Anh Nguyen is one of the first cohort on our new MSc course in Applied Machine Learning. She is already working on a team project creating a low-cost counterfeit drug detector which learns how to spot fake, expired, or diluted drugs.

“The project team aims to help people in areas where a counterfeit drugs problem is prevalent. Our device aims to be low-cost, built with easy-to-obtain hardware, and does not require any medical or pharmaceutical knowledge.”

Addressing inequality

Anh was born in Vietnam and has spent the last seven years in the US. She is a passionate advocate for equality in education and wants to make a difference. “I have sat on boards with schools and agencies to share my experience in the hope of inspiring other people to pursue further education, especially in STEM.” Anh would also like to see STEM subjects promoted in primary education — especially algorithms, programming, and computer classes.

“There are a lot of poor children who do not dare to dream of going to school. I have heard so many stories of Vietnamese children giving up their education from as young as five to help their parents. Moreover, there are bright kids who turn down good college offers because their parents would be in tremendous debt if they accept the offer.”

Anh’s own family includes generations of engineers and educators and she says this has played a crucial part in her engineering journey. In the 1950s, during a turbulent period of history in South East Asia, her grandfather helped form the first technology university in Hanoi.

New connections

Anh has had to overcome difficulties when she and her mother were injured in a terrorist incident in 2018. “It put very big scars on me, physically and emotionally.” Despite this, she made a big decision to take an internship in London last year where she had no connections, to pursue her love of engineering.

“After a year in the UK, I have met wonderful people from all around the world, got to see new things, learn about different cultures. Looking back, I am really proud of myself to be strong enough to make that tough decision. I hope to start my career within the medical robotics or devices sector to start doing good things in my own ways.”

Anh is a member of our Robotics Society. “I like building prototypes, programming things, and seeing what I build actually move and work has been the best feeling ever.”

Find out more about our MSc courses including Applied Machine Learning