Shaping the Future

Brewing and distilling - the production of drinks like beer and whisky - is both an ancient craft and a large-scale manufacturing process.

It is also a vital part of Scotland's economy and identity. Whisky makes up nearly 30% of total UK food and drink exports.

This time on Shaping The Future, chief scientist Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is with Prof Nicholas Willoughby, Heriot-Watt University's professor of sustainable bio-processing.

We’r...

It is the single greatest priority of our age: cutting carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere, and ending global warming.

This time on Shaping the Future, Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is joined by Prof Mercedes Maroto-Valer, Heriot-Watt University's Deputy Principal for Global Sustainability, and – in a wider role – the UK’s Industrial Decarbonisation Champion.

We’re Shaping the Future of Decarbonisation.

Find Heriot-Watt University onli...

Machines, computers, and artificial intelligence are increasingly becoming part of our daily lives, and at an astounding rate.

At Heriot-Watt University, we have teams working at the cutting edge of robotics and AI - developing humanoid naturally-conversing robots for use in settings from disaster relief and healthcare, to agriculture and industry.

This time on Shaping The Future, chief scientist Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is with Prof O...

Adam Smith - often called 'The Father of Capitalism' - lived in Scotland from 1723 to 1790, and spent his last years at Panmure House, on Edinburgh's Royal Mile.

Today at Panmure House, a Heriot-Watt University team is working to repurpose it as a home for debates and dialogues, on everything from climate change and the energy transition, to the roles of the state and the financial services sector.

Prof Adam Dixon is leading those ef...

What is the role for design in helping to address increasingly complex global issues?

How do we support today's learners to develop skillsets and attributes that will help them to flourish as the designers of tomorrow?

For this episode of Shaping The Future, Heriot Watt University's chief scientist Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is with Louise Valentine, Professor of Design Leadership on our Dubai campus.

We are Shaping the Future of Design.&n...

What are the processes and forces that go into shaping our future skills, technologies, and workforces?

In this episode of Shaping The Future, we’re lifting the curtain on how what's come to be known as the 'triple helix model' - in which universities, governments and industries work together, to shape, influence, and develop each other over time.

Chief scientist Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is with Prof Gillian Murray, Deputy Principal of ...

The building sector is thought to contribute around a tenth of global carbon emissions, and require an estimated 50 billion tonnes of sand and gravel annually.

That is enough material to build a wall 27 metres wide, and 27 metres high, around the entire planet.

This time on Shaping the Future, Heriot-Watt University chief scientist Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is with Professor Gabriela Medero.

Alongside her role as Associate Principal for...

'Wicked problem' is a systems engineer term for something that everybody feels needs to change, but that is also stubbornly complex and multi-faceted.

One clear example of an urgent and intractable 'wicked problem' is tackling climate change, and the global transition away from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy.

For this edition of Shaping The Future, Heriot-Watt University chief scientist Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is with Prof Susa...

How can global universities better foster key attributes like innovation, collaboration, and community?

And how does higher education continue to evolve and adapt, to support in solving the world’s most pressing problems like climate change?

For this edition of Shaping The Future from Heriot-Watt University, Chief Scientist Prof Tadhg O'Donovan is with Principal and Vice Chancellor Prof Richard Williams, and Prof Mushtak Al-Atabi, P...

Anna Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong learn how seemingly intractable problems - from online delivery slots to handling refugee crises - can be solved using qualitative and quantitative data, and simulation models. Key to this is the work of Heriot-Watt university's data gurus, including Assistant Professors Christa Searle and Adam Gripton, and Research Associate Jyoti Mandhani. They are from the University’s Centre for Logistics an...

In this episode of A Future Made, a podcast by Heriot-Watt University, Anna Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong raise a toast - or three - to assistant professors Dave Jenkins and Rachel Sutherland and PhD student Rutele Marciulionyte. All three are doing groundbreaking work, with delicious results, at the University’s International Centre of Brewing and Distilling.  We also meet alumni Michael Johnstone, Jonathan Hamilt...

In this episode of the new series of A Future Made, a podcast from Heriot-Watt University, Anna Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong put their geological detective hats on as they sift the evidence surrounding the momentous discovery of the Nadir Crater, made by marine and sedimentary geologist Dr Uisdean Nicholson. They discuss the impact of the find on Earth’s future, with the help of Professor Thomas Wagner from t...

In this episode of the new series of A Future Made, a podcast by Heriot-Watt University, Anna  Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong join Associate Professors Fergus Guppy, Jennifer Meggs and Mark Ross as well as Assistant Professor William Low at the university’s School of Sport and Exercise at Scotland's National Sports Performance Centre – Oriam, to find out first hand how studying human performance at peak levels of sports can i...

In the last of three episodes with a special focus on Psychology and Social Sciences, within A Future Made from Heriot-Watt University, Anna Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong

look into their Future and face the prospect of ageing with fresh hope. They venture into the Ageing Lab of Professor Alan Gow and are reunited with Professor Thusha Rajendran and Associate Professors Ke Guek Nee and Mary Stewart. A Future Made showcases Heriot-W...

Part two of a special Psychology and Social Sciences miniseries within A Future Made podcast by Heriot-Watt University.

Anna Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong get some pre-conceptions challenged about autism and communication, and learn how to improve their public speaking techniques when they join Professor Deborah Hall, Associate Professor Mary Stewart, and Assistant Professor Avin Mirawdeli. The series showcases Heriot-Watt Univer...

Part one of a special three-part Psychology and Social Sciences miniseries within Heriot-Watt University's A Future Made podcast.

Anna Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong join Assistant Professors Mel McKendrick and Ron Salden, Professors Thusha Rajendran and Deborah Hall, as well as Associate Professor Ke Guek Nee, for a feast of discoveries involving robotics, sports psychology, gamification and even scuba diving, which are set to imp...

In the second episode of the new series of A Future Made, a podcast by Heriot-Watt University, Anna Ploszajski and Robbie Armstrong turn the spotlight on Africa to find out how an inspiring partnership between the University and the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS) is changing the lives of students and academics alike, and has sparked a quest to find 'the next Einstein' within Africa. The series showcases Heriot-W...