The European Studies graduate has had a very close relationship with the Olympics, having been involved in communicating the most famous sporting event in the world for over 24 years.

Caroline has played a part in every Commonwealth Games since 1986, every Olympic Games since 1988 and every Paralympic Games since 1992; that is not to mention three Olympic Winter Games as well.

The Bath Alumni played her first part in an international sporting event in the 1986 Commonwealth Games where she volunteered as a press officer for Team GB as part of a secondment from her work with Badminton England.

During London 2012 Caroline was press officer for the GB Olympic Rowing Team and is now chief press officer for the ParalympicsGB squad.

After graduating from Bath in 1980, Caroline started work in a bank as a graduate management trainee before leaving the security of a stable job to begin life as a freelance sports journalist and translator.

In 1992 she founded the successful Bath-based sports public relations company Matchtight.  She explained what she loved so much about her job: “You have to be focussed and unsentimental when working with performance sport but that doesn’t mean to say you can’t enjoy it! Every day I wake up and feel how lucky I am to have been involved for nearly three decades in something that is so exciting.”

Caroline returned to the University in 1996 when Matchtight took over responsibility for sports management and publicity at the University.

She said: “I’m proud not only of our involvement on campus in PR and marketing terms but also in developing the bid for lottery funding we received for the Sports Training Village and the bob-skeleton push-start track.

“It’s such a bonus for sport at all levels whether you are just starting out or aiming to win gold at the Olympics or Parlaympics. I wish it had been here when I was a student! It gives the University a unique calling-card.”

Reflecting on her lengthy time served in the sports industry, Caroline looked back to when competitive sport was taken very differently.

“I remember a time when sport in this country was under-funded and under-valued. Athletes worked full or part-time and then trained after work. They represented their country but often came back from the Games with a five-figure debt. Now, the lottery has made a significant difference and we are clearly reaping the rewards.

“The Games have already been a resounding success. Lord Coe has led an extremely talented but also resourceful and organised team,” said Caroline.

“We are having one of the busiest summers we’ve ever known at the University. Twelve national teams have used our training facilities including the sports power-houses of Russia and China and now we are hosting the ParalympicGB athletes from ten sports who are preparing here for the Paralympic Games.”

Etherlive has been appointed by the Greater London Authority to provide a ground-breaking communications solution to the London Media Centre, London Ambassador Pods and also to several outside broadcast locations.

Etherlive specialise in providing temporary technology for major events.

Chris graduated from Bath with a BEng in Electronic & Communication Engineering in 1990 and started his award-winning company Etherlive in December 2007.

While at Bath, Chris had an active role in student life that helped prepare him for the world of business. His involvement in the Students’ Union and various voluntary roles gave him solid experiences which have helped him achieve success.

Chris said: “During my time at Bath I was involved with events through the Students’ Union and RAG, and was President of the Students’ Union from 1990 – 1991. That role provided a lot of relevant experience ahead of starting my company.”

The company will be responsible for the connectivity of journalists from around the world during both the Olympics and the Paralympics, utilising the services of Easynet to provide a state of the art infrastructure that will enable high-speed internet, IPTV and VoIP telephony to hundreds of workstations and edit suites catering for thousands of journalists.

The London Media Centre’s communications are certainly in very good hands – Etherlive was named as the event industry’s Best Communications Company at the 2012 Event Production Awards in February, and presented with a trophy at a glittering ceremony held at the Park Lane Hilton hotel, attended by over 500 of the event industry’s leading lights figures.

Chris added: “During the games, we will be responsible for transmitting hundreds of thousands of hours of video content, voice calls, CCTV and inter/intranet connections.”

Rachel spent her placement year at Event360, a sports event management company, an experience which she believes helped her to secure her Olympic role, together with management experience from her involvement in numerous student committees and events teams.

“The first medal ceremony of the Olympic Games will be in the shooting finals hall after the Women’s 10m Air Rifle,” she said. “It will be an amazing start to the Olympics and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”

Rachel, 22, graduated this year from our newly-named BA Sport & Social Sciences programme and has been working as Shooting Field of Play Group leader since April. She is managing Games Maker volunteers within the four shooting ranges at the Olympic and Paralympic Shooting venue.

“In April we hosted the ISSF Shooting World Cup which was part of the London Prepares Series and with over 800 athletes and continuous rain, it was certainly a good test for us prior to the Games.

“We’re now busy preparing for July and I can’t wait to see all of our Games Makers again and for the athletes to arrive. We had a great team at our test event and the Games Makers really do make the Games. It wouldn’t be the same without everyone’s hard work and enthusiasm!”

Rachel finished her studies at Bath early to enable her to take up the London 2012 role. “Although I missed a lot of final year celebrations, I certainly wasn’t going to turn down such a great opportunity at London 2012 and I am one hundred per cent sure that I made the right decision.”

“I worked incredibly hard to be able to leave Bath at the end of March and my lecturers were really supportive in helping me to do this.”

