Staff Recognition Awards and nominations celebrate breadth of talent across EEE

The Imperial Staff Recognition Awards were presented at a ceremony on Thursday 8 July. Eight individuals and teams from Electrical and Electronic Engineering were nominated for their exceptional contributions, with two receiving President's Awards.

Together, the nominations reflect the values that matter most to us as a department. They remind us that excellence is not defined by one kind of contribution, but by the many different ways people make EEE the department it is. Professor Tim Green Head of Department

Head of Department, Professor Tim Green said: "One of the things that makes me most proud of this year's nominations is their breadth. They celebrate leadership, world-leading research and innovation, education, mentorship, community building and partnership.

Together, they reflect the values that matter most to us as a department. They remind us that excellence is not defined by one kind of contribution, but by the many different ways our people make EEE the department it is.

I am delighted to see my colleagues recognised across so many areas, and offer my warmest congratulations to this year's award recipients, and to everyone who was nominated."

Award winners

• President's Award for Excellence in Leadership: Alice Ashley-Smith 
• President's Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher: Dr Chen Qin

Award nominees

• Outstanding Co-supervisor: Dr Matteo Nerini
• Excellence in Supporting the Student Experience: Vic Boddy, Amine Halimi and May Tang
• Outstanding Research Team: Communications and Signal Processing Research Group
• Outstanding Research Team: AI-XSim Imperial Research Team
• Excellence in Societal Engagement Student Award: Women in Electrical Engineering Society
• Partner Award: Natalia Kroutikova

What inspired this year's nominations? Meet the people and teams behind them.

Alice Ashley-Smith - Award Winner - President's Award for Excellence in Leadership

Alice Ashley-Smith receives the award in recognition of her exceptional leadership and commitment to fostering a supportive, inclusive and thriving department culture.

As Director of Operations, Alice plays a central role in every aspect of department life. Whether supporting colleagues through periods of change or helping new ideas become reality, Alice's influence is felt not only through the initiatives she leads, but through the dependable, human-centred way she works, building trust, transparency and a strong sense of community across the department.

Widely recognised by colleagues as a role model in people-centred leadership, Alice is respected for her calm, transparent and values-driven approach. By listening intently, responding thoughtfully and fostering a culture of trust and psychological safety, she has created an environment where colleagues feel supported, empowered to develop new ideas and encouraged to take initiative.

She has championed staff wellbeing, professional development and inclusion, enabling "life-changing professional development", including through Master's and PhD study. By securing the time, resources and recognition for others to succeed, she has enabled staff to grow professionally and helped colleagues realise their potential while contributing to the continued development of EEE.

Through structured discussion sessions and ongoing support, Alice has helped identify and address challenges around belonging among PhD students and postdocs, enhancing the environment for early career researchers and their participation in departmental activities.

Her leadership has also helped transform the student experience, from creating welcoming spaces that encourage study, collaboration and community to supporting student-led initiatives that strengthen belonging across EEE. Her model for student society support and inclusive space design has gained recognition beyond the department, influencing good practice across the university.

Alice's compassionate, strategic and people-centred approach, has made a significant and lasting impact on the experience of both staff and students, creating an environment where individuals and communities can flourish, and strengthening long-term retention, expertise and morale across the department.

"What makes this award truly special is knowing that I was nominated by colleagues whose opinions I value and hold in such high regard. I feel incredibly fortunate to work in a department where people genuinely care about one another and are committed to the continuous development of EEE." – Alice Ashley-Smith

"I am incredibly thankful to receive this award. While receiving recognition at university level is a tremendous honour, what makes this award truly special is knowing that I was nominated by colleagues whose opinions I value and hold in such high regard. I feel incredibly fortunate to work in a department where people genuinely care about one another and are committed to the continuous development of EEE. This culture extends across our entire community, from our students to colleagues who have dedicated many years to the Department. I am not sure there are many departments that can boast such a wealth of collective experience, and I believe that is a testament to what makes EEE such a special place to work."

"I am particularly proud of the PTO team. The most rewarding aspect of my role is supporting the team's learning and development, while enabling an environment where people feel empowered to share their ideas and turn their visions into reality. I love seeing colleagues succeed in what they do and surpass their own expectations of themselves, both within and beyond the Department."

Dr Chen Qin - Award Winner - President's Award for Outstanding Early Career Researcher

Dr Chen Qin, Associate Professor in Computer Vision and Machine Learning, has received the President's Award in recognition of her exceptional innovation in AI image analysis, internationally recognised research impact, external visibility, and inclusive approach to mentoring.

