November 2010
Paul Perry, a principal engineer for Halcrow has been appointed a visiting teaching fellow at Nottingham University.
As part of the The Ove Arup Foundation/Royal Academy of Engineering’s Visiting Teaching Fellows in Engineering Design scheme, Paul was appointed following his bid submission in July 2010.
The Royal Academy of Engineering has always recognised design as the process which underpins the exploitation of technology for both industrial and societal benefit and, as a result, has placed great importance on its various Visiting Professor Schemes in Engineering Design. This view has been shared by many in academia and also industry such as The Ove Arup Foundation.
The Academy’s Visiting Professor Schemes have established themselves as one of the most effective experience-led education processes for exposing students to teaching from some of the most highly respected and experienced design engineers who bring a wealth of experience and case study material.
Building upon the success of the Visiting Professor Schemes the Academy and The Ove Arup Foundation have launched a Visiting Teaching Fellows Scheme to engage those who are very much hands-on practitioners and excellent role models. In addition to bringing live case study problems and solutions into the classroom, they will act as role models and ambassadors for the profession.
The Ove Arup Foundation and the Academy has appointed ten visiting teaching fellows at universities in the UK this academic year who will:
- be involved in the teaching of an engineering or design related subject for between 4 and 10 days per year, involving at least one teaching commitment each day
- focus on teaching students with student contact time representing 90 per cent of the time commitment
- be appointed for two years
Paul delivered his first lecture at Nottingham University on Tuesday 12 October to a class of third year students studying civil engineering. The lecture was based on a practical approach to steel design illustrated by a number of projects during Paul’s career to date.
Speaking of his appointment, Paul said:
“I am delighted to have taken up the post and look forward to bringing a realism to the subjects that the students study, putting the theory into the context of live projects and completed schemes. It is also a great thrill to be undertaking this role at the very university that I graduated from!”
John Owen, associate professor and head of department in the Department of Civil Engineering at the University said:
“The Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Nottingham is delighted to have Paul Perry join us as a Visiting Teaching Fellow. Paul is a Nottingham graduate who has led a highly successful career that has taken him around the World. It’s great that Paul will be able to share that experience with the current crop of undergraduates and help inspire the next generation of engineering leaders. We are committed to providing students with a world class education, with Paul’s help we will be able to root the learning experience in the real world.”