Student Academic Choice Award winners revealed

The Student Academic Choice Awards (SACAs) took place earlier this week, with eight staff from across a number of departments going home with awards.

The awards ceremony, organised by Imperial College Union, took place on Monday evening. 48 staff from across the College were nominated by students for awards such as Best Graduate Teaching Assistant and Best Tutoring.

Nick Burstow, Deputy President (Education), who headed the SACAs this year, said the evening was “incredible”, and it was “a pleasure to see just how much the SACAs mean to the staff at Imperial” It was a good night for the Department of Materials and the Imperial College Business School, who took home two awards each. Professor Marisa Miraldo, an associate professor in health economics, kicked off the evening with her award for Best Supervision. The panel said she was described as “outstanding and inspiring” in her nominations. PhD student Hormoz Ramian, also from the Business School, took home the award for Best Graduate Teaching Assistant.

From the Department of Materials, Dr Anna Regoutz was awarded Best Teaching for Undergraduates; she was described as “a shining pearl in a murky sea of confusing lectures” in one of her nominations. Dr Luc Vandeperre, a Reader in Structural Ceramics from the Department of Materials, was awarded Best Feedback.

Best Innovation was awarded to Giskin Day, course lead for the new intercalated BSc in Medical Humanities, Philosophy, and Law, for her “out of the box thinking, imaginative use of gamification in teaching content, and expanding the horizons of her students”

Speaking to Felix, Day said she felt “honoured” to receive the award: “The students inspire me, because I always learn so much from them, but there is also a team of innovative teachers – I’m inspired by a lot of people. Just being given the permission to be innovative at a big university like this is really nice. There’s a great future ahead for innovative, interdisciplinary teaching.”

Burstow told Felix: “The SACAs are a truly wonderful initiative, and a reminder of what we should all be making more time to do: to celebrate excellence, to share positivity, and most importantly, to say ‘thank you’ to those who have made a difference to us. Despite the pressures students face, this year saw our students saying ‘thank you’ more than ever before, with nearly 2000 nominations submitted."

Full List of Winners

Best Supervision: Professor Marisa Miraldo – Imperial Business School

Best Tutoring: Professor Graham Wilson – Medicine

Best Graduate Teaching Assistant: Hormoz Ramian – Imperial Business School

Best Teaching for Undergraduates: Dr Anna Regoutz – Materials

Best Support Staff: Clare Drysdale – EEE

Best Innovation: Giskin Day – School of Professional Development

Best Feedback: Dr Luc Vandeperre – Materials

Best Teaching for Postgraduates: Dr Fidelis Perkonigg – Computing