Chamber Patrons Appointments at Curium
Curium Solutions has made two key appointments as the change consultancy looks to expand its offering. The Birmingham city centre-based
firm has appointed Pierrick Senelaer as its new software developer, as well as welcoming Dr Kate Bailey back to the business following a spell at the University of Warwick. Having been in the web
development industry since 2008, Back on board: Dr Kate Bailey
Pierrick has extensive experience in public sector, advertising and creative industries. His appointment will accelerate
the development of Curium’s digital services such as Curium CODE® and Voyage Leader®. Pierrick said: “Curium has given
me the opportunity to work on innovative digital products using some of the latest technology and software to build in-house apps.”
Digital growth: Pierrick Senelaer Kate is an experienced lean
coach and consultant, with expertise in supply chain and operations management. She has worked for universities
such as Warwick and Cardiff Business School and brands including Toyota. Kate, who was previously a
senior consultant at Curium between 2015 and 2018, said: “I’m excited to be back at Curium Solutions and looking forward to working with our clients to help them transform their operations to grow, be sustainable and resilient.” Co-founder and director Andy
Dawson added: “2020 has been an interesting year, but I’m pleased to say that due to the support of our customers, partners and team, this has been our most successful year so far at Curium. “We want to maintain that
positive trajectory as we start our new financial year, seeing plenty of growth potential among the challenges out there.”
WSP to deliver net zero plan
WSP has been appointed to advise the West Midlands Combined Authority on crafting and delivering its plan to become a net zero region by 2041. The professional services consultancy will produce
the first Five Year Plan for 2021-26, providing clear guidance on what measures need to be implemented for the Combined Authority to become net zero. The first of four FYPs will set the pace and tone of
WMCA’s engagement with constituent local authorities and wider stakeholders and, for the first time, set interim carbon budgets for the authority to meet. This follows from WMCA’s approval of ‘WM2041: A Programme for Implementing an Environmental
Recovery’ on World Environment Day this year. West Midlands mayor Andy Street said: “Our Five
Year Plan for the region is designed to help us achieve our ambitious #WM2041 goal of being a net- zero carbon region by 2041. “There is a huge amount to do, not least because
of the impact of the pandemic. But our partnership with WSP will help us achieve our goal – so that as we strive to recover from the threat of the Covid-19 and its threats to lives and livelihoods, we reduce the threat to the future of our planet.” Barny Evans, head of Sustainable Places, Energy and
Waste at WSP, said: “This appointment will allow WSP to bring the full breadth and depth of our experience to help the West Midlands meet this challenge.”
Record numbers: Abbie Vlahakis
Trust supports STEM projects
The Millennium Point Charitable Trust has donated more than £561,000 to STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) projects as part of its 2020 Small Grants Programme. The trust received a record 170
applications this year and the successful recipients were Shropshire Astronomical Society (Astronomy outreach programme), Longwill School for Deaf children (Sensory STEM), Hospital Education Service (The science of roller coasters), Aston Villa Foundation (STEM Stars) and Wolves Play Cafe (The world around us and wolves in the woods).
‘We were blown away by the breadth of entries’
The Small Grants programme
offers grants split across three levels of funding and makes up to £20,000 available to individual applicants. It is made possible by the commercial activity that takes place at the landmark Millennium Point building. Abbie Vlahakis, interim CEO of
Millennium Point, said: “We were blown away by the breadth of entries and we can’t wait to see how the successful projects unfold in the coming months.”
University makes most of online learning
University College Birmingham has delivered 10,000 online learning sessions since the Covid-19 lockdown in March. The university has pulled out all
the stops to provide the high- quality online lectures and conferences, as well as personal one-to-ones and group seminars. It has also delivered seven
interactive, virtual open days, with taster activities and guest speakers from across the world. Paul Doherty, executive director
for Engagement, Employability and E-Resources at the University, said: “We adapted to online learning really rapidly. We’d been developing our virtual learning environment, Canvas, through our Digital Innovation for Creativity in
Education centre (DICE) for a while, but it was amazing to see staff step up to the plate in terms of the sudden online delivery expectations. “In the main, this semester, we
will continue to deliver lectures, seminars and tutorials online through Canvas and the likes of Big Blue Button to keep numbers on campus down. Students have been offered the choice and around 25 per cent, mostly on business courses, have opted to learn purely online. “However, we do have a high
level of practical skills development with workshops and clinics built into our courses and the majority of students have chosen a mix of online and face-to-face learning to
get the full experience. We have worked hard to ensure we can balance the two safely and effectively.” Much of the face-to-face
teaching will take place at University College Birmingham’s
practical training facilities for real- life work experience. Further education students will
continue to train at facilities at Richmond House, with some teaching at McIntyre House this semester.
Switched on: UCB have made a success of online learning November 2020 CHAMBERLINK 27
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