Three Materials staff members awarded President's Awards for Excellence 2020

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An image of Royal School of Mines

The President's Awards were announced this month and there were three winners in the Department of Materials.

Congratulations to Dr. Anna Constantinou, Dr. Adrian Najer and Dr. Akemi Nogiwa Valdez who were recognised for their excellence in research or education. 

Dr. Anna Constantinou, Postdoctoral Research Associate

An image of Anna ConstantinouDr. Constantinou was recognised as an Outstanding Supervisor in the President's Excellence Awards for Education.

Dr Constantinou is currently a postdoctoral researcher working on the synthesis of well-defined polymers using “living”/controlled polymerisation methods, and their fabrication into antibacterial coatings. During her PhD studies and PostDoc, Anna has assisted with the supervision of one PhD student, two MRes, 16 MSc, and six MEng students.

Dr. Constantinou said "receiving the 2020 President’s Award for Excellence in Education – for Outstanding Assistant Supervisor” is a great honour! Contributing to the supervision of different projects during my PhD studies and PostDoc years is a great pleasure, as it is a unique opportunity not only to share my knowledge, but it also strengthens my understanding on the topic."

Dr. Adrian Najer, Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellow

Dr. Adrian NajerDr. Adrian Najer was recognised as an Outstanding Supervisor in the President's Excellence Awards for Education.

Dr Najer joined the Department as a postdoctoral fellow at Imperial in Oct 2016 and he is currently funded by the Wellcome Trust through a Sir Henry Wellcome Postdoctoral Fellowship. His main research interest is trying to find alternative nanotechnological approaches, spanning different areas from diagnostics to drugs and vaccines, to fight infectious diseases, in particular malaria.

Dr. Najer said "it is a great honour and pleasure to have been given this recognition for my work as an assistant supervisor. I would like to thank the committee for selecting me and a special thanks to all my students, it is lots of fun working with all of you.

Supervising master and PhD students is a demanding but also highly rewarding task. I think creating an encouraging, friendly and fun environment to boost motivation and excitement about research is key for their development. A motivated student will learn much faster and will go the extra miles to perfect their skills and to push their projects forward."

Dr. Akemi Nogiwa Valdez, Research Data Manager

Dr. Akemi Nogiwa ValdezDr. Akemi Nogiwa Valdez was recognised for her excellent research support in the President's Excellence Awards for Research.

Dr. Nogiwa Valez joined Imperial in October 2016 and currently works as a Research Data Manager. Professor Molly Stevens praised Dr. Nogiwa Valez for her excellent support for the Steven's group. 

Dr. Nogiwa said "I am very happy to have been recognised with this award! It adds up to my motivation to support the team so they can keep doing amazing science. I must give due credit to Molly Stevens and her group of brilliant postdocs and students who are an absolute dream-team and a joy to work with. Also a big thank you to the many colleagues in support roles that have generously shared with me their knowledge and time."

Reporter

Kayleigh Brewer

Kayleigh Brewer
Department of Materials

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