Imperial Student Wins Best Computational Science Student Award

Richard Hayden who graduated this year with an MSci degree in Mathematics and Computer Science has been named the Best Computational Science Student of the Year at the 2007 Science, Engineering & Technology Student of the Year Awards. His win was announced at a ceremony attended by more than 500 students, academics and business leaders at London's Alexandra Palace.  Record numbers of entries were received from every major university in the United Kingdom and Ireland and judges paid tribute to the exceptional quality of this year's work.  The Microsoft Research Award Trophy for the Best Computational Science Student was presented to Richard by Dr Andrew Herbert, Managing Director of Microsoft Research.

Richard has been an exceptional student receiving numerous prizes throughout his undergraduate career. His final year project won the Donald Davies Project Prize and he was awarded prizes in 2004 and 2006 for the best student on the Joint Maths and Computing course. The work he presented for the SET Awards on "State Space Explosion Problem" was outstanding. The fluid techniques Richard developed and formalized in the project promise to make the analysis of large systems applicable on an industrial scale. Richard will continue studying in the Department of Computing at Imperial College and has been one of the few to be awarded a prestigious PhD studentship.

The SET Awards are organised by the World Leadership Forum and sponsored by Airbus, AstraZeneca, AWE, Balfour Beatty, Bentley Motors, Cadbury Schweppes, e2v Technologies, GKN, GlaxoSmithKline, The Institution of Engineering & Technology, Laing O'Rourke, Lloyd's Register Educational Trust, Microsoft Research, Morgan Crucible, The National Physical Laboratory and SAGE.

They are supported and judged by The British Computer Society, The British Pharmacological Society, The Institute of Biology, The Institute of Food Research, The Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology, The Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining, The Institute of Physics, The Institution of Chemical Engineers, The Institution of Civil Engineers, The Institution of Engineering & Technology, The Institution of Mathematics and its Applications, The Institution of Mechanical Engineers, The London Mathematical Society, The Royal Aeronautical Society, The Royal Institution of Naval Architects and The Royal Society of Chemistry.