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Memories Re-animated Stop-Motion Videos

The videos were created using mobile phone technology and simple crafting techniques. They focus on small anecdotes told by the interview subjects that lend themselves to visual representation.

The videos and reference numbers are as follows:

AY25-MR-2-1 Craigie High School - William Moheiddeen
AY25-MR-2-2 Craigie High School - Nick Hamilton
AY25-MR-2-3 Craigie High School - Ahmar Ghafoor
AY25-MR-2-4 Dundee Young Carers - Louise Giblin
AY25-MR-2-5 Larisa Olaru-Peter - Jenny McNeill
AY25-MR-2-6 Hope Busák - Sumant Mathure

Abertay 25 Young Ambassadors

Abertay 25: Memories Re-Animated

  • GB 3516 AY25-MR
  • Subfonds
  • 2020-2021

13 videos and text summaries of reminiscence interviews conducted with former staff and alumni of Abertay University by Abertay 25 Young Ambassadors, and current staff and students of Abertay University. Interviewees were as follows:

  1. Sumant Mathure
  2. David Ross
  3. Richard Irvine
  4. Alastair Scott
  5. Nick Hamilton
  6. Alexander (Sandy) Robertson
  7. Graham Milne
  8. Christina Howie
  9. Ahmar Ghafoor
  10. William Mohieddeen
  11. Rebecca Wade
  12. Jenny McNeill
  13. Louise Giblin

6 stop-motion animation videos were created from the interviews and these are as follows:

  1. Craigie High School - William Moheiddeen
  2. Craigie High School - Nick Hamilton
  3. Craigie High School - Ahmar Ghafoor
  4. Dundee Young Carers - Louise Giblin
  5. Larisa Olaru-Peter - Jenny McNeill
  6. Hope Busák - Sumant Mathure

Abertay University

Interview with Sumant Mathure

Sumant Mathure speaks about his time as a research student in Mechanical Engineering at Dundee College of Technology, his journey from India to Dundee in January 1987, the work he did on continuous casting with precious metals, and meeting Prince Philip during the College’s centenary celebrations in 1988.

[0.00] Interview Preliminaries
[03:22] Interview starts
[04:20] Name & connection to University - Jan 1987-May 1991 at DIT
[04:44] Research into continuous casting with gold, silver copper; Working with Birmingham Mint & Rautomead; Student project working on unique relationship with manufacture & institution
[06:00] Already had a Bsc in chemistry (?) from India; Dr Robert W Johnson was his supervisor
[07:00] Degree in metallurgy (mentioned in Herald newspaper)
[08:00] Dr R W Johnson presented a paper on continuous casting in Mumbai at the Hotel Taj. This attracted him to studying in Dundee.
[10:00] Lots of profound memories from his “golden years”. Born in 1966 and arrived in Dundee 5th Jan 1987, only 20 years old, no internet, only letters and telephone to communicate. His Dad was in Dubai when he and his mother received the letter of acceptance from R W Johnson to attend at DIT. Courses started on 7th Jan
[11:53] First time travelling alone internationally. Arrived to the worst winter in the UK
[12:45] Not happy with the snow, weather or food.
[13:53] Met friends, started to feel Scottish
[14:50] Food – first 3 months were in halls of residence. He had to prove he was able to do his studies and so was often working on projects into the later hours. Meaning he’d miss his high tea at the halls and would be given cold salad to eat!
[15:50] Difficult to understand the Scottish accent
[16:15] Student council international food fest. Sumant insisted on 4 tables to represent India
[18:50] Had international housemates, from China, Egypt and Zambia.
[19:20] Duke of Edinburgh visit in 1989 to look at the gold project
[22:00] Gold project. Only a few people were able to enter the mechanical engineering room where the gold project was taking place. Needed a pass to get in. Felt very proud that he was one of the students who had access
[23:30] Sumant ran the demo for Duke of Edinburgh. Metal heated to 1100 degrees C – needed to be very careful and was his responsibility to make sure the demo ran smoothly!
[24:20] Duke of Edinburgh comments on India and how pleased he was with the presence of international students
[25:10] Felt honored as a student to be there
[26:36] Becoming a university in 1992-1994. Had to scrap the mechanical engineering degree.
[28:50] He also did consultancies under R W Johnson and 2 scholarships
[29:20] Joined his father in India after graduating in 1991. 1994 – got married. 1995 – made director of his Dad's company.
[31:00] Over 400 clients, very popular and well-reputed company in India.
[31:40] Still maintained contact with R W Johnson and others.
[31:46] Interview Recording ends

