Alumni Talk

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Andrew Gray

Yesterday I met with and delivered a talk for a group of Manchester University Alumni members in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley. The talk had been arranged through the Manchester University Alumni Office and the North American Alumni Coordinator, Rahana Gunawardena (Left).

It was a pleasure for me to represent the University and it certainly provided me with an opportunity to present my nature conservation-orientated talk to a new audience.

I was kindly collected from downtown San Francisco by Shirish Hardikar, and during the drive talk turned to the money associated with Silicon Valley living. I heard of the entrepreneurial successes of start-up companies, from the the early days of “Bill & Dave’s” garage in Palo Alto, where in 1938 they developed the audio oscillator which launched the company that still bears their names – Hewlett Packard. This strong American ideology of personal graft culminating in capital gain, upon which the Silicon Valley is founded, seems to be integrated into the culture of this area. The venue for my talk was by Apple corporate world headquarters.

Tomorrow I visit The Californian Academy of Sciences, a world-class scientific and cultural institution based in San Francisco. The Academy has opened a new facility in Golden Gate Park, a 400,000 square foot structure that houses an aquarium, a planetarium, a natural history museum, and a 4-story rainforest all under one roof! 🙂

University of Manchester Your Manchester Manchester Alumni

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