Around 50 alumni and their guests gathered in Los Angeles on Sunday 26 October to network and hear the latest news from Imperial.

Professor David Gann, Vice President (Development and Innovation) delivered a presentation which highlighted key College developments. This included the welcome news that Imperial's new President Professor Alice Gast, who was once an undergraduate at the nearby University of Southern California, had commenced her leadership of the College at the beginning of August.

Alumni were also updated on the groundbreaking at Imperial West and the launch of the Althea-Imperial programme.

Following the efforts of local alumnus Richard Chamberlain (Mechanical Engineering 1980), alumni were encouraged to step forward to assist with the formation of an association in the area. Alumni interested in joining the Los Angeles group can sign up here.

Imperial knowledge

Following the presentation, teams of six tested their impressive knowledge of the College with a pub quiz that capitalised on the competitive spirit in the room. See how you fare here.

The multichoice quiz included a question on the height of the Queen’s Tower. As the answers were given the group burst into laughter when a heckler, who had guessed incorrectly, called across the room, “It wasn’t that tall when I was there!”

A question on the sister publication of Imperial’s student newspaper Felix prompted another surprising revelation - an alumnus present had written an article in 1951 which explained how to transmit television signals using a cat’s whisker.

The conversations continued over drinks and dinner, with alumni from across the Los Angeles area enjoying the chance to meet fellow Imperial students, and to extend their professional and social networks.

Professor David Gann said, “It was exciting to have so many alumni gather in Los Angeles for an excellent evening exchanging ideas about Imperial's future, of fun and reminiscing. We look forward to seeing a new association take shape to help guide the growth of Imperial’s collaborations and the growth of it's reputation in the USA.”

See a slideshow of images below, or see tag yourself in the images on Facebook