To get this recognition of achievement from King’s and on a national level meant a lot to me. It was fantastic to meet some of the 29 other finalists at the ceremony and learn about the amazing work they are doing throughout the UK – their stories are a testament to the great impact that students and graduates can have. I believe that I was able to make an impact because of the trust and confidence that the startups I worked with instilled in me. I went into the internship wanting to learn about the startup world, and came out as a part of it. From a careers perspective, receiving the award is not only a great addition to my CV but also a reminder of how much I got out of my summer experience. I am also glad that I got to bring home a trophy for King’s without whom this would not have been possible.
22 January 2020
King's Informatics student wins Santander Universities Student Impact Award
Mariam Ahmed, a BSc Computer Science with Management student in the Department of Informatics, has recently been awarded winner of the ‘employability’ category at the Santander Universities Student Impact Awards.
Following a national competition to award Santander-funded university internships, the annual ceremony recognizes and celebrates students who have made a positive impact in their education or internship through the Santander Universities programme.
Mariam’s nomination was supported by her achievements and contributions over the course of two summer internships undertaken in 2019 at Live More (a mental healthcare startup from fellow King’s student Matt Waugh) and at Shortly, a short stories phone application. These opportunities were facilitated in partnership with the King’s Entrepreneurship Institute, which exists to foster entrepreneurial thinking, skills and experiences amongst King’s students, staff and alumni.
At Live More, Mariam’s achievements included building a framework for the company, conducting research into funding opportunities and proposing a data analysis strategy for a pilot programme. Her work at Shortly included developing features such as a story-editing function and ‘skip stories’ button, with an additional project also resulting in over 4,000 stories being added to the phone application’s database.
On winning the award, Mariam commented;