I'd like to thank...

By Dr Pete Mylon, Senior University Teacher in Making

At the back end of last year (anything pre-Covid seems like a different age!) I decided to apply for a National Teaching Fellowship, a scheme organised by AdvanceHE that "celebrates and recognises individuals who have made an outstanding impact on student outcomes and the teaching profession in higher education." Each university can put forward up to three candidates, and last year, for the first time, all three candidates from the University of Sheffield were successful. One in particular, Dr Gary Wood, has been an inspiration to me in student-led learning, and encouraged me to apply this year. (He has written a great blog on applying for the scheme here.) I was initially put in reserve, but having "come off the subs' bench" at the last minute, I was surprised and delighted to find out recently that I had been successful! 

Me outside the iForge makerspace

My application focused on my work in encouraging student-led learning through Making, exemplified in the iForge, the UK’s first student-led makerspace, as well as our student-led activities in Engineering, and Hackcessible, our assistive technology makeathon.

While the announcement has been embargoed up until now, I've had various members of the Communications team at the University asking for quotes, and the first thing that came to mind was the importance of our departmental culture in allowing me to do these things.

Not getting in the way

My boss, Prof Stephen Beck, always says that his contribution to the iForge was "not getting in the way", which is both true and not as easy as it sounds! Alongside a team of passionate and talented staff, he has created a culture that fosters innovation and encourages autonomy. As a department, Multidisciplinary Engineering Education (MEE) has the advantage of not having "our own" students, with all the administrative and pastoral challenges this entails, and we have access to probably the best facilities in the University, but I have seen examples of how easy it is to waste such opportunities as the creation of the Diamond provided. Just as, in the iForge, we focused on building community and giving students freedom to decide their own direction, MEE has developed a community that engenders interdisciplinary collaboration and rewards out-of-the-box thinking. We have confounded HR by blurring or completely removing the lines between academic and technical staff – both are valued and trusted, working together to develop and deliver great teaching, and I think the Faculty's recent excellent results in the National Student Survey are a testament to the success of this approach.

Prof Beck (C) and me at UNIMAKER 2019

In my own experience, I could never have dreamt of being able to create a 24-7 student-supervised workshop environment without the support and encouragement of my colleagues and bosses. "Not getting in the way" meant not saying no because it "isn't what we do in Russell Group universities", or because it would mean a lot of hard work to put the Health and Safety framework in place; because it might not be successful straightaway; because "you can't trust students" or because it would cause disruption to our comfortable ways of working and challenge us to come up with new solutions. And anyone who works in Higher Education knows that those are not small things. For me, and for Sheffield, being willing to take this "gamble" has paid off - we are now at the forefront of student-led Making internationally, and are about to host our second UNIMAKER conference for Makers in Higher Education across the world (more info below). Creating this sort of environment for educators to work in is vital if we are to see Engineering Education, and Higher Education in general, continue to develop with the changing world, rather than become a monument to the safe and comfortable ways of the past, and ultimately, everyone will benefit - staff, students and institutions.

And finally... 

Thanks to Covid-19, I will have to wait another year for the celebratory dinner for NTF winners, and maybe it won't be quite like the Oscars, but as I imagine myself giving the gushing speech thanking my primary school teacher, the Academy and my fellow nominees, one cliché deserves its place – it was a team effort. It wouldn't have been me without MEE!

UNIMAKER 2020 is for anyone involved in Making in HE. This year, it is running online, 7-8 September. If you want to get involved, let us know at unimaker.iforgesheffield.org