Tuesday 8 March, 5:00 pm to 6:30 pm
We are pleased to be hosting this online event on International Women’s Day 2022, as we place a spotlight on the work of a number of inspirational Hughes Hall women.
Our panellists are all Hughesians working and studying in STEM subjects, who will be discussing their careers, research and journeys into their chosen field.
Presentations will be followed by a Q&A and panel discussion. All welcome, including non college members. Click here to sign up and receive a zoom link.
Host
Dr Amita Ummadisingu (Research Associate)
Amita is a Swiss National Science Foundation Fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory. Her research interests are in sustainable energy technologies with focus on studying novel materials for opto-electronic applications which include solar cells, light emitting diodes (LEDs), photodetectors and lasers. She specializes in the formation of semiconductors from solutions for thin film devices. Her doctoral work at École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) unravelled the formation of three-dimensional perovskite materials for the fabrication of highly efficient solar cells.
Her current project investigates the formation and opto-electronic properties of new two-dimensional perovskites. This highly interdisciplinary project combines aspects of Chemistry, Material Science and Physics to provide the vital foundation and toolkit for the design of highly efficient perovskite opto-electronic devices in the future. Beyond research, Amita is involved in outreach activities at the Cavendish Laboratory geared towards engaging schoolchildren in science.
Speakers
Dr Bethan Charles (Research Associate)
Bethan is a postdoctoral research associate in the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy within the Functional Photoactive Materials group. Her research focuses on investigating light-emitting materials for applications in solar harvesting devices, such as solar cells. Bethan joined the University of Cambridge in January 2020, after completing her PhD within the Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies (CSCT) at the University of Bath, looking into materials capable of making solar cells more efficient, printable, flexible and colourful.
Before this, Bethan worked in London as a business analyst. She is passionate about public engagement and has won numerous awards for her outreach work, encouraging children to study STEM subjects. She has also founded initiatives encouraging communication between early career researchers and policymakers and is a contributing writer and editor for Cambridge’s popular science magazine BlueSci.
Dr. Anna Schroeder (Research Associate)
Anna is a Research Associate at the MRC Epidemiology Unit and is currently involved with modelling the impact of transport on health by looking at air pollution, traffic accidents and physical activity (or lack thereof).
After completing her PhD in Computational Algebra at the University of St Andrews, Anna worked as a transport planning consultant for two years. During this time, she gained experience developing various macro- and microsimulation transport models but also worked on a few research projects looking e.g. at the impact of autonomous vehicles on road safety.
Realising that she would like to spend more time doing research she returned to academia as a Research Associate in the Engineering Department at the University of Cambridge working on the MAGIC project where she used Computer Vision to understand vehicle trajectories and emissions.
Dr. Sheen Gurrib (Alumni)
Sheen is a strategy consultant for Oliver Wyman based in Dubai. Originally from Mauritius, she first completed an MEng in Materials Science from Oxford University then moved to Cambridge for a PhD in medical materials. Her research was focused on the investigation of vertebral endplates in the spine, as the underlying cause of chronic back pain. Following her PhD, she made the transition to the corporate world, while also launching herself in the content creation universe. She is the host of the podcast Dream,Girl where she interviews women pursuing a variety of careers, to empower the next generation of young women. She also gave a TEDx talk in 2021 on girls education. Furthermore, she has a youtube channel where Sheen shares her experience of applying and studying at Oxbridge, life as a consultant, and tackles general topics on women empowerment and emotional intelligence.
Dr. Kirsty Mary Davies (Alumni)
Kirsty completed her Masters in Translational Medicine and Therapeutics followed by a PhD in Experimental Psychology at Hughes Hall, University of a Cambridge. During her third year of her PhD she went part-time to start working for GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare.
She is currently the Director of Clinical Governance and cross-portfolio delivery within Clinical Operations at GlaxoSmithKline. In this role, she is responsible for strategic clinical trial planning, governance of study prioritisation and performance as well as business operations for a large team of study delivery and asset leads. Prior to this role, she held roles in clinical portfolio and analytics and as a study delivery lead. She also led an enterprise project for human biological sample management.
In May 2022 she will be leaving GSK and move to a new role at PPD in Cambridge, part of Thermo Fisher to become the Executive Director, Head of Resource Management. An exciting role for her, where she will be building a high-performing team who will work to enable the strategic resource forecasts for Thermo Fisher’s clients.
