Giving back
Class act How reuniting at Heriot-Watt led engineering alumni to take action for access
“University opened doors in my life and in my classmates’ lives, and now we hope to open up a great life opportunity for a young person to realise their academic aspirations,” commented Derren Oliver, an Electrical and Electronic Engineering graduate from the Class of 1997.
A reunion is always a special event and coming back to campus can add to the nostalgia. However, the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Class of 97 went one step further in making their 25-year reunion a particularly memorable one.
Luke Donnelly, a former Heriot-Watt Student Union President, was one of the organisers: “It was fantastic to meet up with each other after so long! The Alumni team kindly organised a tour of the Edinburgh campus, which has changed and continues to improve since we graduated, and we learned about amazing developments, such as the National Robotarium, from one of our former professors, which made our event really special. But it is the legacy of the reunion that we hope will have the real lasting impact: coming back together inspired us to act – we decided as a class, to fund an Access Scholarship.
We have all benefited greatly from our time at Heriot-Watt. So as a class, we wanted to provide that opportunity to a future student who might not otherwise have access to the university experience and the social and educational advantages that brings. It is our way of giving back. Classmate, George Dickson, led liaison with the University to help get this first-of-a-kind scholarship established.
Now, our hope is that our collective action might inspire other cohorts of Heriot-Watt alumni to do the same. It would be fantastic if fellow alumni came together for anniversary year reunions and chose to set up similar scholarship programmes which former classmates can then contribute to. By sharing the load across the class only a modest donation is required from each person, but the impact and outcome is huge.”
It is the legacy of the reunion that we hope will have the real lasting impact.”
Luke Donnelly
Enjoying a demonstration of a robotic ‘dog’ as part of the National Robotarium presentation
Experiencing the high end facilities at Oriam
Our hope is that our collective action might inspire other cohorts of Heriot-Watt alumni to do the same.”
Susan McGregor, also a Class of 1997 alumna, commented: “It was terrific to take part in the reunion and I’m proud to be funding a scholarship, along with my ex-classmates, for students who may not otherwise be able to continue with further education.” Derren added: “The reunion event was a lot of fun. Amongst the recollections and memories and stories, we managed to put together something that I think is quite remarkable and I'm proud to be a part of.”
Luke, George, Derren and Susan have all forged stellar careers since graduating from Heriot-Watt. Luke is Principal Solution Consultant at Zendesk, a leading software developer of cloud-based customer services; George is CEO of Presteigne Broadcast Hire, a leading dry hire and complete multi-location production solution provider; Derren is currently Global Account Manager at Keysight Technologies, an S&P 500 technology company; and Susan is the Sales and Operations Planning expert at Bedford Consulting, a leading European implementation partner of Anaplan's cloud-native Enterprise Performance Management software.
Now they, along with others from the Class of 97, hope the scholarship will encourage aspiring Electrical and Electronic Engineering students from disadvantaged backgrounds to enhance their career prospects through a Heriot-Watt degree.
Supporting the next generation of talent
Each year, scholarship and bursaries funded by our generous alumni community make a huge difference to students who would struggle with the costs of higher education.
Your support helps them to realise their potential and provides a truly life-changing experience.
“Through a relatively small gift you can make a significant impact on someone’s life, and possibly change the world through their success.” Bryan Milton, alumnus
Find out how you could support the next generation of talent or email us at giving@hw.ac.uk
Learn more about widening participation at Heriot-Watt
