Cambridge students SET the pace

Cambridge students swept the board in this year's prestigious Science, Engineering & Technology (SET) Student of the Year Awards, winning four of the 13 prizes.

The SET awards, now in their fourth year, have been described as the Oscars of British science education. They are organised by the World Leadership Forum Ltd, and supported and judged by 14 of Britain's leading professional bodies.

Outstanding students from many of Britain's leading universities were competing in categories covering a broad spectrum of research, from biology to civil engineering.

Women outnumbered men in the prize-winners list this year for the first time this year, a gender gap reflected in the Cambridge winners list which was made up of three women and one man.

The four Cambridge winners are:

• Rachel Battilana, of the Department of Engineering, winner of the Institution of Civil Engineers Award for her design of an emergency refugee shelter;
• Caroline Wright, of the Department of Chemistry, winner of the World Leadership Forum Award for the Best Chemistry Student, for a project on the folding transition state of beta-sandwich proteins;
• Hanna Wallach, from the Computer Laboratory, winner of the MISYS Award for a project on Computer Aided Design (CAD) constraints;
• Christopher Rawlings, from the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy, winner of the Morgan Crucible Award for the Best Material Student, for a project entitled "Music to the Masses".

Each student was initially assessed on the basis of a written project report, and a citation from their lecturer. Finalists then came to London for a face-to-face interview with the judges, where the final winner was chosen in each category.

The winners of the 2001 competition were announced at a gala dinner in Guildhall London.