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UEL welcomes Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh - Friday 16 February

Wednesday 14 February 2007

Excitement is building at the University of East London (UEL) as staff and students prepare for the visit of Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh to open UEL’s new Business School and Knowledge Dock Centre on Friday 16 February.

The ceremony will begin at midday. Her Majesty will be welcomed by hundreds of UEL staff, students, supporters, and partners from local schools, colleges and community groups.

The main presentation party will include UEL Chancellor Lord Rix, Stephen Timms, MP for East Ham, Mayor of Newham Sir Robin Wales and Professor Martin Everett, UEL’s newly appointed Vice-Chancellor. 350 guests including Crown Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia and other dignitaries, as well as UEL staff and students will attend a presentation, and Her Majesty will unveil a plaque to formally open the Business School and Library.

UEL’s new Business School, located on the waterfront of the Royal Albert Dock, features a vast ‘trading floor’ open-plan teaching space and computing hall, a 400-seat lecture theatre and an innovative library open 24 hours a day. The Business School provides undergraduate and MBA programmes in all aspects of business and management to 4,000 students on campus and world-wide.

Sefa Yildirim (23), a final-year student on UEL’s combined honours degree in Marketing and Advertising, will be working on a water efficiency marketing project in the Business School as Her Majesty tours the building.

Sefa said: “We are all so excited – I can’t believe we might actually meet the Queen. I’m really enjoying my degree here at UEL and this visit will be a very special event for all of us!”

The royal party will then tour the new Knowledge Dock Centre and a Community Pavilion, showcasing partnership work with local schools, colleges and community groups. These will include Rolf Harris and UEL art students leading a sketching master-class with pupils from local primary schools, the ‘Magic of Learning’ performance from the Lord Mayor’s Show, the Young Person’s Guide to the Royal Docks, sport, health and bioscience projects and Bollywood dancing.

The Knowledge Dock Centre is home to UEL’s Knowledge Dock enterprise development and support service, which now works with over 1,000 businesses, mainly small and medium enterprises in Thames Gateway. Facilities include 42 business units, the HotHatch business generator, the Empower project for female entrepreneurs, Fabric Print & Design Bureau, the Product Design Lab, the SMARTlab Digital Media Institute, the Sustainability Research Institute and the engineering and laboratories of UEL’s School of Computing & Technology.

Awad Bhenick, President of the UEL Entrepreneurship Society, will be one of 10 entrepreneurs working in HotHatch on Friday. Awad, a UEL Media and Advertising graduate who is also directing a film of the occasion, said: “This is a wonderful event and I’m really excited to be so closely involved. Knowledge Dock has done so much to support me and countless other entrepreneurs and businesses in East London – this is fantastic recognition.”

Lionel McCalman, veteran carnival performer and a Senior Lecturer at UEL’s School of Education, will lead the Kingsford School steel band as they join the Sarah Bonnell School Gospel Divas choir to serenade the royal visitors.

Lionel said: “Friday will be a wonderful occasion; there’ll definitely be a great atmosphere and it’s fantastic to get so many local pupils involved. The band members are all incredibly excited, and we are rehearsing a new calypso version of ‘Isn’t She Lovely’ to welcome her!”

Debra Chidakwa, a student on UEL’s BA (Hons) in Criminology and Criminal Justice, is also excited about meeting the royal visitors after the recent publication of her second book, ‘This is My Story and This is My Song’, detailing her experiences as a child in war-torn Zimbabwe.

Debra said: “When I came to the UK as a refugee 20 years ago, I was forced to sleep on the streets. I never dreamt that one day I’d be meeting the Queen, having just published my second book and about to complete a degree!”

Professor Martin Everett, UEL's new Vice Chancellor, said: “We are greatly honoured that Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh will visit to open our new Business School, Library and Knowledge Dock Centre.

“At UEL, we are committed to transforming the horizons not only of our students, but of everyone in the wider community we serve. We have come a long way in a short time and Friday's royal visit will be a wonderful beginning for these exciting new facilities and a very special celebration for all involved.”

Ends/.

For details and pictures contact Patrick Wilson: 020 8223 2061 or 07951 797 975

Notes to Editors

The University of East London (UEL) is a global learning community with over 28,000 students from over 120 countries world-wide. Our vision is to achieve recognition, both nationally and internationally, as a successful and inclusive regional university proud of its diversity, committed to new modes of learning which focus on students and enhance their employability, and renowned for our contribution to social, cultural and economic development, especially through our research and scholarship. We have a strong track-record in widening participation and working with industry.

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