The Student Awards for Outstanding Achievement

Alexandra Pinto (Undergraduate student in the School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine) 

Dr Alexandra Cardoso Pinto has contributed to many societal engagements beyond her clinical studies. She created the Community and Outreach arm of the Paediatrics Society to bring student volunteers closer to the community, collaborating with local schools and charities to achieve this. She designed and delivered several sessions with the Widening Access to Careers in Community Healthcare (WATCCH) programme for pupils from widening participation backgrounds considering a healthcare career.

She volunteers as a tutor and mentor for several student-led groups, and led two volunteering programmes to support children in hospital and local primary schools. Alexandra also led the first audit of the Unity Clinic at St Mary’s Hospital, an infectious disease service for unaccompanied asylum-seeking children. Her patient engagement skills allowed her to highlight clinically relevant audit findings that needed prioritisation. This work led to funding to expand the clinic, integrating mental health assessments and support for children and young people. 

Philip Leung (Postgraduate student in the Department of Surgery and Cancer, Faculty of Medicine)

Philip Leung pioneers multiple widening participation initiatives across Imperial and beyond. He has delivered a series of outreach activities within local schools and developed an after-school and holiday club collaboration between schools that has created a learning hub for science, technology, engineering, arts and medicine (STEAM) subjects. He is a volunteer with United World Colleges (UWC) Great Britain, contributing over 100 hours annually to their scholarship selection process. As an Imperial Outreach STEM Leader, Philip offers small group teaching to underrepresented students, sparking interest in medicine and biology subjects. He also led the E-Scooter Project, which enabled out-of-school young BAME people to develop entrepreneurship and design engineering skills. This is only a snapshot of his outreach activities, which exceed the space available here.

In 2023, Philip was awarded the Departmental Excellence Award in Culture and Engagement for the Most Significant Contribution to Widening Participation and EDI activities. 

Zainab Titus (Postgraduate student in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering)

Beyond her academic achievements, Zainab Titus has been a passionate advocate for widening educational access for disadvantaged groups. In 2020, she initiated a project that brought the first-ever mobile library to children in internally displaced people’s camps in one of the crisis-affected states in Northeastern Nigeria. In 2022, Zainab delivered a two-day remote STEM outreach event for 20 girls in Northeastern Nigeria that introduced participants to the internet and other digital learning tools, programming in python, and the role of geoscience in sustainable development. Following the event, Zainab established a mentoring program for selected STEM Ambassadors, empowering them to further their knowledge and share it within their communities. 
  
Zainab has also shared her experiences with fellow students, inspiring others to undertake similar widening participation projects with the University. Today, she continues to promote digital literacy among disadvantaged groups, partnering with global organizations to expand her impact. 

Emily Wagner (Undergraduate student in the School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine)

Emily Wagner is the Founder of Unite London, the first London-based community of estranged and care-experienced students. The group gives these students a support network they would otherwise lack, improving their wellbeing and academic performance. She is also works with the charities EaCES, Together Estranged, and the Unite Foundation to grow the national community, increase visibility, and share resources for professional and academic support.

At Imperial, Emily has pushed for better support provisions for estranged and care-experienced students, using her in-depth knowledge to highlight the needs of the community and aid in the development of a new specialised support service. Her impact on her fellow students—at Imperial and beyond—makes a substantial difference and is valued enormously by her peers. 

Dana Whigan (Undergraduate student in the School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine)

Over the past two years, Dana Whigan has served as the Student Representative for Imperial’s Horizons British Sign Language (BSL) modules. She has played a pivotal role in the introduction of a new BSL Level 2 module, expanding the opportunities for students to learn BSL at a higher level, and has been instrumental in supporting BSL Level 1 teaching by providing face-to-face practice sessions outside of regular lessons.

She led a groundbreaking takeover of the Imperial Instagram account during Deaf Awareness Week, being the first person to use BSL on the platform and setting a new precedent for inclusivity and visibility of the Deaf community. Dana has also extended her advocacy beyond Imperial by conducting Deaf awareness training for Early Years Education students at City and Islington College. This training has helped future educators understand the importance of inclusivity and effective communication with Deaf individuals. 

Charalampos Charalampous (Undergraduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering)

Charalampos Charalampous is Chair of Imperial Racing Green, which supports undergraduate students to design, make, test and race zero emission vehicles. In late 2023 he volunteered to work with a team of local sixth-form students on the Formula One in Schools competition, an international initiative to encourage pupils to develop a miniature Formula One car.

The school had no previous experience with competition, so Charalampos contributed many hours guiding the design process, giving insight into the competition and developing a F1 in Schools team, building parts of their car and organising visits to Imperial where the students learned how to use the wind tunnel to test and collect data on their designs. The team went on to win the London finals, came third in the national finals and the female contributors were awarded the ‘Girls in STEM’ prize. They were the only state school to reach this level of the competition. 

Evo Tongomo (Undergraduate student in the Department of Earth Science and Engineering, Faculty of Engineering)

Evo Tongomo is a tireless advocate of Imperial’s outreach programmes and has committed hours of time to supporting young people throughout her Imperial career.  Since her first year, she has supported summer schools, tutoring programmes, maths homework clubs and the STEM Potential and STEM Futures programmes.

