thedenverpost--2019-04-10--From handcrafted to high-tech Beer brewing is changing and a Colorado college is leading the way

From handcrafted to high-tech: Beer brewing is changing and a Colorado college is leading the way

Beer is blended with all sorts of exotic ingredients these days, from fruit to honey to cold brew coffee. On the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins, it will soon be blended with the latest “Internet of Things” technology as the school and its partners aim to educate the next generation of beer industry workers.  CSU and multinational technology and engineering firm Emerson announced plans Tuesday for the Emerson Brewing Innovation Center, a forthcoming lab space that will bring some of the latest in brewing technology to the school.  Set to open in Gifford Building in the fall, the center will be home to two brewing systems built by an Emerson partner company. The beer will be brewed manually but the systems will include Emerson control systems, flow meters, measurement devices and other tools that will track and record data throughout the brewing process. That data will then be stored in a cloud accessible to students and instructors for review, allowing them to see where things went right or wrong in their efforts and to tinker with ingredients and processes.  It’s all part of Emerson’s array of Internet of Things tech, smart devices that share information with one another via a web connection.  “It’s getting back to some of the basic science of how you do things and how you brew beer, but then also keeping tabs on all of the steps,” Christian Grossenbacher, vice president of food and beverage for Emerson Automation Solutions. “We will be looking at working with them on a fully automated (system) down the road.”  The systems will give students in CSU’s Fermentation Science and Technology program will an up-close look at how automated technology helps brewers optimize the operations and do real-time quality control. Emerson’s systems are in use by name-brand brewing companies like Miller Coors and Boston Brewing Co., maker of Sam Adams Boston Lager, according to Grossenbacher.  “Partnerships like these enable us to give our students experience with industry standards and help them prepare for the job market,” Jeff Callaway, associate director of CSU’s fermentation science program, said in a news release. “The new center will enhance our fermentation science academic program while strengthening ties to the industry.”  Fort Collins is home to some of the biggest and best-known craft brewing brands in the country, including fermentation sciences program supporter New Belgium Brewing Co. Emerson is from beer country, too. It’s based in St. Louis, home base for beer behemoth Anheuser-Busch, maker of Budweiser.  Grossenbacher said the company has strong Front Range ties thanks to its Boulder-based subsidiary Micro Motion Inc. Micro Motion held a panel discussion with area brewers and Callaway last year that was the impetus for Emerson deciding to invest in a partnership with CSU, he said. The partnership also includes a $10,000 donation toward a diversity fellowship for the brewing and fermentation program.  “We are focused on helping train the digital workforce of the future while advancing education, innovation and diversity in the industry,” Lal Karsanbhai, executive president of Emerson Automation Solutions, said in a prepared statement. “The Emerson Brewing Innovation Center will mark the beginning of a strong and continued partnership with CSU.”


theguardianuk--2019-01-15--Student loan ban some universities could lose a third of their intake

Student loan ban: some universities could lose a third of their intake

Some modern universities could lose about a third of their students and face a struggle to survive if plans go ahead to stop young people with lower grades qualifying for loans, data obtained by Education Guardian suggests.  The prime minister’s review of post-18 education, due to report next month, is expected to recommend a cut to tuition fees. But another idea that has been leaked is to limit numbers by stopping young students qualifying for a loan if they get fewer than three Ds at A-level.  The proposal has sparked anger in universities because it is likely to hit would-be students from the poorest families much harder than their middle-class counterparts.  New data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) also shows 16 modern universities in England could lose between 15 and 36% of their full-time degree students overnight, based on 2016-17 figures. Many others would also see a substantial drop. Experts say the loss of income could push struggling universities to the brink, especially on top of a cut in fees.  Simon Marginson, professor of higher education at Oxford University, says: “A huge cut in income like this would inevitably mean that institutions would flounder, and some would be surviving on a week-to-week basis. That is bad for the sector, bad for students, bad for graduates and bad for employers. It would throw everyone into chaos.”  London Metropolitan University, whose student numbers fell by a third in the five years to 2017, according to the admissions service Ucas, would be worst hit. The data shows that 36% of its full-time degree students were admitted with fewer than three Ds at A-level or equivalent in 2016-17. It was closely followed by Bolton University, at 31%, and the University of Bedfordshire, 27%.  The PM’s review, led by the former equities broker Philip Augar, is, according to another leak, considering a cut in fees from £9,250 to £6,500, for arts, humanities and social science subjects. Science, technology and engineering degrees, which typically lead to better paid jobs, could cost up to £13,500.  Universities are not hopeful that the government will step in with extra funding to plug the gap, meaning they would lose nearly £3,000 a head for many courses. All universities are viewing this as a massive blow. But experts say it could sound the death knell for less popular institutions that are already struggling in the fierce new higher education market.  Matt Robb, managing partner at the strategy consultancy EY-Parthenon, which advises universities, says: “If they cut fees to £6,500, some universities will bleed to death.” He argues that the government’s new Office for Students can no longer refuse to bail out failing institutions if fees are cut without new public funding to compensate. “If you slash university funding by a third you can’t just wash your hands of it all and say let the market solve the problem.”  Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute thinktank, says some institutions have already had to take out bridging loans to pay staff wages while they wait for their first tranche of this academic year’s fees from the Student Loans Company. “If you push them over a cliff, what looks like a moderately popular policy of cutting fees suddenly becomes a major political scandal. There could be a dozen universities in serious trouble.”  Hillman is fiercely opposed to the proposal to limit entry to those with three Ds and above, which he says would “dramatically damage overnight the government’s plans to get more working class young people into university”. He predicts it would finish off some troubled institutions. “To lose that many students would be a massive blow to an institution. If you had an exceptional VC who had somehow prepared for it, or valuable properties in central London, you might survive it. But many institutions aren’t in that position.”  Marginson says the fallout from one or more universities going bankrupt would be profound, hurting current students and “trashing” the degrees of all previous graduates.  “Generally a university is one of the biggest employers. It’s like closing a hospital – losing it would change the environment and make it a harder place to live in. These aren’t just businesses, they are public institutions that are subsidised by the state for good reason.”  Steven Cummins, professor of population health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, one of the world’s leading centres for public health research, says he would not have made it to university at all had there been a cut-off based on A-level grades.  Cummins, who has advised the Department of Health and the Food Standards Agency, got two Es and a U at grammar school in Southend, Essex. He says he wasn’t mature enough to work hard.  He retook his A-levels at college in the evenings, doing an office job in the day, and pushed his grades up to CEE. Happily, it was enough to get on to what he describes as a “transformational” geography degree at his local HE college, now the University of Gloucestershire.  “I finally found something I enjoyed and was good at,” he says. “Starting again in a completely different environment meant no one had any preconceptions and that was hugely liberating.”  Cummins was the first in his family to go to university. His dad was a builder and his mum was a clerk. He says the advantages it has given him have been huge.  “There are always people who, for whatever reason, don’t achieve their potential at the age of 18,” he says. “I think that writing them off at that age and not giving them the opportunity to experience the transformative power of higher education is a huge mistake.”  Prof Graham Baldwin, vice-chancellor of Southampton Solent University, where 18% of students had A-levels below three Ds in 2016-17, says he is “frankly horrified” that this policy is on the table.  “We’ve been monitoring students’ achievements and in 2017 more of our graduates who came in with three Ds or less were in professional or managerial roles than those who got three Cs or better.”  Prof David Phoenix, vice-chancellor of London South Bank University, where 19% of students have fewer than three Ds, said writing off applicants based solely on their school results was “morally abhorrent”.  He doesn’t think accepting lower grade applicants is a stigma for universities such as his, which serve disadvantaged communities. “We are in the bottom quartile for entry qualifications but we are in the top four universities in the country for graduate outcomes and in the top 10 for graduate salaries.  “A student’s performance in school is often not an indicator of their performance at university, especially when they are studying a subject they really enjoy, taught in a way they haven’t experienced before,” he says. “We work very closely with industry so it feels relevant, and we work hard at building their self-confidence.”  • This article was amended on 15 January 2019 because an earlier version misnamed the University of Gloucestershire as the University of Gloucester. This has been corrected.