— Rachel Spry, Sports & Social Sciences graduate

“This is a once in a lifetime opportunity and as I’m just stepping onto the career ladder it’s the perfect time for me to gain valuable experience and develop my career.”

“As the Games get closer everyone is busy working hard to ensure we produce a great event. We’re all looking forward to the first day of competition and, of course, really excited!”

Bath engineering graduate Catherine Stambouzou will be one of 10,000 dancers that will help to create a spectacular show, expected to be watched by one billion people around the globe.

Catherine took up dance as a student at Bath and was a member of the Students’ Union’s Bodysoc dance group. She mainly dances hip hop and other modern styles but tried different forms of dance through Bodysoc and describes the society’s annual performance as “the best week of University.”

Now she’s in rehearsals for one of the biggest shows on Earth, under the creative direction of Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle, best known for his box office hits including Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours.

He has paid tribute to the thousands of volunteers, cast and crew who are rehearsing night and day to make the Opening Ceremony a success.

Catherine spotted an advert for the auditions while she was in London for a job interview.

“It’s such a fantastic opportunity for non-professional dancers to be involved in the Olympics and to be part of such a high profile event,” she said. “We’re rehearsing in small groups and then as the Games get closer the rehearsals really step up. It’s a big commitment.  Obviously the organisers want the Ceremony to be a huge surprise for the world, so we know very little yet.”

Catherine’s talents stretch beyond the dance floor. She works as an implant engineer at Stanmore Implants based in Elstree where she is working on a project to develop a novel method for attaching prosthetic limbs directly to the skeleton, without the use of a socket. It’s an idea which stands to have many benefits for the amputee.

It was the ‘human’ element of medical engineering that appealed to Catherine, and she enjoys the fact that she is working in an up and coming field with regular medical and technological breakthroughs.

“My job leaves me with little time for regular dance classes and that’s why I’m so grateful for the Olympic opportunity because it means that as well as being part of the Games I’ll be dancing on a weekly basis!

“I’m so excited about the Ceremony. I’ve lived in lots of different countries around the world and actually being part of the Games has made me feel much more patriotic.”

Jonathan Watts, a BSc in General Architectural Studies and MArch graduate, and George Oates who graduated with a MEng in Civil & Architectural Engineering worked together on the roof of the building.

Jonathan became involved in its construction when he joined architecture practice Hopkins after completing his Masters at Bath. “As a keen cyclist I jumped at the opportunity to work on the Velodrome,” he said. “I thought the project had a huge amount of potential and offered me the challenge and scale of development I was looking for.”

Jonathan worked on the upper bowl and roof of the arena over the three and a half years, in collaboration with senior engineer George.

“This was a hugely complex building and every day produced issues and challenges to be solved,” said Jonathan. “I think the key theme with the Velodrome has to be collaboration. All the consultants, client and contractors worked extremely closely together, bound by the shared goal of the Olympics; it was a really motivating driver.

“George and I had an excellent working relationship designing the roof, which really allowed us to be more efficient and innovative. I think we both felt this was something which had been engendered at the University of Bath and really benefited the project.”

Jonathan said he feels extremely privileged to have been involved in the Olympics, especially in a sport which he is so passionate about.

The £105 million Velodrome cycling arena holds pride of place in the London 2012 Olympic park and is part of a major transformation that has turned a once discarded corner of London into an ultra-modern sports complex that will benefit generations to come.

Situated next to the Olympic and Paralympic Village to the west of the main stadium, the 6,000 seat Velodrome will host Track and Paralympic Track cycling and account for 28 of the Games’ events. Construction began in 2008 and was completed in February 2011.

After the Games a new mountain bike course and road-cycle circuit will be added to create a VeloPark for the local community, sports clubs and elite athletes.

As well as this behind-the-scenes involvement, David has also helped to lay the foundations for re-defining home-grown talent.

David was the driving force behind the creation of the National Lottery Sports Fund which resulted in millions of pounds of investment in sport from grass-roots through to elite performance.

As its director from 1994 to 2003, David led a strategy which was to transform sport, ultimately seeing Britain leap from mediocrity to fourth in the Olympic medals table and second in the Paralympic table.

He led investment in regional facilities, the creation of world class performance programmes for elite athletes, and the establishment of the English Institute of Sport to develop technical expertise.

He modestly says: “Athletes win medals not bureaucrats like me, but the right environment has to be created.”

The University was one of the regional centres that seized on the new opportunities created by David’s Sports Fund strategy, with a £30 million project to develop our Sports Training Village.

“It’s been a base for high level performers for the past 15 years and that is a fantastic contribution to Britain’s sporting success.”

David discovered and developed his passion for sport during his student days in the 1970s. He was the first sabbatical Athletic Union President and worked on developments that included the first sports hall, swimming pool, and sports pavilion. He was also very involved in the organisation of British Student Sport.

David believes that Britain will host a very good Games. “The way the East London site has developed is quite remarkable,” he said. “They have done an absolutely remarkable job which has almost been taken for granted.