In the six years since completing her PhD, Chen has rapidly established an international reputation at the intersection of artificial intelligence and clinical medicine. Her research is transforming medical imaging by developing AI methods that accelerate MRI scans, combine imaging with clinical data, and improve the diagnosis and monitoring of disease. By translating advances in AI into practical tools for healthcare, her work is helping bridge the gap between cutting-edge computer science and real-world clinical practice.

As an independent Principal Investigator, Chen has secured major competitive research funding and established collaborations with leading healthcare and industry partners, including Johnson & Johnson. Her pioneering research in multimodal AI is already being applied to biological data to explore the relationship between high-content cell imaging and molecular structures, with the potential to accelerate drug discovery. Alongside advances in faster MRI reconstruction, her work demonstrates how fundamental AI research can deliver real-world impact by integrating medical images with other forms of clinical information to support diagnosis and accelerate drug discovery. She has also taken on leadership roles within the international AI community, reflecting the growing influence of her research.

The award also recognises Chen's commitment to inclusive mentorship and research leadership. She has established an interdisciplinary research environment where students and early career researchers are encouraged to develop confidence, independence and new ideas. Through her commitment to developing others, the impact of her work extends beyond her own research to the students and early career researchers she mentors.

"I really enjoy exchanging ideas with fresh and curious minds, and seeing students and early career researchers grow in confidence and independence. Mentoring is a shared journey. I learn from them as much as they learn from me." – Chen Qin

 "I am truly delighted and honoured to receive this award. It is deeply encouraging and motivates me to continue pursuing work that can make a lasting contribution to the field.

The most exciting part of my research is using AI to solve practical challenges that patients and clinicians experience every day. By accelerating scans, integrating different types of clinical information and improving the imaging pathway, AI can help us move towards healthcare that is more efficient and impactful. I really enjoy exchanging ideas with fresh and curious minds, and seeing students and early career researchers grow in confidence and independence. Mentoring is a shared journey. I learn from them as much as they learn from me, and it is deeply rewarding to grow together.

I am very grateful to my mentors, colleagues, collaborators and team members who have supported and inspired me throughout my academic career. I would also like to thank the department for their continued support, and everyone who has generously shared their time, advice and feedback."

Dr Matteo Nerini - Nominee

Postdoctoral researcher Matteo received a nomination for Outstanding Co-Supervisor for his outstanding commitment to supporting students, postdoctoral researchers and the wider research community.

Alongside research that has already attracted department, national and international recognition, Matteo has become a valued mentor, co-supervising undergraduate, Master's, PhD and postdoctoral researchers while contributing extensively to teaching, research communication and department life. Since completing his PhD in 2024, he has supported seven Master's and MEng projects, co-supervised three PhD students and three postdoctoral researchers, while also serving as Postdoc Representative and Publicity Coordinator for the Communications and Signal Processing Group.

Matteo takes time to understand each student's career ambitions so that their research supports their long-term goals. He prepares bespoke learning materials to explain complex concepts, shares his own experiences of overcoming research challenges to help students navigate setbacks with confidence, and checks in on their wellbeing during periods of pressure. During group discussions, he makes a point of inviting quieter voices into the conversation, ensuring different perspectives are heard, while every meeting ends with clear, constructive feedback and agreed next steps.

Matteo is committed to developing people and strengthening the research community – he has organised workshops, seminar series and networking events for postdoctoral researchers in the department and contributed to international IEEE activities

Vic Boddy, Amine Halimi and May Tang - Nominees

Electronics technicians Vic Boddy, Amine Halimi and May Tang received their joint nomination for Excellence in Supporting the Student Experience for the exceptional technical expertise, innovation and dedication they bring to the department's undergraduate teaching laboratories.

They play a central role in creating an environment where students develop practical engineering skills with confidence. By combining exceptional technical expertise with a commitment to student learning, they encourage students to think and troubleshoot like engineers, giving them the support to tackle increasingly complex challenges independently.

Together, the team continually enhances the student experience through innovation, creativity and sustainability. Vic leads the annual redevelopment of the first- and second-year rover project, recycling hundreds of student rover kits while creating imaginative themed competition arenas each year. Amine has transformed access to the department's 3D printing, PCB manufacturing and laser-cutting facilities through bespoke digital systems that improve efficiency, accessibility and sustainability. May has championed sustainable laboratory practices and organisational improvements that keep teaching laboratories running smoothly while reducing environmental impact.

Their technical expertise, generosity and commitment to student learning make them an indispensable part of our department's teaching community.

