available form of silicon (silicic acid) has been extremely abundant throughout biochemical evolution and its biological essentiality has been dictated by its extremely limited biological reactivity.

It is no coincidence that one of the very few reactions of silicic acid is that with aluminium and that this reaction protects against the toxicity of aluminium.

An essential role of silicon throughout biochemical evolution has been to keep aluminium out of life! However, the activities of humans in learning how to extract aluminium from its ores and using it in myriad ways in what is now the Aluminium Age means that Earth’s inherent protection against the toxicity of aluminium is being compromised and that biologically reactive aluminium is now an active participant in biochemical (and hence human) evolution.

Some of the early results of the arrival of biochemically reactive aluminium have been worryingly obvious, including the death of fish and trees in geographical regions impacted by acid deposition, whereas others, and perhaps those which in particular are linked with the human condition, might yet be too subtle to be directly attributable to the participation of biologically-reactive aluminium in the natural selection of the elements of biological essentiality.

The paper, Exley C (2009) Darwin, Natural Selection and the Biological Essentiality of Aluminium and Silicon is published in Trends in Biochemical Sciences Volume 34; Issue 12; December. doi:10.1016/j.tibs.2009.07.006

Download Aluminium Tree of Life Poster.

Keele Hall is staging a spectacular Christmas market this weekend in association with the Douglas Macmillan Hospice.

The market will include exhibits, stalls and a host of Christmas entertainment on Sunday, November 22.

Guests can attend Keele’s live cookery demonstrations at 2pm and 4pm providing ideas for the festive season, and will be able to enjoy the sounds of a pianist from 12.30pm – 2.30pm with a traditional choir from 3pm – 5pm. Refreshments being served throughout the day.

Marcus Wilson, deputy head of Keele Conferences, said: “Christmas is fast approaching and the market will be a great day out for all the family, offering the chance to pick up some great gifts for friends and family, while supporting a truly worthwhile cause.”

Zoe Hollingsworth, senior fundraising development manager of the Douglas Macmillan Hospice, said: “We are really looking forward to the Christmas Market and are grateful to Keele Conferences for hosting what’s sure to be a spectacular event. Douglas Macmillan helps over 1,650 patients each year and we need £7million to be able to do this, so the help of Keele and members of the community really is invaluable. We hope everyone enjoys the day, and helps to make a difference for us all at Dougie Mac!”

Gift ideas for friends and family can be found at the many stalls available selling fair-trade gifts, ales, preserves and Christmas hampers, while children can enjoy the numerous teddy bear shops and toys on display. Jewellery, handbags and scarves will also be exhibited at the market, as well as floral displays, bone china and photography stands.

The Christmas market will be held on Sunday November 22, from 12noon – 6.00pm at Keele Hall on the Keele University campus.

Tickets which are available on the door are priced at £2, or a family ticket (based on 2 adults and 2 children) is available for £5, fifty percent of which will go to the Douglas Macmillan Hospice. For further information contact 01782 734629.

Keele University, whose research is rated as being world leading and of international standard, has been named as one of the winners of the Eighth Round of the prestigious Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education, which were announced last night at a special reception at St James’s Palace.

The Award recognises the work of the internationally renowned Primary Care Sciences Research Centre at Keele. The Centre’s work is focused on chronic pain (especially back pain and arthritis) – the main cause of disability in the United Kingdom and the developed world.

Since the Centre was founded  in 1996 between academic departments at Keele and local NHS partners, it has attracted funding support totaling £27 Million from major UK research bodies; it has created a general practice network of 30 participating practices; established long-term studies of pain in patients involving more than 50,000 patients; has recruited 3,419 participants into nine trials, comparing common treatments and prevention programmes for chronic pain in primary care and established a staff of 106 dedicated to the support of primary care research into chronic pain. In 2008 it was chosen to be the Arthritis Research Campaign’s National Primary Care Centre.