theindependent--2019-01-11--Women are just as good as men at negotiating salary despite employersapos claims

Women are just as good as men at negotiating salary, despite employers' claims

Despite years of employers claiming otherwise, new research has revealed women to be equally as good as men at salary negotiations.  Almost 50 years since the introduction of the Equal Pay Act (1970), the UK still has a glaring gender pay gap with figures from the Office for National Statistics placing it around 18 per cent.  While many believe the chasm comes down to a combination of factors including childcare and discrimination, employers have often claimed that the gap is the result of women’s lesser negotiating skills when it comes to asking for pay rises and promotions.  But a new study on how gender affects these discussions is disputing this excuse entirely.  In a series of experiments conducted by Lehigh University, Pennsylvania, male and female participants were randomly assigned the roles of boss and employee.  They were then asked to negotiate an agreement that would determine how much they were each paid for taking part in the experiment.  The test showed no difference between men and women’s negotiating skills and found that women were just as self interested as their male counterparts.  This indicates that a woman’s ability, or lack thereof, to discuss salary is in no way a significant factor when it comes to explaining the pay gap.  “Some attribute the pay gap to perceived gender differences in wage contract negotiations or to a belief that women undermine their own bargaining position by extending too much trust to others in negotiations,” said Holona Ochs, associate professor of political science at Lehigh University.  “Our findings suggest that the gender stereotypes that lead to the perception that men may negotiate better wage contracts than women are misleading, and that individual behaviour in hierarchical negotiation settings, like between a boss and employee, is more likely affected by the context, than by gender differences.  “Our research report shows how institution-free environments (like experiments) which do not exist in the real world – provide a baseline to measure how institutions shape the behaviour of real public workers in real agencies.”  The study follows the announcement that the global pay gap between men and women will take 202 years to close.  The World Econonmic Forum said the gap has narrowed slightly over the past year, but that the number of women in the professional workplace has fallen.  It also revealed that women are significantly affected by the automation of jobs and development of artificial intelligence, warning that unless more women are encouraged to enter the fields of science, technology and engineering, the gender gap could widen.


theindependent--2019-01-30--Post-Brexit salary caps for EU workers will be aposdetrimentalapos to science minister warns

Post-Brexit salary caps for EU workers will be 'detrimental' to science, minister warns

