Technology and Maths geniuses
CATEGORY
Tech and maths courses are equipping first-generation graduates with the skills to make a difference to the world.
Remarkable impact
From the founder of a social enterprise bringing STEM to refugee children to the developer of an entertainment platform for children with special educational needs, these first-generation geniuses are doing remarkable work.
Meet them
London South Bank University
University of Essex
Coventry University
University of East Anglia (UEA)
Queen Mary University of London
University of Westminster
Teesside University
University of Sunderland
University College London
Sara Berkai
Founder of ambessa play
University College London (UCL)
A better future
Sara’s parents left war-torn Eritrea in the hopes for a better future. Born in Khartoum, Sudan, Sara came to London as a baby. She was raised in state schools in London, eligible for free school meals.
Now, Sara is the founder of Ambessa Play, a social enterprise co-designing educational kits with refugee children.
Sara received a First in Information Management for Business at University College London and went onto work at various corporate technology companies from Amazon to Cisco. She later studied a master's degree in Child Development at the University of Oxford, researching how children learn science.
Prior to starting UCL, Sara took part in the UCL Widening Participation scheme's 'Computer Science Summer School' during her A levels, visiting UCL weekly to learn Java. She wrote a brief paper on the history of cryptography and was awarded the London Opportunity Scholarship for this and the UCL Excellence Award for achieving 3 A* at A level.
Image credit: Nick Rochowski
“Obtaining a high quality education as well as the access to resources, travel opportunities, networks has been indispensable. The mentors and professors I have met, alongside my classmates who I am still constantly inspired by, have been amazing.”
Ambessa Play has been featured in Fast Company, Design Week and Courier Media. Its builds educational STEM (science, tech, engineering and mathematic) kits. For every kit purchased, a refugee child receives one for free and Ambessa Play hopes to reach the 50 million displaced children currently out of school.
Sara has been awarded Innovate UK’s Women in Innovation award, the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union's Young ICT Leader award and the AnitaB.org ‘Pass It On’ award.
Reaching displaced children
“Going to university has radically transformed my life.”
Image credit: Ambessa Play
Abdul Rahim Amin
Abdul says his engineering degree has opened his eyes up to the possibilities for his future, and made looking at his career path less to daunting. It’s given him a better appreciation of his options for his career. He’s hoping to go into building services, engineering product design, manufacturing engineering or patent law.
BENG MECHANICAL ENGINEERING student
London South Bank University
“A fascination with how things work led me to choose an engineering degree at London South Bank University.”
James Dornor
James Dornor is a Principal Systems Engineer who graduated from Coventry University in 2011.
He’s the founder of Driven By Us, a not-for-profit organisation established to support allies, ethnic minorities and women of colour in motorsports. The organisation’s activities focus on the provision of STEM and media programmes targeted at less affluent areas across the UK and are aimed at increasing knowledge and accessibility in underrepresented groups.
Before the start of the British Grand Prix in 2023, James was awarded the Points of Light Award by the UK Prime Minster in recognition of his founding of Driven By Us.
Principal systems engineer
Coventry University
“Going to university made it possible to build a valuable skilled network and opened the door to future opportunities.”
Professor
Sir Chris
Pissarides
Nobel Prize winner
University of Essex
Nobel Prize-winning
Professor Sir Chris Pissarides won the Nobel Prize for Economics in 2010 and specialises in the economics of unemployment, labour-market theory, labour-market policy and more recently growth and structural change.
Originally from Cyprus, Sir Chris completed his undergraduate degree in 1970 at the University of Essex and a master’s in 1971. He then went on to achieve his PhD from the London School of Economics (LSE), where he was appointed Regius Professor of Economics in 2013, the first in the UK.
He has held a number of important roles within academia, such as lectureships and visiting professorships at a variety of world-renowned institutions including Harvard, Princeton and the University of California at Berkeley.
“We are driven by curiosity, progression, and the desire to have a good life. There is no better stepping stone to such achievements than your first university. I cannot even imagine where I would be without mine.”
Sir Chris has also held important roles within wider society. He served as chairman for the National Economy Council for the Republic of Cyprus during its financial crisis in 2012 and led the Pissarides Commission in 2020 which set out a growth plan for the Greek economy.
He is now leading the Nuffield Foundation-funded Pissarides Review into the Future of Work and Wellbeing on behalf of the Institute for the Future of Work which he co-founded.