Sumant Mathure

Interview with David Ross

David Ross talks about his time in senior management and about being the Dean of the Faculty of Science and the things that he taught (chemistry). He speaks about students and lecturers that he remembers, the courses, how things have changed since he was at the University, and the role that he played in the Dundee Institute of Technology gaining its University status in 1994.
He speaks about celebrations that took place when the university gained its status. and the reasons that the Dundee Institute of Technology wanted to gain university status.

[00:37] Responsibilities as Head of the department
[2:10] Students who stood out
[2:31] Other staff members
[4:00] Developments around 1990’s – course expansion, building expansion, equipment in labs
[5:50] Differences in campus
[7:20] University gaining status (keeping courses successful while getting more students)
[8:23] + title for the university
[9:06] Claverhouse as a potential name
[9:36] Abertay name explained
[10:00] Competing with Dundee University
[12:21] New students from different areas (Ireland, India, China)
[12:47] +advertising for students
[14:30] Why the DIT wanted to get university status (prestige etc)
[16:00] New courses to be brought in and the development plans
[18:00] Courses that still exist and unsuccessful ones (Chemistry and management) due to changing perceptions etc
[20:42] Courses with big numbers of students vs smaller courses
[21:15] Lab developments easier through university status
[22:28] Staff parties and celebrations for getting university status + law hill and banner
[23:12] Staff close together and having parties
[25:10] Staff experience story – getting high profile biologists
[26:30] Getting more staff to match student number
[27:20] International staff (England, India , Belgium)
[28:35] Learning to split time between teaching and researching
[31:39] Recording Ends

David Ross

Interview with Alastair Scott

Alastair Scott speaks about his experience as a student at the Dundee Technical College, how classes used to be, about the courses he took and what Dundee and the campus used to look like. He spoke about his role in the family business and how the jute industry provided him with a lot of travelling opportunities (India, Pakistan, Thailand).
He talks about lecturers he remembers and the connections he still has with Abertay University and his role in the Dundee Heritage Trust. He then talked about all the different companies he worked for and other involvements he had (board member in America, part of a counsel).
Alastair speaks about his experience with synthetic fibres (e.g. polypropylene), and his involvement with the university for the creation of the jute museum at Verdant Works.

1:00 Jute technology course at the Dundee Technical College
3:00 Describes courses he took (textiles, management)
4:00 Practical and theoretical work, jute as an important part of education in Dundee
5:00 His role in the Dundee Heritage Trust (which owns a lot of the College's training machinery now)
6:00 College Lecturers that he remembers and people he stayed in contact with
8:00 Connections from now with Abertay (scholarship)
10:00 His time in the jute industry (travelling opportunities)
11:00 Use of jute replaced by plastics
12:00 His company producing artificial grass, and a story about how it led to him sharing a sports field with Whitney Houston
14:00 Other career opportunities it has provided to him (member of an American textiles board, member of a council)
15:00 Social life, social areas at the College
18:00 Differences in the Campus and university back then and now

  • the use of jute
    20:00 Archway story
    21:00
    23:00 Producing polypropylene + how it took companies a while to get used to it, with
    24:00 The Tech's involvement in research was limited - jute companies were secretive about their processes and in competition with each other
    27:00 College machinery for the jute production and his involvement in setting up the Verdant Works jute museum
    29:00 The Jute industry’s legacy

Alastair Scott

Interview with Graham Milne

Graham Milne shared memories of taking the College Rugby team to an international universities rugby tournament in Bilbao, Spain. He talks about the journey there by bus, feeling lost once they got there, beating the English team in the first round, and the feeling of coming third in the tournament. He also talks about how things have changed at the university since his time there, and the importance of taking advantage of the social aspects of university as well as the educational benefits.