The government's refusal to give visas to science workers earning less than £30,000 could damage the research sector in post-Brexit Britain, the science minister has warned.  Chris Skidmore said he was trying to convince home secretary Sajid Javid to scrap the salary threshold which has been recommended in a document underpinning future immigration plans.  He said he was concerned about the impact on lab technicians and other employees who earn below the cap but make a vital contribution to UK science and technology.  His comments came after the government's strategy for post-Brexit immigration policy was released.  Mr Skidmore said he was committed to ensuring Britain “remains the best possible place for international researchers”.  “We made quite a clear statement on ensuring we have no cap on international students, but I want to go further,” he told the Science and Technology Committee. “For instance the £30,000 cap on salary can be seen as quite detrimental to the science community.”  He added that while he was new to the job, he understood the importance of not breaking up research groups and ensuring the families of scientists could accompany them to the UK.  He said he was in the process of working with universities to build a case and make this clear to the home secretary.  Asked by the committee's chair Norman Lamb if he wanted to remove the cap altogether, the minister said he wanted to “look at what alternatives there would be.”  Last year, the Migration Advisory Committee recommended there should be no cap on high-skilled workers allowed into the UK, but that the existing £30,000 salary threshold should be maintained.  Current policy is to allow 20,700 high-skilled workers from abroad into the country.  The Home Office said they are now undertaking a period of consultations to establish what a suitable salary threshold would be.  According to the union Prospect, keeping such a high cap on salaries for workers from the EU will have profound consequences for public sector science, technology and engineering.  They list postdoctoral researchers, veterinary inspectors and agricultural research technicians as some of the professions earning below £30,000 for which the country currently relies on European workers.  Dr Mike Galsworthy from campaign group Scientists for EU said Mr Skidmore's comments revealed a "woeful state of affairs".  "The matter of highly-skilled, highly-talented but low-paid staff in our science and innovation system has long been known, but the new science minister only wants 'to look at... alternatives' at this late stage, on the eve of a potential crash out," he said.  Science is a sector that faces a great deal of disruption following Brexit, given the extensive collaborations and shared funding networks operating between the UK and Europe.  Many researchers have expressed concern about the UK’s future as a leading scientific power, despite assurances by ministers that any lost funding will be matched.  Particularly concerning is the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, which Mr Skidmore admitted would be disruptive to British science.  He said that while the government had underwritten guarantees to ensure UK researchers supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 scheme would not lose funding, when it comes to future schemes such as Horizon Europe “we are crossroads”.  He added: “We are leaving the EU but we do not want to break those long standing ties."     The Independent has launched its #FinalSay campaign to demand that voters are given a voice on the final Brexit deal.      Sign our petition here


theindependent--2019-04-23--Formula One gender pay gap revealed to be above UK average at all but one British team

Formula One’s reputation as a male-dominated sport has been cemented in recently-released filings which reveal that all of the teams based in Britain paid their male staff more than women last year.  It comes despite accelerating efforts to boost the appeal of motorsport to women. Campaign group Dare To Be Different was launched in 2016 to drive diversity in motorsport and next month the all-female W Series will host its first race. In contrast, F1 doesn’t have a female driver and women lose out lower down its rankings as well.  Six of its ten teams are based in Britain and employ a combined 4,023 staff. The gulf in pay between men and women was higher than the national average at all but one of them last year. The best performer was Northamptonshire-based Force India which went into administration in July and was rescued by Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, a former investor in fashion brand Tommy Hilfiger.  Force India is one of F1’s smallest teams with 382 employees according to its latest accounts. Last year it paid women an hourly wage which was 12.6% lower than the amount earned by men. It is an improvement on the national gender pay gap of 18% which every other British F1 team failed to meet.  Their annual filings were made under the Equality Act which came into force last year and requires companies with more than 250 employees to disclose the gender pay gap between men and women.  One of the biggest gulfs in pay was at Williams in Oxfordshire where the average hourly wage for women was 25% lower than that of their male colleagues. It is particularly ironic as Williams employs the highest-ranking female team executive in F1. Its deputy boss is Claire Williams, daughter of the team’s controlling shareholder Sir Frank Williams, but she is in the minority.  According to the team, just 17.6% of its workforce was female last year, up from 13.3% in 2017. “At the current rate of change, it will be many years before we, as a business, as an industry and as a society, reach a point of equality,” says Claire Williams. “With this in mind, Williams will continue to promote more women in the workplace and support their progression within our business, as these steps are key to any sustainable and successful organisation.” The hurdle is education.  One of the biggest departments for any F1 team is engineering but, according to Williams, just 10.5% of its engineers were female last year. Turning this around could be an uphill struggle.  Filings from F1’s parent company, which is owned by Liberty Media, state that “the motorsport industry remains predominantly male, largely because of the lack of women choosing to pursue careers in science, technology and engineering.” Testimony to this, research last year from campaign group WISE showed that only 15% of total engineering and technology graduates in Britain were women.  In a bid to turn this around, F1’s educational programme, F1 In Schools, launched a marketing campaign targeting girls last year and, as a result, 40% of all participants in the competition were female  Since Liberty bought F1 in 2017 it has driven up the sport’s headcount and its filings reveal that last year there was a surge in the number of women in executive positions. They state that “our legal team now comprises of 74% women and the financial department also recruited more women into senior roles with a 50/50 split, and 40% of those women being at a senior level.”  Women were paid 81p for every £1 that men earned last year giving them an hourly wage which was 18.8% lower than the male staff. It is close to the national average but F1 isn’t satisfied. The filings add that “closing the gender pay gap remains a top priority for the F1 leadership team. Addressing this issue will take time but we are in no doubt that the steps we are taking to improve female representation in our business will have a positive impact in the long-term.”


theindependent--2019-08-23--Prince Andrew Who is the royal and where is he in line to the throne

Prince Andrew: Who is the royal and where is he in line to the throne?