Sir Chris was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2010 for his work with Dale Mortensen and Peter A. Diamond on the economics of unemployment, especially job flows and the effects of being out of work.
Future of work and wellbeing
“devoting myself to learning was the single biggest influence on my life.”
Jared Carpenter
PhD student
Jared is autistic, and when he was twelve he was written off as ‘naughty’, with one report suggesting he might end up ‘friendless forever’.
Jared spent a year out of education due to the difficulties in securing him a spot in a specialist school, but when that was opened to him, he discovered a love of mathematics.
He came to UEA in 2017 for a four year master’s in mathematics, which he followed with a PhD in applied mathematics. Jared is keen to pass on his advice for other autistic people thinking of coming to study at UEA, with lots of recommendations to be open, speak to lecturers, academic advisors and student support services.
University of East Anglia (UEA)
“It’s changed my life. I’ve made so many friends while I’ve been here. I’ve met so many people and had so many opportunities.”
“I’m a different person. I was speaking to some of my friends who said they noticed my confidence had improved within just a couple of months from when I started.”
Jared Carpenter
Jordan Marajh
Jordan is a young black male student from a low-income background pursuing a PhD in mathematical and numerical relativity. He attended an alumni dinner in 2023 where he eloquently gave a current student's view of the way in which Queen Mary readies students for the workplace.
PhD student
Queen Mary University of London
“I find it immensely satisfying to know that my studies have practical applications which could make a real difference in the world.”
Joynal Hussain
Joynal Hussain is a graduate from the University of Westminster’s BSc Hons Business Information Systems degree, as part of which he also did a year-long Computer Science placement.
Joynal is now an Associate Business Analyst at Cognizant. Since graduating, he’s landed himself a role in one of the biggest IT consultancy organisations in the world.
Associate business analyst
University of Westminster
“I am fortunate to be in the position I am today thanks to attending University of Westminster.”
Vijayalakshmi
Subramani
Founder, Teenyweeny vr
University of Sunderland
Spreading her wings
Vijayalakshmi graduated from the University of Sunderland with a master’s in Environment, Health & Safety in 2020. She soon founded her own business, Thendral International Ltd. Vijayalakshmi – VJ to her friends – was named Student of the Year in 2019 for her inspirational work supporting fellow students.
She arrived in England from India in 2009, and after several years working for Sunderland City Council, she decided she wanted to spread her wings and quit her role to study a postgraduate course at Sunderland. She is now CEO of her own company and a director of Kerckhoffs Ltd.
VJ has developed a VR-based children’s entertainment platform named ‘TeenyWeeny VR’ for children with special educational needs. This is particularly close to her heart because her own son James is autistic.
“Since graduating, I’ve been fortunate to experience a significant upsurge in my professional life, thanks in large part to the foundation laid during my studies at Sunderland.”
VJ was inspired to look at ways of supporting SEN (Special Educational Needs) children through VR technology during the Covid-19 lockdown which impacted her son’s mental wellbeing.
Her husband Selvakumar was diagnosed with polio when he was just one month old, meaning he has spent his life in a wheelchair. Their son James has been in and out of hospital suffering with asthma, eczema and also since being diagnosed with autism.
But despite all the obstacles she has faced in life, VJ has always been keen to put others first and during her time at Sunderland supported fellow students, organised events and kept everyone on the right track.
VJ has been honoured with a purple plaque from Innovate UK. This plaque acknowledges not only her own journey but also the role the University of Sunderland played in her development and success. The plaque will be installed at the university in March 2024 to celebrate her achievements and inspire current and future students.
Putting others first
“I truly believe education is the most powerful tool to guide our future generation. In future, I will keep taking every single opportunity to spread the awareness and support for the value of higher education for everyone.”
Marek Reichman
Chief creative officer, Aston Martin
Teesside University
Sheffield-born Marek graduated from Teesside University with a degree in Industrial Design in 1989 and went on to forge a career designing some of the world’s most iconic cars.
He’s been involved with some of the world’s most quintessential cars throughout his accomplished design career. These have included the Rolls-Royce Phantom, the Lincoln MKX and Navicross Concept Cars and the Range Rover Mk lll.
He maintained his links with Teesside University, receiving his first honorary Master of Science degree in 2006, followed by an honorary Doctorate in Professional Achievement in 2010, in recognition of his considerable achievement and impact in industry.