Meet our alumni

Kevin Ambrose (BSc Mechanical Engineering 1982)
Kevin Ambrose is Vice President Metals Technology at Crown Holdings, Inc. In his career he has specialised in high-speed manufacture of metal packaging for food and beverage products.

Andrew Barrett (BA Economics 1990)
Andrew Barrett has managed contracts for Panasonic, St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and Central London Community Health Care. His work has enabled five Brunel student health design projects per year to be completed in collaboration with Guy’s and St Thomas’.

Roger Bowden (BTech Special Engineering Programme 1971)
Roger Bowden founded Niftylift Ltd in 1985 and is owner and chairman of this enterprise dedicated to the design, development and manufacture of Mobile Elevating Work Platforms or “cherry pickers”. Niftylift Ltd has grown to be one of the world's leading manufacturers of mobile elevated work platforms, with over 400 employees in the UK and USA, alongside a vast dealer network across over 40 countries worldwide to support the 75% of sales as exports. Niftylift has won many awards, including two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise (Innovation and International Trade). Roger has himself received awards for his business success, including the International Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Awards for Powered Access (IAPAs) in 2017.

Dame Claire Bertschinger DBE (MSc Medical Anthropology 1997)
Claire Bertschinger is a nurse and advocate on behalf of suffering people in the developing world and has worked with the International Red Cross in over a dozen war zones, including Afghanistan, Sudan, Liberia and Lebanon. She worked in Ethiopia in 1984; a TV report on her work inspired Bob Geldof to launch Band Aid and Live Aid. In 2010, Claire was honoured as Dame Commander of the British Empire in the Queen's New Year Honours List for services to Nursing and to International Humanitarian Aid

Jordan Chitty (BSc Industrial Design 2007)
Jordan Chitty launched his own company upon leaving Brunel. Naked Creativity focuses on digital media and design and has gone from strength to strength, working with high-profile clients such as IDC, Virgin Wines and also our very own Brunel University London. Since its inception, Naked Creativity has taken on students from Brunel on year-long placements as well as providing full-time employment for graduates. He won the Brunel Alumnus of the Year award in 2013.

Dr Hannah Critchlow (BSc Cell and Molecular Biology 2003)
Hannah Critchlow is a neuroscientist - with a grounding in neuropsychiatry - who was selected as one of the UK’s Top 100 scientists by the Science Council in 2014 for her work in science communication. She unravels the human brain using Radio, TV and Festival platforms has presented on ‘The Naked Scientists’ on BBC radio. In 2013 she was named as one of Cambridge University‘s ‘Inspirational and successful women in science’. She won the Brunel Alumna of the Year award in 2014. Hannah has written a book on consciousness - part of the Ladybird Expert series aimed at adults - providing an introduction to the brain and the idea of consciousness.

Carlton Cummins (MSc Sustainability, Entrepreneurship & Design 2016)
Carlton is an award winning entrepreneur and design engineer. He is the Co-Founder and CTO of Aceleron - a company leading the way in renewable energy through lithium battery development. In 2017, Carlton was named the Shell Live Wire Entrepreneur of the Year and featured on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Alastair Curtis (BSc Industrial Design and Technology 1990)
Alastair Curtis is a successful designer. He worked at Nokia for 14 years where he reached the role of Chief Designer and Senior Vice President. He is currently Chief Design Officer at Logitech.

Greg Duggan (BSc Sport Sciences 2008)
Greg Duggan became a teacher and part-time model after graduating. He and alumnus Damien Kennedy then founded Wheyhey, the world’s first high protein, low fat and low sugar ice cream. They also co-founded and launched a protein-rich coconut drink, Coco Pro, which is designed to be the ultimate recovery drink. Greg and Damien won the Brunel Alumni of the Year award in 2015.

Joe Ferry (BSc Industrial Design and Technology 1993)
Joe Ferry joined Virgin Atlantic Airways as a Design Manager in 1996 and progressed to Head of Design in 2001. He was responsible for the airway’s flagship Upper Class Cabin design and has won multiple awards for his work. Joe has also worked as Head of Guest Experience (interior design) with Etihad Airways before taking up the role of Design Director with Belmond in 2017. Joe was made an Honorary Fellow of Brunel in 2010.

Emma Heatley-Adams (BSc Product Design 1999)
Emma Heatley-Adams is an esteemed designer. She worked at Dyson for 14 years where she became the first female director at the company in the role of Director of International Design. She has worked as a Product Innovation Consultant at Joseph Joseph, and is currently working on medical products as a Product Design Consultant. Emma is also a STEM Ambassador for Your Life - a campaign that works to inspire young people to study maths and physics as a gateway into wide-ranging careers.

Paul Kahn (MEng Engineering 1990)
Paul Kahn was appointed President of the Communications and Connectivity Sector of Cobham plc with worldwide responsibility for the business in October 2017. He has extensive international management experience in the aerospace, defence and transportation industries. His previous roles have included President and Chief Executive Officer of Airbus Group UK (now known as AirbusGroup Limited) and President at Thales and CEO of Thales, Canada. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Prime Minister’s Ambassador for Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace.

Harriet Kelsall (BSc Industrial Design and Technology 1993)
Harriet Kelsall is a designer and leading figure in the jewellery industry with her contribution to bespoke and ethical jewellery. As an entrepreneur, Harriet is the Founder and Chair of Harriet Kelsall Jewellery Design Limited and won the HSBC National Retail Businesswoman of the Year 2016 along with over 30 other awards. She has spent time as the Non Executive Director for the British Hallmarking Council and the Responsible Jewellery Council - in 2018, she was appointed to the position of Chair of The National Association of Jewellers.

Damien Kennedy (BSc Sport Sciences 2008)
Damien Kennedy became a GB basketball coach after leaving Brunel. He stayed in touch with classmate Greg Duggan and together they came up with the idea for a healthy ice cream. Together, they founded Wheyhey and won the Virgin Pioneer Award for their business. Damien and Greg won the Brunel Alumni of the Year award in 2015.