The Royal Family has welcomed numerous new additions to its expanding brood over the years, most recently following the birth of Archie Harrison Mountbatten Windsor in May.  However, there are several key members in the Windsor family who regularly make public appearances and speak on behalf of the Commonwealth.  While the Prince of Wales and his offspring – the Dukes of Cambridge and Sussex – often hit the headlines as a result of their work supporting mental health charities, speaking about the threat of the climate crisis and make red carpet appearances at star-studded events, others go about life less in the spotlight.  The Duke of York is one such individual. As one of four children of Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh, the 59-year-old has forged a prominent career for himself in the Navy and in international trade affairs.  Here’s everything you need to know about Prince Andrew:  When was he born?  Prince Andrew Albert Christian Edward is the Queen and Prince Philip's second child. At the time of his birth on 19 February 1960, he was second in line to the throne behind his older brother, Prince Charles.  As it currently stands, the royal is now eighth in the order of succession, moving down from seventh place following the birth of the Duke of Sussex’s child, Archie Harrison, on 6 May.  What is his job?  The royal holds the rank of commander and the honorary rank of vice admiral in the Royal Navy.  During his career in the military, Andrew served as an active-duty helicopter pilot, instructor and the captain of a warship.  He also served during the Falklands War in 1982 and Britain's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment until July 2011.  The duke’s biograph on the royal family’s website states: “Much of The Duke of York's work is focussed on promoting economic growth and skilled job creation in the UK, with particular emphasis on education and skills, entrepreneurship and science, technology and engineering.”  He is also founder of Pitch@Palace – an annual event at which budding entrepreneurs pitch their business ideas to a roomful of potential supporters from the business community.  Does he have children?  The royal has two children, Princess Beatrice and Princess Eugenie, from his marriage to Sarah “Fergie” Ferguson.  The pair wed on 23 July 1986 at Westminster Abbey and separated in 1992, finalising their divorce in 1996. The pair remain very close and are regularly seen on outings and on holiday together.  Beatrice was born 8 August 1988 and Eugenie was welcomed into the royal family on 23 March 1990.  In 2016, the duke said there was “no truth” in rumours of a rift between him and Prince Charles over his daughters' participation as members of the royal family.  In a rare public statement, Andrew posted a link on Twitter in response to rumours regarding Eugenie and Beatrice.  He said: “It is a complete fabrication to suggest I have asked for any future husbands of the Princesses to have titles.  “There is no truth to the story that there could be a split between The Prince of Wales and I over my daughters' participation as members of the Royal Family and any continued speculation is pointless.”  On 14 October 2018, Eugenie married her financier Jack Brooksbank at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle.  Where does he live?  Royal Lodge is the official resident of the Duke of York, which is located in Windsor Great Park.  The Queen Mother previously lived in the private resident before the site was gifted to Prince Andrew in 2003.  In 2004, the prince moved into the property with his daughters Beatrice and Eugenie. Despite his divorce from Ferguson, she moved into Royal Lodge in 2008 and it is widely believed to be her permanent residence.  “I’m in and out all the time and he’s in and out all the time,” the mother-of-two explained of their relationship in an interview with Australian radio host Kyle Sandiland in 2016.


theindependent--2019-09-10--International students will be able to stay in UK for two years after graduation Boris Johnson says

International students will be able to stay in UK for two years after graduation, Boris Johnson says

International students will be able to stay in the UK for two years after graduating, to find work, under new proposals announced by the prime minister.  Boris Johnson said the changes, due to come into effect for those starting courses next year, would help those studying in Britain to begin their careers in the UK.  International students who have successfully completed a course in any subject at an institution with a track record in upholding immigration checks will be able to benefit from the measures.  They will apply to students who start courses in 2020-21 at undergraduate level or above.  The announcement coincides with the launch of the world’s largest genetics project, the £200m whole genome sequencing project in the UK Biobank, which aims to transform genetic research.  Mr Johnson said: “Britain has a proud history of putting itself at the heart of international collaboration and discovery. Over 60 years ago, we saw the discovery of DNA in Cambridge by a team of international researchers and today we are going even further. Now we are bringing together experts from around the globe to work in the UK on the world’s largest genetics research project, set to help us better treat life-threatening illnesses and ultimately save lives.  “Breakthroughs of this kind wouldn’t be possible without being open to the brightest and the best from across the globe to study and work in the UK. That’s why we’re unveiling a new route for international students to unlock their potential and start their careers in the UK.”  Home secretary Priti Patel added: “The new Graduate Route will mean talented international students, whether in science and maths or technology and engineering, can study in the UK and then gain valuable work experience as they go on to build successful careers. It demonstrates our global outlook and will ensure that we continue to attract the best and brightest.”  Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities UK, said the announcement was “very positive news”.  He said: “Evidence shows that international students bring significant positive social outcomes to the UK as well as £26bn in economic contributions, but for too long the lack of post-study work opportunities in the UK has put us at a competitive disadvantage in attracting those students. The introduction of a two-year post-study work visa is something Universities UK has long campaigned for and we strongly welcome this policy change, which will put us back where we belong as a first choice study destination.  “Not only will a wide range of employers now have access to talented graduates from around the world, these students hold lifelong links.”  However, Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK, said it was an “unwise” and “retrograde” step which would “likely lead to foreign graduates staying on to stack shelves, as happened before”.  “Our universities are attracting a record number of overseas students so there is no need to devalue a study visa by turning it into a backdoor route for working here.”


theindependent--2019-11-09--In Lebanon, a woman's place is leading the revolution

