Davide Zilli from Electronics and Computer Science has won silver and Agnieszka Dzielendziak from Engineering and Environment, has taken the Bronze in the Engineering category of the SET for BRITAIN competition.
Davide was awarded the silver medal and £2,000 prize for his work on developing a mobile phone app that can detect and amplify the call of the cicada, among other sounds and calls, to be used by amateur and professional entomologists. Agnieszka received the bronze medal and a £1,000 prize went to for her work on how materials used in ship-building are degraded by the demanding marine environment.
They were amongst PhD students and Early Career Researchers from across the UK, who presented their research to a range of politicians and a panel of expert judges on 9 March, as part of the SET for BRITAIN poster competition and exhibition.
Their work was chosen from a wide range of applicants, to encourage, support and promote Britain’s early-stage and early-career research scientists, engineers, technologists and mathematicians who are an essential part of continuing progress in, and development of, UK research and development.
The students competed in five categories: biological and biomedical science, chemistry, engineering, maths and physics. Their research areas covered topics from home-based stroke rehabilitation technology, to foot ulceration treatment for diabetes patients, and targeted drug delivery.
Davide (pictured above) said he was thrilled with the award:
“It was a fantastic opportunity for us to engage with the real decision makers, and show our work to those who can influence this country much more effectively than we can. It’s certainly also a challenge to explain our research not just to our colleagues, who are in the same field, but to an audience much more interested in the wider picture. Our task was to show the impact our work can have on society, and it’s something we don’t get to do very often. I even met a former Chancellor of the University, which was a great honour for me.”
Agnieszka was equally proud with the accolade:
“I was honoured by receiving an award at SET for Britain 2015 and found attending the event extremely rewarding as it allowed me to present my research to a distinguished audience of multiple backgrounds, making a case for paving a way towards a more sustainable future.”
The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee run the SET for Britain event in collaboration with the Royal Society of Chemistry, the London Mathematical Society, the Institute of Physics, The Physiological Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Society of Biology and the Society of Chemical Industry, with financial support from BP, Wiley, Essar, INEOS, the Clay Mathematics Institute, Warwick Manufacturing Group (WMG), the Bank of England and the Institute of Biomedical Science.