Andrew Ives (BTech Electronic and Electrical Engineering)
Andrew Ives pioneered the use of microwave radar for adaptive cruise control, digital control systems for engine and transmission management, and vehicle safety systems. He is a Fellow of the IEE as well as a Fellow and former President of the IMechE. He worked for Lucas Industries for thirty years, taking on the roles of Head of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Lucas Group Research Centre, and Director and General Manager of Lucas Automotive Sensors. Andrew also worked with the Jaguar racing team to develop engine management systems used in the Le Mans endurance race and oversaw the development of engine electronics for the Metro 6R4 super rally car in the 1980s.

Simon Murdoch (PhD Electrical Engineering and Electronics Research 1987)
Simon Murdoch is a highly experienced entrepreneur and investor in the Internet sector, who sold his first company, BookPages, to Amazon in 1998 after which he became VP Europe of Amazon.com. He has backed many successful ventures including Shazam, Zoopla and LoveFilm. As a Managing Partner, Simon now enjoys helping other people as an investor and advisor with his partners at Episode 1 Ventures.

Solveiga Pakštaitė (BA Industrial Design and Technology 2014)
Since graduating, Solveiga Pakštaitė has gone on to make huge waves in the design world and gain a great deal of industry recognition. She is the Founder and Director of her own freelance design studio - Design By Sol Ltd. in addition to the Founder and Director of Mimica - a company developing a biologically accurate smart packaging solution that reduces food waste and improves food safety. Her product - ‘Mimica Touch’ - began life as a final-year project at Brunel and has led to countless awards for Solveiga, including the prestigious MIT Technology Review’s Inventor of the Year accolade in 2017, presented at the prestigious annual Innovators Under 35 Europe Summit. Solveiga has also been named as Leader of Tomorrow 2016, Mayor of London Low Carbon Entrepreneur 2015, Top New Talent 2015 and Start-up of the Year 2014, to name a few of her accolades. Solveiga also won the Brunel Alumna of the Year award in 2018.

Nathaniel Peat (BEng Mechanical Engineering 2001/MSc Advanced Manufacturing Systems 2003)
Nathaniel Peat is a multi-award winning entrepreneur, international speaker, engineer and advocate for social issues surrounding youth, gender equality, youth crime, entrepreneurship and renewable energy. He has started a number of businesses and is the co-founder of GeNNex Solar - an award winning renewable energy company - as well as the Founder of the multi-award winning social enterprise The Safety Box. In 2013, Nathaniel was the winner of the UPF Youth Achievement Award and in 2015 received the Governor General Award for Excellence. In 2016, Nathaniel was listed in the UK Financial Times list for Upstanding Top 100 black ethnic minority executives in the USA, UK and Ireland. In 2017, Nathaniel was entered into the UK Black Powerlist and BAME 100 Top Board Index List and has recently became a Patron to the EY (Ernst & Young) Foundation and a Fellow of St Georges House (Society of Leadership Fellows). Nathaniel won the Brunel Alumnus of the Year award in 2011.

Jim Reeves (BSc Industrial Design Engineering 2003)
Jim Reeves is a Product Designer, Engineer and Technical Director who co-designed GravityLight - a gravity-powered lamp for use in developing countries - as a replacement for kerosene lamps. In 2013, GravityLight was called one of ‘The 25 Best Inventions of the Year’ by Time Magazine and named in the Top 100 Leading Global Thinkers by Foreign Policy Magazine. In 2015, Jim was also named as the Shell Springboard National Winner. Hving been the Technical Director at The GravityLight Foundation, since 2017 Jim has taken on roles as Technical Advisor for Deciwatt Ltd, Senior Teaching Fellow at the Dyson School of Design Engineering and Business Accelorator Mentor at the Central Research Laboratory - an organisation that has strong links with Brunel.

Geoff Taylor (BTech Building Technology 1976)
Geoff Taylor is a highly respected civil engineer who has undertaken projects including Earl’s Court 2 Exhibition Centre and Manchester Arena. He also served as Development Director at Wembley Stadium.

Kevin Thomas (Public and Social Administration 1986)
Kevin Thomas was the Chief Executive of Support Services Business Division at Babcock International Group plc. from 2010 until retiring in 2016. Prior to joining Babcock he worked in Facilities Management and local government. He is an independent Non-Executive Director of Harvey Nash Group plc. as well as a fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and a Freeman of the City of London.

Peter Ward (BSc Economics and Business Finance 2001)
Peter Ward is the Co-Founder and CEO of the award-winning WAYN.com (‘Where Are You Now?’) which launched in 2003 and was acquired by lastminute.com Group (LMN) in 2016. From this point, Peter has been in the role of CEO for WAYN.com and ContentHub. He is also the Co-Founder and Board Director of ICE List - one of the leading tech entrepreneur networks in Europe. Peter has received numerous awards and accolades since 2007 for his company, such as Website of the Year 2014 (MetrixLabs), the Global 100 Companies to Watch 2014 (Always On, USA) and Best Social Travel Network 2015 (World Travel Awards). Peter also won the Brunel Alumnus of the Year award in 2010.

Professor Geraint Howells (LLB Law 1986)
Geraint Howells is currently the Dean of Law School and Chair Professor in Commercial Law at City University of Hong Kong. He has worked at a number of UK Universities and has been a Professor at Sheffield, Lancaster and Manchester before joining City University of Hong Kong in 2014. He also practised for a number of years as a Barrister from Gough Square Chambers.