“The legacy of holding the Games will be a huge feel good factor. There will obviously be the built legacy that comes from having staged the Games, but people will be able to look back on hosting the Olympics as a real highlight.

“It’s interesting that when you ask people why they are volunteering they say ‘this will be a highlight of my life. When the Games were awarded I felt I had to be involved.’ And I would say the same.”

Nina will start in July, in the final few weeks run up to the opening ceremony. She will be based in the Main Press Centre, the heart of Olympic communications, for the duration of the Games.

“I’m hugely lucky to have been offered this opportunity,” she said, “and I’m very excited to get started in what I’m sure will be some of the most incredible weeks of my life!”

Nina’s involvement with London 2012 began last year, when she worked for her placement year at both the BOA (British Olympic Association) and the LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games).

“My placement year was hugely influential in helping to secure my Games time role with Team GB. Having completed a successful placement there I gained some all-important experience and was lucky enough to be offered the role when I complete my final year of study.

“I learnt a huge amount as a result of working in both organisations and thoroughly enjoyed my time. At the BOA I worked in the events and communications teams and was involved with the British Olympic Ball, a black tie event for Olympic stars past and present. At LOCOG I worked in the commercial department, for the licensing & retail team, and the ticketing team.”

Nina’s tutor, and Director of the Sport, Culture & Physical Activity group in the Department of Education, Dr Michael Silk, said: “We are extremely proud that Nina has secured this role—and it is well deserved. She has worked hard during her programme and serves as a great ambassador for the Department, Faculty and the University of Bath.

“She is one of a number of students from our programme who will be working or volunteering at London 2012, in roles ranging from event co-ordination to marketing to operations at the main Games hub in Canary Wharf. It’s fantastic to see the content of the programme—as well as the research that we conduct on the Olympics—being put into practice by Nina and so many of our students.”

Looking back at her time Nina said: “I have hugely enjoyed my time at the University of Bath and will be sad to leave after four great years. The course has exceeded my expectations and has helped to guide my career pathway whilst also giving me the confidence to enter the world of work!

“This summer is going to be unforgettable and I’m thrilled to be part of it.”

Sir Keith was CEO and International President of London 2012 and central to the success of bringing the Olympic Games to London.

He has enjoyed a highly successful career as an entrepreneur and pioneer of the loyalty industry, including founding the Air Miles scheme which he launched in partnership with British Airways in 1988 and rolled out around the world. He then created the Nectar Card which he sold in 2007 for £375m.

Sir Keith left school at the age of 15 with no qualifications. He started his working life as a Copy Assistant with The Economist and rapidly moved into marketing and advertising with The Financial Times and then The Investors’ Chronicle. At the age of just 31 he led a management buy-out of the London office of an American advertising company.

Speaking about his honorary degree, Sir Keith said: “As someone with little formal education it is a great honour to receive a degree from such a prestigious university as Bath.”

At the ceremony Sir Keith will address the graduates and offer them advice as they embark on their careers. He said: “My message to graduates will be to always follow your dreams, to be tenacious and remember nobody succeeds without a lot of hard work.

“Even in rough economic times the more effort you put into life the more you will get out.”

Speaking about the Olympics and the contribution of universities to their success, he said: “I hope the Olympics next year will give the whole country the boost it needs, lifting the spirit of the nation and inspiring the next generation.

“Universities have been critical to the success of London 2012.  Most of them have produced our Olympic stars and many will host visiting National Olympic teams in pre-Games training camps next year.”

Bath’s sports facilities are home to many aspiring Olympic athletes, including 400m hurdles World Champion, Dai Greene. The University is hosting Paralympics GB’s preparation camps in the lead-up to 2012 and Malaysian Olympic athletes will train at Bath across a range of sports. Further nations are also expected to choose Bath as their training base ahead of the Games.

In his oration, Stephen Baddeley, Director of Sport at the University, will speak about Sir Keith’s role in bringing the Olympics to London and his ready acknowledgement of the contribution of others, saying: “Sir Keith is described as a strong strategic thinker who is able to connect dots and thereby create new insights. Like all successful people, he is a determined and driven individual, good at focusing on important issues and relentless in his pursuit of success.

“Perhaps one of his greatest testaments, in an era in which it is trendy to view aggressive and ruthless behaviour as the acceptable, if not required, approach of successful business leaders, it is the comment from a close colleague that ‘no-one has a bad word about him’ and that ‘he makes those around him feel special’.”

Sir Keith is a non-Executive Director of Tottenham Hotspur FC and owns two yacht racing teams. In 1999 he was part of the crew that won the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Following the successful Olympic bid, he was knighted in 2006 in recognition of his services to sport.

Sir Keith will receive an honorary degree of Doctor of Laws on Wednesday 14 December at 3pm. He is one of five honorary graduates who will receive degrees at the ceremonies including award-winning novelist Philip Pullman CBE, and human rights lawyer and campaigner Clive Stafford Smith OBE.

Over 1,000 students will graduate from the Faculty of Engineering & Design, Division for Lifelong Learning, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences and School of Management.