Michael Bayliss BSc(Hons) AFHEA - IT and AV Technician, University of Liverpool
Mike is a Senior IT and AV Technician within the School of Histories, Languages and Cultures at the University of Liverpool. He studied music technology at the University of Stafford, completing the course with first class honours. During his time at university, he undertook a placement as a theatre lighting and sound technician.
After completing university, Mike worked at St John Rigby sixth form college in Wigan as an arts technician for three academic years before moving to the University of Liverpool as an IT and AV technician. After two years, he was promoted to Senior IT and AV Technician and has been in the role for five years now.
His day-to-day responsibilities include teaching IT, health and safety, audio and video production and management, research project support, events support, management of school owned IT and AV resources, budget management, equipment set up, staff training and overseeing loan policies and procedures. His favourite thing about his role is the ability to “go out a talk to people and socialise with every academic, every team, external companies, and make those contacts.” His proudest career moments include when he was nominated for Outstanding Contribution to Innovation of Learning and Teaching Learning in last year’s Teaching Fellowship Scheme, shortlisted for the University of Liverpool’s Staff Awards Innovation of the Year, shortlisted for the Papin Prize Contributions towards Teaching and was awarded an Associate Fellowship from Advance HE.
Mike said, “To me, customer service is the key to being a successful technician, having some banter with staff members, making those connections that makes your jobs so much easier. I was truly honoured to be nominated, and then shortlisted, a very proud moment for me. But as I say to everyone I have worked with at the university, ‘I am just doing my job’.”
Heather Burgess BA(Hons) MBS FHEA - Embroidery Technician, Ulster University
Heather is an Embroidery Technician within Textile Art, Design and Fashion at Ulster University. As part of a teaching team, she facilitates and teaches practical sessions covering all aspects of embroidery, from hand and machine stitching to digital embroidery. Heather supports academic research within Textile, Art, Design and Fashion and is also involved in research projects externally. Recently she became part of a research team involving Queens University and Hanoi University of Public Health in Vietnam, where they worked on creating an exhibition to help women be more aware of breast cancer through storytelling.
Since 2021, she has taken on the role of co-chair for the Technician Commitment at Ulster University of which she is incredibly passionate and enjoys seeing technicians being recognised and given opportunities to progress within the technical area.
She started out being a technician by accident due to a past colleague having a serious accident at home. Heather covered her sick leave and then went on to working one day for about five years when she decided to drop down to four days a week. Heather said, “I was known then and still am by the porters at the Belfast School of Art as ‘Friday Heather’. Looking back now, it was in a way an apprenticeship. My predecessor taught me many things about being an embroidery technician and we still keep in touch.” Alongside her position as embroidery technician, she spent a few years working as knit technician too, which she very much enjoyed and continues in her own creative practice within the creative industries.
Her proudest moment is when a past student, Alice Blackstock, asked her to be one of five inspirational women as part of an exhibition called Five Conversations, funded by the Arts Council in Northern Ireland. Alice invited five women who inspire her to share their adventures, trials, healing, and decisions. The result was five portraits that map these moments in time. These visual responses are meaningful to the individual but also encourage the viewer to consider their own life experiences and the hurdles they have overcome. Heather shared, “I was very honoured to be asked and shed a tear or two. I taught Alice when she was a knit student, and it was lovely to be asked and thought of in such a way.”
Heather enjoys working with students hands-on, being part of a creative community of staff and students at the Belfast School of Art and sharing her skills with others and watching them succeed. She also loves being a champion for technicians and having a voice through the Technician Commitment. “I am very glad to be able to push forward, with the support of our wonderful steering group, the Technician Commitment pillars and improve the prospects for all technicians at Ulster.”
She would like others to know how interesting the technician life is. Heather said, “You are always doing something different, no two days are the same. There are challenges from working with students on their ideas to solving the problem of paint rollers that never got cleaned… You have to come up with solutions for all sorts of things and sometimes you do things you never thought you knew how to and are constantly learning, then passing on that knowledge to others whether it be to students or staff.”
She was shocked by her shortlisted nomination for Outstanding Technician of the Year and said, “I wouldn’t be able to do what I do without the support of the team I work with and so I see it as something to showcase us all as technicians, that we are seen and that we are wonderful at our jobs.”
Paul Clews MBIE - Anatomy and Technical Services Manager, Keele University
Paul is an Anatomy and Technical Services Manager for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at Keele University. He leads a team of 10 technicians and support staff to deliver specialised, hands-on practical anatomy training courses in world-class fully equipped HTA inspected anatomy and skills laboratories. He also works alongside academics in the Anatomy Department and leads the Keele Anatomy & Surgical Training Centre (KASTC) team to provide specialist training in a state-of-the-art facility to Surgical Consultants and trainee surgeons from all around the world.
