Juergen Maier, Managing Director of the Industry Sector, Siemens UK (left) and Toby Peyton-Jones, Director of Human Resources, Siemens UK (right) and Danielius Samonas at the awards presentation ceremony in the UK recently.
Danielius Samsonas, an undergraduate at The University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus has been announced as the overall winner of the prestigious Sir William Siemens Medal for 2012.
Danielius was amongst nine engineering students from some of the UK’s leading universities (Imperial, Lincoln, Loughborough, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Manchester, Sheffield and Strathclyde) who have been recognised by their universities and Siemens as being the most outstanding students in their year.
A panel of senior engineering managers from Siemens deemed Danielius’ submission to be the best due to not only all-round exceptional academic ability, but also his passion for engineering and his clearly demonstrable knowledge of current and future technologies.
“It is a great honour for me to represent the University of Nottingham and also to win this award,“ said Danielius a 2nd year Mechanical Engineering student at the University of Nottigham who is currently studying for a year at UNMC as part of the student exchange programme.
The topic of my essay was about graphene and nuclear fusion. Graphene is a new material which is 200 times stronger than steel and produces current when struck by light. Therefore, it could be used to build lighter cars and aeroplanes, as well as higher efficient solar panels and far more powerful computers in the near future. I chose this topic because I wanted to approach the essay with a unique vision and ideology and this helped me to win this competition“ Danielius said.
During the awards ceremony, I had the opportunity to meet Siemen’s top executives who shared their valuable thoughts on real engineering and how it is an important tool to solve future problems whilst providing a cleaner, safer and comfortable living environment for the society.
This experience has certainly made me more certain about my career path. Therefore, I am really looking forward to my upcoming placement in Siemens in their healthcare department because I am very interested in the technology behind MRI,“ he adds.
Three outstanding students Nick Hunter from the School of Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Thomas Oxford and Danielius from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Nottingham were selected by the university to participate in this competition.
Danielius was presented with a cheque for £1,000 and an iPad at a ceremony held recently in London.
Danielius who has been studying at the Malaysia Campus since last September said that studying in Malaysia has been a very valuable experience for him.
Danielius shares about his study experience at UNMC saying that “I find UNMC very interesting as the campus has students and staff of many different nationalities, thus I see this as a perfect opportunity to mix and mingle within an international circle. Plus, I have to admit that the local food and culture is unique and beautiful, it is definitely refreshing that people are extremely welcoming. I am looking forward to the upcoming summer holidays when I intend to travel to Thailand, Bali, Cambodia, Vietnam and Australia.”
About the School of Engineering at UNMC
The Faculty of Engineering is recognised as being amongst the best in higher education. Here at the Malaysia Campus all of our courses are taught in English and the degrees awarded are exactly the same as those in the UK. The school offers undergraduate and post graduate courses with interesting research opportunities. For more information on courses offered, please consult: www.nottingham.edu.my or contact us.
