Perspectives Issue 2 / December 2016

26-27 / 36

26 Perspectives Keeping staff informed December 2016
Why press coverage matters
Dr Stephen Hallett from the Cranfield Soil and Agrifood Institute highlights the benefits of coverage
in the media.
I was reliably informed that Cranfield University was a ‘well-kept secret’ when speaking with external
business contacts in a recent meeting, and that they ‘weren’t aware Cranfield was active’ in their sector.
As well as an opportunity for a swift correction, this clearly demonstrated the need for effective, ongoing
messaging to the sectors we work in and wider afield.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to address this is through a carefully-worded press release;
often it can be surprising which organisations and media outlets pick these up. Interest in our new soil
mapping project in ‘precision agriculture’ (see page 8) started like this with a ‘routine’ press release. This
was developed in conjunction with the Communications team who were able to do much of the ‘heavy
lifting’, helping to develop and refine the text and select the appropriate accompanying imagery.
It led, within just a few weeks, to a flurry of media interest including a BBC Radio 4 Farming Today
programme piece, with interviews of project staff and partners and a Wiltshire farmer with a close interest in
precision agriculture, plus magazine articles in Farmers Weekly, Farming UK, Tillage Magazine and Scottish Farmer. Another article is due
to appear online on edie ) and also in the Institution of Environmental Sciences magazine. All quite a crop from one initial
release.
Journalists operate to tight copy deadlines and one has to understand that to ensure success, swift and timely responses help! The
net result is that projects can receive significant interest and generate useful impact even at their inception.
Some examples of the coverage Cranfield has gained in the media, helping to raise our profile.
TV
Professor Graham Braithwaite was interviewed on BBC Look East News about the safety aspect of driverless pods recently launched in Milton Keynes.
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Professor Tom Stephenson spoke to Sky News about international students and funding, as the Erasmus exchange received £30m of funding from
the Government.
Print/online
September’s Festival of Flight received substantial media coverage in national, local and trade publications both prior to the event and afterwards.
This included The Times, The Daily Telegraph, Bedfordshire on Sunday, Bedford Times and Citizen; Aerospace Magazine shared the different aspects
of the day such as the Heritage Exhibition, Open Doors tours, and Air Display; Sarah Waller from the events team was also interviewed on BBC 3
Counties radio about the celebrations.
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Cranfield’s work with Tesco to extend the ‘flavour-life’ of UK apples (see page 12) was reported on in The Plymouth Herald and trade publications The
Grocer, Farming UK, and Fruitnet.
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The opening of Muscat University in Oman was covered by the Oman Daily Observer. Cranfield is mentioned as a partner who will co-deliver degree
programmes from September 2017.
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Cranfield’s visit to Bahria University in Islamabad, as part of a delegation of 18 different UK universities, was reported in the Pakistan Observer and
The News.
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The School of Management’s Best Factory Awards received significant coverage with the results announcement featured in Works Management and
on NE Connected (see page 14).
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The Manufacturer, Additive Manufacturing Today, 3D Print and 3ders reported that Cranfield researchers had unveiled what they believe is the world’s
biggest metal 3D part in one piece (see page 5).
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Professor Paul Baines wrote an article for Huffington Post discussing terrorism and how communication impacts on our perception of the
organisations associated to it. He also provided an article about the Trident Missile vote.
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An article by Professor Graham Braithwaite discussing the positive potential of self-driving vehicles was featured in the Daily Telegraph. He explains
that without proper investment the potential of this new innovation could be derailed.
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Professor Marin Guenov is quoted in Materials Today following the news release covering the APROCONE software project on aircraft design
integration which has just been announced.
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Professor Iain Gray was quoted in an article in the Financial Times (Disruption & Technology supplement) in a story about Elon Musks’s Space X
scheme which aims to revolutionise space access. He also spoke to ADS Advance about the future of aviation and the link between aerospace
manufacturing and the supply chain in this article and published an article entitled “Joined-up universities can map the route to industrial success” in
Research Fortnight. He discussed a number of topics including the relationship between universities and business, the growth and significance of the
aerospace industry, and Cranfield projects such as the AIRC (see page 20).
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Professor Phil John spoke to the Institution of Mechanical Engineers about the public perception of driverless vehicles. The story appeared in
Professional Engineering discussing the challenges of the new technology and how we envisage it interacting in everyday life.
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Dr Karl Harrison and Dr Nicholas Marquez-Grant'sinvolvement in the police search for Ben Needham who went missing in Kos in 1991 was picked up
by The Telegraph, Sky News, The Sun and Keep Talking Greece. A video of Karl’s research was also published in the Daily Mirror.