Paul’s career journey began when he left school in 1985 and started on a Government YTS Scheme at a meat production plant. In 1989, he changed his career path and went on to fulfil his dream by working for a funeral director where learned all elements of the profession and qualified as an Embalmer in 1995.
When Keele University opened a brand-new medical school in 2003, he was successful in getting the position as Senior Anatomy Technician and aided in setting up the brand-new state-of-the-art Anatomy Facility. He also led the Anatomy department’s £2.8 million extension to enhance the facility from its planning stages.
Paul is the Senior Manager for technical teams within the Physiology Labs, Prosthetics & Orthotics, Pharmacy, Bioengineering and Research Labs. He works with Keele University's Health & Safety department, holding the position of Health & Safety Manager for the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences.
His proudest moment is when Zak Hayak, who started working with him at 18-years-old, became Senior Anatomy Officer. Paul said, “I feel really proud of him and everything we have achieved over the years, and he is now passing on the knowledge he has gained and using this to develop staff and the facilities for the future.”
Sharing what he’d like people to know about being a technician, Paul said, “Technicians make a difference in more ways than people think! Technicians are the cornerstone throughout education and business. It’s a very rewarding profession and I love it!”
Paul is very proud and humbled to be nominated as Outstanding Technician of the Year and would like to thank “the people who have given me their support and had faith in me and the work we have carried out over a very long enjoyable and exciting career.”
Alexander Counsell - Technical Director of CCIXR, University of Portsmouth
Alex is Technical Director of CCIXR (Centre for Creative and Immersive XR) in the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries at the University of Portsmouth. His role involves managing all the technical provision in the centre and liaising with and managing his technical teams. This work involves working with external clients, visitors and students.
He joined the University in 2004 having been a freelance CG Generalist previously. He has been at the University of Portsmouth for 19 years and in that time, managed a range of technical facilities. Working at the university allowed Alex to discover Motion Capture and led him to establish a studio that has been active for over 15 years, which eventually became the CCIXR facility they have now.
His proudest moment is the creation and opening of the new centre in 2022. He said, “This was a long process that took nearly three years from conception to cutting the ribbon!” The centre won a BETT Award in March this year for Innovator of the Year, with one of its partners WhiteLight, a great affirmation of all the hard work Alex and his team put into it. He is also proud to manage all the technical installs and working with multiple vendors through the build and installation phases, which has been the biggest challenge faced in his career.
His favourite thing about his role is the variety of working with external partners and students. Watching students “rise to the challenge is always very rewarding,” he claims. Alex acknowledges the flexibility technicians require, stating, “We have to be very reactive in our roles, responding to staff and student needs on the fly, and all the while being proactive, learning from those interactions and then improving facilities and capabilities in line with that. It can be a very tricky balancing act, especially at busy times of the academic year.”
Sharing his feelings on being nominated, Alex said, “It feels amazing to be acknowledged at a national level.”
Jason Daff BSc CHort MCIHort - Horticulture Technical Team Manager, University of York
Jason is the Horticulture Technical Team Manager within the Biology Department at the University of York. He is responsible for ensuring that the university’s plant and crop science research is supported by sound horticultural practices and practical support. He manages a team of technicians who operate a range of controlled environment (CE) growing facilities that can manipulate variables including air temperature, relative humidity, light intensity, light spectrum, and carbon dioxide levels. He helps scientists design and perform experiments with plants to understand how plants grow and can be manipulated, with precision, to meet experimental outcomes and is also responsible for plant health and biosecurity within the facilities and adherence to GMO containment regulations.
Jason obtained an undergraduate degree in Horticulture, specialising in Crop Production, from Pershore College and the University of Worcester. He previously worked for the global seed and crop-protection company Syngenta where he was involved in herbicide research; profiling novel chemistry for herbicidal activity and crop selectivity and latterly the sourcing and production of weed and crop seeds of the major global agro-economic species. Prior to joining the University of York, he worked for the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, where he oversaw the extensive controlled environment growing facilities.
He is most proud of the sustainability improvements made in the plant growing facilities at York. Jason said, “Growing plants all year round in controlled conditions is energy intensive but by replacing our lighting with more energy efficient LEDs, we have been able to save the equivalent of 40 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions every year, as well as improving plant growth and experimental outcomes.”
