STEPS 2021 - Lancaster Alumni Magazine 2021

STEPS 2021 - 16 Keep in touch www.lancaster.ac.uk/alumni 15 UniversityNews Professor Black, who has been introduced to the House as Baroness Black of Strome, is a familiar face to many thanks to her books, television documentary appearances and media work. She is a Scottish forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic now based at Lancaster where she also leads the €2.5m H-unique project designed to identify serious criminals based on their hand anatomy. She has taken up her appointment alongside her current role at Lancaster and says “I know this will be a challenging position and I view it as national service. I have been incredibly fortunate throughout my career and if those experiences can be brought to bear in Government decision-making, then I can only promise to do my best which I hope will be enough.” The Vice-Chancellor of Lancaster University, Professor Andy Schofield, commented: “This appointment is a personal achievement at the highest level for Sue but it is also a great honour for Lancaster University where she leads on our work engaging with the world on projects from Eden North to high-level research. Her forensic expertise has been crucial to a number of high-profile criminal cases, including the conviction of Scotland’s largest paedophile ring in 2009. In 1999 she headed the British Forensic Team’s exhumation of mass graves in Kosovo. She was awarded a Damehood in 2016. Lancaster’s MBA is ranked within Tier One of CEO Magazine’s 2021 Global MBA Rankings. The rankings feature 303 MBA, Executive MBA and Online MBA Programmes, from 27 countries. Lancaster University Management School is one of only twelve UK business schools to feature. Lancaster University Management School’s MBA programme is ranked 2nd in the world for corporate strategy and 8th in the world for value for money in the Financial Times MBA global rankings 2021. The Lancaster MBA is placed 9th in the UK, 25th in Europe and 96th in the world. LUMS’ MBA is also ranked 66th in the 2021 Which MBA? rankings, published by The Economist, which also positions LUMS 13th globally and first in the UK for the education experience delivered to its students. Lancaster University’s Pro-Vice- Chancellor for Engagement Professor Sue Black, has been introduced to the House of Lords as a non-party-political peer. Baroness Black - who will sit on the crossbenches - is recognised for her outstanding contributions as a forensic anthropologist, anatomist and academic. Lancaster University will welcome new visitors to the city by hosting a range of 2021 UK Corporate Games events on its 560-acre campus. The UK Corporate Games, which was cancelled in 2020 due to COVID-19, has been rescheduled to take place in Lancaster from 2-5 September 2021 with former Manchester United footballer Gary Neville announced as Patron. The event gives businesses and organisations the chance to compete in a range of sports while also visiting the historic city of Lancaster and sampling Lancaster University’s parkland campus. Lancaster University sports facilities will be used to host many of the competitions, including tennis and cycling. The event has been scheduled for the autumn, after Step Four of the government’s roadmap out of lockdown, when national restrictions on social contact and large events are expected to have been lifted. Organisers will, however, continue to follow the latest government guidelines to offer a safe event for everyone. For more information on the UK Corporate Games and to register a team for the Lancaster event visit www.lancaster.ac.uk/conferences/ corporate-games fitting and inspiring setting for the whole LUMS community. We look forward to a time when students can return to study here on campus and benefit from these facilities as part of the full Lancaster experience.” Quadruple-accredited and world-ranked, Lancaster University Management School is one of the longest-established business schools in the UK and home to a thriving international community, welcoming students and staff from more than 180 countries. LUMS has a presence in 24 countries, including campuses in China, Germany and Ghana. Lancaster University Management School (LUMS) has opened the doors of its brand-new £24m building which will provide a creative and collaborative space for students, staff and partners. The extension to the Management School, named the ‘West Pavilion’, is a five-storey contemporary building which houses three new lecture theatres, two executive teaching suites and three floors of work space for academics and staff. The 5,667m2 facility - designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios (FCBS) and built by Preston-based John Turner Construction - also contains a large atrium and new reception area, linking the new building with the existing LUMS facilities. Professor Angus Laing, Dean of Lancaster University Management School, said: “We are delighted that our new cutting- edge facility is complete which is a Researchers are developing new autonomous technologies that can help people check that isolated elderly family members are okay. There are now more than 4 million people aged 65 and older who are living alone in the UK and the series of national lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic has made it even harder for people to check that those elderly loved ones are safe and well. Dr Rebecca Killick, Principal Investigator of the study from Lancaster University, said: “We can call them using phones, or video conferencing tools, but often we can find that many elderly people will say they are fine and we aren’t convinced. You try to probe further but it is hard when you don’t have all the social clues that can confirm your suspicions.” To help overcome these problems, the researchers, from Lancaster, working with technology company Howz have devised a new way of interpreting statistical data from smart home sensors. These sensors record movement and other activities such as the opening and closing of doors and the use of appliances. Traditional statistical methods struggle with the periodic nature of people’s daily routines. The researchers developed a novel statistical method that is built on an assumption of periodic data to overcome these previous limitations. They then identify changes within these daily routines, using what statisticians call “changepoint analysis”. The results show that the system was able to identify broad patterns in a day, such as hours in the day participants were awake and asleep, as well as times they were doing activities like preparing meals. Dr Killick said: “This research allows us to identify an individual’s daily or weekly pattern of changing behaviour and spot unexpected deviations. This can then be used as a nudge for family members, or carers, to have a conversation.”