Portrait photograph of John S. Lumsden.

A warrant for the arrest of John Burnett, pursuer is David Crombie. The College Clerk and Treasurer, James Keay is a defender and as a neutral party, is responsible for looking after one pound shilling as part of the case.

William Moheiddeen speaks about his journey into university; his reasons for standing for Student Association President; the successful campaigns against the proposed merger of the higher educational institutions in Dundee; the benefits of university education to him in that campaign and his future career. His opinion on the benefits of university education and the need for widening access.

0.00 Interview starts
0.13 At first wanted to be a civil engineer (family expectations) but he enjoyed doing PE and ended up studying coaching and development
2.16 Getting experience at his old school, making students enjoy PE; got the opportunity to enrol at Abertay and started University in 2006
2.48 Why he became the president of the students association, to make the University better, to have an impact, provide better student experience; the story about the union building and the nice football atmosphere and how to improve it
4.51 Set up the society, joined the union and found out what the SA did
6.28 Possibility of providing more services for what students wanted, after getting a degree giving something back to the University and the students
6.40 Nice experiences of meeting people from all around the world and wanted to do something for them
7.07 Why he protested the merger, it was a collective reaction of executives and others to the idea of a forceful merger
8.58 Why Abertay was so important, distinct university with certain resources (its size, the community, the relationships between staff etc.)
10.37 Abertay as great at accommodating students from working class backgrounds and the need to celebrate and defend the university’s qualities
11.40 Keeping in touch with people he meet through Abertay (friends, work colleagues), social media very helpful as he moved all over Scotland
13.29 He was the captain of the Gaelic football club, very important experience
13.42 Lecturers who stood out for him, especially his dissertation supervisor (Andrea Cameron), emphatic, supportive and understanding
15.29 Skills developed in university not just as part of the degree, lecturers played an important role in his development as a person
16.13 How being the president of the SA helped him after university, still working with SAs, supporting others to change the society and the environment (students have a voice, make degree and the experience as a student better, get the needed support)
18.23 Why he began his speech in Gaelic, emphasize Abertay as a place for Gaelic speakers (not “othered” by other Scottish people) and for internationals to show the role of Gaelic (not just one way of being Scottish)
20.41 Abertay as helping him decide what he wants to do in life, story about his job as a butcher, wanting to be a bricklayer
22.58 Lecture about British political system in his first year, learning about politics as their future jobs will be funded by the government
24.58 Efforts put into defending the Abertay from merging (posters, good relationship with journalists, petitions); their petition getting international signatures (Australia, Indonesia) + story about the prime minister saying there won’t be a forced merger for Abertay, then moving towards building support for the university (new campaign)
29.40 March and rally with banner through Dundee, invited students and politicians

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

Richard Irvine speaks about his course and career at Dundee Institute of Technology. He spoke about his work as a research student and subsequent member of staff working on developing environmentally sustainable compost, and then acting as an intermediary between industry and the university when he worked for the Abertay Centre for the Environment. After the centre closed he was made redundant and he subsequently worked as a teacher / lecturer periodically for the University.
He speaks about his experience waiting on the Queen when she opened the new library building in 1998, which included speaking to her and helping her when the proceedings got a bit confused.
He talks about his feelings about the change of attitude amongst some staff concerning the change to university status.

0.00 Interview started
0.50 Use of Doctors terms previously, but titles are not used now.
2.15 Got to end of school – wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. Flowed into Dundee Institute of Technology. No specific reason to come here.
3.15 HND BioSciences course 1989 – Biotechnology started then. Got HND and got the Young Prize then went into 3rd year of the degree programme. Graduated 1993.
4.30 “Best time of my life” – really good group. All worked really well.
5.10 Studied at Nottingham Trent but didn’t work out. Came back. Friend researching here. Kevin Gartland was working on plant Biotech – stopping Dutch Elm disease. At same time working on waste products – Richard worked on sewage sludge. It can produce compost.
7.20 The University got European Regional Development Fund grant for sustainable environment research institute. It also got its labs refurbished for this. Richard was a Biowaste scientist. He acted as a conduit between the university and general public on environmental issues. It went on for 4 years. Kevin then went to Glasgow Caledonian University, and Richard was made redundant.
9.20 He’s been teaching on and off over the years.
10.20 He remembers great work with a company in Fife during the sustainable environment work – Andrew Cook in Methil / Glenrothes. He helped with composting. The work went on after the end of the project. He travelled round country into factories / yards / caravan sites in remote locations. Not really worrying about the funding, unusually.
13.10 Opening of the Library – 1998. The University was doing lots of fancy dinners for VIP visitors and hon grads and also graduation lunches. Not enough staff. Doris Kinnison? Asked research students if they wanted some extra money to help in these. Royal opening came – Research Student catering staff were first in line for being involved. We just turned up as normal – carparks were cleared. Every draincover was open, looking for explosives. "We winged it!" The Queen arrived, she came in the main door, up to the Principals office, small drinks reception, "we had to wheel along all the alcohol the uni could muster". The Queen was briefed on what would happen, then she went to the library, cut the ribbon, had a tour, she then went back across to the Kydd Building and she had the lunch in the old journal area of the old library which was turned into a reception and dining area. Richard served the Queen and Prince Philip with their Dubonnay and lemonade using the white gloves – the ladies were terrified of dropping it. Everyone filtered away apart from the Queen and Prince Philip. She asked Richard what to do next – he told her to go through the double door. Prince Philip was “playing with the sockets”. She was joking away. Dinner was from students of Dundee and Angus College? Then they lined up and the Queen walked past to leave.
24.20 He has his student and staff cards from his time at the university. Enamel badge for the nursing course that he rescued (does it have a number on it?!). He has a 1950 prospectus. He has a lot of books from when the library was moving. He has material on jute too.
27.40 He talks about the display of jute shuttles in the main building that has disappeared.
28.40 After university status, he feels nothing really changed in the buildings. He thinks there were changes in how the staff perceived the institution – wanted to be more university-like. He thinks there was more university stuff, but less of what it had been doing. DIT had a good record and image of what it was doing – it was just a name change, he feels it shouldn’t have made any difference. On Wednesday afternoons there were never any scheduled classes so you could do clubs, but that faded out in the 1990s.
32.30 He says he is a bit of a collector, hence why he has some good material saved from being thrown out.
35.50 He feels the HND in Biosciences was a really good course. Very positive way of getting into the degree. Strong vocational course. Well put together. Very talented individuals, lecturers, and technicians. They were not into research, but dedicated to teaching. Sometimes their talent was overlooked, and not always respected.

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.

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.

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.

Jenny McNeill speaks about her experiences as one of the first nursing degree students at Dundee College of Technology in 1975, and her subsequent career.

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.