The London Centre for Nanotechnology (LCN) UCL recently hosted the first LCN alumni event.
The popular event featured alumni speakers, who shared their experiences of studying at the LCN, their career insights, and engaged in a panel session and networking reception to grow LCN’s networks of excellence. Speakers included:
Professor Christian Ruegg, who now serves as the Director of the Paul Scherrer Research Laboratory in Switzerland. He offered a brilliant perspective on leading a world-class research institute and his experiences since his days at the LCN, as a postdoctoral scientist, Royal Society Research Fellow and academic.
Dr Marc Warner spoke passionately about his journey from LCN PhD student to becoming the Founder and CEO of Faculty AI, one of the fastest growing AI companies in the UK. Joining him, was Setrak Balian, who was also a UCL PhD student and is now Research Engineering Lead at Faculty, who provided insights into the cutting-edge work being done at the company and advice for researchers interested in moving to industry.
Dr Polina Brangel, is now a Technical Officer at the World Health Organisation, provided a global health perspective. She discussed her role in addressing major health challenges, including a major COVID-19 Solidarity Serology programme, and described how her interdisciplinary research career at the LCN as part of the i-sense EPSRC IRC, has helped to shape her career.
Finally, Dr Virginia Ciriano Tejel, Senior Engineer at Quantum Motion, shared her journey from an LCN PhD student to a career in one of the leading companies in the field of quantum computing. Virginia recently completed her PhD at the LCN and her presentation was particularly enlightening for the aspiring scientists and engineers in attendance, looking to move into industry.
Professor Rachel McKendry, who organised the event, said, “It was such a pleasure to welcome back LCN alumni, who have gone onto remarkable careers spanning academia, industry and policy. We are enormously proud of our students and postdocs. The unique interdisciplinary environment of the LCN is nurturing a pipeline of talent and future leaders.”
The event, funded by UCL MAPS Faculty, received glowing feedback from attendees and reinforced LCN’s commitment to fostering a strong and engaged alumni network. LCN plans to host more such events in the future, continuing to inspire the next generation of researchers and leaders in the field of nanotechnology and beyond.
