2012 prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Life of the CDT announced

Valerie Vaissier (cohort 2) and Marc Coury (cohort 3) have been awarded the 2012 prize for Outstanding Contribution to the Life of the CDT

Dr Tricia Hunt, the cohort mentor for cohort 2, writes about Valerie Vaissier:

“Valerie has been a strong and unique voice in promoting the CDT and the theory and simulation of materials through outreach. She has helped out at numerous events, including ‘science busking’ at the Imperial Fringe, Hermes 2012, and a recent teacher-training event in the Imperial College Reach Out Lab. Slightly further afield, she joined a group of students demonstrating solar energy at the British Science Festival in Aberdeen in September 2012, an activity that was organised by a group of researchers based at Edinburgh University who developed a touring demonstration called ‘Solar Spark’ as part of the EPSRC Supergen programme. Her energy and enthusiasm are further demonstrated by the fact that she is currently planning a very ambitious and wide reaching multi-disciplinary outreach activity with the Natural History Museum.”

“Closer to home, Valerie has also been an outstanding contributor to the life of the CDT by regularly helping with exam invigilation, projects, labs and problem set marking, and is actively involved in the cohort buddy scheme, the CDT Ambassador scheme, and in helping to create new promotional materials for the CDT. What is even more impressive is that she manages all of this at the same time as maintaining an active role in her research group and presenting her research at a number of conferences and workshops.”

“In summary, Valerie has made a strong and sustained contribution to the life and dynamic of the CDT and thoroughly deserves this award.”

Dr Daniele Dini, cohort mentor for cohort 3, writes about Marc Coury:

“One of the two prizes for Outstanding Contribution to the Life of the CDT has been awarded to Marc Coury for his commendable dedication to the CDT and his cohort.  Since he joined cohort 3 in October 2011, Marc seemed to be born to be the ideal TSM CDT student and to have married the philosophy of the ESPRC funded initiative. Always prepared to engage with the (many) CDT initiatives, elected student representative of his cohort, and capable of interacting with both his peers and senior members of staff very effectively, he demonstrated in many occasion to be ready to go the extra mile that the TSM CDT experience provides for members who are passionate about its credo.  In the first few months of his MSc year, Marc acted as glue for his cohort, not only by representing them at Operation Board meetings, when he always acted for the interests of the group, but also by trying to coordinate activities and promoting inter- and intra- group initiatives.  His contributions range from coordinating the weekly meetings with the cohort mentor, to organising meetings with other cohorts, from being an active attendee and promoter of TYC events, HERMES and other CDT students-led events, to helping to finalise the plans for the trip to San Francisco in April 2012 (the trip was arranged for cohort 3 to visit the Molecular Foundry at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and to attend the Spring Meeting of the Materials Research Society).  He also recently organised a Masterclass with Martyn Sene, Interim Managing Director of the National Physical Laboratory.”

“Marc has thrived during his first year in the TSM CDT and his contribution to the CDT has been exceptional.  We are also very confident that he will play a fundamental role in the future life of the CDT.  Marc is a very worthy recipient of this award and we congratulate him for it.”