Roy White scholars complete their first year

Steven Chambers and Eric Yiu joined the College thanks to a scholarship programme funded by alumnus Roy White. As the end of term approaches, we catch up with both scholars to find out about their first year.

After being contacted through the College's Annual Fund activity, Imperial alumnus Roy White (Electrical Engineering 1965), former Chairman of Primagraphics Ltd, set up a scholarship scheme to benefit undergraduate students in the Departments of Mathematics and Electrical Engineering.

Roy contacted the Office of Alumni and Development in early 2006 to inform us of his decision to commit an annual donation of £10,000 for at least the next four years. Of his generous gift, Roy commented, "It is vital in an increasingly competitive higher education market that Imperial maintains its excellence in teaching and research. It is important to me as a graduate that the College's global reputation is sustained. This is the reason why I have set up the Roy White Scholarships to support talented undergraduates from financially disadvantaged backgrounds."

Eric Yiu joined the College's Department of Earth Science and Engineering in October 2006 to study a four year geophysics course. Before arriving at Imperial, Eric completed four A levels in maths, physics, further maths and computing at Wilson's School in Wallington, Surrey. Without his scholarship, it would have been almost impossible for Eric to consider studying at Imperial College. He comments, "The issue of money was very important when I was considering universities. London is a very expensive city and my parents were trying to make plans on how they were going to afford to fund my time here. The scholarship was a big surprise and will both me and family out no end."

Over the past year Eric has studied a variety of maths, chemistry and geology based modules as part of his course. One of the highlights of the year was a two week field trip in Spain. He visited Urra in the south east corner of Spain; the only semi-desert region in Europe. Eric has certainly made the most of the many extra-curricular activities the College has to offer too; joining the Japanese Music Society and taking up evening classes in Mandarin. He describes his choice to study at Imperial as a result of him, "aiming as high as possible. I really wanted to study at high ranking university, so Imperial was the perfect choice."

Steven Chambers embarked upon a four year Master of Science (MSci) Mathematics course thanks to the generosity of Roy White. Upon receiving his scholarship, Steven expressed his interest in entering into one of the College's exchange programmes to enable him to travel and see more of the world,  "I'd like to enter into one of the exchange programmes with another University, so I can see a bit more of the world and meet other people with similar interests".

Fulfilling his ambition during his first term, Steven was one of two youth ambassadors from the College to visit Barangay Balud Basey in Western Samar, the third largest island in the Philippines. The objective of the trip was to provide financial assistance to the community there and to formally inaugurate a water and electrical system which was established through help from the College. He used the opportunity to talk about Imperial Blue Cube, a fund that Steven has launched with the aim of raising money to provide bursaries for Imperial students to travel to and work with schools in the developing world. As the academic year comes to an end, Steven is looking forward to further work with Imperial Blue Cube, with a busy summer of speeches and events ahead. He says, "The summer is sure to be a very exciting time for me and I'm really looking forward to it."

With a diverse and successful initial year at the College almost complete, both Eric and Steven looking forward to their next three years at the College, and both remain incredibly grateful for the outstanding opportunity the Roy White Scholarships have bestowed upon them.