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Staff and students at the University of East London welcomed Her Majesty The Queen and His Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh for the official opening of UEL's new Business School and Knowledge Dock Centre on Friday 16 February.

Friday 16 February 2007

Her Majesty The Queen opens UEL Business School and Knowledge Dock Centre

350 guests including Rolf Harris, His Royal Highness Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia, Stephen Timms MP, UEL's Chancellor Lord Rix, and UEL staff and students applauded as Her Majesty unveiled a plaque to formally open the Business School and Library, located on the waterfront of the Royal Albert Dock.

The ceremony began at midday at UEL's Docklands Campus. Her Majesty was welcomed by hundreds of UEL staff, students, supporters, and partners from local schools, colleges and community groups.

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.

Damla Mehmet and Shoaib Bakhat, both final-year students in UEL's Business School, were among a group of 24 students working on a water efficiency marketing project with representatives of Thames Water as Her Majesty toured the building.

"It was so exciting", she said. "I can't believe I actually met the Queen. I'm really enjoying my degree here at UEL and this visit was a very special event for all of us!"

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, was one of 10 entrepreneurs working in HotHatch on Friday. Awad, a UEL Media and Advertising graduate who also directed 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, led the Kingsford School steel band as they joined the Sarah Bonnell School Gospel Divas choir to serenade the royal visitors.

Lionel said: "Today was a wonderful occasion; the atmosphere was great and it was fantastic to get so many local pupils involved. The band members were all incredibly excited, and we played 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, was also excited to meet 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 and His Royal Highness are here to open these wonderful new facilities.

"At UEL, we are committed to transforming the horizons not only of our students, but of the wider community we serve. We have come a long way in a short time and today has been a wonderful beginning for these exciting new facilities and a very special celebration for all involved."

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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