The Vice-Chancellor's Awards 2022

Kelly Howson, Security Team Leader, Campus Services 

Kelly has worked at the University for seven years and has been nominated for her great leadership, commitment to improving the student experience and for being an outstanding ambassador for the Security Team. 

In particular, Kelly has been commended for the critical support that she has given to many vulnerable students and for positively raising the profile of the entire Security Team. She recently delivered a Welcome Talk to over 500 students, outlining the University’s support provision to them, and highlighting her dedication to Surrey’s student community. 

Karen Gates, Head of Alumni and Supporter Engagement, Advancement, External Engagement

Karen brings an infectious brand of enthusiasm and energy to her role, successfully leading her team to a record-high score for Surrey in the Alumni Engagement KPI.  

As well as encouraging ambition within her immediate team and the wider Advancement team, she is highly skilled in understanding the broader strategic landscape at Surrey and played an invaluable role in developing and delivering the launch of the University’s global fundraising Campaign in February. 

Her collaborative nature, willingness to go beyond the boundaries of her role and her talent for identifying and nurturing the talents of others - regardless of whether she has line management responsibility for them or not – makes her a true team player at all levels.

Professor Emma Mayhew, Associate Dean (Education), Professor of Pedagogy in Politics and International Relations, FASS 

Emma has spearheaded a range of vital teaching and learning projects, helping students improve their ability to get the most out of the student experience, as well as assisting lecturers to improve their pedagogic skills.   

Her achievements include bringing together the Teaching Innovations website, an online resource full of best practice that puts Surrey on the map for innovative teaching. Emma has taken a big lead in Learning Analytics, particularly MySurrey Engagement, as well as MySurrey Voice. The 85 Plan has also benefitted from her compassionate leadership. 

Emma has also invested a lot of her faculty funds in Community Building activities, paying for over 15 departments and schools to go away on trips last academic year and she is continuing to invest this year. 

Jessica Johnson, Research Facilitation Officer, FEPS 

Jessica is a true champion of EDI, both within the Faculty Research and Innovation Office and across the wider campus community. She is superb at connecting people across departments and, in so doing, making R&I more accessible for all. 

An active member of the Women’s Network and the R&I EDI network, Jessica’s proactive approach inspires others; she enthusiastically encourages colleagues to develop their awareness and understanding through training and improved her own knowledge of diversity while on maternity leave by reading widely and researching EDI issues in STEM research. 

She continues to collaborate with colleagues in R&I to champion EDI monitoring of Surrey-internal funding allocations. 

Alice Spencer, Conference & Events Sales Co-ordinator, Residences 

Alice has demonstrated her commitment and passion towards the University’s ambition to create an inclusive and inspirational culture by setting up and chairing The Purple Network – a new staff network which supports experiences of disability, accessibility and long-term illness. 

She has been praised for her integrity, commitment and enthusiasm – as well as wise insights into how Surrey can be a better place for disabled staff, students and visitors, drawing on her personal experiences to amplify the voice for those with experiences of disability and chronic illness. 

Alice has developed a number of projects surrounding the conception of The Purple Network, including leading focus groups, and has supported in the development of accessibility handbooks. 

Catherine Jones, Teaching Fellow, Mechanical Engineering Sciences, FEPS 

Cat is passionate about developing a sense of community within the School of Mechanical Engineering Sciences and has played a proactive role in establishing and leading its social and welfare activities since the start of the 2021/22 academic year, supporting students and staff and rekindling a sense of belonging. 

She has established, and runs, a range of activities to promote staff and student welfare ranging from social lunches and seminar series, to FEPS Yoga and outdoor games on PATS field – events that are open to undergraduates, postgraduates and staff alike. Moreover, she volunteered to be an MES first aider and looks after content for MES’ social media. 

Sarah Sage, Theatre Technical Manager, GSA, FASS 

Sarah’s tireless work ethic and passion to deliver for Health, Safety and Wellbeing initiatives for students, staff and visitors make her an integral part of GSA. Her impressive knowledge means she is able to notice and address issues urgently and efficiently, ensuring the smooth running of teaching, productions and events. 

Her initiatives considerably improve wellbeing for all. For example, she recently introduced a mobile elevated working platform that enables colleagues to install high-level lighting and speakers without the use of ladders.  

Sarah has also been instrumental in dividing the welfare facilities in the Ivy Arts Centre to create a new accessible dressing room and a separate kitchen, as well as a ‘green room’ which provides improved welfare space and facilities. 

Dr Malte Kaeding, Senior Lecturer in International Politics, Department of Politics, FASS 

Dr Kaeding is the first academic at Surrey to use filmmaking for academic research and impactful advocacy.  