Marcella Phelan MBE (Government, Politics and Social Administration 1978 / Certificate of Qualification in Social Work / Public & Social Administration 1988)
Marcella was awarded an MBE in the 2018 New Year Honours List in recognition of her contribution to services to young people. Marcella has risen to a senior professional position as Assistant Director of Children’s Services in the London Borough of Ealing. Under her leadership, the Care Leaving Service in Ealing was rated as Outstanding by OfSTED in 2016. Marcella pioneered the Horizons project, a one-stop shop for Looked After Children in Ealing, and has delivered significant improvements in outcomes for this often-overlooked group.

Emeritus Professor Dato’ Dr Hassan Said (Numerical Analysis 1981 / PhD Mathematics 1984)
Dr Hassan Said is currently the Vice-Chancellor of Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM). Prior to this appointment, he was the Vice Chancellor and President of Taylor’s University. He was appointed as the Director General of the Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia from January 2005 until April 2008. He was also the Director, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Education Malaysia; a position he held since May 1998 before his appointment as the Director General. In 2018, Dr Hassan Said was made an Honorary Graduate of Brunel University London.

Nick Abbot (Psychology 1982)
Nick Abbot is an author and radio presenter who, after featuring on Brunel Radio, has gone on to present on numerous stations for the past 20 years, including Radio Luxembourg, Virgin Radio, TalkSport, Smooth FM, Planet Rock and LBC.

Hajaz Akram (Modern Drama Studies 2000)
Principal and founder of the Academy of Asian and Ethnic Dramatic Arts, Hajaz Akram has trained and worked as an actor, teacher and director for over 20 years. He has appeared in numerous television dramas including Doctor Who, Murder in Mind and Casualty, and is also the voice of DJ Panjit Gavaskar in Grand Theft Auto. He has had film roles in Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life and Batman Begins. Hajaz is also the co-founder of the charity, Shout At Cancer.

Carl Barât (Drama 1996)
Carl Barât is a musician, actor and author. He was the frontman and lead guitarist of Dirty Pretty Things, has recorded a solo album and created a band called The Jackals, but is best known for being the co-front man with Peter Doherty of the garage rock band The Libertines.

Adam Benzine (Multimedia, Technology and Design 2003)
Adam is a filmmaker and journalist. He received widespread acclaim, which included an Oscar nomination in the Best Documentary (Short Subject) category, for his debut documentary for HBO about French film maker Claude Lanzmann. Titled Claude Lanzmann: Spectres of the Shoah, Adam's film tells the story of Lanzmann's own seminal documentary about the Holocaust. Adam has written for a variety of newspapers including The Globe, The Mail and The Independent. He currently serves as the Canadian Bureau Chief for British news publisher C21 Media, and has previously served as Associate Editor for Canadian non-fiction news publisher Realscreen.

Jo Brand (Social Sciences 1982)
Jo Brand is a BAFTA winning comedian, writer, and actress. Commencing her entertainment career with a move from psychiatric nursing to the alternative comedy stand-up scene and early performances on Saturday Live, she went on to appear on The Brain Drain, Channel 4's Jo Brand Through the Cakehole, Getting On and various television appearances including as a regular guest on QI. In 2003, she was listed in The Observer as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. In 2012 she was awarded Best Female TV Comic at the British Comedy Awards. More recently, Jo has presented The Great British Bake Off: An Extra Slice, has co-written and starred in a comedy pilot for Sky Arts called Damned, and in 2017, presented the Channel 5 series Jo Brand's Cats & Kittens. In 2018, Jo was the presenter of Britain’s Best Junior Doctors.

Hardy Caprio (Business & Management, Accounting 2017)
Hardy Caprio is a UK rap artist / R&B singer who has been earmarked by music critics as one to watch after setting his own tone in the UK grime, rap and garage scene. He is one of the UK's most promising talents - not only has he released multiple critically acclaimed records, he's got over a million monthly listeners on Spotify, has performed at the 2018 Wireless Festival, and his One Acen collaboration 'Unsigned' has surpassed 23 million streams on Spotify alone.

Michael Dapaah (Theatre, Film & Television Studies 2014)
Michael Dapaah is an actor, rapper, and comedian best known for portraying the fictional rapper - Big Shaq - and his comedic rap "Man's Not Hot", which has had almost 300 million views on YouTube to date. He is also known for his mockumentary series on YouTube - SWIL (Somewhere in London) - which focuses on four characters and their journey to success and gained over 1 million views in its first series. In 2018, Michael won the title of  ‘Personality of the Year’ at the GRM Daily Rated Awards which celebrate the UK grime scene.

Greg Davies (Drama and English 1990)
Greg Davies is a stand-up comedian and actor best known for his roles as Greg in We Are Klang and Mr Gilbert in The Inbetweeners. He is a regular guest on TV comedy panel shows including Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You?, QI, Have I Got News for You and Fast and Loose. He has also performed on the Live at the Apollo series. Greg appeared in the BBC Three show Cuckoo, earning him a BAFTA nomination for Best Male Performance in a Comedy Programme. He is also the host of comedy show Taskmaster as well as the writer and star of the critically applauded Channel 4 sitcom Man Down.

Rita Ekwere - aka Ray BLK (English 2015)
Rita Ekwere - better known under her stage name of Ray BLK - is a singer and songwriter who won the BBC's Sound of 2017; and was the first unsigned artist to do so. Having released her debut mini-album, Durt in 2016 - featuring collaborations with Stormzy and Wretch 32 - she went on to sign with the UK branch of Island Records in 2018. As well as a nomination for Best Newcomer at the 2016 MOBO Awards, she was also featured on the 2018 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.

Francis French (PGCE 1997)
Francis French is an educator, speaker and author specialising in space flight history. He is a former Director of Events for Sally Ride Science, and is currently the Director of Education at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. Francis has made numberous appearances as a space expert on TV, including the Discovery Channel, History Channel and the Science Channel. In 2010, Francis was inducted into the US Space & Rocket Center's Space Camp Hall of Fame for his contributions to space history, science and technology.

