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29 Jul 2010 09:45:32
Twenty top computing students and graduates from the University of Bedfordshire have netted financial awards.
The majority of the cash, totalling a cool £78,000, is from the Luton-based training organisation Train2Game. This includes for the Graduate Of the Year Award (GOYA), worth £15,000 to the winner, and the £5,000 Student Advancement Reward (STAR).
Train2Game is also funding other scholarships, worth £3,000 each, and all the awards have gone to students or graduates who have shown academic excellence and achievement in the field of computing and technology.
The University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Les Ebdon CBE, opened the recent awards night (Monday, 19 July) at the Park Square campus in Luton.
Professor Carsten Maple, Head of the Department of Computer Science and Technology, said: “Train2Game has been a big supporter of this University over the years and also of this University’s students. We owe the company a great debt of thanks.”
Andrea Donafee, who studied her PhD at the University of Luton in 2003 and is now a Managing Director, received the GOYA first prize and Luo Luo was runner-up. Both are graduates of the Department of Computer Science and Technology and have demonstrated outstanding career progression in the five years since graduating.
With Andrea receiving £15,000 and Luo £7,500, the two prize winners will keep half the money and donate the other half to an area of support of their choosing within the University.
Andrea completed a PhD in Computational Group Theory in 2003 at Luton before taking a post as an analyst for Cash Management Systems Ltd.
Professor Maple said: “Andrea has risen through the company and was recently appointed Managing Director.
“Her company currently orders more than five billion pounds of currency each year and the techniques she has developed save many household names millions of pounds per year.”
The recipient of the STAR prize was Thomas Dolby, with Timothy James-Hammond collecting the runners-up award.
Thomas demonstrated outstanding academic progress during the year to claim his £5,000, achieving First Class Honours in Computer Games Development. He again will keep half the money and donate the other half to an area of support of his choosing within the University. Timothy will likewise keep half of his £2,500 and donate the rest.
Professor Maple said: “Tom has set a very high benchmark for intelligence, industry and extra-curricular engagement, and is one of our most highly employable graduates. He richly deserves the recognition represented by this award.”
Train2Game also provided 10 scholarships to be used for tuition fees, plus one outstanding academic achievement winner, while the University will fund an additional five students through the UK’s matched funding programme which will allow it to claim 50 per cent of every donation.
The top 15 students in the department - Tiago Henriques, Stephen Wilson, Jan Valo, Ernest Walzel, Alastair Bain Stewart, Terence Cutler, Ronald Edema, Giles Burgess, Laura Collins, Edewede Oriwoh, Ray Brown, Dixit Sharma, Ayodeji Omotade, Igor Cotruta and Barry Norton - were given this award based on their superior academic achievements.
Another girl, Kristina Jarabicova, received an academic achievement award for outstanding results following an extended degree.
The top photo shows all the winners on the night plus some of the other guests.
The second photo shows, left to right: Luo Luo, Andrea Donafee, Thomas Dolby and Timothy James-Hammond.
Latest news» 2010» July» Computing students and graduates net some cash
