Imperial News

Outstanding Engineering students win alumni awards

by Helen Wilkes

Alumni associations the Royal School of Mines Association and Old Centralians' Trust have given financial awards to students across the faculty.

These awards are made in honour of student academic success and dedication to the spirit of the constituent schools that make up the faculty.

ROYAL SCHOOL OF MINES ASSOCIATION

The Royal School of Mines Association (RSMA) was formed in 1873, initially as the RSM Old Students' Dining Club. As well as a yearly reunion, the aims of the Club were to promote the RSM and to advance its interests and those of its members; objectives which remain to this day. In 2016, the association set up a 100 club, seeking 100 members to donate £200 a year for ten years. Since then, the association has used this money to provide a bursary of £1000 to any student going into their final year. Applications are made by students in the Departments of Earth Science and Engineering and Materials for this fund, which demonstrate their academic skills and commitment to RSM values.
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In particular this year, when many typical student employment opportunities are reduced, the bursary allows final year students the financial freedom to focus on their studies or make the most of their year by attending an expedition or conference. A new high of 5 bursaries were awarded this year, up from 3 last year and bringing the total number of awards to 11 since the bursary was introduced.
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This year’s students are:

  • Chris Carter
  • Emilia Dobb
  • Megan Facey
  • Annie Mao
  • Abigail Wong

RSMA president Tim Cotton said 'these awards are special because the judging involves the Faculty of Engineering, the individual departments and the RSM association, who are awarding bursaries totally funded by alumni who have been through the same experience as the students they support. We are also very grateful to Lorraine Craig, who has been extremely helpful in the organisation of these student awards.'

OLD CENTRALIANS’ TRUST

The Old Centralians' Trust forms the charitable arm of the City & Guilds College Association, the alumnus body for students and staff of the engineering school within Imperial College - formerly the City & Guilds Constituent College.

The trust fund was instituted in 1965, with a primary object of having funds available to assist any students of engineering within the City & Guilds College who fell into financial difficulty, through no fault of their own, at any time after commencing their studies.

This year, the OCT has awarded 19 undergraduate students from across all Faculty of Engineering departments £750 each in 'Student Activity Awards'. These are aimed at encouraging extra curricular activity during the students' time at Imperial. Students' applications are strengthened by nominations by their department senior tutors.

Chris Lumb, Chair of the Old Centralian’s trust said ‘All of the capital from which the Trust’s income is derived has been contributed by former students at the college, who have greatly valued the education they received. Their strong belief has been that it is not just what is learned in the lecture room and laboratory that makes someone what they are – if anything it’s all the other things they do that build up into their overall character, making for a fully rounded individual who can contribute to society wherever they find themselves in the future. Each and every alumnus who has donated, or left a legacy, to the Old Centralians’ Trust has done so expressly because they wanted to support the students coming after them in getting the maximum benefit from their time at university, and has felt that giving to the OC Trust was the surest way of doing this.’

The Student Activity Awards winners are:

Department of Aeronautics:
Ms Riya Neelash Gujarathi
Mr Ramana Sabapthy

Department of Bioengineering:
Ms Sarah Underwood
Mr Cai Linton

Department of Chemical Engineering:
Ms Vanessa Tang
Mr Aniruddh Krishnaswamy

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering:
Ms Leah Camarcat
Mr Will Dubin

Department of Computing:
Mr Kapilan Manu Neethi Cholan

Department of Design Engineering:
Mr Matthew Ryan
Ms Paula Castillero Garcia

Department of Earth Science & Engineering:
Mr Chris Carter
Mr Soren Vines

Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering:
Ms Vasiliki Areniki
Ms Nikita Sarker

Department of Mechanical Engineering:
Mr Igor Genki Zemunovic
Mr Thomas Allen

Department of Materials:
Ms Emmeline Grace Poole
Ms Susannah Lea