Between 2017-2020 Malte wrote, directed, and produced ‘Black Bauhinia’, the first feature-length documentary film on Hong Kong localism and the independence movement, which fundamentally transformed Hong Kong’s domestic and international relations. 

Based on Malte’s decade-long research on localism, he follows two young localist leaders’ emotional journey from electoral successes into prison and exile. The style of filmmaking allows for intimate reflections on the costs of resistance, self-sacrifices, and the meaning of home. 

Malte’s farsighted, world-leading research on Hong Kong politics and his unique expert knowledge has been recognised in academia and the rapidly growing Hong Kong diaspora community in the UK. His next project is establishing the Hong Kong Studies Hub which will make the University of Surrey the pioneering institution for Hong Kong Studies in Europe.  

Ben Saunders, PGR, School of Computer Science & Electronic Engineering, FEPS 

Ben Saunders has received high praise for his integral involvement in start-up Signapse, and for his collaboration on several separate research projects which have all run parallel to him completing his PhD. 

Signapse is directly based on Ben’s PhD work which is a transformative approach to generating photo-realistic sign language videos using AI that look like real human signers rather than synthetic avatars. This technology has created great excitement in the deaf community and the company won ‘Start-up of the Year’ at this year’s Surrey Business Awards, which took place earlier this month. 

Ben is currently Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Signapse and has been commended for his handling of client and investor meetings, management of the development team and development work on the core technology, all whilst writing his thesis. 

Mark Ashton, Senior Lecturer, School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, FASS

Mark has consistently proven himself highly effective in teaching, supervising, and mentoring a broad range of students and is dedicated to developing and managing innovative programmes. 

His extensive industry experience, gained from a senior management role in hospitality, and his academic research allow his teaching to be both relevant and rigorous, and he firmly believes in encouraging students to develop their own professional identity by engaging in authentic tasks such as the design and development of hospitality events. 

Students highly appreciate his dedication to supporting them in a range of ways; this includes arranging access to industry mentors and guest speakers, integrating digital resources into valuable teaching materials and offering authentic assessments.  

Mark continues to demonstrate enthusiasm for advancement of his own subject area: digital innovation in hospitality. His research on automation and service robotics has been published in top tier academic journals and presented at international conferences. 

Dr Melis Duyar, Senior Lecturer, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, FEPS  

Melis is highly innovative in her teaching and receives very strong positive feedback from colleagues and students. She is unusual in that she is a highly successful researcher who devotes a huge amount of time to innovative teaching practices. 

She has obtained funding from the Teaching Innovation Fund two years in a row and used this to improve the student experience and raise the profile of the University.  

In 2021 she completed an experimental project, showing clearly that our pilot plant used in teaching the Process Operations and Management (POMS) module could also be used to capture pollutants of emerging concern (plastic micro/nanoparticles) from water. 

In 2022 she worked with Dr Katie Costello and alumnus Joseph Ellwi to develop a chemical engineering card game which promotes active recall of prior learning and also breaks the ice during the first lectures of the semester.  

Dr Fabio Fasoli, Lecturer B in Social Psychology, School of Psychology, FHMS 

Fabio challenges his students to learn about social issues and then apply their knowledge to explain and address them. As such, his teaching includes work on equality, diversity, inclusion, and anti-racism. In his social psychology teaching, Fabio teaches topics related to social justice and teaches students way to try to reduce discrimination based on social groups, such as ethnicity and sexuality.   

An inspirational lecturer who encourages students to enter research fields, Fabio embraces innovative teaching practices to improve student engagement. Fabio is often found mentoring new members of the team, supporting them on their journey to becoming excellent teachers.  

As a Senior Personal Tutor, he was extremely organised and worked well with the Senior Leadership Team of the School as well as the administrative team at the University. As Social Psychology MSc lead, he has helped the team to develop new modules and to improve existing modules. 

Dr Charlotte Mathieson, Senior Lecturer, School of Literature and Languages, FASS 

Dr Mathieson’s research on the 19th and 20th century literary and medical cultural history of suntanning has led new directions in literary mobilities studies and literary and cultural skin studies nationally and internationally. 

Her work has received significant recognition this year through the award of a prestigious British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, for 12 months’ full-time research on the project “Cultures of suntanning in late-19th to mid-20th century Britain”. This is with a view to achieving broader transformative impact in the context of contemporary public health challenges around sun safety and skin cancer risk. 

Dr Mathieson has sought to enrich Surrey’s research environment through active research leadership in mobilities. With Dr Constance Bantman, she has co-led the growth of the Mobilities in Literature and Culture Research Centre to become one of the largest research groups in SLL. 

Dr Yunlong Zhao, Senior Lecturer in Energy Storage and Bioelectronics at Advanced Technology Institute, School of Computer Science & Electrical Engineering, FEPS. 

