Recruitment & Admission Forum 2017

Mary Curnock Cook OBE stood down from her post as CEO of UCAS earlier this year and has immediately adopted a raft of other high-profile roles including Chair of The Access Project, Chelsea and Kensington College and  Swindon Academy, a Trustee of both the Open University and the National Star Foundation, and Strategic Adviser to Buckingham University. Her views on opportunity and entry qualifications are highly sought after and always challenging. Unshackled from her UCAS role, she has promised to be provocative.

Prof Les Ebdon CBE is the Director of the Office of Fair Access in HE, the watchdog for equity in admissions. A tireless champion of wider participation, Les has campaigned hard for evidence-based access strategies and has transformed the opportunities for under-represented groups to access higher education. As former Vice-Chancellor of Bedfordshire University and a chemist by training, he is uniquely qualified to provide an insight into STEM recruitment and access.

Georgina is Chair of the Recruitment and Admissions Committee of the Engineering Professors’ Council. Georgina is the Greater Manchester Area Chair and Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, a member of the Institute of Physics, a Fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Georgina was a founder member and is a current governor of the Crewe Engineering and Design University Technical College and an academic at the Open University.

Georgina has previously held the post of Head of School at Manchester Metropolitan University, Site Engineer and Power Specialist for the Square Kilometre Array Program Development Office (SPDO) and the SKA Support Engineer at the new Square Kilometre Array (SKA) Organisation. Georgina held the roles of PrepSKA UK Project Manager (October 2009 to December 2010) and SKADS System Design and Team Leader (October 2006 to September 2009) responsible for the production of the UK SKA demonstrator, 2-PAD (2 Polarisations All Digital) at Jodrell Bank Observatory in Cheshire.

She is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with an Engineering Doctorate, a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration. Georgina has worked in a number of academic-industrial collaboration projects. Her successes to date include the development of a combined particulate and NOx reduction technology for treatment of diesel exhaust gases and the redesign of the crank axle for fatigue prevention on the working replica of Robert Stephenson’s ‘Planet’ locomotive at the Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester

Mike is currently President of the Engineering Professors’ Council (EPC) as well as Head of the School of Engineering at Arden University. He is an experienced senior university leader and engineering academic – gained across institutions ranging from Russell Group to modern and challenger universities. He has played a leading role in the New Approaches to Engineering Higher Education programme and has led on a high profile policy paper for successful engineering degree apprenticeships. More broadly, his achievements include attaining global top 25 status and a top three position in the UK in research (University of Manchester), as well as creating and revitalising curricula. He has received awards for his teaching and research and played a leading role in attaining New Degree Awarding Powers at an innovative new higher education institution wholly focused on engineering education (TEDI-London). Mike has also led on establishing strategic collaborative partnerships with industry, as well as establishing a UK-wide academic chemical engineering community.

Stella Fowler is the Policy and Research Director at the Engineering Professors’ Council. She is responsible for all aspects of policy and research including projects; data analysis; report writing; member surveys and consultations; and events and communications.

Stella has worked in HE analysis for over 20 years with experience at UCAS, on the Higher Education Strategic Planners Association (HESPA) Board and in senior university planning and research data management roles.

Birmingham University

Manchester University

Women’s Engineering Society

Greater Manchester Higher