Imperial shines a light on ten outstanding alumni

UN Ambassador and Distinguished Alumni Award winner Yvette Stevens

The achievements of ten members of Imperial's alumni community have been recognised in the 2021 Alumni Awards.

Mentors, champions and game-changers: The Imperial Alumni Awards celebrate role models and thought-leaders within the alumni community.

Launched in late 2019, the programme presents an opportunity for the College to acknowledge the contributions of Imperial graduates to science, engineering, medicine, business and society across three award categories. 

A lifetime of achievement 

After graduating from Imperial, Yvette Stevens (MSc Electrical Power Systems and Machines 1974), winner of this year's Distinguished Alumni Award, became Sierre Leone's first female engineer.

I think that for as long as I’m still alive, I’ll be playing any role that I can to encourage young girls to take up engineering. Yvette Stevens Winner of the Distinguished Alumni Award 2021

Her passion for science saw her rise to the highest professional rank possible at the UN, develop her country's first energy policy and become the country's first Permanent Representative to the UN. 

Reflecting on a lifetime of hard work and achievement, Yvette says, "I would like to be remembered as someone who has worked hard in every respect in whatever I do in life. My motto from school was 'either the best or nothing'. At every place I’ve worked, I’ve tried to do my best and the results show."

The Distinguished Alumni Award honours alumni who have demonstrated sustained excellence in their personal and professional achievements, are leaders in their field or have made a substantial impact on society. 

Entrepreneurship made at Imperial

New for 2021, the Alumni Entrepreneur Award recognises innovative and creative alumni entrepreneurs who can demonstrate commercial success, growth and impact.

The world faces so many challenges. If we can make a small contribution to help communities or industries and have fun while doing it, that’s great. Dr Ali Baghdadi Alumni Entrepreneur Award winner 2021

This year's winners are Dr Ali Baghdadi (MSc Computing 1977, PhD 1979), founder of leading technology distributor Aptec and Senior Vice President & CEO of the META region at Fortune 100 company Ingram Micro, and Dr Paul Atherton (PhD Physics 1978), who co-founded his first company, Queensgate Instruments, while studying at Imperial in 1978.

They are joined by two highly commended alumni entrepreneurs, Divya Gupta (MSc Management 2013), founder and CEO of India’s leading maternity and nursing fashion wear brand Momzjoy, and Dr Manuel Piñuela (PhD Electrical and Electronics Engineering 2013) whose latest venture, Cultivo, is helping restore nature and boost biodiversity of forests, grasslands and mangroves. 

The next generation of leaders 

This year, five alumni are recognised with the Emerging Alumni Leader Award, which celebrates alumni under the age of 40, who are inspiring role models, mentors or champions for equality and are making a substantial impact on society.

At Imperial, you’re surrounded by the brightest minds and the kindest hearts. They see you at your best and your worst. It’s this camaraderie that got me through the tough times. Dr Reza Jarral Emerging Alumni Leader Award winner 2021

Among the 2021 winners is Dr Anna Stejskalová (PhD Bioengineering 2018), whose work on endometriosis has made studying this condition more systematic.

She is joined by researcher and expert on climate extremes Dr Gabriele Messori (PhD Atmospheric Physics and Dynamics 2013) and Google Speech AI Product Manager Dr Marily Nika (MSc Computing 2008, PhD 2014) who has co-founded communities that bring together women in tech. 

Also recognised with the Emerging Alumni Leader Award are two graduates from the Faculty of Medicine, Dr Abdullah Albeyatti (MBBS Medicine 2011), GP and CEO of tech company Medicalchain which uses blockchain technology to securely manage health records, and fellow GP, humanitarian doctor and leader in the ethical use of artificial intelligence in healthcare Dr Reza Jarral.

Visit our website to discover the inspiring stories of Imperial's 2021 Alumni Award winners.