Five young engineers who have been outstandingly successful in their respective fields at an early stage of their careers have each received a prestigious award and a £3,000 prize from the Royal Academy of Engineering. They were presented with their awards from HRH The Princess Royal, Royal Fellow of the Academy, during a specially arranged visit to the Thames Tideway Project in London on 6 July.
Lucy alumna Dr Gita Khalili Moghaddam is CEO of TumourVue Ltd, which she co-founded in 2018 to address a pronounced unmet need in cancer surgery. Based at the University of Cambridge’s Biomedical Innovation Hub and with funding from the Medtech Accelerator, TumourVue’s technology combines real-time imaging and AI to distinguish a viable tumour from normal brain tissue. Gita innovated the system to improve outcomes for cancer patients undergoing surgery by allowing the surgeon to identify the edges of the tumour accurately, to help preserve as much healthy tissue as possible.
Having obtained her PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Cambridge in 2017, Gita is currently on secondment at GSK Global Health until 2023 as a UKRI Innovation Scholar, taking a leading role in the use of AI in tuberculosis drug development. In 2019, she was awarded a prestigious Borysiewicz Biomedical Sciences Fellowship at the University of Cambridge in recognition of her outstanding research in the field of biomedical engineering.
As an academic entrepreneur, she has been widely recognised as one of the top 18 women in AI & Data by Innovate UK (2019), a BioBeat Mover & Shaker in BioBusiness (2020) and a top contender for Cofinitive 21toWatch (2021).
Gita commented on the award: “I am truly delighted to be elected for this RAEng award, sponsored by the Worshipful Company of Engineers. This prestigious honour not only recognised my commitment to advancing Bio/Med-Tech through innovation, but more importantly it celebrates the collective achievements of TumourVue’s team and collaborators. This recognition gives us the extra momentum to serve our society by translating our R&D into a product that hopefully will enhance cancer surgery outcomes.”
Read the RAEng press release here.
About the RAEng Engineers Trust Young Engineer of the Year award
With the generous support of the Worshipful Company of Engineers, the Royal Academy of Engineering makes five awards of £3,000 each year to UK engineers in full time higher education, research or industrial employment, who have demonstrated excellence in the early stage of their career (defined as less than ten years since graduation from their first degree in engineering). There is no restriction on the discipline base of the individual nominated.
About the Academy
The Royal Academy of Engineering is harnessing the power of engineering to build a sustainable society and an inclusive economy that works for everyone.
In collaboration with their Fellows and partners, they’re growing talent and developing skills for the future, driving innovation and building global partnerships, and influencing policy and engaging the public.
Together they’re working to tackle the greatest challenges of our age.
Image: Dr Gita Khalili Moghaddam (left) and HRH The Princess Royal, Royal Fellow of the Academy, during a specially arranged visit to the Thames Tideway Project in London.
Image credit: Thames Tideway