Meet the graduates at the Asia Convocation

Global gathering of students celebrate their graduation - News

Monday 3 December 2007
By Naomi Weston

Around sixty Imperial College London students from around the world gathered in Singapore for a special Centenary Asia Convocation on Friday 30 November.

This rare event gave students the exciting opportunity of graduating in Singapore as an alternative to the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Celestin and Rose Mutabaruka, who have been married for 23 years, both graduated in Singapore to celebrate the end of their PhD.

Both from East Africa, the couple decided to study together at Imperial at the Wye Campus in the Department of Agricultural Sciences.

They lived and studied at Wye from 2001 to 2005 and thoroughly enjoyed their time there. So much so they now live in the area and have settled in Ashford, Kent.

"Wye is a small village which was really nice for us as we have five children and there are very good schools in the area. It is definitely a great environment for studying and having all the family together," commented Rose.

The couple also graduated in the Royal Albert Hall in May this year, so how did the two ceremonies compare?

"The ceremony here was a lot less hectic and more relaxed. There are obviously less people which makes the day more personal," said Celestin. He added: "It was great having the opportunity of chatting to the Rector on stage too. No one was in a hurry today and everyone was extremely friendly."

This was the couples first trip to Asia and they are spending a week in Singapore. "We decided to attend both ceremonies because we have worked so hard on our PhDs and we wanted to see what a graduation ceremony abroad would be like. It also gives you a global picture as we would not necessarily have come to Singapore and we didn’t realise how many students the College has from Asia," explained Celestin.

Rose said: "I think it is a good idea having ceremonies abroad, maybe next time the College could host one in another country where they have lots of students from for example somewhere in Europe or Africa."

Celestin's thesis looked at factors affecting sweet chestnut timber quality in relation to the shake defect. Rose's thesis looked at the degradation of polyphenol-protein complexes by fungi in different tropical production systems.

Now with their doctorates, the couple plan to continue carrying out research and hope to start lecturing at a university.

Meet the other graduates in Singapore:

Susan Lower, from Singapore, who graduated with a MSc from the Department of Chemistry, attended the Convocation with her parents. She also went to the ceremony earlier in the year at the Royal Albert Hall but her parents could not make it.

"Today is a really special occasion for me as my parents are here to celebrate with me. It was too expensive for them to both fly out to London so I think it is a great idea that the College have decided to put on a special ceremony here in Singapore," commented Susan.

Susan added: "The highlight of the day was chatting to the Rector, he asked me what my plans were next. I also got to have my photo taken with him which you wouldn’t get back in London."

She has great memories of her time studying at Imperial and was actively involved in the many clubs and societies the Students Union offers. "I was a singer in the Imperial College Jazz Big Band and was also president of the Jitsu club which I thoroughly enjoyed."

Yoong Chiang Seetoh was celebrating the end of his PhD in Chemical Engineering. Originally from Singapore, he graduated from the Royal Albert Hall after completing his Masters in Process Systems Engineering. "The ceremony here was a lot shorter," he said. "It was a lot more intimate and it was great having my wife and parents here with me."

Kuan Loke Lee, from Malaysia, also attended the Convocation to celebrate the end of his PhD in Aeronautical Engineering. Now working in Amsterdam for Shell as a consultant, Kuan flew out to Singapore specially for the ceremony.

"It was a lot easier for my family to fly from Malaysia to Singapore than it would have been for them to travel to London. I think today has been great and it means I can see all my family for the weekend and they are here to celebrate with me," commented Kuan.

Students and guests came from all over the world to take part in the Asia Convocation including Australia, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Netherlands, Thailand, UK Malaysia and Singapore. Imperial is currently home to around 2,500 students from countries across Asia.

The ceremony was part of a ten day tour of Asia led by Imperial's Rector Sir Richard Sykes and taking in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and India. The Centenary themed tour enables Sir Richard to meet alumni associations and Imperial’s Asian research collaborators.