New UCL engineering graduate joins Lewis Hamilton’s diversity commission

George Imafidon, who finished his UCL degree this summer, is one of 14 members of the Hamilton Commission set up to improve diversity in Formula One and engineering. Imafidon, who was awarded a First-Class MEng degree in Mechanical Engineering, chaired the #AB1Million campaign to raise £1 million for the Amos Bursary to ensure talented men of African and Caribbean descent have access to top higher education institutions. He is also co-founder and director of Motivez, a social enterprise and app which connects young people of all backgrounds to career and development opportunities. He is now one of 14 members of the Hamilton Commission, set up by the Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton to improve the representation of black people in engineering and motorsport. The commission, which aims to identify the key barriers to recruitment and progression of black people in UK motorsport and ways to overcome them, will be co-chaired by Hamilton and Dr Hayaatun Sillem (UCL STEaPP), Chief Executive of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Honorary Professor at UCL. Other members include Tracey Crouch, former sports minister, Alice Gast, President of Imperial College London, ex-McLaren Formula 1 boss Martin Whitmarsh, and Chi Onwurah, the Labour MP for Newcastle-upon-Tyne and shadow minister for digital, science and technology. The Commission has been chosen to "represent a wide range of expertise spanning critical areas of influence, including motorsport, engineering, schools, colleges and universities, community/youth groups, as well as major UK political parties".