Engineering excellence and startup success: News from the College

Here’s a batch of fresh news and announcements from across Imperial.

From a prestigious honour for an undergraduate engineer, to a new survey exploring staff and student startup success, here is some quick-read news from across the College.

Engineering excellence

Imperial Materials Science and Engineering student Abigael Bamgboye has been named the Target Jobs Female Undergraduate of the Year 2018. Following a rigorous process, including an assessment centre at Rolls-Royce – the competition’s sponsor – Abigael was awarded the prize at a ceremony hosted by TV presenter Rachel Riley.

As part of her prize, Abigael is undertaking a summer internship at Rolls-Royce, including a two week placement at their Control Systems business in the United States.

The award honours outstanding female students with a winning mix of personal skills, career motivation and an excellent academic record.

Abigael said: “As undergraduates, we can achieve exceptional things, and this reward provides excellent recognition for that.”

Larvae help tackle tuberculosis in humans

Moth larvae are helping scientists gain new insights into tuberculosis (TB). In a new paper, published in the journal Virulence, scientists from Imperial’s Department of Medicine reveal larvae of the Greater Wax Moth (Galleria mellonella) can mimic TB infection similar to that found in humans.

The team, led by Professor Paul Langford and Dr Sandra Newton, demonstrated that TB bacteria form structures called granulomas in the larvae.

Granulomas are key to TB infection. However not all animal models used by scientists in TB research form granulomas, including mice the most commonly used species.

The work was part-funded by a PhD studentship from the National Centre for Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research.

Read the article: Galleria mellonella - a novel infection model for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex

How are startups faring?

Last week, we reported how companies based in the Imperial White City Incubator have created more than 100 jobs and attracted £85m of investment in just 18 months since it opened.

Startup companies form an important part of Imperial’s entrepreneurship ecosystem, with the number of companies founded by Imperial students and researchers having more than doubled since 2012, supporting more than 1,300 jobs and generating almost £900m of investment.

The College is keen to provide better support to this important community and has launched a 5-minute survey to find out how startups set up by those with links to the College are faring.

If you are a member of staff or a student who has set up a company, please take five minutes to complete the College’s Startup Annual Survey before 16 September 2018.

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