Patricia Hodge (Education)
Patricia Hodge is an actress. She won the 2000 Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the play Money at the Royal National Theatre. She has had countless TV roles, including in Rumpole of the Bailey, as well as starring in many West End productions. Most recently she starred in the BBC TV series, Miranda and Downton Abbey. Patricia is the joint President of Grimsby's Caxton Theatre.

Sharon Horgan (BA American Studies and English 2000)
Sharon Horgan is an actress, writer, director and producer best known for the comedy series’ Pulling, Catastrophe (both of which she co-wrote), Motherland and most recently, Divorce on HBO. Sharon has won a British Comedy Award for Best TV Actress and Best Comedy Drama for Pulling. She is also seven-time BAFTA TV Award nominee, and winner of the 2016 BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Writer for Catastrophe (with Rob Delaney). Sharon was also nominated for the 2016 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series for Catastrophe. In addition to her television work, Sharon has also starred in the films Valiant (2005), Imagine Me & You (2005), Man Up (2015), and Game Night (2018).

Alizeh Imtiaz (English and Film and Television Studies 2008)
Alizeh Imtiaz is the first Pakistani to have successfully had her debut short film Shades of Black screened at the London Filmmakers Convention 2007. Her short film also won the award for Best Film at the London Filmmakers Convention which screened 80 films from all around the world. Alizeh has served as a trustee on the board of DSRA Schools for the underprivileged.

Jax Jones (Finance and Accounting 2008)
Jax Jones is a DJ, record producer, songwriter and remixer. His current work has included 2018 singles "Ring Ring" with Mabel ft. Rich The Kid and "Breathe" ft. Ina Wroldsen. He is also known for his 2016 single "You Don't Know Me" featuring Raye, which peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart, "Instruction" featuring Demi Lovato & Stefflon Don and featuring on Duke Dumont's 2014 single "I Got U", peaking at number one on the UK Singles Chart. He also has co-written, produced and remixed for the likes of The Vamps, Tinie Tempah, Paloma Faith, Missy Elliott, Years & Years, Charli XCX and Ellie Goulding.

Bryony Kimmings (Modern Drama Studies 2003)
Bryony Kimmings is a live artist, comedian, writer and activist for provoking social change. Her award winning work has toured across the world. She also mentors artists, teaches workshops, writes a popular arts blog, speaks on panels and appears on TV, most recently on the Channel 4 hit series, Artist in Residence.

Lee Mack (Drama with Film and Television Studies 1996)
Lee McKillop is a stand-up comedian and actor, known by the stage name Lee Mack. He is well known in the UK for writing and starring in the sitcom Not Going Out, for being a team captain on Would I Lie to You? and for hosting Lee Mack's All Star Cast. Lee is also known for hosting the Sky1 panel show Duck Quacks Don't Echo and for presenting the show They Think It's All Over. He has won the British Comedy Award for Best Male Television Comic in 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Ken MacLeod (Mechanical Engineering 1988)
Ken MacLeod is an award-winning science fiction author. His novels have won the Prometheus Award and the BSFA award (including Best Novel for ‘The Night Sessions’), and have been nominated for the Hugo and Nebula Awards and the Arthur C. Clarke Award. He was close friends with the late Iain Banks with whom contributed to the British boom in science fiction in the 1990s. His omnibus book - The Corporation Wars Trilogy - will be released in December 2018.

Sophie McShera (Modern Drama Studies 2006)
Sophie McShera is an actress known for her roles as Ros McCain in the fifth series of the BBC television series Waterloo Road, as Daisy Mason in the ITV television series Downton Abbey, and as Drizella Tremaine in the 2015 Disney film Cinderella. Sophie has most recently appeared in the television series' Murdered for Being Different and Timewasters.

Oreke Mosheshe (Management Studies 2003)
Oreke Mosheshe is an actress, TV presenter, blogger and model. She has appeared in BBC, ITV and Channel 4 productions, TV adverts, and has modelled for Matthew Williamson, Vivienne Westwood and Armani. She was the face of T-Mobile Web 'n' Walk campaign and has starred in the international Star Beer campaign.

Archie Panjabi (Business Management Studies 1996)
Archie Panjabi is an actress who shot to fame as Pinky in the movie Bend it Like Beckham. Amongst her many acting credits,  She is best known for her role as Kalinda Sharma on The Good Wife, earning her the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2010). She has also received a number of nominations including two more in the Emmy Awards, plus Golden Globe and Screen Actors’ Guild nominations. Archie is a activie philanthropist, and amongst her work in this area, was appointed as the first Pratham USA Ambassador, representing the largest educational movement in India. in 2018, Archie became one of the first guest editors of National Geographic to celebrate 130 years of the Magazine.

Claire Phillips (Mechanical Engineering 1986)
Claire Phillips is a portrait artist. Her works tell stories about the subjects, encouraging the viewer to consider social and political themes. She is particularly well known for her portraits of prisoners on death row and children rescued from slave labour, for which she has received wide media coverage.

Ross Ramgobin (BA Drama and English 2007)
Ross Ramgobin is an operatic baritone who has performed in Carnegie Hall (New York), The Linbury Theatre at the Royal Opera House (London), Chicago Symphony Hall and the Wigmore Hall (London). Current engagements include The Protector Written On Skin with the Melos Sinfonia, Demetrius A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Israeli Opera, Figaro Le nozze di Figaro for English Touring Opera, Schaunard La bohème for the 2018 Dorset Opera Festival, The Dream of Gerontius in Truro Cathedral and Fauré Requiem at the Hexham Festival. He sings The Counsel for the Plaintiff Trial by Jury at the 2018 BBC Proms and makes his debut at the Philharmonie de Paris in 2020. Ross was the winner of the Brunel Alumnus of the Year Award in 2012.

