Prof George Panoutsos

" In my recent appointment as Head of Department in Automatic Control and Systems Engineering (ACSE), I informally met, on a one to one basis, most staff within the first two months of my appointment. I’ve asked staff to let me know one highlight in their working life and environment. As majority feedback, were keywords such as collegiality, staff seem to genuinely care for each other, and family-like working environment. 

I’m not new to ACSE, I have been in the department for 20 years now, first as a student (postgraduate taught, PhD) and post-doctoral researcher, as well as academic since 2010. The uniqueness of ACSE originally attracted my attention (only academic department in the UK devoted to the discipline of automatic control and systems engineering), followed by a personal offer letter by the then postgraduate admissions director in the department, Professor Steve Banks. At the time, I had three scholarship-supported study offers by top 5 (by reputation, in Engineering) universities in the UK. The personal message is what swayed my decision. Over the years, I appreciated that this (personal, caring approach) was also a true reflection of the department as a whole, and the university more widely, something that I value and try to maintain too as Head of Department; this is a key reason why I’m still here in Sheffield. 

I’ve also observed over the years the positive impact of our values of collegiality and caring for each other, on other staff members and students too. Evidenced by the numerous staff and students who are happy to stay in Sheffield. Once new colleagues have experienced our working culture and environment they want to stay in Sheffield for ever! "