As President of the Union I get involved in and get to see a huge amount of the incredibly positive work that students of the University are undertaking during their time here.  It is hugely rewarding to see how students of the University take the skills and knowledge they gain through studying and apply them in the ‘real world’ to make a difference to student life and the wider community.

Getting a degree, believe it or not, is only a small part of University life.  The bigger picture is what you can achieve with everything you learn while you are here and how the experience of being at University shapes your life.  I am extremely proud every time I see or hear about RGU students going beyond University life to help make a difference and  I can think of no better example of this than the Tesseract Society.  Tesseract began with a group of Architecture students who decided to put the skills they had learned to use for humanitarian causes.  They have grown massively in a relatively short time, and based on their work and experiences I decided to nominate them for the NUS Society of the Year Award, which looks at Societies from every University in the UK.

Having spoken to the Society, and felt incredibly humbled by the work they have done, I had no hesitation in promoting them but I felt it was also important to allow all RGU students to read about who they are and what they do:

1. What successes have the Society had since July 2010

Tesseract engages students in humanitarian design issues through creative projects. Starting with 6 students in July 2010, they have grown to involve hundreds of students in Robert Gordon University and worldwide.

ANUSARAN PROJECT

- In August 2010, 6 architecture students travelled to Delhi to work with a local charity who had a vision for a school and community centre in an impoverished area, and they designed the entire project for them.

- Construction is underway and they have taken responsibility to fundraise £65 000 to complete it.

- Through many fundraising efforts this year they have raised £12 000, and they recently prepared and sent 100 fundraising packs with DVDs to organisations in the UK.

COMPETITIONS

- November 2010 they launched their competition website, inviting students worldwide to respond to topical humanitarian issues, and it is now visited over 10 000 times/month. This raises money, empathy and awareness amongst students worldwide.

- There is discussion on the entries online, and they have featured in their exhibitions.

- They are working to explore how some of the ideas generated could be prototyped and developed further.

FACING THE FLOODS

- For their “facing the floods” competition students responded architecturally to worldwide flooding disasters. They were contacted by Queensland University of Technology, and subsequently they ran a separate design competition for 160 Australian students who had experienced flooding.

- They gained press attention, and featured the best work in two exhibitions.

EXHIBITIONS

- They held 4 public exhibitions in Aberdeen, sold over 200 art prints, and involved local student bands in the opening events. Their recent exhibition was in a large shop unit in Aberdeen’s centre, and included two public events- a large opening night with live music, and a Bollywood night with a dance workshop!

BUILD OUR NATION

- “Build Our Nation” is a series of workshops to design a women’s community centre in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They organised a student led design workshop at RGU, and the plans grew to involve universities in Milan, Barcelona and Reus. The event was linked live between the universities via Skype, with over 200 students taking part, and included several presentations and lectures by students. The day was documented by the students on a blog, which acted as a live design tool for everyone involved.

- They are preparing for the next stage in Milan at the end of May, which 30 students from the 4 universities and a prestigious documentary film-maker will attend.

PRESS & AWARDS

- They have caught the attention of BBC world, The Hindu Newspaper, ArchDaily, World Architecture News, RIAS Magazine, Disajn Magazine, local press, and scores of design and architecture blogs.

- They won New Society of the Year at RGU, and three members won prizes including Society Person of the Year.

2. What is the level of Student Participation?

- 6 Architecture students travelled to India to design a school for Anusaran. 100 students at the opening night of their first exhibition.

- 160 students from Queensland participated in their “facing the floods” competition

- 290 international student entries to their competitions (from Mexico to Japan!)

- 200 students from Aberdeen, Barcelona, Milan and Reus participating in “build our nation”

- 30 students travelling to Milan in May for the next stage of “build our nation”.

- 10 000+ website visits every month

- 3 lectures around Scotland

- They are contacted by students around the world who are excited by what they are doing and want to get involved (they have even received CVs!).

- Currently they are exploring putting small teams together who can start projects worldwide.

3. How have they made the most of their resources to meet their objectives and make an impact?

- Their most powerful tool is the blogs and websites they have created- a huge community of interested students around the world visit them daily.

- Their website has regular features from many students with their thoughts on humanitarian issues.

- They have funded their own projects, and used a very small budget to engage a huge number of people and raise over £12 000. They have fostered many contacts worldwide, and they have had the constant support of the Union, the University press team and fellow students.

4. How have they contributed to the student experience in a positive way?

- Their exhibitions and projects have given richness to student culture in Aberdeen, with vibrant input into the Aberdeen art scene.

- “Build our nation” has enabled students to form strong ties between the years as they work together, and communicate with students around Europe.

- Their projects have enabled students to travel to Delhi, and soon Milan. They are working with dozens of students to find opportunities for further projects abroad.

- They have shown students what being proactive can achieve, and I’m sure there will be many more exciting projects starting in the future.

5. What activities that have been of benefit to students or the wider community have they undertaken this year?

- Competitions allow students to compete on a world stage and gain international exposure, along with cash prizes.

- Their exhibitions have given students the opportunity to display their work to a wide audience.

- Their blogs have allowed students to discuss and communicate ideas and thoughts from around the world, and students have written pieces which has given them exposure.

- Students are connected between the years, Universities and countries through workshops, blogs, Skype conferences and competitions.

- “Facing the floods” gave Australian students a voice to their own experience, and connected students here with the natural disaster.

- Exhibitions engaged with the public in Aberdeen, giving an exciting new face to architecture and showing what students are capable of.

- The Anusaran project will provide a school building for 200 impoverished children, community facilities for 50 women, and accommodation for 25 women. The impact on the community is potentially tremendous, and the exposure they have given Anusaran has helped support their work.

- “Build our nation” will culminate in a team of students building a community centre in the DRC, which will have enormous impact on that community

View a short video documenting their recent work here
For more information about Tesseract go to tesseract.org.uk