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Stanley Speel receives the 2018 Matthew Greenwood Award

This year’s Matthew Greenwood Award has been presented to Stanley Speel, a fourth-year Hertford College undergraduate student who consistently went above and beyond as a Student Ambassador for Engineering Science at Oxford.

DPhil student recieves Matthew Greenwood award, from head of the department in 2018 Prof Lionel Tarassenko

The recipient of the Matthew Greenwood Award demonstrates a commitment to sharing the values and culture of the Department. It is awarded to a student who willingly gives up their time for outreach events, and who can successfully relate to young people who are considering studying engineering. In awarding the prize, Department Head Professor Lionel Tarassenko noted that the winner of the award is recognised as being a pleasure to work alongside, and that the decision process takes account of the views of the Oxford Engineering Ambassadors themselves.

Stanley took part in the Headstart Summer School programme this year for sixth-form students from schools across the UK. The programme gives participants a taster of what it would be like to study engineering at university and to experience university life. One of the sixth-formers commented, “The Student Ambassadors were amazing in every aspect, from helping us settle in on the very first day, to providing us with tips about university life”.

This is the second year that the prize has been awarded, following its presentation to Maruthi Malladi last year. It is named in memory of Matthew Greenwood, a fourth-year Oxford Engineering Ambassador who sadly passed away in 2016. Matthew was committed to sharing his experiences, and was said to have been enthusing about the transformative power of an engineering degree even from his hospital bed. The Award is given each year to an undergraduate who reflects the qualities Matthew showed as an ambassador.

Professor Lionel Tarassenko, Head of Department, presented the award to Stanley in front of an audience of former students. He said, “It is our student ambassadors who will inspire the next generation of engineers. They are the ones who can relate to young people and inspire them as to why engineering is such a fascinating subject. Stanley’s efforts in this field have been outstanding, and we look forward to seeing what he goes on to do next.”