Many congratulations to Rod Wesson who has been awarded HEA STEM Technician of the Year Award!

The winners of the Higher Education Academy STEM Technicians of the Year awards were announced at the HEA STEM annual conference on 30 April at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Iain Stewart, Professor of Geoscience Communication at University of Plymouth, and presenter of the BBC series Earth, presented the awards.

Rod Wesson has been working in the Chemistry Electronics Workshop since 2011, after 14 years of working in industry. As Chief Electronics Technician, Rod’s role is to build new electronic research equipment for the research groups, and test and repair the tens of thousands of pieces of existing equipment, from mains leads to microwave reactors, ensuring the department has as little down time as possible.

He says: "Working at the University of Warwick is a most enjoyable, challenging and rewarding experience. It is an incredible environment to be in; surrounded by such nice and amazing people who challenge me with their requests to help them achieve their goals.”

Rod looks forward to working on future projects in the Department. These include making a simple 3D printer for the undergraduates, which he hopes to interface with Labview to give the students a useful and interesting experience and get them working with industry standard software, as well as the dynamite plunger box and large display voltmeter for an outreach programme aimed at inspiring future scientists.

Nominees were asked to demonstrate how their skills, actions and good practice have improved the experience of students and how they have engaged and communicated with staff and students.

The winners of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) STEM Technicians of the Year awards were announced at the HEA STEM annual conference on 30 April at the University of Edinburgh. Professor Iain Stewart, Professor of Geoscience Communication at University of Plymouth, and presenter of the BBC series Earth, presented the award, which Lynne Bayley accepted on Rod's behalf.
 

Janet De Wilde, Assistant Director (Scotland) and Head of STEM at the HEA, said: "I would like to extend my congratulations to the HEA STEM Technicians of the Year. As the national body for enhancing learning and teaching in higher education, the HEA recognises that technicians, in the field or in the laboratory, have a very important role in supporting the student learning experience. These awards celebrate this role and the significant contribution of technicians to learning and teaching, which is often not widely known or recognised outside of their own institutions.”