Communications and Signal Processing Research Group - Nominee

The nomination for Outstanding Research Team reflects the group's internationally recognised research spanning the full innovation pipeline, from mathematical theory and algorithms to hardware systems, international standards and technologies deployed around the world.

Their work has shaped modern communications, sensing and signal processing through pioneering advances in multiple-antenna communications and emerging 6G networks, the early integration of deep learning into wireless communications, compressive sensing and sparse signal reconstruction, federated learning, intelligent multi-agent optimisation, secure communications, computational imaging, the Unlimited Sensing Framework, and hearable technologies for unobtrusive monitoring of neural and physiological signals. These innovations have led to patents, international standards and technologies deployed in billions of devices worldwide.

Bringing together expertise across communications, signal processing, sensing, artificial intelligence, computer architecture and electronic design automation, the group combines fundamental research with real-world impact. Members collaborate with leading organisations including IBM, Sony, Meta, Qualcomm and the BBC, while also working with universities, defence organisations and international initiatives with the UN.

Alongside its research achievements, the group has built a collaborative research environment, mentoring diverse research teams, supporting early-career researchers and helping graduates progress to leadership roles across academia, industry and entrepreneurship, helping establish the group as one of the world's leading centres for communications and signal processing research.

AI-XSim Imperial Research Team - Nominee

The AI-XSim team, comprising Aaron Zhao, George Constantinides, Wayne Luk, Binglei Lou, Gary Guo and Emma Fromant, received their nomination for Outstanding Research Team for their pioneering work to transform the way future AI hardware is designed and evaluated.

With expertise from Electrical and Electronic Engineering and the Department of Computing, the team secured Imperial's first substantial ARIA (Advanced Research and Invention Agency) award to develop open-source simulation frameworks that enable researchers to predict how new AI hardware designs will perform before they are built.

By linking hardware design with real-world AI workloads, their research aims to accelerate innovation while improving efficiency, reducing energy consumption and supporting more sustainable AI computing. The team's work has attracted international recognition through collaborations with Microsoft, AMD and Google, and through research presented at leading conferences spanning both artificial intelligence and computer architecture.

Their open-source tools are helping researchers and hardware designers explore new approaches to AI computing without requiring specialist hardware expertise, lowering barriers to innovation and enabling wider participation in the development of next-generation AI infrastructure.

The collaboration brings togethet academics, research associates and PhD students across career stages, creating an environment where early-career researchers are supported to develop alongside established leaders in the field.

Women in Electrical Engineering Society - Nominee

The Women in Electrical Engineering Society (WiEE) President Lorenza Giovannetti, alongside team members Shreeya Agarwal, Charlotte Maxwell, Levine Salam, Beatrice Nield and Suzy MacAlister, were nominated for the Excellence in Societal Engagement Student Award in recognition of their outstanding student-led work to build community, support women studying engineering, and inspire more young women to consider the discipline.

Through peer mentoring, outreach and community-building, the team has strengthened the experience of women studying engineering in EEE while encouraging more young women to consider the discipline through schools’ outreach and mentoring initiatives.

At the heart of the team's work is the second annual Tech for Good Challenge Hackathon, designed and delivered entirely by WiEE students, with a partnership they developed with Apple. This year's event welcomed 80 Year 9 girls from 11 London schools for a day of hands-on engineering activities, robotics demonstrations, panel discussions and design challenges.

Alongside the hackathon, the society has expanded mentoring through the Apple Mentorship Scheme, strengthened support networks through collaborations with other Women in STEM societies, and created a welcoming community that helps women engineering students feel supported and connected within EEE.

With committee members spanning all four undergraduate years, the society has created a culture of peer support, outreach and leadership that enables knowledge, experience and mentoring to be passed from one cohort to the next.

Natalia Kroutikova - Nominee

Department alumna Natalia is Commercial Director at Centrica Power, and received a nomination for the Partner Award  for her excellent contributions to our department through a partnership that has enriched both student learning and staff development. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience leading global engineering teams, Natalia has brought valuable industry perspectives to the department, helping bridge the gap between engineering education and professional practice.

Working with our final-year MEng students, she developed and delivered workshops exploring communication, collaborative decision-making and reflective teamwork, combining her engineering background with expertise in behavioural science.

Natalia also worked closely with department staff, conducting interviews and leading an interactive workshop at the department away day that encouraged colleagues to reflect on workload, organisational culture and effective ways of working. Her sessions fostered open discussion around collaboration, inclusion and group dynamics while offering practical strategies for building stronger teams and healthier working practices.

Through her generosity, insight and commitment, Natalia has strengthened students' professional preparation while making a positive contribution to the department's culture and community.