Hopewell Rugoho-Chin'ono (Documentary Practice 2008)
Hopewell Rugoho-Chin'ono is a Zimbabwean journalist. Hopewell has won numerous awards in journalism and has worked in both print and broadcasting and worked with the BBC World Service as a freelance producer. For his documentary, Pain in my Heart, he won the 2008 CNN African Journalist of the Year award, 2008 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Award and the Kaiser Family Foundation Award for Excellence in HIV/AIDS Reporting in Africa. In 2008 the Zimbabwean government banned him from covering its disputed election because of his zeal to get to the truth and report it without favour. Hopewell has won numerous awards in journalism and has worked in both print and broadcasting journalism.

Liesel Schwarz (Creative Writing 2011)
Liesel Schwarz is a published ficton author, whose trilogy The Chronicles of Light and Shadow was commissioned and partly written at Brunel. Her work is highly regarded in the genre and she was tipped by The Independent as the next “high priestess of Steampunk”.

Bindya Solanki (Drama and Religious Studies 1995)
Bindya Solanki made her television debut in the ITV children's programme My Parents Are Aliens. She went on to have roles in the BBC drama Sweet Revenge and Sky One's Dream Team. She is best known for playing the role of Nita Mistry in EastEnders from 2001-2003 and has also starred in BBC Asian Network’s Silver Street, as Mindy. Bindya has also appeared in many stage productions, including playing Juliet in Romeo and Juliet at the English Shakespeare Company.

Alex Straker (English and Film and Television Studies 2010)
Alex Straker is a writer and journalist. He is part of the Soho Theatre Young Writer’s programme and in 2013 took part in the Second Light Industry Mentoring Scheme. He was also part of the writing school for the online series EASTENDERS: E20. Alex regularly contributes to the Independent Online as an Arts Blogger. Alex's writing credits currently include Eastenders and Holby City. He was included in the ‘BBC New Talent Hotlist 2017’ as an emerging new talent of the future.

Cathy Tyson (Drama and English 2013)
Cathy Tyson is a stage, film and television actress. Her film debut in ‘Mona Lisa’ in 1986 won her the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress and nominations for an Golden Globe and a BAFTA. Acting credits have included the drama series Band of Gold, in addition to Grange Hill and Emmerdale. Cathy is one of the Honorary Patrons of the London children's charity Scene & Heard and has founded theatre production company, Pitch Lake Productions.

Lucy Verasamy (Geography and Earth Sciences 2001)
Having completed a work placement at the Sky Weather Centre, Lucy Verasamy became the regular weather presenter on the Sky News breakfast show Sunrise. In 2007 the Sky News website started a feature entitled Climate Clinic - Ask Lucy as part of their Green Britain campaign. She also contributed to Sky News The Weather Girls blog. In 2010 she joined ITV Breakfast programme Daybreak, as a weather forecaster and environment correspondent, and went on to front national ITV Weather forecasts. As of 2017, Lucy was part of the ITV Racing team as a weather expert and also joined Good Morning Britain as a relief weather presenter.

Lee Walpole (Film and Television Studies 2001)
Lee Walpole is an award-winning Supervising Sound Editor whose work includes Les Miserables, The Imitation Game and The King’s Speech. He has won an Emmy, a BAFTA, a Satellite and a Golden Reel Award, along with multiple nominations.

John Watts (Psychology 1978)
John Watts is a musician and multimedia artist who started the rock band Fischer-Z in 1976 with fellow alumnus, Steve Skolnik while at Brunel. He is now a solo artist and his new project, entitled World Go Round, is a multimedia combination of a play entitled The Last Picasso, an album called World Go Round and poetry book called The Grand National Lobotomy.

Guillaume Bayens, Hereditary Grand Duke of Luxembourg (MBA 1996)
Prince Guillaume is Heir apparent to the crown of Luxembourg. His duties include Honorary Chairman of the Board of Economic Development of Luxembourg since 2001. He was formerly active with the Kraizberg Foundation, a charitable institution for the disabled. Guillaume regularly represents his parents in many foreign activities and has represented Luxembourg in various celebrations in honour of Danish, Norwegian and Dutch royalty.

Janet Daby (Social Work 1995)
Janet Daby is is a Labour Party politician who is Member of Parliament (MP) for the parliamentary constituency of Lewisham East in London having won the seat at a by-election held on 14 June 2018. Janet was first elected as a Lewisham Borough councillor in 2010, and was nominated as Deputy Mayor of the London Borough of Lewisham prior to her election as an MP. She previously worked in volunteer management and in children’s social care, and acted as a registered fostering manager. 

John Leech (Politics and Modern History 1994)
John Leech is a British Liberal Democrat politician who is currently the  leader of the opposition on Manchester City Council. He was the Member of Parliament for Manchester Withington from 2005 to 2015. In the 2005–2010 Parliament he was a member of the Transport Select Committee and was appointed a Shadow Transport Spokesperson in 2006. He was named 'Parliamentarian of the Year for Road Safety' by road safety charity Brake in 2008.

John McDonnell (Economics and Government 1977)
John McDonnell is a Labour Party politician who was appointed the Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in September 2015. He became the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hayes and Harlington at the 1997 general election, and has retained his seat from then onwards. He has served as Chair of the Socialist Campaign Group in Parliament and the Labour Representation Committee, and was the chair of the Public Services Not Private Profit Group. He is also Parliamentary Convenor of the Trade Union Co-ordinating Group of eight left-wing trade unions representing over half a million workers.

Reza Moridi (PhD Physics 1986)
Reza Moridi's career spans academia, research, science, corporate and public service. He is a former politician in Ontario, Canada and was a Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario from 2007 - 2018. He served as Minister of Training, Colleges and Universities and Minister of Research, Innovation and Science in the government of Kathleen Wynne. He was the first Iranian-Canadian elected to a provincial legislature in Canada.