0.00 Start of the interview
0.20 Didn’t initially want to do Civil Engineering. Wanted to do Architecture at Dundee University. Dad owned GMB. Failed first year of his degree and did a Higher National Diploma in Civil Engineering instead
1.10 Great honour to be picked by peers to be captain of the rugby team. Great responsibility too – need good attitude, discipline. Wouldn’t see himself as the best player, but had other skills – leadership for example.
4.20 He received a letter from Spain looking for teams to promote rugby in the Basque area of Spain through a tournament. The application he put forward was a little embellished. But to his surprise the team was selected. Initial doubts - didn’t know how they would get there – didn’t think they could do the country credit. Had to try to get funding to travel, but accommodation, food etc would be supplied by Bilbao University. Managed to get the funding but it was a very hard task – some of it came from the College, but most of it was raised externally. They took the Bus to England, cross English Channel, then to Spain via Stagecoach. Train to Arun [???] station. Left there on their own in the middle of nowhere not sure if there would be another train to get where they needed to go. Managed to then catch a train to Bilbao, but they had no-one able to speak Spanish and there was no-one to meet them there in Bilbao. They were afraid of armed police walking around the town due to threat of terrorism (Basque separatists). They felt lost, he “nearly had a mutiny” from the team (i.e. people threatening to go home and not take part). But someone managed to phone University of Bilbao and a bus was arranged to their accommodation.
9.20 First game against England (Salford Uni), and Scotland won. Their opponents had a more professional set up (coach, medics, better equipment etc), but were over-confident, and had gone out the night before, so they were not in good shape for the match. Dundee “took them apart”.
11.20 He feels his team had great camaraderie, team spirit. Great feeling to win Bronze medal. Only sadness is that some players that he had promised would get a game, decided after that first match that they were not good enough and opted out of playing, choosing instead to cheer from the sidelines. He regrets they didn’t get the experience of playing in the tournament.
13.20 He didn’t stay in college accommodation, but stayed at home in Dundee, and had the benefits of that. He managed to see the College’s accommodation, and, compared with what his children have experienced at university, thinks there is a big improvement in what is provided now.
15.10 College / Uni is all new for students, and next steps are work, then rising in your profession, for example, taking part in professional organisations (like the Chartered Institute of Civil Engineers). Planning is important – plan to get where you want to go, encourage others to join your profession. He is a STEM Ambassador (Bridges to Schools) – and has shown school pupils how to build suspension bridges, and conduct disaster recovery exercises. Make sure you contribute to your profession.
19.05 He remembers the whole experience was one of enjoyment. Take advantage of the social aspect as well as the educational one, so join a society or a club that will introduce you to your circle of friends for the next few years. This also applies when you get into the world of work or moving to a new area – it’s all new, and joining a club helps you get into that new environment.

Graham Milne

Interview with Rebecca Wade

Rebecca Wade, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Science at Abertay, speaks about her career and achievements at Abertay University in Environmental Science. She also talks about her work as a STEM Ambassador, and her experiences so far on the Homeward Bound leadership initiative.

Rebecca Wade

Interview with Louise Giblin

Louise Giblin speaks about her experiences as a Biotechnology student at Dundee Institute of Technology, experiences in student societies and activism, including her first parachute jump, and the transition to university status. She also spoke about her subsequent career working for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency.

Louise Giblin

Memories Re-animated Interviews

Interviews conducted as part of the Abertay 25 Memories Re-Animated Phase. Interview subjects were former staff and students who talked about a range of subjects concerning their connections with the University and its predecessor organisations.