The national honours are awarded every two years to institutions of higher and further education across the UK for work of outstanding excellence. They celebrate world-class achievement and capture the remarkable diversity and quality of the work going on in our universities and colleges of further education. 

Lord Mandelson, Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, said: “I warmly congratulate the twenty-one universities and colleges which have been awarded The Queen’s Anniversary Prizes for Higher and Further Education in this the 8^th biennial Round of the scheme.  Together the winners represent a distinguished and sustained contribution to human progress and to the UK’s high international standing in education.”

The Prizes are a national honour recognising world-class excellence – in any aspect of an institution’s work – which demonstrates evidence of originality, innovation and benefit for the wider community.

Peter Croft, Professor of Primary Care Epidemiology and Director of Primary Care Musculoskeletal Research Centre, said: “The Centre was pleased to represent the University in applying for the Queen’s Anniversary Award, and we are delighted to have been awarded the prize. This is a tremendous achievement, and gives recognition to the high standard of research undertaken in the Centre, to the dedication and hard work of all our staff, and to the local health professionals, patients and members of the public who support our research.”

This year the winning entries span the areas of manufacturing, health care, transport, languages, international human rights, archaeology, essential skills, environmental sustainability, education, hospitality and construction. They address many areas of concern to the wider world, including ageing, care for the vulnerable, water shortage, innovative plant breeding, inner city violence and alleviating poverty.

Keele University Vice-Chancellor, Professor Dame Janet Finch, said: “The University is extremely proud to receive this prestigious award, which recognises the outstanding work and dedication of the team in the Primary Care Sciences Research Centre at Keele. Practical applications of their research work have created beneficial results for the wider economic health of the nation and the health and wellbeing of an ageing society, which has led to direct improvement in the quality of life for affected individuals. While this is a great honour for Primary Care at Keele it is also a reflection of the excellence of the whole University.”

The 21 winners were announced by the Founder and Chairman of the Royal Anniversary Trust, Robin Gill CVO, who commented: “The Prizes confer the highest national recognition on the work of our universities and colleges and the part they play in the country’s economic advance, social wellbeing and industrial self-fulfillment.  The Prizes scheme creates networks that benefit the institutions themselves as well as the wider community. It establishes a benchmark for excellence and validates the UK’s contribution to innovation, knowledge and skills on the world scene. ”

Keele’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Croft and the Dean of the University’s Faculty of Health, Professor Andy Garner, were present at St James’s Palace last night for the announcement.

Third year electrical apprentice, Ashley Mollart, Commercial and Facilities Management (Estates) at Keele University, has been named as one of the top apprentices in the country.

Ashley Mollart

Ashley has won a prestigious award for being assessed as 2nd place winner of the JTL West Midlands Apprentice of the Year.

The JTL West Midland Regional Awards, honour the best electrical and plumbing apprentices in the region and Ashley has been assessed in the top 20 of 10,000 apprentices across England and Wales.

Each apprentice was assessed against the four key elements of the apprentice framework: practical work on site; underpinning theory; key skills; industry test scores.

Ashley was presented with a plaque and cheque for £500 from JTL Chief Executive, Denis Hird, at Aston Villa Football Club.

The famous Staffordshire oatcake is nothing less than a local food hero. Throughout the Potteries, and even beyond, it has achieved iconic status, with more than forty traditional oatcakemakers still in business today.

The Staffordshire Oatcake: A History

True, it has come a long way from its origins as humble, cheap and filling sustenance for the poor. All manner of exotic fillings are added to the modern oatcake, though the purists will tell you that cheese and bacon are the original and best, and anything else is wrong!

Dr Pamela Sambrook, of Keele’s Centre for Local History, Potteries born and bred, has a passion for the oatcake, both as a consumer and as a historian, and her book tells the history and social history of this unique, much-loved product.

She explains how they are made using specifically designed implements, talks to those who remember the old traditions, and gives recipes for making oatcakes at home, along with suggested fillings.

The book is published by Palatine Books at £7.99.

(Book description from Amazon.co.uk)