CASES Technical Special Interest Group (TSIG) launches with landmark event

The official launch of the CASES Technical Special Interest Group (TSIG) took place on Thursday 4 September, hosted at Nottingham Trent University. Technical staff from all over the UK and Ireland gathered to be part of the landmark event.

The TSIG was created in November 2024 by co-chairs Amelia Dingley MCASES (Technical Manager at Brunel University of London) and Ash Osbourne (Technician at Lancaster University) to empower technicians and strengthen their role within CASES and the broader sport and exercise sciences community.

Other current TSIG advisory members include Neil Guthrie (Edinburgh Napier University), Hannah Divall (Nottingham Trent University), Bill Norton (University of Brighton), Romain Denis MCASES (Dublin City University), Finlay Wright (Heriot Watt University), Robert Hunter (University of Durham), Ryan Stewart (University College Dublin) and David Green (UK Sport Institute).

The day itself was full of fun, networking, thought-provoking discussions and inspiring panel talks and keynotes. To start with, technicians came together in our ‘Battle of the Techs’ event to see who could build the longest bridge and accrue the greatest distance with a remote-controlled car.

There was some ‘thinking outside of the box’ on show, which embodies the brilliance of technical staff to adapt and find solutions to complex challenges, and we congratulate the winners ‘Grey Bull Racing’ on their victory but there were some superb bridges on show which can be seen below.

Next up, hosted by Neil Guthrie, the panel talk included Sarah Allen from the UK Institute for Technical Skills and Strategy (ITSS), Andrew Morley from Cranlea and Jeni Larwood from the Science Council providing career development insight and advice for technical staff, highlighting various pathways for progression and the options available to technicians.

The afternoon started with a roundtable discussion with technicians from different institutions and organisations coming together to share ideas and thoughts. The discussion explored the next steps for the TSIG to continue to work with others in promoting visibility, recognition, sustainability and career development in alignment with the four pillars of the Technician Commitment.

Great ideas were generated, and this is currently being synthesised by the TSIG advisory board to summarise and feedback to the technical network and to ensure all thoughts, themes and priorities were captured.

The final event of the day was keynote speaker, Dr Kelly Vere MBE, Director of UKITSS and the Technician Commitment, University Director of Technical Strategy; University of Nottingham. Dr Vere provided an inspirational talk on her own journey as a technician, to the current work being undertaken by the ITSS and Technician Commitment, which left everyone in the room feeling motivated, inspired and above all, valued for the brilliant contributions that technical staff provide to their field.

Overall, the day was a vast success, a significant landmark and enabled technicians from across the UK to connect, share stories, exchange ideas and create collaborations that can generate growth and opportunities to help drive positive change and create long-lasting impact.

CASES TSIG would like to offer its enormous thanks to the sponsors and suppliers for providing the funding and support for technical staff to attend the event and contribute to the activities on the day, which was great for staff and suppliers to connect and learn about new technologies and potential opportunities for collaboration.

Lastly, thanks are extended to organising committee led by Amelia Dingley, Hannah Divall, Neil Guthrie, Finlay Wright and Bill Norton for making the event happen. We are already excited for the next event and will update in due course.

If you are interested in hearing more from the Technical Special Interest Group, please select the Technical SIG in your account section on the CASES Member Area of the website for technical themed emails and events directly to your inbox.

Watch the video from the day: