Author: Elizabeth Nixon

President’s Awards for Excellence in Societal Engagement

The President’s Awards for Excellence are annual awards to recognise staff members who have made outstanding contributions in Culture and Community, Education, Research, or Societal Engagement. 

The President’s Awards for Excellence in Societal Engagement recognise and reward staff, students and community partners who have delivered excellence in schools engagement, community engagement, engagement with research and/or patient engagement. 

The President’s Medal for Excellence in Societal Engagement
For individuals who have made exceptional contributions to societal engagement.  

Winner: Dr Victoria Male, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction 

The Achievement Award for Societal Engagement
For staff who have taken the initiative to deliver high-quality engagement activities with the public, schools, community groups and/or patients. 

Individual Award winner: Dr Izhar Shah, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 

Team Award winner: JAMVENT outreach team, Department of Bioengineering and Department of Surgery and Cancer 

  • Dr Joseph van-Batenburg Sherwood 
  • Dr Jennifer Frattolin 
  • Dr Michael Madekurozwa 
  • Dr Jakob Mathiszig-Lee 

Individual Award highly commended: Dr Marc Masen, Department of Mechanical Engineering 

The Leadership Award for Societal Engagement
For staff who have demonstrated an on-going commitment to societal engagement; bringing enthusiasm and innovation to this area and actively supporting other staff and students to get involved. 

Winner: Dr Jackie Bell, Department of Computing 

Student Award for Excellence in Societal Engagement
For undergraduate or postgraduate students who have taken the initiative to deliver high-quality engagement activities with the public, schools, community groups and/or patients. 

Individual Award winner: Hamza Ikhlaq, Faculty of Medicine 

Team Award winner: Inspiring Design, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 

  • Peter Adesina 
  • Javier Cañada Pérez-Sala 
  • He-in Cheong 
  • Pepe Puchol-Salort 
  • Terry Ugama 

Inspirational Partner Award for Excellence in Societal Engagement
For individuals or teams outside Imperial who have made outstanding contributions that inspire and support us in the achievement of one or more of our societal engagement aims. 

Individual Award winner: Louisa Thompson 

Team Award winner: Nova Opportunities 

  • Matthew Barnett 
  • Lizzie Cho 
  • Aimee Ling 

You can read more about the awards in our news story.

President’s Awards for Excellence in Research

The President’s Awards for Excellence are annual awards to recognise staff members who have made outstanding contributions in Culture and Community, Education, Research, or Societal Engagement. 

The President’s Awards for Excellence in Research recognise staff members who have made outstanding contributions in early career research, research support, as part of a research team, and in research innovation and external collaboration.  

President’s Awards for Outstanding Research Team
Celebrates the achievements of research teams at Imperial, recognising outstanding research that delivers impact, a team’s international standing and their beneficial contribution to Imperial.  

Medal: Metal forming and materials modelling group, represented by Dr Li-Liang Wang, Department of Mechanical Engineering 

President’s Awards for Outstanding Early Career Researcher
Celebrates the academic excellence and development of Imperial’s early stage researchers.  

Medals: 

Dr Anna Barnard, Department of Chemistry 

Dr Emilio Martinez-Paneda, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 

Awards: 

Dr Edward Johns, Department of Computing 

Dr Benjamin Schumann, Department of Chemistry 

President’s Awards for Research Support Excellence
Recognises the contribution of research support staff at Imperial, including the beneficial effects their support has given to Imperial research and the innovative approaches/good practice they bring to a project.  

Awards: 

Al McCartney, Faculty of Medicine 

Francesca Piffer, Department of Infectious Disease  

President’s Awards for Excellence in External Collaboration and Partnerships
Celebrates the achievements of academics at Imperial, recognising the development of lasting external collaborations, and the impact of their research inside and outside Imperial.  

Medal: Dr Salvador Acha, Department of Chemical Engineering 

Award: Imperial Haze Lab represented by Professor Guillermo Rein, Department of Mechanical Engineering 

President’s Awards for Excellence in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Celebrates the achievements of academics at Imperial, recognising unique activities breaking new frontiers, the effective and appropriate exploitation of research, and realised or prospective economic or social impact.  

Medal: Professor Stefanos Zafeiriou, Department of Computing 

Award: Dr Firat Guder, Department of Bioengineering 

You can read more about the awards in our news story.

President’s Awards for Excellence in Education

The President’s Awards for Excellence are annual awards to recognise staff members who have made outstanding contributions in Culture and Community, Education, Research, or Societal Engagement. 

The President’s Awards for Excellence in Education celebrate staff who have made outstanding contributions in teaching and teaching innovation, research supervision and supporting the student experience. 

President’s Awards for Excellence in Teaching
For outstanding teaching quality, organisation and presentation. 

Dr Niamh Martin, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction 

Dr Viral Thakerar, School of Public Health 

President’s Awards for Teaching Innovation
For outstanding innovations relating to teaching practice.  