Anastasios Papaligouras (Comparative Law 1975)
Anastasios Papaligouras is a Greek lawyer and New Democracy politician and was the Minister for Mercantile Marine and Island Policy. He was leader of ONNED (the New Democracy youth organisation) from 1976 to 1977. He was elected MP for Korinthia in the general elections of 1981, 1985, 1993, 1996 and 2000 and became Minister for Justice in the new government of Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis in 2004.

Pekka Sauri (PhD Psychology 1993)
Pekka Sauri is a Finnish psychologist and a Green League politician. He is currently the Deputy Mayor of Helsinki and chair of the Procura Campaign for sustainable procurement. He became well known in Finland during the late 1990s for hosting a popular radio show Yölinja ("Nightline") in which he tried to help callers with their various personal problems. Pekka has written several books and his caricature cartoons have been published in many Finnish papers.

Alec Shelbrooke (Mechanical Engineering 1998)
Alec Shelbrooke was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Elmet & Rothwell in May 2010, winning the seat from the Labour Party. At the 2015 General Election Alec was re-elected and nearly doubled his majority, securing the second biggest Conservative majority in West Yorkshire. In the snap General Election of June 2017, Alec increased his majority once again whilst many other Conservative seats in West Yorkshire saw their majorities decrease.

Lord Tomlinson (Public and Social Administration 1976)
John Tomlinson is a British Labour Co-operative politician. He is currently a life peer in the House of Lords, and was previously a Member of Parliament from 1974 to 1979, and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1984 to 1999. He is currently Chair of the Association of Independent Higher Education Providers.

Shailesh Vara (Law 1984)
Shailesh Vara is a Conservative Party politician. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for North West Cambridgeshire in 2005 and was re-elected in 2010, 2015 and 2017. In Opposition, Shailesh was Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Commons and before being appointed to the Front Bench, he was on the Select Committee for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Shailesh is presently a Minister for Northern Ireland, having previously served as a Minister for Justice, a Minister in the Department for Work and Pensions and also as a Government Whip. During his career, Shailesh has also been the Joint-Vice Chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Trafficking of Women and Children, Treasurer of the BBC All Party Parliamentary Group, Vice-Chairman of the Executive Committee of Conservative Lawyers and the Chairman of the Conservative Parliamentary Friends of India Group

Claire Ward (European Politics 1995)
Claire Ward is a British Labour Party politician. She served as the MP for Watford from 1997 to 2010, and was a Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice from 2009 to 2010. From 2011 - 2015, Claire was Executive Director of the Independent Pharmacy Federation. From 2015 - 2017, she became the Chair of Pharmacy Voice, an association of trade bodies representing community pharmacy contractors.

Tony Adams MBE (Sport Sciences 2006)
Tony Adams is a football manager and former Arsenal defender. He is considered one of the greatest Arsenal players of all time by the club's own fans and was included in the Football League 100 Legends. With Arsenal, he won four top flight division titles, three FA Cups, two Football League Cups, a UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, and three FA Community Shields. When his playing career finished he went into football management, spending periods in charge of Wycombe Wanderers, Portsmouth and Azerbaijan side Gabala.

Tom Aggar (MSc Sport Sciences 2013)
Tom Aggar is a para-rowing single sculler. He is four-time World Champion, he won Paralympic gold in Beijing 2008, and bronze in Rio 2016 before retiring in 2017.

Eni Aluko (LLB Law 2008)
Eni Aluko is an international football star and at heart of the growth of women’s football in England. She has made 102 appearances for the England national team from 2004 - 2016, competing in three FIFA Women's World Cups - China (2007), Germany (2011) and Canada (2015) - as well as the 2009 and 2013 UEFA Women's Euro. Eni also represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. From 2012 - 2018, Eni played for Chelsea in the FA Women's Premier League before signing with Italian champions, Juventus in 2018. Eni is a sports lawyer and Associate Consultant for law practice, Slaughter and May, and is the Founder of Crescenda Sport - a sports career consultancy and mentoring service set up in 2015 for young students, university students, post graduates and individuals of varying backgrounds. Most recently, Eni has been on our TV screens as a pundit for the World Cup 2018.

Kevin Bowring (Physical Education 1978)
Head of Elite Coach Development, Rugby Football Union, 2002-2016, first f/t professional national coach for the Welsh Rugby team, 1995-98, many other positions in Rugby Coaching, Elite athlete coaching. Kevin is also a former Senior Lecturer (UWIC), Lecturer and teacher. Dyson Award for services to coaching and coach development, Sport Coach UK Coaching Hall of Fame

Kevin is one of the most successful coaches to have been produced by Borough Road College and one of the best respected coaches in Rugby Union, both in the UK and worldwide.

Kevin has coached through the period encompassing the switch to professional players and teams within Rugby Union, successfully transitioning between the two eras and has played a part in developing many of the most successful coaches operating today in the game.

Since 2002, his focus has been on Elite Coach Development, drawing no doubt on the teaching skills and more importantly the ethos taught at Borough Road in his time there. Kevin is not someone who seeks the limelight, but he has worked concentratedly in the development of the sport for his entire career and has continued to support Boro’ and then Brunel rugby when he could.

Although officially now retired, he continues to be involved in sports coach mentoring across the rugby six nations, and in other sports including premiership academy soccer. 

Ashley Bryant (Sport Sciences 2013)
Ashley Bryant is a British Decathlete who won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2014.

Mike Coughlan (Mechanical Engineering 1981)
Mike Coughlan is a race car designer. In 2011 he became the Chief Designer for Williams F1, and is now Technical Director there. Previously posts include Chief Designer for the McLaren Formula One team.