Subjects included their experiences of teaching or being taught by the institution, technological developments there in relation to computers, degree courses (especially Nursing), social life, and student association activities.

Abertay University

Interview with Nick Hamilton

Nick Hamilton talks about the academic and management roles he carried out as a member of staff at Abertay University. He also speaks about the travelling he did around the world as a member of the university, and his memories of teaching, and of the time when the institution became a university in 1994.

00.30 Sophie and Abbie as about when he started working at the university (1988)
00.46 Mr Hamilton talks about the jobs that he did while he worked at Abertay University – lecturing in civil engineering and construction. Director of Academic Programmes in Science and Engineering; University Project Manager
01.44 he talks about some of the different projects that he carried out while he worked at Abertay. He also talks about the different jobs that he did he worked as a lecturer and academic leader and a project manager. He talks about how his favourite job was being a project manager.
02.40 Favourite memory - in 2001 he was awarded a one year fellowship which allowed him to take a year out of study
03.00 some background noise
03.10 Some of the places that he visited for the Fellowship - Australia and New Zealand and America – looking at innovation.
03.50 he spoke about reports that he did as part of his fellowship he also said a lot about the travelling that he did. One of the favourite places that he visited was the United States the way he travelled to many different states
04.35 the young ambassadors asked did you like your job at Abertay? Mr Hamilton said that he enjoyed working for Abertay as he worked in many different areas
05.20 The ambassadors ask about Dundee Institute of Technology turning into a University, and changes that took place.
Mr Hamilton talks about some of the courses that the Dundee Institute of Technology had to draw as they wanted to focus on degrees, many of these subjects were then carried out by Dundee college and Angus college.
06.05 Mr Hamilton talks about the things that he enjoyed when the University gained its status. He preferred being a University lecturer rather than a college lecturer as he found it more interesting
06.30 He says that a lot of the staff of the Dundee Institute of Technology like the idea open college becoming a University. He says that the staff enjoyed seeing that they worked at a University.
07.25 Mr Hamilton was not brought up in Scotland he was brought up in London, he went straight into working after he left school. keyboard track instruction company as an engineer, and then later moved to Inverness college to teach civil engineering and then moved to the Dundee Institute of Technology
09.00 Young ambassadors ask if Mr Hamilton has any stories that he remembers
09.05 Mr Hamilton talks about a garden party that was held in Camperdown park, there was a big marquee and people would take their families to the party. Mr Hamilton has three sons which attended the party, Mr Hamilton says that during the Principal’s speech that was sound system failed and nobody could figure out why this had happened, Mr Hamilton continued to say that he eventually found out that it was his 10 year old son. By this point everyone had left the marquee and was outside
11.25 No one has ever found out that it was Mr Hamilton son who had pulled the cable out
12.00 He was seconded to work for a University in Finland, it took him a very long time to adjust to the cool temperatures. Mr Hamilton then tells a story about a time that he was on a train and when the train pulled into the platform and he stepped outside that it was so cold that he almost passed out, he then goes on to say that it was minus 30 degrees.
13.20 the young ambassadors ask if he had ever seen the Northern Lights while he was in Finland
13.40 Mr Hamilton said that he had never seen them even though he was there for a full month, but said it was too cold for him to stay outside
14.20 Mr Hamilton then tells the young ambassadors about in the Dundee Institute of Technology if you wanted to print something you had to go to the other end of the building as no one had personal printers. one time he was given the task of creating an exam paper, which heating printed because he needed a hard copy, later that day he had to go and see the head and when he arrived the head of the printing office was there too. this confused Mr Hamilton, it turned out that there was more than one copy of the exam paper printed and it had been left out in the open meaning that anyone could have seen it. the head Lane told Mr Hamilton that it had been compromised and that he would have to make a new exam paper.

Nick Hamilton

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