First annual Beaumont Awards recognise young innovators
The University of Leeds and Prof. Adam Beaumont are proud to announce the recipients of the first annual Beaumont Awards. The awards recognise 14 incredible final-year students from the university who are shaping our future through innovation.
They are inspired by the life and work of Michael Faraday, whose discoveries were crucial in the development of technology innovation.
Beaumont, a visiting professor of cyber security at the university and the founder and CEO of both telecoms operator aql and investment platform NorthInvest, said: “When I was studying for my finals, I remember feeling as though I wasn’t good enough. Everyone else must be better. I remember working really, really hard, particularly at my final-year project and trying to make sure it was solving a real-world problem.
“When it came to my graduation day, I found that I’d won the Jordan Award for that project. I remember what that felt like. I was organising my new office last year and discovered the award and it evoked those feelings again and I want to pass that feeling on to others. Finding myself in a position to do so, I established the Beaumont Awards.”
The awards recognise excellence in undergraduate research projects in the areas of Biological, Environmental and Physical Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and Health. The judges were looking for projects which ‘display the greatest potential to impact on society’.
“One of my inspirations is Michael Faraday and this award is given to those who have not only delivered an exemplary and impactful final-year project, but who have articulated their passion for the change it could have on society. I’m looking for our future leaders and change-makers. Faraday was passionate about delivering science to the masses and impassioned those for whom science, or aspiration, was out of grasp. He was the creator of the idea of ‘Christmas Lectures’ back in 1825, bringing science closer to the public. In his closing remarks to his series of lectures on the Chemistry of the Candle, he said notably to his audience ‘shine as lights to those about you’,” continued Beaumont.
“The winners of the Beaumont Awards have all shown true potential to benefit society. The students themselves have shown clear values, vision and drive in their articulation of their goals. Alongside their brilliant achievements, their course supervisors and peers hold them as exemplary role models.”
Sir Alan Langlands, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, said: “The Beaumont Awards reflect the university’s commitment to research-led education and research-based learning. Final-year undergraduate research projects are an important part of the Leeds student experience and often result in some truly outstanding work. Adam Beaumont’s generosity borne of his own experience will inspire our students to reach for new heights of academic excellence.”
Each winning student is awarded £500 cash and receives an engraved medal. They also have the opportunity to take up a free place at the Enterprise Boot Camp run by Spark at the university’s Careers Centre.
2018 winners
Michelle Akure – Faculty of Engineering
Catalytic Pyrolysis of Biomass
Olivia Byrne – Faculty of Environment
Assessing the impacts of the 2015/16 Godzilla El Nino on the scleractinian corals in the Wakatobi, Indonesia
Alisha Fleming – Faculty of Biological Sciences
Using reverse genetics to mutate Zika Virus RNA stem-loop SL199: Can it be done?
Jessica Fletcher – Faculty of Medicine and Health
Dental first aid project: Avulsed incisors: Knowledge of management and factors affecting willingness to provide Avulsion First Aid (AFA) among primary school staff in the United Kingdom
Jack Helliwell – Faculty of Medicine and Health
Development of a decellularised porcine dermis for the treatment of chronic non-healing wounds
Alexandra Holmes – Faculty of Biological Sciences
Expression, Solubilisation, Purification and Characterisation of the Chlamydial Proteins Npt1Ct and Npt2Ct
Linda Latuta – Faculty of Environment
Macro Problem of Microplastic: Assessment of microplastic pollution along the strandline of Kilnsea beach
Katie McDonald-Meyer – Faculty of Medicine and Health
Dental first aid project: Avulsed incisors: Knowledge of management and factors affecting willingness to provide Avulsion First Aid (AFA) among primary school staff in the United Kingdom
Harrison Oates – Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
Isolation and Characterisation of Novel Antibiotics
Joseph Parr – Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
The detection and kinetics of peroxy radicals generated in the HIRAC chamber, studied using the FAGE and ROxLIF techniques
Jaimin Patel – Faculty of Medicine and Health
Dental first aid project: Avulsed incisors: Knowledge of management and factors affecting willingness to provide Avulsion First Aid (AFA) among primary school staff in the United Kingdom
Rebecca Penhale-Jones – Faculty of Engineering
Femtosecond Pulsed Laser Deposition of Structurally Controlled Titanium Dioxide Thin Films
Joshua Woodcock-Shaw – Faculty of Medicine and Health
The relationship between handgrip strength and cardiopulmonary exercise performance in heart failure patients
Georgia Zimmer – Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures
Is there evidence to suggest that the NHS promote abortion of babies with Down’s syndrome? A Critical Discourse Analysis
