151st annual dinner for the former students of the RSM a great success

The 151st annual dinner of the old students of the Royal School of Mines, more latterly known as the Royal School of Mines Association’s Annual Dinner, was held on 22 November 2024. 

The sell-out event brought together 125 guests consisting of 63 Alumni and 45 students alongside honoured guests from the university. Once again, the generosity of the RSMA membership was on display with 30 students being supported to attend the dinner. Photographs for the night can be found here:  RSMA Annual Dinner 2024 | Flickr

A number of awards were presented at the dinner. The Peter Harding Memorial prize was presented to Anne Barrett, College Archivist and Corporate Records Manager. Georgia Ray received a miner’s lamp and a prize of £250, having won this year’s Illing Family Essay competition for her essay entitled If a Tree Falls in a Forest and No One is Around to Hear It, Does the Global Carbon Stock Change?, published in the latest copy of Imperial Engineer.

The RSMA was delighted to introduce Dr Susannah Maidment, Principal Researcher, Fossil Reptile, Amphibians and Birds Section at The Natural History Museum, as our guest speaker. Susannah’s fascinating talk focused on her principal research on the Stegosaurus and current projects including examining niche partitioning and evolution through time in Morrison dinosaurs and Middle Jurassic environments in the Middle Atlas Mountains of Morocco. Guests were rewarded with a humorous and enthralling insight, with Susannah’s passion for the Paleontological subjects clearly demonstrated.

Dr Susannah Maidment

Rocky Fund continues to make a difference

As previously reported, a generous gift from a Royal School of Mines alumnus has begun to create bursaries for students from disadvantaged backgrounds and establish new student prizes. 

The objective of the Rocky Fund is to provide financial assistance to one undergraduate student each year who shows exceptional academic potential and wishes to study Earth Sciences at Imperial. In addition, there are two Rocky Future Leader Prizes awarded to graduating students, one in Education and one in Industry.

The goal of the donor this year is to expand the funding by at least £100,000 and to help us achieve this, they are generously donating an additional £50,000 with a request to former students and colleagues to match, and hopefully exceed their pledge. This matching donation campaign is planned to run until mid-April 2025 and is fully supported by the Department of Earth Sciences and the RSMA. 

The Annual Dinner was delighted that the funds benefactor was able to attend in this inaugural year alongside this year’s recipients from the fund who are;

·        Muhammed Asri Zulkifli, Rocky Fund Bursar 

·        James Bell, Rocky Fund Prize winner – Future Leader in Industry (couldn’t be with us)

·        Nikol Davidova, Rocky Fund Prize winner – Future Leader in Scholarship

The RSMA has been asked to help promote the fund to see if there are others who wish to support these aims. In addition, the RSMA will be involved in helping the ESE Department select suitable candidates. For more information please email the RSMA at rsma@imperial.ac.uk.

Connecting with students

The financial support given by the RSMA to the students on RSM courses is only possible through the generous donations and annual subscriptions of the alumni. We thank them all for their continued generous support.

The RSMA awarded four no-strings-attached 100 Club bursaries of £1,500 to students entering their final year. Successful applicants will have exceeded our expectations in all aspects of university life, socially as well as academically. Our congratulations go to this year’s winners who are;

·        Hettie Holmes, 

·        Phoebe Houldsworth-Bianek, 

·        Tommy Simmonds, 

·        Amy Dean

We also awarded the Peter Harding Prize to Anne Barrett for exceptional service by RSMA members to the RSM and RSMA.

The 2024 Illing Family Essay Prize for the best essay on any technical subject with an environmental slant went to Georgia Ray, who has just completed her MSc in Environmental Data Science and Machine Learning. The RSMA was able to invite Georgia to the Annual Dinner in November where she was awarded a replica miners lamp in addition to the £250 cash prize. 

Other activities that the RSMA supports financially each year includes a grant to RSMU which helps fund the Freshers’ Dinner, the Spring Dinner, the Bottle Match and the other events which RSMU organises. The Association also supports the various departmental societies by making grants direct to them. The Geology Society received £300 early in the Autumn term to help cover the costs of the freshers field trip.

Over the summer, the Association awarded two £250 expedition grants to help students who are pushing their personal boundaries in expeditions during vacations. 

Not yet taken up are funds for education grants and loans to help fund students going on educational courses as well as for the arts for students who are struggling to pursue their arts interests whilst on RSM courses. Finally, there are also discretionary grants/loans for hardship to help individual students suffering unexpected financial hardship, either through loss of support, personal injury or for other reasons.

Early in 2025, the RSMA will support the Careers Evening in the Spring term and linked to this, and new for next year, the Association is offering alumni mentoring to help students focus efficiently on the transition from university to career. 

