IMSE Welcomes a New MRes in Molecular Engineering Cohort

Molecular Engineering MRes Cohort 2022-2023

The IMSE Team is delighted to welcome this year’s Molecular Engineering MRes students.

This year the Institute for Molecular Science and Engineering’s MRes in Molecular Engineering welcomes 10 new students. The new students come from diverse scientific and engineering backgrounds such as Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Physics, Polymer Materials and Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering. The new students were welcomed onto the South Kensington campus by Kelsie Williams, the MRes Course Coordinator.  

Alumni recommended the course because of its “broad multidisciplinary nature” Molecular Engineering MRes Alumni

One of the new students commented that they choose the MRes course after speaking with one the Institute’s alumni, who recommended the course because of its “broad multidisciplinary nature”. Others commented that they looked forward to working with people from a range of expertise and to learn skills that they could not learn from other courses.  

During our welcome week the newest cohort engaged in a variety of fun activities. One of these activities was an escape room where the students

worked in teams to solve puzzles to find a secret word to unlock the room and escape. The tasks included finding hidden letters around the room, mazes, riddles, and London themed challenges. Although the students said that they found the escape room challenging, all the students were able to solve the puzzles as a team. 

After the team- building activity, the new students were treated to a well-deserved lunch where they were joined by IMSE Co-Directors Professor Amparo Galindo and Professor Nicholas Harrison. The two co-directors

welcomed the new students into the IMSE community and spoke about how they looked forward to seeing their progression through the year. At the welcome lunch students were also joined by some of our most recent alumni. Kipras Tallat Kelpsa has gone on to a PhD at Imperial with his project supervisor Professor Nicholas Harrison, and Dominic Crestani is continuing to work with his project supervisors Dr Mark Friddin and Dr Ali Mohammed. Some of the teaching staff also came in to say hello and welcome the new students. 

The next day the students were welcomed by the Head of the Chemical

The Molecular Engineering MRes course is important and valuable the for career progression and for developing them as well-rounded scientists.   Professor Omar Matar

Engineering Department, Professor Omar Matar. During this session Professor Matar advised the students to engage with the wider Imperial community, to broaden their horizons and connect with the College as a whole. He also spoke about how important and valuable the Molecular Engineering MRes course is for their career progression and for developing them as well-rounded scientists.  

After the welcome talk from Professor Matar, the students were invited to take part in a tour of South Kensington with IMSE Events and Communications Manager Leah Adamson. The tour was developed using recommendations from IMSE alumni and staff and included Imperial locations such as H-Bar, Eastside and Ethos Gym. There were also stops on the tour that showed off the best of the South Kensington area, such as

the museums on Exhibition Road, cafes, and parks such as Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. The students also took some time to look at the Royal Albert Hall and imagine themselves graduating at the end of the course. 

To round off the Welcome Week events, after a talk by IMSE Institute Manger Dr Steph Pendlebury about choosing their research projects, the students were treated to a pizza night. They were joined by recent alumni: Zain Zhan, Kipras Tallat Kelpsa, Dominic Crestani, Zhipeng Lin, and Roberto Gambarini. Also in attendance were the IMSE operations team:  Dr Steph Pendlebury, Dr Isabella von

Holstein and Leah Adamson, who work closely with the students during their time at Imperial and when they become alumni. The new cohort also had the opportunity to network with teaching staff at the event, including Dr Andrew Haslam and Dr Andrea Bernardi. The students were able to gain advice and insights on the course from alumni and staff and could take some time to relax and get to know each other in an informal and fun setting.  

Since welcome week the students have dived straight into lectures and course work. Everyone at IMSE hopes that you will join all our academic and operations staff in welcoming the new students.  The IMSE Team looks forward to seeing our new cohort work together and can see a bright future ahead of them!