Celebrating our award winners
Ian Hounsome: Impact Award winner
This award honours those who are making an impact through their voluntary, charitable or professional activities.
Ian Hounsome is a mental health campaigner who is dedicated to making a difference for men struggling with challenges through his work with
ANDYSMANCLUB – a men’s suicide prevention charity which offers free peer-to-peer support groups across the United Kingdom and online.
“The troubles I have experienced mean I can connect and understand the people I help,” Ian explains. As Area Lead for ANDYSMANCLUB Edinburgh Lothian & Borders, he oversees clubs in the local area, supports new and existing users and volunteers, and shares his story in the hope it will inspire others.
My story is that I married the wrong person, which culminated in me being on the receiving end of coercive control and domestic violence,” Ian explains. At rock bottom, Ian discovered ANDYSMANCLUB, and after attending for while found he was enabled to open up about his experience. “What was critical for me was the realisation that I wasn’t alone. Understanding that other men have problems really helped me.
The significance of the support he received led Ian to work in the area of victim support. “I began by volunteering to help run my local ANDYSMANCLUB meetings. I had a job working at the court helping vulnerable witnesses, but then a full-time job came up at ANDYSMANCLUB, and it seemed like a natural progression because the charity had helped me so much.”
André Agius: Rising Star Award winner
Through this award, we tribute to the achievements of a recent graduate who has achieved success in the immediate years following the completion of their studies.
André is an Edinburgh-based, Maltese Director and Theatre-Maker, who is gaining recognition for his bold and inventive directorial style that seeks to challenge, excite and entertain audiences. “I actually started out as an actor working in both theatre and film; it was only after trying directing toward the end of my undergraduate degree that I realised it was what I wanted to do all along,” André explains.
He has since directed and created theatre that is bold, full of relevance, and often risk-taking in its approach, amassing a burgeoning stage CV. During 2025, André’s work led to him being labelled as one to watch by The Stage - the UK’s leading publication for the entertainment industry, particularly theatre. “I feel like I’m hitting chapter two of my career in terms of the shows and projects I’m getting involved with,” he comments. “Last year I was Associate Director at the Lyceum in Edinburgh and then went to Malta to direct God Of Carnage for the National Theatre there, before heading to Brussels to direct Radiant Vermin for The Bridge Theatre, a play I had long wanted to do.”
This year has seen him focused more on Scottish shows, including Lysistrata at the Scottish Institute, and Chef, which was produced by The Gaiety and toured Scotland and was exceptionally well-received, and also Blood Wedding featuring the graduating actors from the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland.
Our Excellence Awards honour outstanding contributions former students are making in their chosen fields
Five inspiring individuals received a 2025 Excellence Award: Jack Lennie, Ogochukwu Okoye, Bilaal Shabbir, Toni Scullion, and Angela Scott. Find out more about the Excellence winners below.
Jack Lennie
Forging an impressive career in special effects that has seen him work on a long list of blockbuster films, Jack Lennie also supports others in the industry and champions the wider creative industries.
Involved in projects for all the major Hollywood studios, including Marvel, Netflix, Warner Bros., and Universal, Jack has worked on some of the biggest films in cinema. “I’ve designed rigs for spaceships to fly on, large-scale destruction sequences for blockbuster action films, and animatronic dinosaurs for Jurassic Park,” he explains.
Jack, and his wife Kate, a furniture designer—the pair met as students on the Product Design course— established We Are Makers, a magazine and podcast. “Craftspeople are often underrepresented, so this is our way to celebrate talented makers and artists from across the globe,” Jack comments. They have also recently launched and awarded their first grant fund to help makers move their businesses forward.
Ogochukwu Okoye
A clinician researcher who is passionate about preventing chronic kidney disease and improving the outcomes of patients living with the condition. Ogochukwu Okoye recently completed her PhD at Edinburgh Napier University, which looked at the association of ambient air pollution with kidney disease.
Now based at Delta State University and at its Teaching Hospital in Nigeria—where she helped to establish the nephrology unit— Ogochukwu recently became the inaugural Director of its new Research and Grants Unit.
She is also the founder of St Linus Renal Care Initiative, a non-profit organisation working to improve the lives of people living with chronic kidney disease in Nigeria. “We work to raise funds to support people who cannot pay for their treatment and
focus on prevention as this is more effective, and cheaper, than a cure. I disseminate information about kidney health and also carry out free screenings for local communities.
Bilaal Shabbir
A specialist in public law and commercial dispute resolution, Bilaal Shabbir is an
Advocate who was called to the Scottish Bar in 2023. “This is a special job and it’s an honour to stand up in court and to advocate on behalf of others,” Bilaal comments.
Alongside his Faculty of Advocates work, he is involved in sporting disciplinary work as Chair of a number of sports association panels and boards including at the Football Association, England Golf, and England & Wales Cricket. “I enjoy this work and believe it’s important to make the process fair to help people who might not otherwise have a genuine chance of seeing justice done,” Bilaal explains.
Bilaal also provides immigration advice to a variety of organisations. “Immigration law is a technical and challenging area of law; I aim to help level the playing field for people who might otherwise get lost in a
complex system.”
Toni Scullion
Passionate about engaging pupils with the subject of computing science, particularly more girls, Toni Scullion is the founder of multi-award-winning charity dressCode and co-founder of the Ada Scot festival.
Computing science has the largest gender gap of any traditional STEM subject. “dressCode aims to inspire school pupils and raise awareness about the diverse opportunities available in tech,” Toni explains. “While the Ada Scotland Festival champions gender diversity in computing and tech across further and higher education, which is crucial, because we need to fix the gender gap across every age and stage.”
As co-lead of Scottish Teachers Advancing Computing Science (STACS), Toni connects and empowers teachers to help improve computing science provision in Scotland. “It’s seen me create over 400 hours of high-quality, research based resources that have female role models throughout,” she comments. “And their inclusion on UNESCO’s Open Science website was one of my proudest moments.”
Angela Scott
From being part of the team that cloned Dolly the Sheep to founding biotechnology company TC BioPharm, Angela Scott is one of the UK’s top scientists and a pioneer in Scotland’s cell therapy and regenerative medicine sector.
Founded in 2014, TC Biopharm is a clinical development company, where Angela acted as Chief Operating Officer involved in all aspects of building a successful business, from setting up the manufacturing facilities and overseeing operations and research, to HR and finances.
“TC Biopharm was 10 years of hard graft; we raised tens of millions of dollars in investment before listing on the Nasdaq stock market in 2021,” Angela explains. She stepped down in 2023 but is still heavily involved in consultancy work. “I’m passionate about supporting young entrepreneurs,” she comments. “I advise start-ups in the cell therapy and regenerative medicine areas, and I also sit on Scottish Edge’s grant award panel.”
Alumni Awards Celebration event
Last November, we hosted a celebratory event at Craiglockhart Campus to honour the winners of the 2025 Alumni Awards.
Watch the recap video
here to relive the highlights of the evening, and browse the images below for a glimpse into the celebrations.