Imperial people

“Amplifying student voices, particularly those of our EU and International students, is a key part of my work and I didn’t want this to stop because of the pandemic, so I’ve had to find different ways of finding and talking to students.” 

I always wanted to work in marketing or communications, so when I finished university I started working as a copywriter. I had a couple of different jobs in marketing and communications over the next few years. I worked for the British Transport Police as their Social Media and Campaigns Officer for a while – that was a great job! After I changed roles, I found I missed social media and content creation. That’s when I applied for my current position as Social Media and Campaigns Officer in Imperial’s Student Recruitment and Outreach team.   (more…)

Read Naveeta Bhatia, Social Media and Campaigns Officer, Student Recruitment and Outreach in full

“The whole team has worked hard on ways to make ourselves available so students can come to us with questions and concerns.” 

I joined Imperial in May 2017 and work as a Student Hub Advisor. I enjoy the variety in my work and talking to people from many diverse backgrounds. A snapshot of my day can include supporting a student whose landlord is threatening to evict them, creating a webpage in HTML or holding a presentation for prospective students.  (more…)

Read Camille Foncel, Student Hub Advisor, Campus Services in full

“I have been involved in identifying and enabling access to key e-textbooks to support teaching and learning among the College community where previously we relied upon print only.” 

I started at Imperial in October 2005  working in the Library Acquisitions Team and the Mathematics Departmental Library. A few years later I switched to a full-time role in Acquisitions, based at the Central Library. 

My team identify, procure and facilitate access to a broad range of books, eBooks and case studies to support the Imperial community in their research, teaching and learning. Acquisitions come via direct suggestions from Library users, through our Liaison Librarians, and academics submitting reading lists for courses.  (more…)

Read Thomas Wales, Acquisitions Services Coordinator, Library Services in full

“Altogether, my team has successfully blended over 100 classes this summer, and I’m proud and humbled to have led an initiative like no other.” 

I am the Associate Director and Head of Operations for Imperial College Business School’s Edtech Lab. I am responsible for overseeing and managing the smooth running of the entire portfolio of online programmes for the School, and for building expertise to ensure the School is at the forefront of innovation in technology-enhanced education. I lead a dedicated team to deliver approximately 180 online modules every year, including modules for our award-winning online Global MBA programme and our MSc in Business Analytics.   (more…)

Read Dr Sarah Grant, Associate Director and Head of Operations, Imperial College Business School in full

“We needed our online classes to allow us to help academically but also to be a supportive, social space.”

I work part-time at Imperial as an Academic English Teacher in the Centre for Academic English where I support students and staff with the written and spoken communication of their research. Alongside this I teach part-time for the Victoria and Albert Museum. On July 14 I published my first novel The Miseducation of Evie Epworth, fulfilling my long-standing goal of publishing a book. (more…)

Read Neil Taylor, Teacher of English, Centre for Academic English in full

“We have issued more than 4,000 packs across all campuses, and we have orders in process for sufficient stock to make up a further 6,000 packs ready for those returning to campus in future, including students in October.” 

I joined Imperial’s Purchasing Department in November 2000. Since 2012, I have been Deputy Head of Purchasing, which involves overall responsibility for the day to day purchasing operations at the College, as well as delivering the Purchasing Strategy, improving the systems used and ensuring we deliver best value and savings across the wide portfolio of spend at the College.   (more…)

Read Andy Hitchman, Deputy Head of Purchasing, Finance Division in full

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“Since COVID-19 began I’ve filmed, edited and distributed 40 videos about COVID-19 protection for frontline staff with Dr Iqbal Malik for the European Cardiology (ePCR) response to the pandemic – one video has over 100,000 YouTube views.” 

Following a BA, an MA (Video), and an MSc (Medical Illustration – Photography and Video), I started working at St Mary’s Hospital as a Medical Photographer in 1994, and subsequently filled several audio-visual roles until my current post as Photographer and Video Producer within the Faculty of Medicine.  (more…)

Read Andy Pritchard, Photographer and Videographer, Faculty of Medicine in full

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“We have successfully moved 70 exams and 1,400 students from April to June into the digital exam world, ran numerous student training sessions, created demos and video for students and faculty.” 

I am the Head of Exams and Assessment at Imperial College Business School and Co-Chair of the Race Equality Charter‘s Self-Assessment Team. I joined the Business School in 2013 after leaving a similar role at a Royal Medical College where I worked for 14 years. Throughout my career, I have worked on process and procedure improvement projects such as moving examination applications online, to moving exams online here at Imperial. 

Before the pandemic, the Business School had been working on our biggest ‘bring your own device’ digital exam pilot using WISEflow. Myself and my colleague Emma Stoakes, our digital exam project lead, had been working on this big moment for the past 12 months… and then the pandemic hit!  (more…)

Read Anique Varleigh, Head of Examinations and Assessment, Business School in full

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“We have had to create new ways of replacing physical events with virtual ones. One example was to assist the Enterprise team with a high–profile pitch event that could no longer take place in person.” 

After finishing my Materials degree at the Royal School of Mines I (almost literally) fell into a role working for the Campus Services Events Department over the summer of 2006. The rest, as they say, is history. As the Events Technical Manager, I offer audio visual support to any College event and oversee a team of casual technicians that keep College events running. We are the sole producer of live streaming video content to Imperial’s YouTube channel, with over 130,000 subscribers worldwide.  (more…)

Read Samuel Phillips, Events Technical Manager, Catering Services in full

Celebrating our community during COVID-19

“It is humbling being part of Imperial’s COVID-19 response team. It is amazing to see the passion, talent, expertise and experience from colleagues coming together as a team delivering high profile work amidst a global crisis.”

I am an infectious disease epidemiologist and the External Relationships and Communications Manager at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis, Jameel Institute (J-IDEA). It is a privilege being in a position to witness the world coming together from this up-close. We are grateful to receive support from major funders like the MRC and Community Jameel.

I studied health sciences in Amsterdam, the Netherlands (my home country) and Bandung, Indonesia. My MSc in infectious disease at the VU Amsterdam took me to Aurangabad, India and Cape Town South Africa. For 10 years, I was proud to call Cape Town my home, where I completed my PhD. It was almost two years ago that I joined the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis and moved to London with my family. (more…)

Read Dr Sabine van Elsland, External Relationships & Communications Manager, School of Public Health in full