Qualifications
B.Sc., Dip.Sc., M.Sc., MBCS, MIET, MInstP, AMIMA
About
After graduation from the
University of Dundee in
Scotland, Rob took up his first post with
BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace) based at
Warton Aerodrome,
Lancashire, in the north west of
England. He is currently a senior lecturer in the
University of Roehampton Business School in the area of information systems topics concerned with the support of business functions of organisations, including people and culture aspects as well as those of software and hardware. He is a member of the School's Centre for Organisational Research (COR) and its Organising Creativity special interest group. He maintains a
profile which describes some of his professional interests as part of the LinkedIn network - details there include networks which he is a member of, including the BAE Systems Employee & Alumni Network and the Oxford University Software Engineering Programme.
Research Interests
Rob is interested in all aspects of the research of information and communication technology (
ICT), especially in relation to new, and emerging, technologies that may have the potential to enhance
information systems in the business organisation context, including: all aspects of the Digital Economy, Business & Industry, and
Education in the form of virtual learning environments (VLEs), including
Second Life and e-resources. He is currently involved in projects which seek to better understand e-resource user behaviour, and the role of social media in university students' employability. He has teaching as well as research interests across a range of computing, information systems, software engineering and ICT issues in both education and business settings. His engagement with these issues has been practical as well as theoretical and across a broad spectrum of approaches, including 'hard' technical computing and the application of 'soft' education and social science methodologies. Some of his work is being funded externally by the Higher Education Academy (HEA), and has, in the past, been funded by internal university grants involving collaborations with colleagues, including the
School of Education, with Professor Mike Watts (now at Brunel University), and the RED Centre (now the
Learning and Teaching Enhancement Unit). He contributes to the discussion of research and teaching issues in national and international forums through professional organisations such as
The British Computer Society and
The Institution of Engineering and Technology.
Research Projects Undertaken
An investigation of the comprehension aspects of students' learning experiences of using computer packages
The work for this project was conducted within the University of Surrey Roehampton, as a collaboration across the Business, Education & RED departments of the University.
Team: Robert Manderson (Senior Lecturer, School of Business), Damian Day (Assistant Director, RED Centre), Steven Lize (PhD Researcher, School of Sociology and Social Policy), Anita Jackson (Lecturer, School of Education) and Mike Watts (Professor of Science Education, Dean of Teaching & Learning).
An investigation of students' learning experiences of the use of communications and information technology
The work for this project was conducted within the University of Surrey Roehampton, as a collaboration across the Business, Education & RED departments of the University.
Team: Robert Manderson (Senior Lecturer, School of Business), Mike Watts (Professor of Science Education, Dean of Teaching & Learning), Anita Jackson (Lecturer, School of Education), Enid Ryan (Teaching Fellow, Learning Circuit), Damian Day (Assistant Director, RED Centre).
An investigation of the existing and future roles of the software functions in British Telecommunications Plc. (BT Plc.)
The work for this project was conducted within the Software Management Group of the Computation Department at The University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST) in collaboration with researchers at Keele University, Durham University and BT's Research Laboratories (BTRL).
Team: Robert Manderson (Research Associate, Computation Department, UMIST), Paul Layzell (Professor of Software Management, Computation Department, UMIST) & researchers at the universities of Keele (Professor David Budgen) and Durham (Professors Keith Bennett & Malcolm Munro) & staff at British Telecommunications' Research Laboratories at Martlesham Heath, Ipswich (BTRL).
An investigation of version management and access control models for cooperative systems
The work for this project was conducted within the Software Engineering Group of the Computing Department at Lancaster University.
Team: Robert Manderson (Research Associate, Computing Department), Ian Sommerville (Professor of Software Engineering, Computing Department), Tom Rodden (Senior Lecturer, Computing Department) & Alan Dix (Professor, University of York).
An investigation of the definition of information system quality in the software functions of BAE Systems (formerly British Aerospace)
The work for this project was conducted at BAE Systems Defence at Warton Aerodrome, Lancashire, in collaboration with researchers at the University of Salford.
Team: Robert Manderson (Software Engineer, BAE Systems), Richard Vidgen (Researcher & Lecturer in Information Systems, University of Salford).
Recent Project Presentations
[1] Manderson, R. (2012) Making computing graduates more employable. (Imperial College London). The Higher Education Academy STEM Annual Conference 2012.
[2] Bennett, J., Manderson, R., Pietsch, A. (2012) Information Literacy through the e-Book Lens. (Birmingham City University, Birmingham).The Missing Link: making the connection between information literacy & an excellent student experience.
[3] Manderson, R. (2012) An investigation of students' use of ICTs: how students use e-books and the virtual learning environment in various learning scenarios. (Brunel University, Uxbridge).
[4] Manderson, R. (2011) Some issues and experiences of making information systems graduates more employable: a Roehampton perspective. (The British Computer Society, London).
[5] Manderson, R. (2011) An investigation of students' use of ICTs: how students use e-resources and the virtual learning environment in various learning scenarios. (Brunel University, Uxbridge).
