diagram of NIST framework for Cyber Physical Systems

What is a Cyber Physical System?

As technology develops and becomes more accessible, people find new  ways of exploiting the technology to achieve new objectives. The manufacturing industry is a pertinent example of how technology can transform productivity and increase quality…


Branding in Higher Education

The question of branding is an interesting topic for higher education. What actually does it mean to ‘brand’ a department? In the commercial sector, we would expect a branding exercise to enable a product, product…



The manager as coach

Coaching is a popular topic, particularly in the world of business. Executive leaders employ personal coaches to have developmental conversations, to explore hypothetical scenarios, and to encourage self-awareness. It follows that the practice has expanded,…



Risky rapport

I’m chatting with an academic colleague about student engagement. He is struggling with one particular class. The students turn up frequently enough to avoid triggering attendance monitoring processes, and it’s creating havoc in the group…



What is coaching?

For a long time the practice of ‘coaching’ has been associated with sport, and more specifically it refers to a role whereby a ‘coach’ assists a ‘coachee’ to improve their competitive performance. The coach offers…


People-applauding

Re-framing teaching vs research

I enjoy visiting academic departments in other universities. There is something comforting about recognising an issue that is shared across many different departments. It might be common curricula, shared student challenges, staff issues or even…