Medal: Dr Ravi Parekh, School of Public Health 

Award:  

Dr Vijesh Bhute, Department of Chemical Engineering 

Dr Giordano Scarciotti, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering 

President’s Awards for Excellence in Research Supervision
For exceptional research supervision, encouragement and support. 

Dr James Harker, National Heart and Lung Institute 

Dr Jun Jiang, Department of Mechanical Engineering 

Professor Karen Polizzi, Department of Chemical Engineering 

President’s Awards for Excellence in Supporting the Student Experience
For outstanding contributions to enhancing the student experience made by any members of staff at the College (academic, professional or technical). 

Professor Sue Grimes, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 

Dr Aaron Lett, Department of Metabolism, Digestion and Reproduction  

Dr Michael Ray, Department of Chemistry  

Faith Ross, Department of Chemical Engineering 

President’s Awards for Outstanding Assistant Supervisor
To celebrate and recognise the valuable contribution that postdocs make towards the supervision of the College’s PhD students. 

Dr Selene Pirola, Institute of Clinical Sciences 

You can read more about the awards in our news story.

President’s Awards for Excellence in Culture and Community

The President’s Awards for Excellence are annual awards to recognise staff members who have made outstanding contributions in Culture and Community, Education, Research, or Societal Engagement. 

The President’s Awards for Excellence in Culture and Community recognise staff members who have made outstanding contributions in Leadership; Equality, Diversity and Inclusion; and Collegiality.  

The President’s Medal for Excellence in Culture and Community
Recognising individuals or teams who have made exceptional contributions to culture and community.  

Medal winner: Professor Nilay Shah, Department of Chemical Engineering 

The Leadership Award for Culture and Community
For staff who have demonstrated exceptional leadership and management at all levels within the College. 

Winner: Dr Kirsty Flower, Faculty of Medicine 

The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Award for Culture and Community
For staff who are committed to developing an environment which promotes equality of opportunity, values diversity, and where students and staff can work and study free from discrimination and harassment. 

Individual winner: Dr Mark Richards, Department of Physics  

Team winner: Julia Anderson Training Programme team, Institute of Global Health Innovation and HR  

  • Nandini Bhudia 
  • Eleanor Challenger 
  • Nicolette Davies 
  • Deborah Demathieu 
  • Rob Farace 
  • Clarissa Gardner 
  • Ann-Sophie Pieters 
  • Nikita Rathod 

Highly commended: Dr David Ham, Department of Mathematics 

The Collaboration and Communication Award for Collegiality
For individuals or teams who embody the spirit of one team working, planning, and delivering together towards our shared vision through effective networking, collaboration, and communication. 

Individual winner: Sharon Hubscher, Faculty of Medicine 

Team winner: Postdoc and Fellows Development Centre 

  • Bernie Babel 
  • Jenna Collinson 
  • Stefanie Edler-Wollsten 
  • Karen Hinxman 
  • Ines Perpetuo 
  • Elena Virlan 

Highly commended:  

Caroline Carter, ICT  

Clare Turner, Advancement 

 

You can read more about the awards in our news story.

Vice-Dean (Research), Faculty of Engineering

Professor Julie McCann has accepted appointment as Vice-Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Engineering with effect from 1 October 2022, for a term of office of five years. Professor McCann is currently Interim Vice-Dean (Research), a role she has held since 1 October 2021.  

Professor McCann joined the College in 2001 as a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computing. She was promoted to Professor of Computer Systems in 2014.  

Professor McCann will continue in her roles as Faculty Ambassador for Academic Women, Deputy Director of the UK Petras Centre for Excellence for Internet of Things Systems Cybersecurity, and theme lead for Data Centric Engineering at the Alan Turing Institute.

Professor McCann’s research interests include the behaviours and optimisation of Wireless Sensor Networks, Internet of Things and Cyber-Physical Systems. She was awarded the RCUK Suffrage Science Award for Maths and Computing in 2018. 

Proconsuls

Professor Richard Jardine, Senior Consul (until 31 August 2022), Professor of Geomechanics in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, has been elected as Proconsul for the period 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2025. 

Professor Dorian Haskard, Consul for the Faculty of Medicine (until 31 August 2022), Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine and Rheumatology in the National Heart and Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, has been elected as Proconsul for the period 1 September 2022 to 31 August 2025. 

Professor Terry Tetley, Professor of Lung Cell Biology in the National Heart and Lung Institute, Faculty of Medicine, has accepted an extension to her term as Proconsul until 31 August 2023. 

Professor Xiao Yun Xu, Professor of Biofluid Mechanics in the Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, and Director of the Graduate School, has accepted an extension to her term as Proconsul until 31 August 2023. 

The full list of Consuls and Proconsuls for 2022-2023 is set out below:

Senior Consul and Consuls

  • Professor Jonathan Mestel: Senior Consul  
  • Professor Ann Muggeridge: Faculty of Engineering and the Business School  
  • Professor Alessandro Astolfi: Faculty of Engineering and the Business School  
  • Professor David Evans: Faculty of Natural Sciences and cross College organisations 
  • Professor Martin McCall: Faculty of Natural Sciences and the Education Office  
  • Professor Miriam Moffatt: Faculty of Medicine  
  • Professor Liz Lightstone: Faculty of Medicine (Clinical)

Proconsuls

  • Professor Richard Jardine  
  • Professor Peter Openshaw  
  • Professor Terry Tetley  
  • Professor Xiao Yun Xu  
  • Professor Dorian Haskard.

