Imperial accolades: News from the College

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

A bumper crop of accolades has been awarded to the Imperial community, find out more in our quick-read news from across the College.

Innovative university

Imperial has been named the UK’s most innovative university in the latest rankings by Reuters.

The College was also ranked 2nd in Europe and 10th in the world in the latest list which identifies and ranks the educational institutions doing the most to advance science, invent new technologies and power new markets and industries.

Reuters cited Imperial’s innovative research in 3D-printed materials and heart stem cells as some of the reasons for its position in the list.

Imperial researchers are developing new tough, lightweight, 3D-printed materials that are made out of metal but have the robust lattice structure of natural crystals. The new material, called meta-crystal, could be used in a variety of applications where cracks or shearing could have catastrophic results, including jet engines, medical devices and residential buildings.

Faraday medal

Professor Sir Peter Knight, from the Department of Physics, has been awarded the Institution of Engineering and Technology’s Faraday Medal for ‘his outstanding contribution in the field of quantum engineering’.

The citation states: ‘His pivotal role in conceiving, designing and delivering the National Quantum Technologies Programme has put the UK quantum science and engineering at the front of the global race to establish the second information revolution.’

On winning his award, Sir Peter said: “I was astonished as I had no idea I had been nominated for this extremely prestigious technology award. My first reaction was ‘who me??’ and my second reaction was how pleased I was that an emergent technology such as quantum has been recognised – and how the community I am part of will appreciate how the IET has noted how research is being exploited to realise devices of economic and strategic importance. This is an award for the whole team, I feel.”

Read more on the IET’s website.

Family-friendly workplace

Imperial has earned a place on 2019’s list of Top 30 Employers for Working Families for the fourth year running. The Working Families benchmark recognises organisations across the UK that are leading the way in building family friendly, flexible workplaces.

Suzanne Christopher, Senior Employee Engagement Manager, said: “I am delighted that Imperial has once again been recognised as a Top 30 Employer by Working Families. The College are committed to providing targeted support for staff who have caring responsibilities, as well as promoting and supporting a healthy work-life balance for all our staff. If you’d like to find out more, please visit our Parents Network web page.”

Outstanding educator award

An Imperial neuroscientist has picked up one of two prestigious prizes for science education and outreach.

The annual Science Educator Awards from the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) are given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in the area.

Dr Stefano Sandrone, a Teaching Fellow at Imperial’s Department of Brain Sciences, was recognised for ‘[combining] excellence and impact in educational activities,’ and was presented with his award at the SfN’s Annual Meeting in Chicago, USA earlier this week.

Alongside his teaching commitments, Dr Sandrone is a guest blogger for Lindau-Nobel.org and edits the NeurOn Topic blog, which features posts from MSc Translational Neuroscience students at Imperial.

Read the full press release on the SfN website.

Pitch@Palace Bootcamp

Some of the UK’s most exciting start-ups convened at Imperial’s White City Campus to compete in Pitch@Palace 12.0 Boot Camp.

Pitch@Palace aims amplify and accelerate the work of entrepreneurs. Founded by the Duke of York, who attended the event at Imperial, it allows startups to pitch to some of the most influential business leaders and investors from across the UK’s technology, innovation and business communities.

At the event, held in the I-Hub, entrepreneurs heard from prominent speakers including Julie Deane, founder of the Cambridge Satchel Company, and Priya Guha, Venture Partner at Merian Ventures.

The final stage of the competition takes place on 6 November at St James’s Palace.

Climate finance awards

The Centre for Climate Finance & Investment at the Business School sponsored the prize for 'Innovation for Climate Finance' at Algothon 2019. The finance hackathon, created by Imperial’s Algorithmic Trading Society and BlackRock asset management, this year chose climate finance as one of its key themes.

The winners were Imperial PhD students Dilaksan Thillaithevan and Ryan Murphy for their project on deriving a risk factor for companies' supply chain exposure to extreme weather events. They also won the top prize for the overall competition out of 32 teams. These awards showcase the growing importance of addressing climate change through finance. Dr Anastasiya Ostrovnaya, Research Fellow, gave a talk and presented the prize of dedicated Woodland Trust tree plantation for carbon removal at the event.

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