[6] Manderson, R. (2010) E-learning in the era of service-oriented architectures (SOAs) and 'Cloud' computing. (Brunel University, Uxbridge).
[7] Manderson, R. (2010) The idea of a university without boundaries: some issues and experiences of higher education across time and space. (Roehampton University Conference - The Idea of a University).
Recent Conference Attendance
[1] (2012) 7th International Blended Learning Conference, Hatfield, Hertfordshire, 13-14 June.
[2] (2012) 9th Roehampton University Teaching & Learning Conference, Roehampton, London, 23 May.
[3] (2012) The Higher Education Academy Annual STEM Conference, Imperial College London, 12-13 April.
[4] (2012) The Missing Link: making the connection between information literacy & an excellent student experience, Birmingham City University.
[5] (2011) Education Staff-Student Conference, Brunel University, Uxbridge.
[6] (2011) 6th International Blended Learning Conference, Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
[7] (2011) 16th United Kingdom Academy for Information Systems (UKAIS) Annual International Conference, St. Catherine's College, Oxford.
[8] (2011) 8th Roehampton University Teaching & Learning Conference, Roehampton, London.
[9] (2010) Roehampton University Conference - The Idea of a University.
[10] (2010) 5th International Blended Learning Conference, Hatfield, Hertfordshire.
[11] (2010) Roehampton Research Conference on Excellence in Learning and Teaching.
Postgraduate Project Supervisions - Completed Successfully
[1] (2012) Yiqun Han (MSc International Management), "A Study of Key Factors Impacting the Marketing Performance of International Joint Ventures (IJVs) in China".
[2] (2012) Ketnapat Chokapisang (MSc International Management), "A Study of Innovation in Small Software Firms in the UK".
[3] (2005) Kate Wilcock (MSc Strategic Development and Training), "The Changing Role of the Training Practitioner in the Era of E-Learning: A Survey of Attitudes and Experiences of Training Practitioners in the UK".
Consultancy Experience
All of Rob's research, teaching and consultancy activities are informed by professional practitioner experience in industry, and teaching & research experience in UK universities. In industry, he has worked as a full-time, permanently contracted software engineer at
BAE Systems - military aircraft division (formerly British Aerospace) at Warton, Lancashire, developing, evolving and managing changes to computer-aided design and manufacturing information systems. In the universities, he has worked as a full-time, contracted research associate (RA) at
Lancaster University and then as a full-time, contracted RA at
Manchester University. He was appointed by, and worked for,
Professor Ian Sommerville at
Lancaster University (now at
St. Andrews University) and
Professor Paul Layzell at
Manchester University (now at
Royal Holloway, University of London). The RA post at Lancaster was funded by the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), and the RA post at Manchester by
British Telecommunications (BT Plc). He continues to pursue his research work at
Roehampton and
Brunel universities.
Consultancies Undertaken
Academic Associate, Higher Education Academy (2012 - Present).
External Examiner at the University of West London (2011 - Present).
Member of the Programme Committee for the United Kingdom Academy for Information Systems (UKAIS) 2011 Conference, St Catherine's College, Oxford.
PhD Consortium Facilitator for the United Kingdom Academy for Information Systems (UKAIS) 2011 Conference, St Catherine's College, Oxford.
Research Paper Reviewer for the United Kingdom Academy for Information Systems (UKAIS) 2011 Conference, St Catherine's College, Oxford.
IEEE Chair of Student Affairs for the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland (UKRI) Section of Region 8 (Europe), 1998/1999; UK delegate to the 1999 IEEE Sections Congress, Minneapolis, USA.
Co-organiser, Co-chair, Reviewer, and Session Chair of the Workshop on the Teaching of Software Engineering from a Maintenance Perspective (WTSEM’99), Keble College, Oxford, 30th August 1999 (Part of the International Conference on Software Maintenance).
Paper Reviewer for the 33rd IEEE Hawaii International Conference on Software Sciences Mini-track on Constructing Software Engineering Tools (2000).
Conference co-organiser for the 33rd IEEE Hawaii International Conference on Software Sciences Mini-track on Software Tools (2000).
Conference co-organiser for the 33rd IEEE Hawaii International Conference on Software Sciences Mini-track on Domain Specific Languages (2000).
Co-organiser, Chair of Publicity, and Reviewer for the Software Engineering Association Workshop on Key Software Engineering Research Themes: Integrating Industrial and Academic Viewpoints, Imperial College, London (1997) (Co-Chairs: Professor Manny Lehman and Professor Russel Winder).
Co-organiser of the British Computer Society Special Interest Group in Software Reuse February’97 meeting, Liverpool John Moores University.
Consortium Co-ordinator and producer of workshop materials for the Distributed Centre of Excellence in Software Engineering (DiCE) Futures Workshop, UMIST, May, 1996.
Co-ordinator and Co-author of the final report of the Distributed Centre of Excellence in Software Engineering (DiCE) Futures Workshop, UMIST, May, 1996.
Co-ordinator of the Software Management Research Group, UMIST, active researcher seminar series (1996).
Taught courses
Postgraduate Courses:
MSc International Management with Information Systems