Memorandum submitted by Dr Malcolm Nixon
My name is Dr. Malcolm Nixon and I am a semi-retired
Higher Education college lecturer, employed by Gloscol, Gloucester.
I am the lead lecturer for the delivery of HNC Civil Engineering
Design and Project units. I wish to place before the committee
taking evidence into the role of British Waterways and the Cotswold
Canals a brief statement outlining my experience of working with
them in the academic years 2004-5, 2005-6 and 2006-7.
During these three academic years I worked closely
with three British Waterways engineers—Mr. Chris Rainger,
Mr. Andrew Goss and Ms.Susie Tudge—who actively encouraged
my HNC First Year Civil Engineer students to work with them on
a succession of "live" projects within the Cotswold
Canal corridor. The first was to design a footbridge at Stroud,
the second to secure road access over the canal and Frome at Brimscombe
and the third project—to secure road access to the Iron
Works site adjacent to the canal. Each was a live project and
for each the engineer acted as a client to the student design
teams. Throughout the two academic term periods during which each
project ran, the engineers worked closely with us as partners
and not only stimulated the students to work at an exceptionally
high level but also delivered a high level of feedback at the
end of the work. For the majority of students this was their first
opportunity to work with British Waterways and for all, their
first taste of working on a canal regeneration project. In return,
British Waterways found it stimulating to take in "out of
the box" thinking on a number of complex projects. The projects
came to an end only when my teaching area was transferred to another
educational programme.
Throughout these three years I never failed
to marvel at the dedication of the engineers and their willingness
to engage with the higher education sector—they enriched
my student careers—and to be honest—mine too.
Dr. Malcolm Nixon
March 2008
| 
