The symposium this year was sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers, The South East section of the Institute for Measurement and Control, and Engineers without Borders.
By Dr Shamim Quadir (Senior Communications Officer), Published (Updated )
On Wednesday 15 January, City St George’s University of London held its 6th National Symposium on Developing Socially Responsible Professionals.
These annual, all-day symposia bring together students, experts and stakeholders from academia, industry, charities and government organisations to debate different aspects of developing the next generation of socially responsible professionals (SRP).
Professor Anthony Finkelstein, President of City St George’s, provided the opening address at this year’s symposium sharing in part:
After some further scene setting for the day from Professor Raj Roy, organiser of the annual symposia and Executive Dean, School of Science & Technology, the audience were engaged with the morning’s panel discussion on 'Healthcare Ethics and Law'.
Panel Discussion
The panel was chaired by Professor Dirk Lanzerath, Head of the German Reference Centre for Ethics in the Life Sciences (DRZE), Germany.
In a discussion that focussed on ethics and law in healthcare, Professor David Townend posed questions of what ethics means in this context. He asked:
Joining Professor Townend on the panel were Dr Elizabeth Chloe Romanis (University of Durham), Dr Anna Pacholcyzk and Dr Sabrina Germain of City St George’s.
Watch a recording of the Health Ethics and Law panel discussion.
Plenary session
The symposium’s plenary session was introduced and chaired by Dr Sionade Robinson, Vice-President (Enterprise, Engagement & Employability), which heard from two Plenary Keynote Speakers.
Olivia Sutcliffe, Associate in Savills UK’s Earth Social Value team, talked about enhancing the impact of real estate projects, sharing her experience in designing social value strategies and driving culture change in organisations such as Greater London Authority. She shared in part about the building understand of social value:
Watch a recording of the plenary introduction and first talk.
Robert West, Head of Education and Skills at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), plays a lead role as part of the Future of Work Directorate in influencing policy.
He shared how the CBI speaks on behalf of its 850 members including 1,100 separate registered companies, FE Colleges and Universities and framed his talk around future skills of the workforce, including around new technology, environmental challenges, and the changing nature of work (including how it has changed in light of the COVID19 pandemic).
Watch a recording of Rob's talk.
Student development session
In the afternoon, a workshop and panel discussion focussed on student development and social responsibility in the world of work.
The workshop, “Graduate Attribute and Socially Responsible Professionals” was led by Ben Butler , Student Development Manager at City St George’s, who introduced the University’s newly launched Graduate Attribute programme.
Graduate Attributes are a set of five core skillsets that aim to help students launch a successful and fulfilling career. Students build these attributes throughout their time at City St George’s.
The five attributes are:
- Always Learning
- Connected Professional
- Creating Impact
- Engaged in the World
- Technical and Digital
The workshop aimed to give students the opportunity to explore the value of these attributes and how they contribute to the development of socially responsible professionals and their career paths.
The workshop was followed by a panel discussion with industry professionals from an eclectic range of sectors including space, sport, finance and engineering.
Entitled, “Employer expectation capture session, ” the discussion was chaired by Kanan Barot, Assistant Vice-President (Civic Planning and Development) at City St George’s.
The panel included Tom Harlow from the sports industry, Chief Sustainability Officer at Centrus Financial Advisers George Roffey, Director of the GEC Space Programme Joel Singh and CEO of Engineers Without Borders John Kraus.
George Roffey said the purpose of Centrus Financial Advisers was to enable professionals with financial skills to work in sectors where they can make a tangible impact.
Second keynote session
Chaired by Professor Philip Thomas, University of Bristol and previously of City St George’s, the session consisted of three Keynote talks. Watch recordings of these sessions linked below:
- “Ethics of AR/VR in practice” from Zillah Watson, CEO of Phase Space Ltd, with whom City St George’s collaborate,
- “Ethics in Engineering from Dr Natasha McCarthy, The Royal Academy of Engineering
- “Ethics and Mathematics” from Professor Shabnam Beheshti, Head of the Department of Mathematics at City St George’s,