Engineering, R&D,
AI and academic
consultancy

My experience as Deputy Head and Acting Head of a School of Engineering, alongside programme leadership and industrial entrepreneurship, informs a practical approach to institutional change. I can support a university-wide strategy or lead a defined school, curriculum, laboratory or implementation workstream with the institution’s leadership team.

Support can include

• Reviewing the current academic operating model: how schools, programmes, academic teams and professional services work together.
• Developing options for school and departmental structures, shared provision, interdisciplinary activity and academic decision-making.
• Assessing AI readiness across teaching, assessment, research, student support and academic administration.
• Planning organisational change through stakeholder consultation, staff capability development, communication and phased implementation.
• Examining programme viability, resource requirements and the student implications of consolidation, new provision or planned closure.
• Establishing accountable workstreams, a risk register, milestones and measures of educational benefit.

Strategic oversight. Assignments can combine a diagnostic review, options appraisal and implementation support, with attention to educational purpose, staff contribution, student protection and institutional sustainability. Longer-term scenario planning can examine the implications of more capable AI and possible AGI developments.

I have contributed to school strategy and planned engineering provision at Arden University, developed an Electrical Power Engineering degree at London South Bank University, and coordinated programme delivery, academic staffing and accreditation evidence. This experience supports both new programme development and review of established provision.

Support can include

• Reviewing the positioning and relationship of undergraduate, postgraduate, foundation and professional programmes.
• Designing programme specifications, module structures, credit arrangements, progression routes and graduate attributes.
• Mapping learning outcomes to teaching, practical activity and assessment through constructive alignment.
• Identifying opportunities in engineering, robotics, automation, AI, digital manufacturing, energy and interdisciplinary provision.
• Preparing evidence for internal validation, periodic review and professional accreditation, using the applicable qualifications and subject frameworks.
• Planning academic workforce capability, delivery responsibilities, induction and succession.

Provision can include short courses, continuing professional development, microcredentials and work-based pathways where these fit the institution’s approvals, resources and learner needs.

My contribution draws on engineering assessment, laboratory teaching, external examining, thesis and viva assessment, programme leadership and the development of AI teaching models. The work starts with the learning outcomes and the evidence needed to judge each student’s achievement, then considers assessment across the whole programme.

Support can include

• Mapping where and how programme learning outcomes are demonstrated, including meaningful points for assurance of individual achievement.
• Designing authentic projects, experiments, practical demonstrations, oral defences, design reviews and professional case studies.
• Combining supervised assessment with appropriately permitted AI use, reflection, draft development and evidence of the learning process.
• Developing assessment briefs, rubrics, moderation approaches and clear expectations for AI acknowledgement and academic integrity.
• Reviewing accessibility, assessment workload, consistency and the support students and staff need.
• Running staff workshops and evaluating pilots before wider adoption.

AGI readiness. Forward-looking scenarios can test whether an assessment framework remains credible as AI capabilities evolve. Current implementation is grounded in available tools and demonstrable learning; future capability assumptions are made explicit.

My experience includes Degree Apprenticeship leadership, engineering curriculum mapping, apprentice-progress frameworks and external programme assessment. I have worked with electrical, electronic, embedded-systems and control engineering pathways, connecting academic study with workplace practice and professional competence.

Support can include

• Matching proposed provision to the current occupational standard, learner level and employer role requirements.
• Mapping modules, learning outcomes and work-based activity to knowledge, skills and behaviours, with coverage gaps identified.
• Aligning academic assessment and workplace evidence with the applicable apprenticeship assessment plan and professional requirements.
• Supporting initial assessment and recognition of prior learning, learning plans, workplace projects and progress reviews.
• Co-designing delivery with employers and clarifying responsibilities between academic teams, employers and assessment organisations.
• Developing progression, mentoring and learner-support arrangements, alongside evidence for validation and quality review.

For England, development takes account of the assessment plan, funding rules and transition arrangements that apply to the selected standard and cohort. This includes end-point assessment where it remains applicable and revised assessment arrangements where introduced. International work-based degrees are designed around the relevant local framework.

My experience combines programme development, external examining and moderation, independent academic assessment and the preparation and scrutiny of engineering accreditation evidence. I can support institutional quality teams, school leaders and programme teams with a defined academic review and evidence-development remit.

