What’s your job title and how long have you been at Loughborough?

I’m a Technical Tutor in Textiles and a Hall Warden. I’ve been working at Loughborough since April 2009.

Tell us what a typical day in your job looks like?

First thing in the morning (whilst drinking a large coffee), I check our incident logs/emails so I’m up to date with anything that needs doing urgently in our hall. Following that, there’s not really a ‘typical’ day in the Stitch and Digital Embroidery workshop. Depending on the time of year, I’ll have practical workshop or lab-based teaching for all levels of students from a number of different programs. If I’m not teaching, then I’ll have ‘scheduled workshop access’, meaning that any student who has had an induction can come and work in the space or ask for assistance with their project.

Recently, I’ve been asked how to seal seams on an inflatable blimp, to help optimise digital embroidery files for output, to demonstrate how to make ‘applied fabric yoyos’, to make a pattern for a custom kimono-style pyjama top, and to help design a waist support to hold a medical device, to name a few. In the evenings, I might have meetings with my team of PhD student subwardens, my hall committee, hall events, meetings with students or hall admin, but this isn’t every day.

What’s your favourite project you’ve worked on?

I’ve loved working with Tim Head, a conceptual artist who came to me via Prof. Phillip Lindley with a problem to solve using digital embroidery. He’d been told by a commercial partner that his desired output was not possible due to the size and detail specifications. I thought, “Perfect, challenge accepted!” The work has since appeared in exhibitions and periodicals and is due to appear at an exhibition of collaborative work here at Loughborough in the not-too-distant future.

What is your proudest moment at Loughborough?

Honestly, watching students overcome all manner of issues from their work outputs to life in general, knowing that I’ve contributed in any way, makes me happy. I enjoy watching them grow further after Loughborough. In 2024, my team were awarded ‘Warden Team of the Year’ for our efforts in supporting students in the hall. For that recognition to come from our students makes me proud.

Which University value do you most resonate with and why?

It may sound clichéd, working in the School of Design and Creative Arts, but I would have to say ‘Creative’ because it works two-fold. We do work imaginatively and innovatively in our School. We also find solutions, and we are smart in the way that we apply our resources and capitalise on our strengths. This is not only in our work but also in life, and how we encourage our students to overcome day-to-day issues.

Tell us something you do outside of work that we might not know about?

I’m mum to a 13-year-old human, 20 chickens, two cats and an axolotl! One of my hobbies is paddleboarding, which I used to coach but is now just a chilled-out way for me and my daughter to get away from everything and spend time together.

What is your favourite quote?

“It’s no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then.” – Alice, in Lewis Carroll’s ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’.

If you would like to feature in ‘Five Minutes With’, or you work with someone who you think would be great to include, please email Martha Causier at m.causier@lboro.ac.uk.