Alumni and friends celebrate Australian ties

Australian alumni and friends gathered at two major receptions in Sydney and Perth last week. Imperial's President Alice Gast met more than 100 members of the College's 1,600-strong Australian alumni community, along with friends, partners and collaborators. At Sydney's Pier One and Perth's Pan Pacific, Professor Gast showcased some of Imperial's recent research partnerships with Australia, including work with the University of Queensland to combat antimicrobial resistance. In the last five years alone, Imperial academics and their Australian colleagues published 3,000 high impact research papers. President Gast said "Thank you for building a network of support for Imperial." She updated the community on recent College successes "like Dave Henson who is defining excellence in new and unexpected ways." After losing both legs serving in Afghanistan, Captain Henson helped found the Invictus Games and won bronze in the Rio Paralympics. His PhD "work in biomedical engineering is coming up with solutions for others with amputations and knee injuries. He is an inspiration and we are very proud." President Gast also highlighted the Data Science Institute 's phenomenal visualisation capabilities, recalling a "wonderful" moment where "grown geologists cried at the great resolution and fine detail of grains of sand on Mars from the Rover mission." - Having fun, working hard.