Anti-government protests that have swept across Lebanon over recent weeks have been notable for their lack of leaders, but they have not been without leadership.  On the front of marches and discussion groups, sit-ins and roadblocks, women have been a key driving force behind the movement. In a political system where women are chronically underrepresented, they are making themselves heard in the streets.  “Women have been such an important part of this revolution,” says Mariana Wehbe, a public relations consultant, who has been protesting every day. “We have been on the front lines, we have been empowering each other and we have kept the peace.”  On Wednesday evening, Wehbe organised a women’s candlelit vigil in the city’s main square, attended by thousands. It was a poignant moment, but the role of women in these protests has been more than symbolic; it has dramatically altered their character and direction.  One of the most enduring images of the protests was taken on the first night, during a scuffle between a cabinet minister’s bodyguards and protesters. As one of the guards brandished a gun, a woman named Malak Alaywe delivered a swift kick to his groin.  The image of a woman lashing out at this representation of the country’s corrupt and patriarchal political class instantly became a meme, stylised in an illustration, and appeared to quickly become a major catalyst in bringing more people out on to the streets.  But the biggest impact women have had on the protests is making them more peaceful.  The first two nights of demonstrations were marked by violent clashes between police and protesters that continued deep into the night. But on the third evening, a group of women decided to form a human shield to separate the two sides.  “The purpose was for women to take control of how the protests were evolving,” says Dayna Ash, an activist who was among those who stood in the way.  “They wanted a peaceful protest. So they took to the front lines to stop the violence,” she says.  They called it the women’s front line. The clashes stopped immediately, and the protests continued to swell over the coming days.  The reduction in violence that followed this direct action meant that more people felt comfortable enough to join the protests, which have been the largest in more than a decade.  “I’ve had women come up to me who thought they could never speak up. We have built this tribe of protection for them to share their ideas and talk,” says Wehbe.  A week later, when police began forcefully removing roadblocks set up by protesters around Beirut, the same thing happened again. Groups of women took to placing themselves in the front line, and the police backed off.  The demonstrations have been different to anything that has come before in Lebanon, in more ways than one. Rather than targeting the government or any one political leader, protesters called out the country’s corrupt political class in its entirety.  They were sparked by a raft of new taxes, but the roots of the movement go much deeper. The combination of an acute economic crisis and decades of rampant corruption has pushed the country to the edge.  Protesters have repeatedly characterised their demands as nothing more than a fulfilment of their basic rights as citizens. But for women in Lebanon, those rights are fewer still.  Despite some recent reforms, the country’s legal system is rife with laws that discriminate against women. Lebanese mothers cannot pass their citizenship on to their children. Issues such as divorce, property rights and child custody are decided by religious law, which is heavily discriminatory against women. Lebanese law also does not specifically criminalise marital rape and the country has one of the lowest maternity leave allowances in the world.  Lebanon has only six women lawmakers in its 128-seat parliament, and women are underrepresented in key areas of the workforce such as science, technology and engineering.  It is perhaps no surprise then that the country is ranked 140 out of 149 countries in the World Economic Forum’s 2018 Global Gender Gap report, which measures gender parity in the economy, education, health and politics.  Women’s rights in Lebanon has been treated much like every other pressing issue the country faces: piecemeal reforms have papered over the cracks temporarily without making any meaningful change.  Years of these unaddressed grievances have given women even more reason to come out on to the streets.  “I believe women from all ages and backgrounds and classes have come to realise that they have such a large stake in everything that has been going on. They make up half the population and they are twice as oppressed,” says Ash.  Wehbe says her 15-year-old daughter has been out protesting with her schoolmates too.  “My daughter will not grow up in the same Lebanon I grew up in. We grew up in fear. There is none of that now. If we have a problem we are going to scream about it. Now we have voices,” she says.  “This energy has always been there, we just found a way to unleash it and show who we really are.”


theindependent--2019-12-17--Gender pay gap could take more than 250 years to close, report warns

Women could have to wait more than 250 years for economic parity, the World Economic Forum (WEF) has warned.  As part of its annual Global Gender Gap Report, the organisation measured gender equality for 153 countries across four different criteria, including politics, economics, education and health.  The WEF found that the economic gender gap will take approximately 257 years to close, even more than the 202 years it predicted in 2018.  “None of us will see gender parity in our lifetimes, and nor likely will many of our children,” the report states, before deeming its findings as “sobering”.  Last year, the WEF warned that unless more women were encouraged to enter fields such as science, technology and engineering, the gender gap could widen.  The latest report claims that there are large inequalities in almost all of the job sectors of the future, including cloud computing, engineering, data and AI, and product development.  Meanwhile, technological change is also having a disproportionate effect on the gap, with women more highly represented in positions hit hardest by automation such as retail.  Furthermore, the forum adds that not enough women are entering professions where wage growth is fastest.  “To get to parity in the next decade instead of the next two centuries, we will need to mobilise resources, focus leadership attention and commit to targets,” said Saadia Zahidi, head of the WEF Centre for the New Economy and Society  The report did contain some positive developments, adding that the global gender gap – which accounts for health, education and politics alongside economics – has improved, thanks in part to an increase in the number of women in politics.  However, women still hold just 21 per cent of ministerial positions worldwide and the WEF claims that the current trajectory for closing the global gender gap is 99.5 years.  Seven out of the top 10 countries that came closer to closing their gender gaps in 2019 were in Western Europe, with Iceland topping the list.  In the report, the UK has slipped from 15th to 21st place, leaving it behind a few developing countries and most rich ones.  The WEF said the fall in 2019 in the UK's position partly reflected a decline in the number of women in ministerial positions.  Klaus Schwab, founder of WEF, said the report highlighted the growing urgency for action.  “At the present rate of change, it will take nearly a century to achieve parity, a timeline we simply cannot accept in today's globalised world, especially among younger generations who hold increasingly progressive views of gender equality,” he said.


themanchestereveningnews--2019-01-17--Self-driving cars to be tested this year by Manchester Airport passengers and on the regions roads

Self-driving cars to be tested this year by Manchester Airport passengers and on the region's roads

