Imperial: a productive environment for innovation, impact and entrepreneurship
Less than a year into my tenure as President, I continue to be amazed by the innovation, entrepreneurship and impact our community creates every day. Our staff, students and alumni are making the world healthier, smarter, safer, more prosperous and more sustainable.
This edition of Imperial Magazine is packed with examples of this in action. From answering fundamental questions about why matter exists to feeding the world’s ever-growing population, these stories show how Imperial’s community remains a world-changing global powerhouse that makes a real difference to society.
It is testament to our innovative environment that so many global success stories have started with study at Imperial. In these pages, you can read about Notpla’s winning formula to drive down plastic pollution, as well as three inspiring stories of graduates who have turned their research into commercial success.
Our work continues to attract the world’s biggest names to partner with us"
How we protect and enhance our work in the decades ahead is a key focus this year and we will be launching a new Imperial strategy in October. Thank you to everyone who shared their views during our initial phase of consultation. We will keep you updated as this develops and look forward to sharing more details with you in future editions.
As ever, our alumni are a core part of these discussions. I was honoured to be part of our biggest-ever graduation ceremony in May. Over 4,700 graduands and 8,500 guests took part in our Postgraduate ceremony, filling the Royal Albert Hall three times over. It was tremendous to see so many members of our community celebrate their achievements. It certainly made for quite a buzz on campus!
I have also enjoyed seeing our work making an impact on the global stage. My recent visit to the United States was a fantastic opportunity to meet our brilliant alumni as well as a range of innovative Imperial startups. And over in French Guyana, Imperial-led technology was at the forefront of a huge milestone in space exploration at the launch of the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer. The successful launch, watched by audiences around the world, carried Imperial kit on a mission to Jupiter’s moons. Like me, I know all of you will be following its journey over the years ahead.
Another source of great pride – and global success – is our partnerships at home and abroad. The collaboration with Cornell University, that I announced during my visit to the United States, will use AI to accelerate scientific discovery and future technologies – a truly exciting opportunity to share our expertise. And in May, we launched a major partnership with Japanese counterparts in Tokyo. Both are great examples of Imperial working with others to have an impact on the big issues of today. It is this collaboration that continues to attract the world’s most influential names to partner with us and learn about our work – names like Bill Gates, Rishi Sunak, Lewis Hamilton and the President of Estonia, who have all visited us in the past few months.
I hope you find this edition stimulating and thought-provoking, and I look forward to seeing or hearing from you in the months ahead.
Professor Hugh Brady is President of Imperial College London.