In Brief

Enterprise award
Imperial College spin out TBsC Technology won first place in the JEE/EFS Spirit of Enterprise Awards last month.

Finalists selected from regional and national competitions met in Brussels for the European final of the competition. TBsC’s presentation and plan was awarded first prize in the ‘seed’ category by judges from European Venture Capital Association and sponsors PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

Stem cells at IC
A discussion day for  IC’s  stem cell researchers was held at Hammersmith Hospital last month.

Organised by Professor Julia Polak and colleagues from the Faculties of Life Sciences and Medicine, it aimed to identify how the College’s stem cell research could be consolidated and strengthened through greater collaboration. External speakers briefed fellow researchers on their work and advised on future strategy.

Imperial College Tissue Engineering Centre has recently been awarded MRC Cooperative Group Grant status for tissue engineering - a discipline for which stem cell research is a major component.

Seminar winner
Ms Judith A Roether, MSc student of the centre for composite materials who carried out MSc thesis work in the department of materials,  has won one of the prizes of the PG students’ seminar competition which took place last month at the Institute of Materials. The seminar was organised by the Society for the Advancement of Material and Process Engineering (SAMPE) and the Institute of Materials.

Children in need
The SAF Building helped raise £232.39 for Children In Need last month when Neil Young, senior accounts assistant in faculty of medicine, won the ‘Terrible Tie’ competition and was awarded a bottle of champagne as consolation. Staff also donated £1 to ‘dress down’ for the day and bought boiled sweets, each one £1, from Ellen the SAFB recepti-onist/security guard.

The event followed Jeans for Genes day in October when staff donated £1 and wore jeans to work or bought a Jeans for Genes badge to wear.  Proceeds totalling £58 went to Great Ormond Street Hospital and other charities supporting genetic research, including the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

Position
The position of VAT Accountant has been filled by Gordon Wannan who brings 25 years’ experience with HM Customs and Excise to the post.