On account of his academic contributions, Dr Zhao won the Wiley-VCH Rising Stars as the Worldwide Recognized Young Researcher (2022). 

He has a deep interest in the rational design of advanced energy storage/conversion technologies for Sustainability and Net Zero and has secured research grants from EPSRC and the Faraday Institute while leading the team working on the development of next-generation batteries for electric vehicles. 

Dr Zhao combines this specialism with the design and advanced manufacturing of bioelectronics and integrated soft systems for the Internet of things and healthcare, via engineering micro-/nanoscale materials to enable novel electrochemical energy devices, sensors, bioelectronics, and their integration in 2D on-chip and 3D soft systems. His work led to over 70 publications in peer-reviewed journals. 

Josephine Herschan, School of Sustainability, Civil and Environmental Engineering, FEPS 

Jo’s research is focused on methods to increase the use and application of sanitary risk assessments to manage drinking-water quality of small supplies. 

She has published six papers (three as first author), collaborating with international authors from WHO, British Geological Survey, University of Iceland and the Federal Environment Agency, Germany. She has undertaken fieldwork in Malawi and collaborated with academics from Kyambogo University, Uganda and University of Malawi. 

Jo was selected by the Walker Institute to attend COP26, where she was invited to attend a panel event and was an active blogger. On her return, Jo did a presentation to both MSc students studying Water and Environmental Engineering and to her PhD peers. 

Emma Taylor, Dept. Comparative Biosciences/School of Veterinary Medicine, FHMS 

Emma’s research on One Health approaches to disease control combines virology, epidemiology, mathematical modelling, economic analyses and animal behaviour to improve control of rabies, which has already had impact at international level.  

She has overcome significant challenges during her PhD, not least working part-time in healthcare during the pandemic. 

Despite having only just completed her PhD, Emma already has seven high-quality peer reviewed papers (five first author) in international journals and has had abstracts accepted for oral presentations at all the flagship international conferences for her specialty. 

Her research has led to the University being invited to join the only worldwide alliance for rabies control (United Against Rabies Forum). 

Dr Manuel Alector Ribeiro, Director of Tourism Programmes, Senior Lecturer School of Hospitality and Tourism Management, FASS 

Dr Manuel Alector Ribeiro aims to create an amicable, supportive, stimulating and inspirational environment to allow his students to thrive. 

During this academic year, three of his PGRs completed their degree programmes before or within the expected completion deadline. 

Always available and accessible when needed, he provides PGRs with a range of avenues for formal as well as informal meetings – offering advice, guidance and mentoring where appropriate. 

He is committed to continuing that healthy relationship with present and former PGRs until they are fully settled into their professional lives. 

Dr Ines Violante, Senior Lecturer, Psychology, FHMS# 

 A firm believer that great challenges can only be overcome through collaborative work – and that scientific advances depend on knowledge sharing – Dr Ines Violante encourages shared expertise amongst her students. 

She is committed to imparting her knowledge and experience to more junior researchers, and equally to learn from the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of her students and post-doctoral researchers. 

Dr Violante started her research group, the Neuro Modulcation lab, in 2018 since when it has grown impressively. 

Praised for investing substantial time and effort into student growth, she is consistently patient, inspiring and willing to challenge conventional thinking. 

Dr Aife Hopkins-Doyle, Lecturer, Psychology, FASS 

Aife is a strong and proactive year tutor on the Psychology BSc degree. Since joining the University in April 2020, she has worked hard to transform students’ learning experiences and enhance their outcomes. This includes the development of a dual-level module for undergraduate and postgraduate students entitled The Social Psychology of Gender. 

She has contributed to improving the student experience through taking control of the academic tutorials that all first-year BSc students take, as well as developing new activities that will support students in developing resilience and resourcefulness.   

Aife also supervises graduate teaching assistants, helping them deliver academic tutorials and developing their teaching abilities, and she continues to develop new strategies for teaching. 

Dr Robyn Muir, Lecturer in Media & Communication, Sociology, FASS 

Innovative and inspirational, Robyn has made an incredibly successful start to her career at Surrey by profoundly affecting students’ learning experiences and the design of modules. She has enhanced module delivery by introducing learning technologies and by embedding employability in classroom and assessments practices. Always willing to share initiatives with colleagues, Robyn’s collaborative approach helps to inspire new ideas. 

Robyn is committed to addressing issues of equality, diversity and inclusion in her teaching. This includes her work on microaggressions in the classroom and decolonising the curriculum, where she has sought to influence wider University educational policy. Her work on academic integrity shows how she will identify issues where she believes the student learning experience and academic skills could be improved and then takes action to address them.