On February 6th, 2023, the Royal School of Mines Union held its annual Careers Evening in collaboration with the Royal School of Mines Association (RSMA). This event provided an excellent opportunity for current students to learn about life after graduation from RSM, as the invited speakers were RSM alumni from either the ESE or MSE departments, at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. This year, eight speakers from various backgrounds, including offshore energy, security consultancy, application science, catastrophe modelling and climate change/natural hazard risk studies, space operations, and postdoctoral research, gave 15-minute talks about their journey in the industry. Their presentations covered topics such as how they chose their career path, what a typical day at their job entails, the advantages and disadvantages of their work, how they use their university-acquired skills, and the knowledge gained from their degree to complement their current roles. Additionally, they provided some application tips and tricks and informed students about emerging industries and other areas to explore for their careers.

Although each speaker’s talk was unique, they all emphasized the importance of being open-minded and flexible, taking risks, and stepping out of one’s comfort zone. RSMA President Tim Cotton and Honorary Secretary Chris Webborn were also present to discuss the RSMA’s activities and benefits to the students. Attendees had multiple opportunities to network with the speakers and other RSMA members to gain more first-hand information and ask questions. Overall, the evening was a success, with the speakers sharing valuable wisdom, career advice, and reminiscing about their time as RSM students.

Grants to the RSMU
Last year, we awarded £2,300 to the RSMU and at our most recent RSMA meeting we awarded £2,500 for the current year. 

Grants to departmental clubs and societies
Awards, typically of up to £250, are made to support approved departmental clubs and societies. One such award has just been made to MatSoc. 

100 Club final year bursaries
These bursaries are to reward students of good academic standing who have also shown exceptional RSM spirit in their early years. Three bursaries of £1,000 have been awarded in the current year, to Alex Jones, Chung Yan Fu and Antoinette Mallon. Our congratulations to all of them. The Association has recently increased these to £1,250, and applications for the 2023/24 bursaries will open in the summer term. 

RSMA Prizes 
The Peter Harding Prize is awarded for long-term service to the RSM, and the Rees Rawlings Prize is for exceptional service to RSM from someone under 40 years of age. The RSMA is currently considering the nominations from alumni for this year’s prestigious awards.

Illing Essay Prize (previously known as the ‘Essay Competition’)
This prize, recently increased to £250, is awarded for the best technical essay, which should have a link to environmental matters. The winning essay gets published in the Imperial Engineer. 2021’s winner was Disha Bandyopadhyay for her essay The Invisible Matter: Nanomaterials. 

Discretionary grant and loans for Hardship
Funds can be made available to assist individual students who are suffering unexpected financial hardship, either through loss of financial support beyond their control or through shorter-term hardship like injury that is making travel to campus impossible. One such grant for taxi fares has already been approved this year. The size of such grants is discretionary, with past examples up to £500. 

Grants for expeditions
The College Exploration Board is currently reviewing expedition applications. Successful applications from participating RSM students will be considered for an RSMA award of up to £250. Last year two students received help in this way toward a climbing and mountaineering expedition in the Dolomites. 

Grants and loans for education
Up to £250 is available to help students participate in approved conferences and symposia. Last year one grant was made to a student enabling her to present a paper at the International Coral Reef Symposium in Bremen. No requests have been received so far this year. 

Grants and loans for the arts
This is a new scheme aimed at encouraging the arts in its broadest sense (music, dance, painting, etc.) with individual grants up to £250. 

RMSA events and career support
In addition to this financial support, the RSMA runs two regular social events each year; a formal black-tie Annual Dinner in November for past and current students, and a Final Year Barbecue at the end of the academic year. Both are heavily sponsored, helping students to chat to RSM alumni. 

This academic year’s dinner, held at the Rembrandt Hotel in November, was attended by 130 alumni, students and staff. Dame Susan Ion gave a fascinating and inspiring speech describing her time at RSM and her career in nuclear engineering.

Details of the 2023 Final Year Barbecue will be published later. Watch the website for details. 

The RSMA also supports a Careers Evening early in the year, where alumni come to talk about the careers they have embarked on and make themselves available to answer any questions and offer support to students who will soon be entering the world of work.

Disappointment at the 2023 Bottle Match Weekend 

Match reports

Netball:

Another year of bottle done and with a 9-62 result, we couldn’t be prouder of RSM Netball. Keep CSM under 100 and more than 6 goals? Smashed it.

Our players never let the energy drop and even gave CSM something to panic over when we lead the first quarter 2-0 up! Thank you to everyone who stayed out in the rain to watch us play, as always, the RSM sideline support was unmatched.

We’ll be continuing the fight next year. It’s time for double digits. Look out Bottle 2024.

RSM love,
Lorna & Isla

 

Women’s Hockey:

The RSM women’s hockey team kicked off the day’s sport with enthusiasm and intensity, providing an electrifying 70 minutes of fantastic hockey. Despite the early start, the strong crowd presence ensured a great atmosphere.

Watertight defence, strong saves from Emma in goal, energy and drive in the midfield, and single-minded determination from the forwards led the ladies to a well-deserved win. 1-0 up by the end of the first half, the team stayed calm and continued to deliver, with a spectacular second goal from Helen securing a solid 2-0 victory.

