april
Tied up
Metals with memory
New centre of law
Suchet
ITN newscaster and former student of Queens College, Dundee, John Suchet returned to give the first ever Discovery Lecture to come complete with musical accompaniment. Mr Suchet revealed one of his lesser known passions when he delivered the public presentation on The Last Master - An Exploration of the Life and Music of Beethoven at the University's West Park Conference Centre accompanied by university music co-ordinator, Graeme Stevenson on the piano.
Monica Paton, a second year printed textiles student from Perth, took first prize in an Italian tie design competition sponsored by the Milan based fashion designer and the world's largest luxury tie manufacturers, Orsini Srl. First prize won Monica an all expenses paid period of work experience at Orsini Srl in Milan. Louise Kirkby from Dundee and Deborah Burrell from Fife took the second and third prizes. Printed textiles course director, Andy Taylor commented: "The results from the students have been absolutely wonderful. The students came up with fantastic designs and we've had excellent coverage in a leading design magazine."
Keyhole surgery pioneer Professor Sir Alfred Cuschieri announced a new breakthrough in surgery techniques with the development of metal alloys with inbuilt memory. The alloys are pliable when cool and become rigid to resume an initial "remembered" form when heated, thus providing a set of valuable new tools for keyhole surgeons. He commented: "It is particularly difficult for keyhole surgeons to carry out delicate manipulations such as suturing cut edges of tissues. Surgical materials that automatically adopt the required shape would be a major step forward."
A new Centre for Professional Legal Practice was opened at the Scrymgeour Building by Lord Ross, formerly Lord Justice Clerk. Based within the University's department of law, the centre is responsible for professional practice courses for lawyers as well as other professionals and will oversee the Diploma in Legal Practice at the University. One of the centre's three directors, Fiona Raitt, commented: "The Scottish Parliament is likely to bring in its wake many legal changes which will directly affect the way many professionals work. Non-legal professionals need to be updated on such changes and The Centre for Professional Legal Practice is ideally placed to meet this need."
