7 inspirational stories from Imperial's community in 2016

Throughout 2016, a steady stream of inspirational stories flowed out of the Imperial community.

Student and academic achievements and institutional successes brought home once again just how talented and diverse a community the College has.  

Here is a selection of the stories which spread the word in 2016.

Paralympic glory

Paralympian Dave Henson MBE

In September, the Imperial community swelled with pride when bioengineering PhD student and Army Captain Dave Henson MBE won a bronze medal in the T42 200m at the Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Adding further wind to our sails, Dave’s achievement was followed by success for Andrew Mullen – who has been working with Imperial students over the past few years to develop a number of innovative devices to help him in competition. At the Rio games, Andrew won a silver and two bronze medals in the pool.

Read more: Paralympic medal glory for Imperial's Dave Henson

Shining light

Sir Tom Kibble

It was with heavy hearts that we said farewell to Sir Tom Kibble CBE, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Imperial, who died at the age of 83 in the summer. One of the most revered members of the College’s academic community, Sir Tom made profound contributions to the field of theoretical physics in a long and illustrious career.

Read more: Sad farewell to physicist who transformed our understanding of the universe

Women in science

The college’s continuing support for women in science was further exemplified in October when Imperial renewed its Athena SWAN silver status. The institution-wide award, originally granted in April 2012, recognises Imperial’s successful development of employment practices that further and support the careers of women in science, technology, engineering, maths and medicine.

Read more: Imperial recognised for continuing support for women in science

Pitch perfect 

All male a capella group, Techtonics, stepped on to the world stage in May when they became the first non-US group to win a prestigious prize for university a cappella groups. The Imperial students stormed to pole position at the International Championship of Collegiate A Cappella (ICCA) finals in New York City with their medley of Queen’s ‘Bicycle Race’, Sam Smith’s ‘Lay Me Down’ and the Beatles’ ‘I Saw Her Standing There’. 

Read more: Pitch perfect Techtonics crowned world a cappella champions

Vatican victory

Imperial graduate Malav Sanghavi meets the Pope

In November, recent Imperial graduate Malav Sanghavi won an international competition at the Vatican. The MSc Innovation Design Engineering graduate was congratulated by the Pope at the Vatican Youth Symposium for developing a neonatal incubator made from cardboard – a creation he designed while at Imperial. 

Called LifeCradle, the incubator is 90% cheaper to produce than current models and provides the basic functions necessary for child’s survival in their first days of life – including warmth, humidity, monitoring of vital signs, and phototherapy for babies born with jaundice.

Read more: Vatican rewards Imperial graduate for life-saving innovation

Global outlook

The year got off to a very good start for the Imperial community. No sooner had 2016 begun, than the College was named the UK’s most international university in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.

Six months later, following the EU referendum result which saw the British people vote to leave the European Union, Imperial’s President and Provost spoke out of the College’s ongoing commitment to its European and global links.

They said: "Imperial is, and will remain, a European university, whatever your view of the referendum outcome. We are very proud of the innovations, ideas and inspiration that come from the European members of Imperial's global community. 

Read more: Imperial named as the UK's most international university

Feather power

Innovative students Elena Dieckmann and Ryan Robinson

Innovative students hit the headlines in November for pioneering new uses for waste feathers. The multidisciplinary team of students - Elena Dieckmann (Department of Design Engineering) and Ryan Robinson (National Heart and Lung Institute) – have created Aeropowder, a low carbon home insulation made from using waste feathers from the poultry industry.

Their invention won £20,000 of funding at this year's Mayor's Low Carbon Entrepreneur Competition.

Read more: Imperial students named Mayor of London's Low Carbon Entrepreneurs 2016

Imperial student start-up finds new use for waste feathers

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