Self-driving electric cars will this year be tested on Greater Manchester's roads in a trial which will see passengers ferried across Manchester Airport in futuristic pods.  The robot cars which use technology and sensors to run without a driver, are to be tested on both the airport site and along roads including the new Airport Relief Road.  Dubbed 'Project Synergy', the trial has two parts.  - Three autonomous cars known as Pods on Demand (PODs) with no steering wheel or controls to ferry passengers across Manchester Airport  - Three converted sports cars which travel in 'convoy' along the airport relief road from Stockport railway station.  The vehicles to take part in the £5m pilot - funded through a Government innovation grant - are currently being manufactured by Westfield Technology Group, which has now opened an office in Manchester.  Run with partners including Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and the airport, the trial will run in December and January.  The Westfield Pod on Demand (POD) is a four-to-six seater vehicle with no steering wheel or pedals. There will be a steward on board who can stop or slow the vehicle down but not control it entirely.  Similar to a cable car on the inside, and the latest model of an autonomous vehicle in use at Heathrow airport, it will run from the airport station to Terminal Two.  Westfield told the M.E.N that the PODs would be tested by the public, with disability groups invited initially to try them out and consider whether they improve their access to the airport. Other members of the public will also be invited to give them a go.  Passengers who trial them will be able to try out 'in-vehicle check-in' before they get to the terminal.  The Grand Touring Mini (GTM) is a sports car which will have been modified to be electric and driverless.  Three of these will be rolled out, running from Stockport railway station, down the A6, on to the 10km bypass which links to the M56 via the A555, where they will travel in 'platoon'  or 'convoy' to Manchester Airport.  The GTM will always have a driver in it to monitor the trial and take over the controls if necessary.  This trial will not include passengers from the public and will be purely for research purposes.  The sports cars will run in 'convoy' with the goal of saving energy by reducing drag and taking up less road space to look at future ways of improving congestion.  Also being tested as part of the trials will be a 'virtual concierge' - an interactive voice for partially sighted users, as well as  a communication system between the sports cars and the TfGM control centre to report back on congestion or roadworks information.  Julian Turner, CEO of Westfield Technology Group: "We’re really excited to be trialling in Greater Manchester.  "The city region has always welcomed innovation and new developments in technology and engineering, and this project demonstrates their local commitment to maintaining this outlook.  "Project Synergy will do a number of things - it will offer travellers with reduced mobility a new option to try at Manchester Airport, to make their journeys easier and, it will help explore the potential positive benefits associated with platooning, including reducing congestion and improving energy efficiency."  Also involved in the trial are Conigital Ltd, Manchester Metropolitan University, Harper Adams University, Cisco, Fusion Processing Ltd., Heathrow Airport, Manchester City Council and Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council.  Clare Cornes, Intelligent Mobility Manager and Synergy Project Director at Westfield, is based at the firm's newly opened Manchester office.  She said local support was key, adding: "Safety is paramount on this project, which is why we’ve put together a testing programme that will challenge the vehicles and control system, and ensure they’re safe for operations prior to both trials. Planning for the trials has already started and testing commences in July.  "The trials themselves will be taking place in December 2019 and January 2020."  Self-driving cars are included in the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy to 2040 but the Government predicts there will be fully autonomous cars on UK roads by 2021.  It's part of a future trend dubbed 'shared mobility solutions' which are expected to grow, particularly among younger people, as car ownership declines.  This will involve people buying schemes combining bike hire, car clubs, on-demand shuttle buses - and possibly self-driving cars travelling 'in convoy' for a shared commute.  It means that someone will be able to use a train one day, a bus the next, and then maybe a car on a day it's needed  And experts predict this could be the norm in 15 to 20 years time, when more people will have flexible working patterns and life styles and the current network becomes 'outdated'.  Simon Warburton, transport strategy director, said: "We thought we could get some real value out of trialling the potential for autonomous vehicles to get more efficiency out of the network."  The longer term goal is to have 'platooning' or 'tight convoys' of vehicles moving together to carry commuters or freight to make the most of limited road space.  He added: "Clearly if you've got a set of autonomous vehicles that can all drive in formation then you could use them for future public transport services.  The trial is also about learning what Manchester needs to do to get its infrastructure ready for future innovation.  Simon added: "The Victorians looked at the railway and took a a while to get round to things like timetables. We need to start to look at the story of technology. This is not going to happen overnight.  "But ultimately what we are looking to try and do is use the technology boost to help us improve the transport system in the interest of residents and businesses.  "It's about making sure we get a model that's more flexible to give people a choice through the week. If someone needs to use the car on Tuesday to drop the kids off at school they're not locked into using the car all week.  "We realise that a traditional season ticket model forces people into a decision at the start of the week and that's not the way the modern world works."  A Manchester Airport spokesman, said: "We’re looking forward to working with TFGM and their partners on Project Synergy as the trials develop.  "We are always looking at innovative ways to help people move around our site and also get to and from the airport as part of our sustainable development plan and we’ll provide a more detailed update at the appropriate moment."  The project is funded by the Government's Innovate UK pot.


themanchestereveningnews--2019-03-21--Why are there so few women in science technology and engineering

Why are there so few women in science, technology and engineering?