Co-Director of the Institute of Infection

Professor Faith Osier has accepted appointment as Co-Director of the Institute of Infection, with effect from 1 June 2022 for a period of 5 years. Professor Osier will also be Chair in Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology in the Department of Life Sciences. 

As Co-Director, alongside existing Co-Director Professor Charles Bangham, Professor Osier will lead on implementing the Institute’s long-term strategic vision to build and enable interdisciplinary research programmes and activities to tackle emerging and longstanding issues in infectious diseases. 

Professor Osier is currently the Executive Director of the IAVI (International AIDS Vaccine Initiative) Human Immunology Laboratory, located within the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and Principal Research Fellow in Imperial’s Faculty of Medicine. She is also Visiting Professor of Malaria Immunology at the University of Oxford and serves as the President of the International Union of Immunological Societies. 

Professor Osier’s research aims to make malaria history through the development of highly effective vaccines. It builds on the observation that humans can acquire immunity to malaria and that the passive transfer of malaria-specific immunoglobulins is curative. Her teams dissect the molecular characteristics of the protective immune response against malaria in population studies in Africa and using the controlled human malaria infection platform. 

You can read more about Professor Osier in our news story. 

Director of Legal and Regulatory Services 

Bridget Edminson has accepted appointment as Director of Legal and Regulatory Services, with effect from 1 September 2022.

Reporting to the College Secretary and General Counsel, in this role Bridget will lead the team which advises on all legal matters for the College including those covering commercial contracts, corporate and finance, dispute resolution, intellectual property, information technology, charity, and employment law as well as law and regulation specific to the Higher Education sector.

Bridget will join the College from the University of Sussex, where she is currently General Counsel and Director of Governance and Compliance. In this role she has established a central legal function and has assumed responsibility for a range of institutional compliance functions. She also led the university’s COVID-19 response, which received two Higher Education Business Continuity awards, and the university’s response to the UUK Guidelines on Security-related Risks in Internationalisation.

Prior to joining the University of Sussex, Bridget spent 18 years in the Government Legal Service. She worked at the UK Ministry of Defence for 14 years, most recently as Head of the General Law Team. Bridget completed her bachelor’s degree at LSE, followed by an MA at King’s College London, and her Bar Vocational Course at the Inns of Court School of Law; she was called to the Bar in 1997.

Associate Provost (Estates Planning)

Professor Martyn Boutelle has accepted appointment as Associate Provost (Estates Planning), a part-time (0.5 FTE) role, with effect from 1 April 2022 for a term of five years. Professor Boutelle succeeds Professor Neil Alford, who will continue in his role for another three months to facilitate a handover period. 

Reporting to the Provost, Professor Boutelle will lead in defining, developing and overseeing implementation of an Estates Strategy for the College, across all campuses. He will be a member of the President’s and Provost’s Boards, chair the Estates Strategy Group (a sub-committee of President’s Board), and will be a member of the Property Committee (a committee of Council). Given the significant property portfolio at the White City Campus, in which he will play a central role, Professor Boutelle will also be a Board member of Thinkspace and Scale Space. Professor Boutelle will work especially closely with the Vice-Provost (Education and Student Experience), the Vice-Provost (Research and Enterprise) and the Faculty Deans, as well as the Associate Provost (Academic Partnerships).  

Professor Boutelle joined Imperial in 2004 as Reader in Biomedical Sensor Engineering in the Department of Bioengineering and was promoted to Professor of Biomedical Sensors Engineering in 2011. He is currently one of the Consuls for the Faculty of Engineering and the Business School, and his term as Consul ends this summer. Professor Boutelle has held many senior roles in the Department of Bioengineering, including Deputy Head of Department, Director of Courses, and Senior Tutor. 

Professor Boutelle’s research focuses on using techniques which combine electrochemical biosensors in novel microfluidic devices with other real-time measurements of tissue state such as tissue oxygen, electrophysiological activity and local blood flow to give a multimodal data stream to support clinical decision making. 

Head of the Department of Aeronautics

Professor Spencer Sherwin has accepted appointment as Head of the Department of Aeronautics with effect from 1 October 2022, for a period of three years, in succession to Professor Paul Robinson. 

Professor Sherwin joined Imperial in 1995 as Lecturer in the Department of Aeronautics and was promoted to Professor of Computational Fluid Mechanics in 2005. He is currently the Director of the Research Computing Service on a fixed-term basis which ends in September 2022.  

Professor Sherwin’s research focuses on the development and application of parallel spectral/hp element methods for solving partial differential equations. Through open source software his group performs direct numerical simulation, implicit large eddy simulation and stability analysis on a range of problems of relevance to aeronautics, biomedical flows, offshore engineering and vehicle aerodynamics.