Despite CSM’s confidence in their team’s strength (to the point of not bringing the trophy with them to London), the Golders cup will be returning to its rightful place in the Union Bar this year for the first time since 2014!

Men’s Hockey

 Following on from the women’s impressive victory, the pressure was on for the men’s team. CSM came out the gates hard but thanks to the brilliant efforts of Marshy (Materials), Jimmer (EPS) and Sammy (Geophys) we managed to hold off their attacks. Like Michael Rosens ‘We’re going on a bear hunt’ CSM could only go through the middle but our midfield stopped them in their tracks. A couple of questionable decisions from the chuckle brothers (correction umpires) and half time came about at 0-0. The halftime team talk by captain/leader/legend has been compared to some of the great speeches of history (think Winston Churchill mixed with Obama) and the troops were raring to go. Not long after these words, Ed James finally arrived and put one of his flick’s top bins. Things were looking up and it seemed like the age-old question of whether CSM could do it at a windy day in Harlington had been answered… The game started to get a little bit feisty but luckily Barry and Paul kept a firm handle on the game. In the final moments of the game CSM put two in the net – a heartbreaking way to lose. We will come back stronger next year. However, every year we prove – ITS ALL ABOUT THE HOCKEY.

Badminton:

With a hastily put together team we managed to win a few games but CSM had some strong opposition, who displayed impressive skill and teamwork. Our team suffered a defeat but gained valuable experience. Men’s were 6-2, women’s were 6-2, and mixed were 7-2, all to CSM, but all our teammates showed a cracking effort despite all the last-minute scrambling to find players!

We are pleased to present this year’s winning essay, written by Disha Bandyopadhyay.

Please click the link below to read her wonderful essay, entitled:

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At the hybrid AGM hosted in the Union Bar, RSMA members were able to dial into the AGM via Webex to join the majority of the current Committee and Trust Members to reelect the 2022 Committee.

At the AGM there were 14 members who reviewed the Association’s work over the last 12 months. In summary, the Association is in a strong financial position and has the financial capacity to continue to support the students of the RSM. With new Committee members joining it is hoped that more work can be done in specific areas such as mentoring, member engagement and recruitment. Finally, it is hoped that a more formal succession plan can be put in place for key Committee roles

This year Chris Webborn was elected Honorary Secretary of the RSMA and RSMA Trust to replace Hannah Bungey, who has stepped down but remains on the Committee. The election also saw the addition of Jasmine Crocker, Paul Holmes and Dawn Houliston as Committee members. Finally, long-standing committee members John Monhemius and Ben Moorhouse stood down from the RSMA Committee. The Association thanks them for their contribution over the years. 

After the meeting the Committee and members were joined by 32 students and guests for the final year BBQ which was held and catered in the Union Bar.

Results from the weekend:

Badminton: Mens 5-3 win, Mixed 0-9 loss
Squash: 0-4 loss
Tennis: 0-12 loss
Ladies Hockey: 0-2 loss
Mens Hockey: 1-0 win
Netball: 5-82 loss
Football: 1-2 loss
Rugby: 10-17 loss

Absolutely cracking effort from everyone involved.

Unfortunately, we could not bring the Bottle home this year but the Rugby was really close, the boys working hard to score our 2nd try in the last minute. In good spirits, I, a prop, took the final conversion, obviously missing, booting it straight into the CSM squad (intentional?). Thank you to the handful of Alumni who came to spectate.

132 members and guests had a great time at the Rembrandt Hotel on 26 November and then adjoined to the Union Bar. The current student population was well represented with 62 students from all four years. We were pleased to present the Peter Harding Award to Fiona Cassidy and the RSMA Trust Essay Prize to Disha Bandyopadhyay.

The Prof Rees Rawlings Award was not awarded in 2021 and the 100 Club draw was won by Paul Atherley. Entertainment was provided by James (Jim) Rutherford – Non Executive Chairman Centamin plc who gave a thoughtful and provocative speech on the need of ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) to be an integral part of any company’s DNA in order to be successful.

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held in August can be found  here
It is realised that many members are unable to attend this event and it is hoped that by publishing the minutes members will be better appraised of our activities. The President and Treasurer’s reports are included with the minutes, and the committee is happy to consider questions/comments from members.

One of the first collaborative ventures between CGCA and RSMA was the amalgamation of the CGCA journal ‘Imperial College Engineer’ and the RSMA’s ‘RSMA Update’.

A joint Editorial Board was established and the new publication was named ‘Imperial Engineer’.

It was agreed that ‘Imperial Engineer’ would be produced biannually, with the inaugural edition appearing in October 2004.

An example issue of the Imperial Engineer can be found below (just click on the image), but if you would like to recieve hard copies then please sign up the the RSMA! Or alternatively go  here for a full list of pdfs.

The Spring 2021 edition of Imperial Engineer is available to download, simply click the image below. For fully paid up members, this will be in your postbox soon!