Inaugural Alumni Achievement Awards

As part of the Homecoming Scotland 2009 celebrations the Development Office wanted to end the year by recognising a student and alumnus who have been truly outstanding ambassadors for the University in their personal and professional lives. 

Our Edinburgh Napier Student of the Year for 2009 is Rebecca Gates. A nursing student, she has made a substantial contribution to University life – particularly in her promotion of internationalisation. At first she acted as a buddy to incoming Erasmus students but that soon grew into an ambition to create the very first Edinburgh Napier International Nurses and Midwives Society.

It has been a resounding success, with over seventy paying members recruited and over £15,000 raised in funding support. Dozens of students have been supported by the Society to visit nine countries while Rebecca has represented the University at a number of international conferences and workshops. She has also participated in EU nursing projects, starred in an Edinburgh Napier nursing promotional video and still found time to maintain an excellent performance in her studies.

The title of the Edinburgh Napier Alumnus of the Year award was just as keenly contested, with many very worthy nominations put forward. However, the outstanding candidate was clear, and Ken Brown is our 2009 winner.

Ken completed his HND in Civil Engineering at Edinburgh Napier in 1985 and has since gone to have a challenging and exciting career with Balfour Beatty. His achievements include winning the Silver helmet Quality in Construction Awards 2007 and winner of the Safety Award and the Supplier of the Year Award from the Network Rail partnership awards 2009. He has worked on a range of multi-million pound projects.

Throughout his career he has kept his connection with Edinburgh Napier alive by organising site visits and fields trips to give our students a more tangible experience of civil engineering, including countless trips onto the Forth Bridge. He has also given numerous guest lectures and sat on student presentation panels. Beyond that, he also lent his considerable experience to engineering module development work when the University moved from 15 to 20 credit based modules.
 
Both Rebecca and Ken received their awards at the Principal's Christmas Reception on 15 December.

Thank you to all of our graduates who took the time to nominate. Your support is much appreciated