Good News from Manchester Metropolitan University's Technical Services 

Technical Specialist at Manchester Metropolitan University takes part in ITSS

Knowledge Exchange Placement: Manchester Met promoted the UK Institute for

Technical Skills and Strategy (UK ITSS) Knowledge Exchange Placement to technical

staff this year, and Mary Beresford, Technical Specialist in Manchester Fashion Institute

(MFI), recently applied and was successful in securing around £3000 in funding for an

exchange placement. Mary has spoken about her experience of the placement and

shared the article below.

Mary is responsible for managing the Body Scanning & Digital Lab, Textile Testing Labs

and the Innovation Zone. Her role also includes horizon scanning for new equipment

and working with academics on research projects. It is also part of her role to promote

the equipment internally and externally for research purposes. Mary attended a

Knowledge Exchange Placement Visit to Florida State University (FSU) from 16-20

September 2024, which was funded externally through the UK ITSS.

Mary found out about the UK ITSS Knowledge Exchange Placement through her line

manager. She applied just after the programme launched and was successful in being

awarded this external funding, making her one of the first people to get the funding via

the programme. “I had just started my role as Technical Specialist when I was granted

the funding. I was really confident with my work in the Scanning Lab and the Innovation

Zone, but wanted some more knowledge on the Textile Testing Lab. Therefore, I

wanted to do my placement at an institution that had a lab that was testing to industry

standards as I am looking to elevate MFI’s lab to that level.” Mary worked with UK ITSS

to find a suitable institution for her placement. The programme allows you to go to

institutions both in the UK and abroad, and UK ITSS will contact the institutions on

behalf of you to see if they would be happy to take part in the placement. After working

with UK ITSS, Mary chose FSU due to its strong synergy with Manchester Met. FSU

has a textile testing lab, and similar equipment including the same 3D body scanner, 3D

printing, digital printing facilities and an Institute of Sport which they collaborate with on

research projects.

Once everything had been agreed for the placement, Mary was sent an itinerary for her

visit from FSU. “It was a really thoughtful itinerary, covering lots of places that I hadn’t

specified but would still find interesting during my visit, as well as covering all the areas I

was interested to learn about. I met lots of members of staff and had valuable

knowledge exchange interactions as we had lots of similar equipment”. Some valuable

learning that Mary has gained from the visit includes being provided with

recommendations regarding new equipment, being trained on equipment in the textile

lab, learning new methods of digital printing techniques to implement in the Innovation

Zone and discovering new methods of body scanning technologies.

“I found it really easy to apply. You get assigned a member of staff from UK ITSS to

help you decide where to go – I found this really encouraging as they suggested I look

wider than the UK and look to go somewhere abroad, which I wouldn’t have done

without their help”. After UK ITSS had contacted FSU on Mary’s behalf, she had regular

meetings with UK ITSS to organise the visit. “I would really recommend the programme

to others; I found it valuable. My advice would be to not overthink your application too

much and just go for it and apply!”

Manchester Metropolitan University Resource Centres host open day to

showcase a career in Technical Services: Technical Managers of the Resource

Centres at Manchester Met held an open day for members of the local community and

colleagues in Estates, Facilities and Capital Development to help raise the visibility of

technical careers. The Resource Centres are part of Technical Services at Manchester

Met and are located across the faculties of Arts & Humanities, Science & Engineering

and Health & Education. They provide a student facing service for technical support,

consisting of equipment loans, dispensing of goods, waste disposal, help and advice for

students and much more. The event ensured that attendees could get an understanding

of how different Resource Centres function, speak to technicians, and see specialist

spaces and equipment. The day gave valuable first-hand insights into the remarkable

range of roles available within Technical Services.

Technical Services supports the Manchester Metropolitan University Graduate

Internship programme: Between August and November 2024, Technical Services at

Manchester Met hosted 17 Graduate Internships placements via the Future Talent

Graduate Scheme within Careers & Employability Service at Manchester Met. The fully

funded scheme targets those graduates from the previous graduating year who have

not secured employment in their chosen field. These internships are full-time

opportunities for 12 weeks - the scheme allows host departments the chance to work

with our recent graduates and increases awareness of the benefits of employing a

recent Manchester Met graduate. For graduates, this provides valuable real-life work

which they can then use as evidence in job interviews. Two of the interns have already

secured roles within their chosen fields following their internship – their placements

within Technical Services had really helped them to achieve this.

Technical Services supporting 20:20 Print Exchange: The 20:20 Print Exchange is a

project by Hot Bed Press, running since 2009. Since its inception, the initiative has

continued to collaborate with artists and grown year on year, becoming global with more

workshops taking part including workshops in Hong Kong, Moscow and Canada.

Mike Hitchens, Technical Officer in Creative Makers (print workshop), has led the

initiative from Manchester Met’s side, with Manchester Met being the largest contributor

in terms of the amount of people partaking and submitting entries.

To take part in the exchange, each individual will contribute 25 prints, printed as an

edition. These prints must be a printed media of some description, such as screen

printing, etching, lino cut, letterpress, or a combination. At Manchester Met, the print

making workshop works with other workshops in the School of Art, such as bookbinding

to help people create their prints.

Mike then collects all the prints and sends them to Hot Bed Press who organise them

into a bigger collection. Those who take part in the exchange receive a box of artwork in

return, consisting of a mix of different artwork from around the world.

At Manchester Met, these boxes are given out at an event and a mini exhibition held on

campus, which remains for a couple of weeks after the event. The exhibition features

the work of those at Manchester Met who took part in the exchange, and the wider

collection goes on tour to roughly five or six other institutions.

The exchange is open to all to take part in, and Mike advertises the project to staff and

students, both undergraduate and postgraduate. Mike said: “It is good for staff to take

part for their Continuous Professional Development. We also have students who have

since graduated but continue to take part in the exchange year on year”.

Of the approximately 800 people that took part in the last exchange, there were 50

people from Manchester School of Art, making it the biggest workshop for this year and

most years. In 2023, Manchester School of Art won the 20:20 print exchange Favourite

Workshop Award.

Getting involved in the exchange has many positives, with Mike saying that it is a great

tool for getting people into the print workshop with a small project and receiving art back

in return. For print artists, the project is good for promoting your work through editioning.

The project is also beneficial for students, helping them learn new skills if they wish to

do more print work in the future. As the print exchange is advertised to all courses within

the School of Art, it also helps to promote the print workshop and some of the other

facilities that Technical Services has.

Manchester Metropolitan University hosts Technical Professional Research

Symposium:  In September 2024, Manchester Met hosted a Research Technical Professional (RTP) Symposium. The event, which brought together technicians from 28 UK

institutions, was a platform to discuss changes in the research landscape, especially

considering the 2029 Research Excellence Framework (REF). Ian Hancox, Director of

Research Technology & Technical Strategy, University of Warwick and UK Institute of

Technical Skills and Strategy Co-Lead, delivered an Introduction to the UK Institute for

Technical Skills and Strategy and an overview of Technical Professional Career

Pathways. The symposium highlighted the expanded role of RTPs in research and their

growing inclusion in REF submissions, sparking key discussions on how universities

can value and incorporate diverse staff contributions in research outputs, including

technicians; roles in innovative research.