Past Lectures
If you missed any of our Glyndŵr Talks Research lectures, you can catch up here.
Cardiac Rehab: Is a Little Encouragement Enough?
Dr Chelsea Batty
At the beginning of May, Dr Chelsea Batty, Lecturer in Exercise and Sport Physiology presented a fantastically accessible lecture on cardiac rehabilitation. Chelsea began by outlining what cardiac rehabilitation entails, as well as talking about the current guidelines and standards for best practice. Chelsea then led us on an interesting research journey, indicating the worrying lack of evidence and fidelity for most studies, i.e., research finds that most cardiac rehab teams cannot prescribe the correct dose of exercise for patients, and patients are not exercising for the correct duration or at the recommended intensity.
Chelsea spoke of some personal research where they had attempted to further the research evidence, but again, found that the cardiac rehab patients did not have clinically significant improvements in their fitness. The researchers monitored the patients and provided verbal encouragement for half of the fitness sessions, but were not aware of how the other half of the sessions went and therefore could not be sure that the patients were exercising correctly.
The audience posed some intriguing questions about fitness and exercise after the lecture, and a key take home message was that everyone should be exercising more and at the correct intensity for clinically meaningful fitness improvements.
Thank you Chelsea for an enlightening lecture! If you have any questions, you can contact Chelsea at Chelsea.batty@glyndwr.ac.uk.
Victorian Workers' Housing: The Development of the Bye-Law Terraced House
At the end of March, Dr Gareth Carr, Senior Lecturer in Built Environment, presented on Victorian workers’ terraced housing. PVC for Research, Professor Richard Day, opened the lecture by outlining Gareth’s passion for research and the importance of what may seem like an unfamiliar subject matter.
Gareth started the lecture with a fascinating overview of Victorian courts and how these were created to house the poorest of the population who subsequently became ill from the cramped and often diseased conditions, leading to high mortality amongst the working poor. This led onto the introduction of gradual bye-laws, setting slightly improved standards for house builders to follow that would improve the lighting and ventilation for renters.
Gareth continued to talk about some of the well-known architects and house builders, namely, Richard Owens, who apparently built half of Liverpool! The Welsh had a vital hand in creating the terraced streets in Liverpool today, as well as lots of other public buildings such as chapels, schools, and community centres.
The audience were shown some of the somewhat questionable names of house builders of that century (think Honest Tom and Bob the Liar!), alongside some creative licensing of street naming (after their children). Gareth brought the attention back to Wrexham and ended the lecture with a photo of an Easter egg find - an old door to a Victorian court here in Wrexham. Please do get in touch with Gareth if you have any questions, g.carr@glyndwr.ac.uk.
Gareth Carr Transcript March 2023.
Surfing the Waves of Compassionate Accountability within Youth Justice Service
At the beginning of March, Dr Tegan Brierley-Sollis, Lecturer in Policing and Trauma-Informed Approaches gave a well-attended lecture on trauma-informed culture within organisations. Professor Claire Taylor, Deputy Vice Chancellor, opened the lecture with high praise for Tegan and her dedication to transforming spaces to becoming trauma-informed.
Tegan began the lecture by describing her own story, which led into an exploration of the key terms surrounding trauma and therapeutic relationships. It was said that service providers often establish therapeutic relationships with the justice-involved youth in their care by providing the core conditions necessary, such as positive regard, openness, and empathy.
Tegan then talked about some of the findings of their research study, and shared some quotes from the young people who were interviewed. It was apparent that by showing the core conditions during the interview, the young people felt able to share some of their trauma stories.
Using the metaphor of an organisation being a living, breathing organism, Tegan outlined vicarious and organisational trauma, which could happen if the right culture was not embedded within organisations that work with traumatised individuals and stories.
The lecture ended to much applause and many questions, the most pertinent being: what shall we do next? To which Tegan answered, ‘don’t be afraid to try new things… and always be kind’. If you never had a chance to ask your question, please contact Tegan at Tegan.brierley-sollis@glyndwr.ac.uk
Climate Change, Russian Gas, and Energy Bills: A Perfect Storm
David Sprake, Senior Lecturer in Renewable and Sustainable Engineering gave a talk in January about UK energy and climate change. You could hear a pin drop in the lecture theatre as David outlined some startling facts about how electricity bills are generated and how much carbon dioxide other countries are producing.
David began the lecture by outlining climate change and how it came about, focusing on carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect. He then showed us how carbon dioxide is rising, notably since the inception of industry. Next, David presented to the audience the different types of energy generation and the pros and cons of each one, leaning heavily in favour of renewable energy resources and describing the initial cost of implementation. This led into a mention of COP meetings, where world leaders gather to address the challenge of Climate Change, with more stark visual evidence that not a lot seems to have changed since the first meeting in 1995.
There was lively discussion after the lecture with many great questions posed to a well-prepared David! But if you never had chance to ask your question, or you want to find out more, please contact him at d.sprake@glyndwr.ac.uk.
Glyndwr Talks David Sprake 19 Jan 2023 - presentation slides
Is it too much to ask? Engineering creates the infrastructure that enables a civilization: How should engineering rise to the challenges of Climate Change to preserve our continued existence?
Professor Alison McMillan, Professor of Aerospace Technology, gave a talk on December 1st about Transition Engineering, and how we are all responsible for thinking of ways to tackle climate change.
Alison opened by setting the context, discussing how each of us and our varied differences should work together to solve these big problems in society. She then outlined the issues with the way that the aerospace industry and those in positions of power market and communicate potential solutions to the carbon dioxide and climate change problems.
The concept of Transition Engineering is introduced, that is, designing changes in lifestyles and the way we use machines, with examples of transitioning from one type of public transport to another whilst infrastructural changes are made on a large scale. Alison ends with a fascinating appendix on the potential issues with adopting hydrogen as a main fuel source, exemplifying the need for us to go back to the drawing board and work together to find viable long-term solutions.
If you have any questions on the lecture, email Alison at a.mcmillan@glyndwr.ac.uk
Can academia add value to SME and large businesses? The role of the modern University in supporting businesses with advanced Photonics technology solutions.
Professor Caroline Gray OBE, Professor of Enterprise, Engagement, and Knowledge Transfer gave a fascinating lecture in October about how universities can help the photonics industry to develop and achieve their goals.
Caroline outlined the positive impacts of the Centre for Photonics Expertise (CPE) research group partnership, which was a collaboration between four Welsh universities. Caroline also gave some case study examples of how the CPE has helped businesses to innovate, such as counting tiles for Welsh Slate, inscribing QR codes on Diamonds for Diamond Centre Wales, and UV sterilisation techniques for Space Republic.
If you’re in the photonics and optics industry and need help to innovate or turn your ideas into viable capability or products, contact Caroline at The Optic Centre to discuss your needs at c.gray@glyndwr.ac.uk.
'Rose West on the stand: judgements of credibility in criminal trials' with Dr Caroline Gorden
"This lecture will make you think about guilt and innocence in a different way and you may find yourself wondering if perhaps the truth is not what is, but what is agreed on."
'The price of a pint? Can Welsh alcohol policy do good?' with Dr Wulf Livingston.
"Much the same way that Scottish Government wanted to demonstrate their own impact in the world with minimum unit pricing, you can see that the Welsh Government is asserting in its own well-being agenda through minimum unit pricing."