Melissa Courtney (BSc Sport Sciences 2014 / MSc Sport & Exercise Psychology 2017)
Melissa Courtney is a middle-distance runner, internationally representing both Wales and Great Britain in the 1500m and 5000m. Melissa placed third at the 2014 British Indoor Athletics Championships and made her international debut at the 2015 European Athletics U23 Championships, placing tenth in the 1500m. She placed seventh nationally at the 2016 British Athletics Championships and was later selected for the 2016 European Athletics Championships. She was chosen to represent Wales at the 2018 Commonwealth Games where she secured the Bronze medal for the 1500m. Melissa was recently selected to represent Great Britain in the 5000m event at the the 2018 European Championships.

James Cracknell OBE (Sport Sciences 1999)
James Cracknell is a rower, double Olympic gold medallist and six-time World Champion. Since retiring from rowing, he has undertaken a range of extreme endurance challenges including rowing the Atlantic and the South Pole Race. He became the fastest Briton to complete the Marathon de Sables in 2012 and has represented Great Britain in triathlon.

Norman Croucher OBE (Education 1965)
Norman Croucher had two below-knee amputations following an accident at age 19. He has since walked Land’s End to John O’Groats twice and climbed more than 100 mountains including the Matterhorn, Mont Blanc and the 8,201m Cho Oyo. He was the first disabled person appointed to the Sports Council and has been an advocate for disabled sport for much of his life.

Paul Dickenson (Physical Education 1971)
Paul Dickenson is a former British and Commonwealth record holder in the Hammer and represented Great Britain at two Olympic Games. He then became a highly successful broadcaster and a well-known voice in athletics commentary.

Montell Douglas (Sport Sciences 2008)
Montell Douglas is predominantly known as a British sprinter - she was a Gold medallist in the 4x100m relay event at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Dehli, has represented Team GB at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games - competing in both the 100m and 4x100m relay - and is the former British record holder for the 100m. In 2016 she switched to bobsleigh, before making her competitive debut in mid-2017. Montell is the first British woman ever to be selected for the Summer and Winter Olympics in different sports. After a top-10 finish on her bobsleigh World Cup debut, Montell finished 7th at an event in St Moritz, before securing a Europa Cup victory shortly after. That success, just two weeks after making her debut in the sport, gave Britain its first Europa Cup gold in seven years. Montell was then selected as the reserve for the women's bobsleigh squad for the 2018 Winter olympics in PyeongChang.

Abo Eisa (Biomedical Sciences, Immunology 2018)
Abo Eisa is a professional footballer who plays for Shrewsbury Town as a winger. Abo signed for Wealdstone in July 2017 where he played 24 league games, scoring 14 goals. Abo turned professional in January 2018 with Shrewsbury Town, scoring on his first start in the EFL in April 2018 in a 1−1 draw against Bury.

Abi Ekoku (Sport Sciences & Geography 1990)
Abi Ekoku is a former Rugby League player and manager, and a former GB athlete. He managed the GB national rugby league team and as CEO at Bradford Bulls, saw his team win the Superleague, Challenge Cup and World Club Championship. He spent six years as a professional rugby league player with Bradford Bulls, Halifax and London Crusaders. Prior to this, he represented Great Britain and England at the Commonwealth Games, European Athletics Championships, and was AAA’s National Champion in the Discus in 1992. He was also UK Champion in the early the early 1990s.

Heather Fell (Physiotherapy 2004)
Heather Fell is an Olympic silver medallist and one of Britain’s top modern pentathletes. Heather has been successful on both the World and European stages and in 2008 picked up her Olympic silver medal at the Beijing games and a gold at the World Cup. She won silver at the 2010 World Championships. She was voted as Brunel’s Alumna of the Year in 2009.

Brett Garrard (Business Studies and Sport Sciences 1999)
Brett Garrard was the captain of Great Britain and England Hockey teams and competed in the 2000 and 2004 Summer Olympic Games. Her retired from international hockey in 2008 and is now Head Coach of Surbiton Ladies, and Hockey Professional at Reed’s School.

Ben Gollings (Sport Sciences 2005)
Ben Gollings is a rugby union player and IRB7s Series all-time top scorer. He has previously played for England Sevens, and most recently Rugby Lions. He is also a coach and commentator.

Brad Hall (Sport Sciences 2015)
Brad Hall is a British bobsledder who represented Team GB in both the two-man event and the four-man event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang. Brad had previously competed in the decathlon for Crawley Athletics Club. He then went on to compete in the Bobsleigh event at the 2012 and 2014 Junior World Championships before undertaking the Accelerated Driver Programme and scoring his first top-20 finish on his World Cup debut in 2015. In 2017, Brad secured his first World Cup medal with Bronze in Whistler before making his Olympic debut at the 2018 Winter Olympics.

Roger Hammond (Management and Materials Technology 1996)
Roger Hammond is a cyclist, specialising in cyclo-cross and road cycling. He was the British road champion in 2003 and 2004. He has ridden for Discovery Channel, Team High Road, Cervélo TestTeam and Garmin-Cervélo. He represented Great Britain in the 2005 and 2006 Tour of Britain. In July 2012 Roger was announced as the Team Manager of the Madison Genesis team.

Audley Harrison MBE (Sport Sciences and Leisure Management 1999)
Audley Harrison is a professional British boxer from Harlesden who fights in the heavyweight division. At the 2000 Olympics in Sydney he became the first British fighter to win an Olympic gold medal in the superheavyweight division. After his medal win, Harrison was awarded an MBE. He briefly retired in 2013, but rescinded his decision shortly afterwards.

Richard Hill MBE (Geography and Sport Sciences 1995)
Richard Hill is the current England National Rugby Union Team Manager and is a former Rugby Union player and also played for the British and Irish Liions. He played flanker for Saracens and England and helped England win the World Cup in 2003, for which he received an MBE. Richard was also awarded a Brunel Honorary Masters degree.

Lizzy Janes (Physiotherapy 2006)
Lizzy Janes (previously Lizzy Hall) is an international athlete competing as a 3000m cross country runner and steeplechaser. She represented Great Britain at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships and competed at the European Athletic Championships twice.