Jason enjoys working with a variety of research scientists and students on huge array of projects, using his specialist horticultural knowledge to contribute to the design and implementation of experiments. He said, “No two days are the same and there is always something to learn or methods to improve.” He finds being a horticultural technician in a core facility is greatly rewarding. “If you have an appreciation for the science and a passion for plants, then these roles can offer greatly stimulating and satisfying employment,” he shares. “There are lots of opportunities for personal development depending on your interests and specialisms, and our technicians are encouraged to explore those opportunities.”
On his nomination, Jason is “chuffed to bits to be nominated, it’s great recognition for the work of technical staff, and particularly our Horticulture Technical Team that supports the fantastic plant science we do at the University of York.”
Kirsty Massetti FHEA - Specialist Technical Manager, King's College London
Kirsty is a Specialist Technical Manager at King’s College London where she leads a technical team in the dissecting rooms and works closely with academic, clinical and other technical colleagues to provide anatomical teaching, surgical and multi-disciplinary training and research for undergraduates and international collaborators.
Kirsty shares, “Every year around 100 people donate their bodies to us, most of our work is about looking after them whether that’s embalming to preserve for student dissection, making prosections to show particular structures or setting up unembalmed for surgical training and research and ultimately preparing them for funerals.”
Her role also entails looking after labs and equipment which involves general checks and maintenance, specialist cleaning and ensuring equipment is in good order. She is frequently demonstrating and teaching anatomy to various groups and supporting other demonstrators who are often preparing for surgeon exams. She works with various research and surgical groups to find novel solutions and approaches to problems, as well as provides pastoral care for students especially at the beginning of term when they are just finding their feet.
She began her career journey at Guy's Hospital ITU as a care assistant and was studying science at Open University in her spare time before starting at King’s College London as a junior technician. She was also a cleaner and a barmaid, amongst other things, and credits those jobs for giving her a lot of the skills needed to problem solve in a lab management role.
Kirtsy said, “I’ve had so much support and encouragement from my fellow techs and academic colleagues to progress over the years, getting qualifications in anatomy teaching through the anatomical society, networking via the Institute of anatomical sciences, FHEA through King’s Academy and King’s Leadership and Management Program.
“I always joke that I only came here to mop the floors 23 years ago, actually I still do at times – whatever it takes to keep the show on the road.”
She feels most proud when students return and say they’ve made a positive difference because “that’s what it’s all about – why we are all here doing what we do and why our donors leave us the gift of their bodies.”
Her favourite thing about her role is that there’s never a dull day. She shares, “the diversity both in terms of the variety of the work itself and the people you will work with, and the great thing about working at King’s is that they really encourage you to collaborate and work on projects that you might not automatically consider as your role.”
She wants others to know whatever field you’re interested in usually has a technical role and that “thanks to the efforts of the Technician Commitment and other groups, we are well on our way to having our own progressive career pathway.”
Kirsty is stunned to have been nominated as Outstanding Technician of the Year and said, “It’s a huge honour, knowing that the folks you work with have taken the time to nominate you is heartwarming.”
Dr Ketan Ruparelia BSc(Hons) PhD PGCert MRSC FHEA - Technical Instructor, De Montfort University
Dr Ketan is a Technical Instructor for the NMR Facility & Pharmaceutical Chemistry at De Montfort University. He provides technical support service to students and staff within the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences by providing training, practical assistance and advice in the use of specialist equipment and techniques. He develops individual skillsets and instructs users one-to-one and in groups on the usage of specialist equipment, offering guidance on techniques according to agreed guidelines and in line with faculty and university safety policy. Dr Ketan works with students and staff to complete experiments and to analyse results, assisting them where specialist techniques or operation of complex equipment is required. His role also involves a formal introduction to the facilities for all new students and staff, updating and developing Risk Assessments and COSHH in line with university policy, supporting the needs of assessments, modules and courses throughout the academic year as well as research and external income generation projects, undertaking and managing small projects to enhance services and basic repairs of equipment.
Dr Ketan joined the University in 1990 as a Cancer Drug Discovery Group research assistant and has since worked to ensure that the ideas and concepts initiated by Professor Patterson and Professor Potter were translated into reality. Dr Ketan is a skilled organic chemist with a special interest in structure-activity relationships of anticancer pro-drugs and is familiar with a range of purification techniques, analytical techniques and in vitro bio-assays.