Men continue to vastly outnumber women in science, tech, engineering and maths roles in the UK – despite more women graduating in the relevant subjects.  According to WISE, a campaign for gender balance in science, technology and engineering, the sector is fast growing, with overall core STEM employment increasing by 6.3 per cent in 2017 – more than six times that of overall employment overall in the UK.  Yet in 2018, women made up just 22 per cent of the core STEM workforce – down from 23 per cent in 2017.  The WISE figures reveal that although there’s been an increase in women working in STEM in the UK since 2017, there also been an increase in the number of males entering the industry, and growth rates for women is 1% lower than the growth percentage for men.  Testament to the industry’s rapid acceleration, a £10m investment in the North of England’s life science infrastructure was confirmed in December by Bruntwood SciTech, a joint venture between property company Bruntwood and Legal & General Capital, which owns the Alderley Park life science campus in Cheshire.  The investment will see the development of more than 50,000 sq ft of ready-to-go chemistry and biology laboratory space at Alderley Park, which will be available from spring.  Yet a study by STEM Learning, provider of STEM education and career support, shows that current skills shortages in the sector are costing businesses a total of £1.5bn per year in temporary staffing, recruitment, training costs and inflated salaries. Businesses are facing a shortfall of 173,000 skilled workers, and 89 per cent of businesses struggled to recruit staff last year, the report says.  With bias, gender stereotypes, a lack of role models, and little support within the education system just some of the reasons cited for the shortage of women in STEM, it is important schools and businesses take a stance to help widen the talent pool.  Former lawyer Michelle Hua is a consultant and founder and chief executive officer of Made With Glove, a wearable technology company creating fashionable heated gloves for women. She is also a STEM ambassador for the UK and a mentor at She Says Manchester, a network supporting women in the creative and tech industries.  Hua says that as the sole female founder of her company, her experiences in the tech sector have been largely positive. However, she has faced some “bullying”.  “I was exhibiting my prototype in the Start Up zone at the Wearable Tech Show in London in 2015 when a chief technical officer of a company approached me, looked at my prototype, and asked me if I knew what I was doing, because [he said] it didn’t look like I did.  “It took me completely by surprise! He proceeded to belittle everything I said for the next half an hour and I quickly realised that he was testing me, and my knowledge. In the end, he offered me a job with his company and I politely declined saying I was too busy with my own start up.  “The lack of women working in STEM could be partially due to this type of the bullying behaviour.”  Hua believes that mentoring and more visible role models will help encourage female interest and participation.  “I am a STEM Ambassador and I mentor women and girls in tech by offering advice, guidance, and an ear to listen to. My role is to teach what I have learned from experience and to actively guide and offer new ways of thinking when presented with a mentee’s challenges.  “I also connect them to my network so they can be one step closer to reaching their goals. I am their cheer squad, too, when they need inspiration or motivation to overcome their challenge.  “When I entered the wearable tech industry in 2014 I found a lack of women and so I co-founded  Women of Wearables  (WoW), a global organisation that connects and supports women in wearables, IoT and AR/VR.”  In just 18 months, WoW grew an international community of more than 8,000 members.  “We believe that without role models, you cannot be what you cannot see,” adds Hua.  As tech becomes further embedded in our everyday lives, more people are becoming tech savvy and Hua believes this will have a positive impact on the gender imbalance in the industry.  “Tech is now accessible to everybody, so those building tech should be as diverse as possible. People who are coming into senior management roles now, or have become parents and teachers themselves, have been using technology since they were at university or in their 20s.  “They have gradually evolved with technology and have seen the radical and positive changes technology has had on their lives. It is inevitable that the traditional structures in schools and in organisations will change as my generation lead and pave the way for digital transformation.  “Organisations need to embrace change and move towards a diverse and inclusive culture or they run the risk of no longer being competitive in the market both in terms of customers and attracting talent.”  Dr Jun Zhang is chief executive officer of Atmos International, a company headquartered in Manchester providing pipeline leak and theft detection and simulation technology to the oil, gas, water and associated industries.  She has a BSc in Electrical Engineering, MSc in Control Systems and PhD in Fault Detection and Diagnosis. Zhang joined Shell Research in Amsterdam in 1988 and developed Shell’s Statistical Pipeline Leak Detection system.  “To put the system into operations, I moved to Stanlow Refinery, Ellesmere Port, in 1990. Between 1990 and 1994, I implemented the leak detection system on operational pipelines and worked on Statistical Process Control,” she explains.  “In 1994 I joined Shell International in the Hague, the Netherlands, working on the design of gas treating plants where CO 2 and H 2 S are removed from hydrocarbon products. I then left Shell in 1995 to start Atmos International in Manchester.”  In the past 23 years, Atmos International has mushroomed, now employing more than 150 staff working globally. Now Zhang tries to encourage young women into engineering by offering work placements and providing career talks in schools, revealing that she faced struggles early in her worklife.  She says: “I knew I wanted to study engineering from the age of 13.  “Fortunately for me, I did not experience any challenges or prejudices throughout my education from school to university and PhD research.  “The first time that I encountered difficulty as a woman was working for a global oil company where the culture was very white and very male.  “The first annual appraisal, when your boss rated you against a set of criteria, was critical in this company. Yet as all the criteria were based on the behaviour of white males, my rating as a Chinese woman was very low.  “This meant that my boss did not believe that I had enough management potential to progress in my career. That was hard for me to accept.  “To impress the managers within the organisation, I started to observe how the well-regarded male colleagues behaved and adapted myself to the local culture.  “Luckily my boss in the UK organisation was a lot more open to female engineers! To avoid being regarded as a “technical expert” only, I convinced my new boss in the UK to sponsor me for an MBA through distance learning.  “With the UK management support and my determination to demonstrate my high management potential, I eventually got my rating changed to a much higher level. I was put on a fast track for career progression before I left to start my own business.”  To truly make change, and open up STEM to girls in the future, Zhang believes that the education system has a strong part to play in discouraging limiting stereotypes.  “It is disappointing that schools do not encourage girls to choose STEM subjects, they do not provide role models for girls to realise that they can be just as good as boys in STEM.  “Teachers’ lack of enthusiasm and passion in STEM subjects is probably another cause of few girls in STEM.  “Role models and mentoring will help more girls and women to take STEM roles. However to have more fundamental change, society will have to alter to get rid of the gender stereotypes. This requires education of adults, parents, career advisors and teachers.”  Antonia Oxley is a graduate process engineer for Essity, a hygiene and health company with offices in Manchester that produces household tissue brands such as Plenty, Cushelle and Velvet.  She believes there is limited exposure to all the fun and interesting opportunities STEM can provide for girls.  “People may think that careers in this area can only be dull or difficult or uninteresting,” she states.  “If young girls have a natural ability or interest in maths or science, they should be encouraged as much as possible to pursue a career in these areas by educating them about the diverse range of amazing opportunities that are out there!”  The role is Oxley’s first out of university, having graduated from Heriot-Watt University with MEng Chemical Engineering and Energy Engineering in 2017.  She says that the gender balance was 40% female out of the total students on her course, but that she is the only female engineer in her team of ten at Essity.  Nonetheless, she says Essity is passionate about supporting women and girls in engineering roles.  “The workplace culture here is brilliant,” says Oxley.  “The roles have clear career progression opportunities, everyone is friendly and there is loads of support, my gender does not affect the way I am treated.  “With a shortage of skilled female engineers, we believe one of the best ways to close that gap is to invest in talented young women.  “To do this, we have made a conscious decision to reach out to local schools and colleges and offer to lead on practical STEM-based activities which align with some of our processes within the area of tissue-manufacturing that Essity specialises in.  “At career events at colleges, career fairs and universities we talk to women about how Essity can provide that much-needed step on the STEM career ladder through our fantastic graduate or apprenticeship schemes.  “This year, we are also producing video content which we will be placing on our social channels, such as LinkedIn, in order to target young women and inspire an interest in STEM.”  All three women offer the same advice, to girls, considering STEM careers: to simply ‘go for it’.  Hua says: “It is truly rewarding to work in STEM.  “I loved all the experiences I have had, from working in one of the largest companies in the world to running an engineering business.  “Since girls have to fight the stereotypes to succeed in STEM it makes us stronger, more confident and successful.”