She has also undertaken countless campus tours, school visits and other student recruitment focused activities. Over the past two years, she has acted as a peer mentor for prospective students of Black heritage, supporting high-potential A-level students with a structured programme of guidance and invaluable insights into applying to and studying at a leading university. Alongside her passion for outreach, Evo is revered for her calm and caring approach that reassures vulnerable young people while also having an ability to make all activities enjoyable and inclusive. 

Naa Ayorkor Harding (Undergraduate student in the Department of Mechanical Engineering)

Naa Ayorkor Harding recently completed a key stage of a project to develop an affordable sanitary pad using banana fibres and other biodegradable materials for use in Rwanda. This will enable women to go to work and continue attending school during their period while promoting menstrual hygiene. Importantly, the solution achieved sustainability as local women can make the product themselves using supply chains in the area. Naa's project was inspired by a summer expedition in Rwanda with Minazi Consulting and Dufatanye Organisation, sponsored by Imperial. Following her trip, she built a multi-disciplinary team of collaborators and led them to develop the pad, which includes a biodegradable waterproof layer. Her work became part of a 20-student initiative into femtech projects within the Department of Mechanical Engineering and has been presented at the Menstrual Tech Forum, organised by the University of Warwick, Imperial College London and King's College London.

Dr De-Shaine Murray (Postgraduate student in the Department of Bioengineering)

Dr De-Shaine Murray's research involved developing a novel probe that can monitor the injured brain. His work was multidisciplinary and he collaborated with researchers from King's College London, the University of Cambridge and Righospitalet in Copenhagen, Denmark. Alongside his research project, De-Shaine led the African Caribbean Research Collective, a peer support community for Black British Caribbean researchers. In recent years, De-Shaine has initiated and expanded a number of networks and organisations that support and increase the visibility of Black students and researchers, including the Imperial Black Doctoral Network and Black in Neuro. In 2020, he led #BlackinNeuroWeek, an online campaign to celebrate Black neuroscientists. This campaign was highly successful, attracting millions of engagements on social media, and featured in publications including Forbes and USA Today. De-Shaine has also been involved in outreach activities such as Pint of Science and was a science ambassador at a high school in London.

Dr Alexander Ainscough (Postgraduate student in the National Heart and Lung Institute)

Dr Alexander Ainscough is an enthusiastic and dedicated scientist who is pioneering the development of cutting-edge organ-on-a-chip technology. At Imperial, Alex showed an outstanding commitment to public engagement. He has represented Imperial and the British Heart Foundation at events including the Great Exhibition Road Festival and the Cheltenham Science Festival. He has participated in, and helped to organise, Pint of Science events, and conducted laboratory tours for Imperial Alumni and British Heart Foundation staff and volunteers.

Alex established the British Heart Foundation Student Training Network, which brings together all PhD students funded by the charity in the UK. Alex is also an active member of the In2scienceUK scheme, which aims to give young people from disadvantaged backgrounds insight into studying and working in STEM. He is an ambassador for the scheme and has previously mentored multiple A-Level students.

Dr Liliana Isabel Casimiro Brito (Postgraduate student in the National Heart and Lung Institute)

Dr Liliana Isabel Casimiro Brito is regarded as an exceptionally kind and hard-working student, who is dedicated to public engagement and outreach. She has been involved in a wide range of engagement activities, including supporting research networks and conferences, as well as organising Pint of Science events.  Liliana works as a volunteer scientist at Native Scientists, a charity that promotes the work of scientists with young people and she has supported fundraising for the British Heart Foundation, acting as Team Leader for the Imperial fundraising team. Liliana is also a member of the executive committee for the Portuguese Association of Researchers and Students in the UK, which has been instrumental in the development of a protocol with the Portuguese government that provides research fellowships to support collaboration between researchers in Portugal and the UK.

Dr Anita Chandran (Postgraduate student in the Department of Physics)

Alongside her MSc and PhD studies, Dr Anita Chandran has built an anthology of short stories about the lives of women in science whose work has gone unrewarded and unrecognised, including Agnes Pockels, a pioneer in surface chemistry, and Dr Elsie Widdowson, one of the creators of the rationing diet used during the Second World War. Her writing has previously been awarded the Centre for Languages, Culture and Communication's Acland Prize for Excellence in the Humanities, and she has presented her work to academic literary conferences, including at a symposium at UCL's Institute of Advanced Study. Anita's writing makes an important contribution to contemporary literature about women and science. Her work has the power to engage a broad audience and transform the perception of female scientists, raising awareness of their legacy and achievements and providing inspirational role models for women in STEM.

Dr Léonie Strömich (Postgraduate student in the Department of Chemistry)

Throughout her studies, Dr Léonie Strömich has been committed to enriching the postgraduate student experience and has played a significant role in shaping the experience of all students based at the White City Campus. In her roles as Postgraduate Social Committee President and Postgraduate Student Representative for the Department of Chemistry, Léonie has gone above and beyond to advocate for her fellow students and support their wellbeing. She collaborated with student representatives from other departments at the White City Campus to build a lively student community and organised events including the Leap Year Ball and weekly yoga classes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Léonie worked hard to create a strong online community where students could connect at virtual events, such as games night and craft activities. Alongside this, Léonie sought to widen participation in science through volunteering at Imperial Lates events and with organisations such as In2scienceUK and the Brilliant Club.