He also helped develop a novel patented agent, DRAQ5TM, a cellular DNA fluorescent stain. Since 1998, Dr Ketan has worked on projects initially introduced by Professor Gerry Potter into tumour-specific delivery and activation of pro-drugs for cancer treatment. In these projects, Dr Ketan has been responsible for developing the methods to allow compounds to be made in sufficient quantity to allow for testing. In 2007, Dr Ketan was selected to present his contributions to cancer research internationally, supported by the Royal Society of Chemistry. He was awarded a DMU Oscar award for Outstanding Contribution to Research Excellence in July 2012.
His proudest moment was being given the opportunity to be a certificate bearer during DMU’s graduation ceremony and watching students from the Faculty of Health & Life Sciences graduating, stating it was “immensely satisfying and rewarding, knowing that the students have had good experiences, especially where I was concerned.” His favourite aspects about his role are being able to transfer his knowledge to enhance student experience, the opportunity to create lifelong developments, partake in outreach programmes and undertake a variety of tasks where he is always learning.
Dr Ketan would like others to know technicians are the “backbone to teaching, working closely with academics to better student understanding and experiences.” He is overwhelmed and appreciative to be nominated as Outstanding Technician of the Year and would like to share the shortlisted nomination with his team and said, “Thank you for the nomination by my line manager Katherine Taylor.”
Kate Thornton - Faculty Technical Resource Manager, Queen Mary University London
Kate Thornton is Faculty Technical Resource Manager in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Queen Mary University of London. She oversees the development and management of all aspects of technical services within the Faculty of Science and Engineering. This involves ensuring that the faculty has a comprehensive, robust and sustainable model to support its research, learning and teaching plans. She works with the faculty executive and schools to ensure technical resources (staff, infrastructure, and equipment) are deployed efficiently, effectively and equitably across the faculty. She is also responsible for leading on Technician Commitment work within the faculty, sits on the Steering Group and is LEAF co-ordinator for the university. While not officially part of her role, she often considers how her work affects technical staff or if technical staff been involved in all her interactions with the university.
She has been managing labs for 20 years and knew it was something she wanted to do since taking her undergraduate course, where her final year project focussed on how to design, install and set up a virus lab. After a brief dalliance working as a research assistant in industry, she started her higher education career at Imperial College where she was part of a team investigating IL-10 signalling in rheumatoid arthritis. She quickly took on additional technical roles, which included training and operationally supporting the larger research group, and this ultimately led to a lab manager position combined with research work.
Kate juggled both research and lab management until moving to University College London in 2009, where she took on purely technical position first as the Laboratory Manager for the Institute for Women's Health and later as the Head of Laboratory Management for the Institute of Child Health.
She joined Queen Mary in 2019 as the Technical Resource Manager for the Faculty of Science and Engineering with over 18 years of laboratory management experience and has been lucky enough to manage some fantastic teams. She has been technical lead on the design and fit-out of a brand-new building and also organised the installation of plenty of equipment and cannot imagine herself doing anything else. Kate said, “I have been incredibly lucky to have had a string of strong and supportive line managers throughout my career, all of whom have really believed in me and allowed me to stretch and challenge myself in my roles.”
Her proudest moment is the work undertaken with QMUL’s Technician Commitment Steering Group on their institutional action plan. “Seeing a community developing a sense of technical identity within the university is very rewarding,” she said. “Seeing the increase in uptake on the initiatives we rollout and the positive feedback makes me, and the steering group, feel like we are making a difference.
“Co-ordinating our last conference was a particular highlight and I love the social interactions that go on during these events, the connections that are made, the knowledge gained and the fun that is had. The inclusion of working on the Technician Commitment was part of what drew me to apply for my role in the first place.”
Her favourite thing about the role is variation of things that come her way. From large capital infrastructure projects, sustainability initiatives, running conferences, large equipment logistics, recruitment and career development, to health and safety. “The list is endless and that’s what makes it fun and interesting,” she said. “Being involved in all these different areas also means I get to interact with so many people across the university. I really enjoy working with colleagues who have such a wide variety of expertise – there is always something to learn from them, something to take away and think about, a new idea or a new way at looking at a problem.”
She wants others to know technicians are the ‘fixers’ of the higher education and research sector. Technicians can look at practical or theoretical problems and come up with workable solutions. “In my eyes they are the lifeblood of HE, tirelessly working behind-the-scenes contributing to and supporting our institution’s education and research endeavours. It’s fantastic that the THE Awards have a category that recognises this.”
Sharing her thoughts about being shortlisted for Outstanding Technician of the Year, Kate said, “I am a little overwhelmed and humbled to be recognised in this way. I am genuinely lucky to love my job and working with such fantastic technical teams across Queen Mary makes it easy to ‘make things happen’. I’m looking forward to going to represent Queen Mary and the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the awards ceremony in December.”