Support can include

• Reviewing academic governance, approval and monitoring processes, assessment practice and the use of external expertise.
• Mapping provision to the relevant UK qualifications framework, subject benchmark statements and institutional academic regulations.
• Reviewing evidence relevant to applicable OfS quality and standards conditions in England, including academic experience, resources, student outcomes, assessment and awards.
• Using the QAA UK Quality Code as a sector reference point, with attention to its different role across the UK nations.
• Supporting engineering accreditation readiness through applicable AHEP, UK-SPEC and professional-body requirements.
• Identifying gaps in course information, student support, practical provision and assessment evidence, and agreeing an improvement plan.

Jurisdiction and institutional remit. The review is scoped to the country, provider type, awarding arrangements and current framework. UK-wide academic reference points, England’s regulatory conditions and professional accreditation are treated according to their respective roles. Institutional leaders and the relevant bodies retain formal approval and regulatory decisions.

My perspective connects senior academic leadership, teaching of employer-sponsored engineers and apprentices, industrial R&D, manufacturing and entrepreneurship. I can contribute through commissioned evidence reviews, expert workshops, consultation responses, curriculum workstreams and university–industry partnerships.

Support can include

• Reviewing labour-market and sector-skills evidence alongside employer requirements and regional development priorities.
• Developing skills pathways for robotics, automation, AI, advanced manufacturing, energy systems, construction and thermal engineering.
• Connecting technical capability with critical thinking, experimentation, problem-solving, communication and professional judgement.
• Designing employer-informed degrees, apprenticeship pathways, short courses and professional upskilling or reskilling programmes.
• Supporting AI literacy, ethical use and staff capability development with clear educational objectives.
• Convening university–industry dialogue and defining pilots, responsibilities and measures of workforce relevance.

I would be pleased to contribute to future-skills commissions involving government departments, Skills England, devolved skills bodies, local and regional authorities, professional bodies and employer partnerships. Each engagement would have an agreed remit, evidence base and intended policy or delivery contribution.

My experience includes establishing specialist vacuum-glazing experimental facilities, developing industrial thermal-testing and prototype capability, and leading a blended engineering laboratory roadmap combining virtual, remote and physical experimentation. I connect laboratory investment with what students and researchers need to investigate, build, measure and demonstrate.

Support can include

• Auditing existing facilities and defining research questions, practical learning outcomes and equipment priorities.
• Developing laboratory concepts for thermal engineering, vacuum insulation, renewable energy, electrical systems, mechatronics, robotics and sensing.
• Planning instrumentation, data acquisition, experimental protocols, measurement quality and prototype-validation activity.
• Integrating physical facilities with simulation, virtual or remote laboratories and suitable practical kits.
• Developing equipment specifications, procurement priorities, staffing and training plans, maintenance needs and staged investment cases.
• Embedding student projects, industry briefs, interdisciplinary challenges and research-led experiments into the curriculum.
• Working with the institution’s facilities and safety specialists on operating arrangements, access and safe experimental practice.

From laboratory investment to student experience. Facilities can support open-day demonstrations, school outreach, student project showcases and employer collaboration. Evaluation can track participation, practical competence, student feedback, project quality and recruitment-enquiry engagement, using evidence agreed with the institution.

My experience includes module and programme leadership, hands-on laboratory teaching, student-society development, engineering outreach, open days and recruitment activity. This informs an approach that connects the prospective-student experience with the quality of learning and opportunities offered after enrolment.

Support can include

• Designing accessible laboratory taster sessions, open-day demonstrations and school or college outreach.
• Developing student project showcases and programme narratives grounded in real facilities, teaching and progression opportunities.
• Strengthening belonging and participation through student societies, peer collaboration and interdisciplinary design challenges.
• Connecting research projects, industrial briefs and professional-body activity with graduate capability and employability.
• Reviewing student feedback, engagement evidence and progression patterns to prioritise practical improvements.
• Agreeing measures for outreach participation, enquiry engagement, continuation and student experience, then evaluating activity against them.

The aim is a credible student experience that supports informed recruitment, sustained engagement and progression. Improvement priorities are based on the institution’s evidence and delivery capacity.