AOUG Will Swann Award for Innovation and Knowledge Development

Awarded in 2022 to Michael Busk

Michael was nominated by his supervisors, Professor David Rowland and Dr Martin Clarke who summarised his research and reference. During his masters research, Michael had unearthed a unique archive of documents concerning the Manchester Music Festival of 1828.

Michael’s submission for display at our ceremony included illustrations of how Manchester collegiate church had been adapted to accommodate a cohort of vocal soloists and leading instrumentalists from the country. A massive gallery was designed to be placed over the choir and chancel, reversing the nave and aisles with a second gallery beneath for the performers.

Michael had been involved with the OU on and off for almost thirty years. A casual remark from his husband on doing another Module with the OU lead to his enrolling for an mA in music which subsequently lead to his submission of a research proposal which was accepted. 

Awarded in 2021 to Andrew Leigh

Isolating and Predicting Risks in Architectural Design.

I researched how to automatically divide software architectural designs, so that the maintainability risk associated with each part can be measured, to enable risk mitigation procedures to be taken. By detecting and avoiding problems early (or reducing their impact), the cost and time to produce software can be reduced.