themanchestereveningnews--2019-05-07--Plans for third Circle Square development brought forward

Plans have been accelerated for a third building at Circle Square in the city's innovation district thanks to £54m investment.  Bruntwood SciTech - a partnership between Bruntwood and Legal & General - is bringing forward the next phase of its commercial plans at Circle Square, with work on a new 220,000 sq ft, 12 storey building beginning, subject to planning approval, in January 2020.  The investment is in response to the increasing demand for workspace from leading science and technology companies looking to invest in Manchester.  Circle Square’s first two commercial buildings – No.1 and No.2 Circle Square – are currently under construction.  Both sites have received interest from high growth businesses from across the UK and internationally.  Global technology company Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced in December 2018 it is to bring 300 employees to No.1 Circle Square, in order to capitalise on its collaborative community of leaders in technology, business, arts and science.  Other significant pre-lets are currently under discussion, and with space at the two buildings in significant demand Bruntwood SciTech has accelerated plans for its next commercial building to cater for the anticipated continued growth of Manchester’s digital technology and engineering sector.  Research by Tech Nation has illustrated the distance by which Manchester is outstripping its rivals, with tech deals growing at a quicker rate than anywhere else in Europe over the 2012-17 period, up 228 per cent compared to London (189 per cent) and Germany (51 per cent), with the North as a whole seeing a 114 per cent rise.  The new build, 220,000 sq ft No.3 Circle Square will offer leased office space over 12 storeys.  The design process is currently underway, led by architects FCBS, who designed No.1 and No.2 Circle Square.  The ground floor will combine a reception area with retail and leisure amenities, while cycle and shower facilities and a rooftop terrace will also be incorporated, giving exceptional views across South Manchester and providing companies at Circle Square a private garden space from which to work.  Located at the heart of Manchester’s Oxford Road Corridor innovation district, Circle Square - a joint venture between Bruntwood SciTech and Vita Group - is a pioneering new neighbourhood that will boast over 1,700 new homes, 1.2 million sq ft of workspace and over 100,000 sq ft of retail and leisure space, providing a variety of boutique retailers, restaurants, bars and pavement cafes, all centered around Manchester’s largest city centre park.  The park itself will host a variety of community and cultural events that will celebrate the city’s dynamic and creative community.  Tom Renn, managing director, Bruntwood SciTech - Manchester, said: “With No.1 & No.2 Circle Square opening in Summer 2020, we are delighted to be in a position, where the level of interest and excitement around what we are creating at Circle Square, has led to us accelerating the development of No.3 Circle Square.”  “Circle Square will be an extraordinary place, full of life and activity. A place where incredible companies, working in some of the most interesting and disruptive digital technology sectors, like Cyber, FinTech, IOT and big data, will work alongside each other and where residents and visitors to Manchester, will come to experience the best of our cities cultural offer, through independent retailers and the programme of festivals and events that we plan to host in Manchester’s newest city park.”  “Critically companies that we are speaking to are really identifying with Circle Square as a top location in the city to access talent and transport and with our network as one of the largest tech communities in the North. “  A planning application is set to be submitted in September of this year, with the aim of work on site starting in early 2020 ahead of completion in April 2022.


thenewyorktimes--2019-07-05--Restoring Forests Could Help Put a Brake on Global Warming Study Finds

Restoring Forests Could Help Put a Brake on Global Warming, Study Finds

Want climate news in your inbox? Sign up here for Climate Fwd:, our email newsletter.  What if we stopped cutting down forests to produce palm oil and cattle? What if we grew new forests on vacant city lots, old industrial buildings — even golf courses?  For the first time, scientists have sought to quantify this thought experiment. How many trees could be planted on every available parcel of land on Earth , where they could go, and what impact could that have on our survival ?  They concluded that the planet could support nearly 2.5 billion additional acres of forest without shrinking our cities and farms, and that those additional trees, when they mature, could store a whole lot of the extra carbon — 200 gigatons of carbon, to be precise — generated by industrial activity over the last 150 years.  Parts of the study — led by researchers at ETH Zurich, a university that specializes in science, technology and engineering — were immediately criticized.