Contributions to School community recognised at Student Celebration event
This first ADBE Student Celebration event was held on 12 May and also saw the announcement of the inaugural ADBE Employability Award winners.
By Jon Duckworth | Published on 19 May 2025
Students from across the School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment were invited who have contributed to the School community by taking on roles such as Student Mentor, Student Consultant and Open Day Ambassador, as well as those who have participated in the ADBE Industry Mentoring Programme.
Following a welcome by Executive Dean Andrew Knight, Liz Radice, Student Experience and Engagement Lead, delivered a review of the year that highlighted the scale of activity and impact of the Student Voice Panel (organising 23 events with 1310 attendees), Student Mentors (over 2000 hours worked supporting 654 mentees) and Open Day Ambassadors (36 ambassadors providing 330 hours of open day support).
Chris Jones, School Employability Manager, gave an overview of some further projects, including the ADBE Placement and Work Experience Champions network who have put on events and created resources to motivate and inspire first and second year students about the benefits of placement and experience. Chris also celebrated the 48 final year students who have taken part in the ADBE Industry Mentoring Programme, receiving one to one mentoring from our ADBE Alumni Fellows, who are all experienced industry professionals working in industry.
Final year Product Design student Ishita Arora
Then it was time to hand over to hear the student point of view.. Ishita Arora, final year Product Design student, gave an overview of her experiences as student mentor, member of the student voice panel and participant of the ADBE Industry Mentoring programme, reflecting on the benefits gained from these experiences. There was also time for other students to contribute feedback and share their own individual experiences of these different initiatives.
Finally, the winners of the inaugural ADBE Employability Awards were announced. Created this year as a pilot through the Employability Working Group, the awards recognise the experiences and achievements of our students in a range of different areas contributing to their employability. Some of the awards are nominated by staff, and others are open to self-nomination from students. Winners were presented with a certificate and a voucher by Andrew Knight.
The full list of winners follows:
Staff nominated awards
Best individual or group performance in an employer-led project
Winners: Stacy Banamwana (Product Design), Madeline Audiss 2023 (IAD ), Stacy Besong (Architecture), Rohan Matharu (Architecture), Rosie Wren (Architecture)
This group were the winners of the Mosaic House Design Project working as an interdisciplinary team on a 2 day live project for a charity in Ghana. The group showed great innovation, sustainability knowledge, collaboration and presentation skills.
Best Sustainability Related Project
Winner: Miroslava Molinero (Architecture L7 Degree Apprenticeship)
Miroslava has created a sustainability toolkit as part of her research project in consultation with her employer Pick Everard. This innovative toolkit allows the practice to embed sustainability at each stage of the RIBA plan of works.
Student helper award - best contribution to peer support or course activities
Winner: Phoebe Lawrence (Real Estate)
Winner: Molly Greene ( Product Design)
Both Phoebe and Molly were praised by their course leaders for their exemplary contributions to their respective courses, taking on a range of different roles to support current and prospective students including student mentor and open day ambassador roles, as well as finding time to provide informal support to peers and involve themselves in a range of extra-curricular activities
Student most committed to developing their employability at NTU
Winner: Harry Head (Product Design)
Harry was praised for his proactive and determined approach to securing a placement opportunity by approaching an organisation who was not advertising for a placement but convincing them to create an opportunity for him which he has excelled in and has also generated opportunities for future students, as the company plan to continue taking on placement students.
Student self-nominated awards
Most impactful short placement / internship / volunteering experience
Winner: William Stenning (Product Design)
William was recognised for an impactful one-week placement with Alpkit, an outdoor equipment manufacturer which he secured on the back of a design competition as part of his course. The experience gave him a great insight into different aspects of the organisation and he worked on the integration of a new brand as well as learning from manufacturers across Europe and Asia.
Most impactful international experience
Winner: Viktorija Pucinska (Civil Engineering L6 Degree Apprenticeship)
Viktorija was selected for a two week scholarship in India which was a turning point for her personal and professional journey. In addition to developing her intercultural awareness and relationships, she also set up a Women in Engineering podcast on the back of her experience which won her an Outstanding Contribution to the Industry award at the New Civil Engineer Graduate and Apprenticeship Awards.
Most impactful approach to networking
Winner: Gracia Anyiam-Osigwe (Property Development and Planning)
Winner: Molly Greene (Product Design)
Molly and Gracia both made strong submissions referencing the wide range of activities they have been involved in which have helped them to develop their professional networks. Gracia has taken part in a wide range of mentoring schemes, including the Fortitude Global Advisory Programme, the Women's Development programme and the Black Leadership Programme as well as working closely with peers and staff through her roles in the school. Molly has also taken part in mentoring programmes and other activities as well as developing effective professional relationships through her placement with Nestle and university networking events. Both have demonstrated active and effective use of LinkedIn to build their online presence.
Congratulations to the winners and thanks to everyone who took part and helped make the first ADBE Student Celebration event a success.