Samual Knight (Aerospace Engineering 2014)
Samual Knight graduated in 2014 with an MSc in Aerospace Engineering from Brunel. He has many achievements in rowing and has represented GB and England in international competitions. He has been selected to row for Great Britain three times, and for England twice. These included taking Gold and Bronze in the 2010 Junior European Championships in the Quadruple Scull. In addition, he has seven national championships to his name.

Amber Luzar (Sport Sciences 2009 / 2012)
Amber Luzar is currently the Lead Performance Analyst and Technical Lead for England and Great Britain Hockey and the English Institute of Sport. The Sport Sciences graduate joined Team GB Hockey from Reading FC, where she was one of only two female video analysts working in the Premier League. Amber uses video analysis of matches to improve players' performance and enhance the coaching messages for training; something that led her and Team GB Women's Hockey to Gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Catherine Murphy (Law 1997)
Catherine Murphy’s international athletics career spanned 13 years (1993-2006) during which time she won six national titles over 200m and 400m. She competed at World and European Championships as well as Commonwealth and Olympic Games. Her best individual achievement was 4th place in the 400m in the World Indoor Championships in 2003 and the highlight of her career was finishing in 4th place in the final of the 4 x 400m relay in the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Toby Olubi (Economics 2008)
Toby Olubi is a British bobsledder who represented Team GB in the four-man event at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

Abi Oyepitan (Politics and Sociology 2001)
Abi Oyepitan is a sprint athlete. She won the 100m at the 2001 Summer Universiade and at the 2002 Commonwealth Games she took a bronze medal with the 4x100m team. She became one of Britain's best female sprinters and the first British female to reach an Olympic final in a sprint event since Kathy Cook. She won a silver medal for England at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi in the 200m and a gold medal when she anchored the 4x100m relay team to a win.

Alan Pascoe MBE (Physical Education 1971)
Alan Pascoe is a former British hurdler. He won silver at the 1972 Olympic Games in the 4x400m relay, and was 400m hurdles Commonwealth champion in 1974. He was European Champion in the 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay in 1974.

Agustin Pichot (Business Studies & Sport Sciences 2002)
Agustín Pichot (born 22 August 1974 in Buenos Aires) is a retired Argentine Rugby Union scrum-half, formerly captain of the Argentine team and Bristol Rugby. He also played for French sides Stade Français and Racing Métro after leaving Argentine team CASI from San Isidro in 1997. In 2011, he was inducted into the IRB Hall of Fame.

Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE (Sport Sciences 2003)
Kate Richardson-Walsh is an Olympic Gold and Bronze medal winning field hockey player. She was capped a record 375 times and was the England and Great Britain Captain for 13 years. She has played in four Olympic Games (2000, 2008, 2012 and 2016), four World Cups and four Commonwealth Games. Between 2013 and 2016 she was elected to the British Olympic Association Athletes' Commission and European Olympic Athlete’s Commissions. After 375 appearances for her country, 19 medals, 49 goals and 13 years as GB and England Captain, Richardson-Walsh confirmed her retirement from International hockey after the Rio Olympic Games. In July 2018 Kate was appointed as joint Head Coach for Hampstead & Westminster Ladies XI. Kate serves as an ambassador for the Women’s Sport Trust and supports disability hockey as an ambassador for Access Sport. In 2017, Kate was presented with the highest honour in English Hockey; the England Hockey Member of Honour - she was also the first British hockey player to be inducted into the European Hall of Fame and received a Brunel Honorary degree in the same year.

Perri Shakes-Drayton (Sport Sciences 2011)
Perri Shakes-Drayton is an athlete specialising in the 400m hurdles. She won double gold in the 2013 European Indoor Championships for 400m and 4x400m. She was also 2012 World Indoor Champion in 4x400m relay and won double bronze at the 2010 European Championships for 400m hurdles and 4x400m relay.

Tom Shanklin (Sport Sciences 2004)
Tom Shanklin is a former rugby union player who played outside centre for Cardiff Blues and Wales. He is Wales' most-capped centre. He played club rugby for London Welsh and then Saracens, before joining Cardiff Blues in 2003.

Kelly Sotherton (Sport Sciences with Leisure Management 1998)
Kelly Sotherton is a former heptathlete and 400m sprinter. She was the bronze medallist at the 2004 Summer Olympics and bronze medallist for the 2008 Summer Olympics. She also won bronze at the 2007 World Championships in Athletics, and was the heptathlon gold medallist at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

Paul Stimpson (Sport Sciences & Geography 1980)
GB & England Basketball, played over 120 times for GB and England and captained England. Wikipedia Information

Kathy Smallwood-Cook MBE (Sport Sciences & Biology 1981)
13 medals at the Olympics, World, European and Commonwealth Games in Athletics. Wikipedia Information

Peter Terry (Sport Sciences & English, PGCE in Physical Education in 1982)
Peter was Sport Psychologist at 9 Olympic Games, 18 World Championships, 28 World Cup Competitions, 9 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2002 and 2010 Commonwealth Games. Peter is now Dean of the Graduate Research School at the University of Southern Queensland, and Professor of Psychology there.

Iwan Thomas (Leisure Management and Sport Sciences 1995)
Iwan Thomas is a former sprinter who represented Great Britain at the Olympic Games in the 400m and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. He is the current UK and Commonwealth record holder at 400m and is a former European and Commonwealth Games Champion.

Greg Whyte OBE (Sport Sciences & Geology, PGCE in Physical Education 1990)
Modern Pentathlon Olympian, won World Championship silver & European bronze medals; Professor of Applied Sport & Exercise Science, Liverpool John Moores University. Wikipedia Information

Ron Wilson (Building Technology 1977)
Ron Wilson was the Scotland Rugby Union fly-half from 1976 to 1993. He is now Technical Director at Farr & Roberts building firm in Maidenhead.