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Dr Nicholas Marquez-Grant was quoted in an article in The Daily Telegraph following work in Spain where his expertise as a forensic anthropologist
provided trauma analysis on victims of the Spanish civil war.
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Dr Paco Saez published an article in Politics Home and Airports International about integrating drones into the UK’s air space.
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Henrik Rothe was quoted in The Guardian discussing how electric vehicles could be a great tool for developing new business models for the aviation
industry. He explains that they can cut airports’ carbon footprint because many of the CO2 emissions come from the vehicles used to complete daily
tasks.
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Professor Andrew Starr provided a contribution to the letters page at Times Higher Education discussing the need for a well thought out plan to
encourage the recruitment of young women into the engineering profession.
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Professor Antonios Tsourdos provided an article about autonomous vehicles to The London Economic. He explained that “the economic benefits from
a world-leading industry around autonomous vehicles has already been mapped out: a potential £51 billion for the UK economy each year”. This story
was also featured by Public Technology. He also wrote an article for The Conversation about integrating drones into the UK’s lifestyle. He described
UAVs to be “like the first motorised cars… they will, with time, become normal...” This was picked by the Daily Mail Online, and appeared in The Khaleej
Times (UAE); Nigeria Sun; Live Press (UK); Kenya Star; Afghanistan Sun; City Metric (UK); and Essential Rail (UK), see page 18.
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Dr Anne Laure-Humbert spoke to the Financial Times (UK, US and Asia versions) about sexism in the workplace. She explained that “there is this myth
that we have achieved gender equality. Sexism is now ingrained within the culture and culture is remarkably hard to change.”
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Dr Al Savvaris spoke to International Airport Review about drone integration into airspace, prior to the ‘Visions of an Autonomous Future’ conference
held at the Cranfield campus in September.
Social media
In the last few months there have been some stories, photos and videos that have been
particularly well received on social media. There was an unprecedented reaction to the
great news about some of our Astronautics and Space students, who won the Gemini Mars
competition – the Facebook and Instagram posts combined had over 76,000 ‘reactions’ (likes,
comments, shares). Similarly, a slideshow showing a gallery of images taken by last year’s
MBA students was shared over 250 times and ‘liked’ over 5,000 times. Photos on campus are
always popular, and a couple recent snaps of the Vincent Building and the Library were also
well received, prompting some fond recollections from alumni.
A look back on 2016 in numbers
Our following on our social media channels has increased by 43% overall, from 38,624 to
55,270 as of November 2016.
On the individual platforms audiences have increased by:
• 58% on Facebook, from 13,429 to 21,280
• 27% on Twitter, from 12,236 to 15,533
• 30% on Youtube, from 2,653 to 3,438
• 28% on LinkedIn, from 10,169 to 12,969
• 1396% on Instagram, from 137 to 2,050.
Engagements (the times people interact with our social media content by liking, commenting, sharing, retweeting etc) on Facebook and Twitter (where
we can access historical data) have risen by 955% year on year, from academic year 2014/15 to 2015/16.
• 1,232% on Twitter, from 3,087 in 14/15 to 41,116 in 15/16
• 823% on Facebook, from 6,442 in 14/15 to 59,440 in 15/16.
Follow us!
Radio
PhD student Tiago De Carvalho Matos was interviewed on BBC 3 Counties radio about winning the Mars Society competition award and the details
behind their submission (see page 8).
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Dr Lisa Dorn was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 about the dangers associated with police car chases.
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Professor Iain Gray spoke to UK Health Radio about the Festival of Flight, Cranfield’s history, and his background in aerospace.
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Dr Karl Harrison was interviewed on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire about his involvement with the investigations into a fire which destroyed a prehistoric
settlement in Cambridgeshire.
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Professor Mark Jenkins featured on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, BBC Radio 2’s Chris Evans’ Breakfast Show, in The Times and on BBC World
Service talking about American media company, Liberty Media, buying Formula One.
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Dr John Glen was live on BBC Radio 5 Live ‘Wake Up To Money’ where he commented on the Institute for Financial Studies’ paper on average income
growth into 2021 and the reports that incomes won't grow for 10 years. He was also interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live 5 Live Breakfast regarding the
financial crisis, rising living costs and an anticipated rise next year. He discussed the increasing credit card debt and how it will affect public spending
power and living standards in the future.
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Professor Mark Jenkins was interviewed on BBC Radio 4 regarding the change of leadership at Formula 1 team McLaren as Ron Dennis leaves after
35 years. He discussed the business challenges the company are currently facing.
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Professor Joe Nellis was interviewed on BBC3 Counties Breakfast Show discussing the US presidency elections.
media
Cranfield in the