Student stories

Alumni Yatin Vadhia, who studied for a computer science degree at Surrey, has gone on to pioneer innovative solutions in e-commerce, travel and FinTech, and is currently Senior Product Manager at TrueLayer - a financial infrastructure and Open Banking technology company in London.

Alan is the winner of our Special Recognition Award in the Vice-Chancellor’s Alumni Awards. Alan started his long association with Surrey in 1962 when he studied for his BSc in Chemical Engineering at Battersea College of Technology, the forerunner to the University of Surrey. In 1968, he came to Guildford to take a role as a part-time lecturer and complete his PhD… and, 53 years later, he’s as passionate as ever to continue teaching.

I took a step back from my law career in Dublin and I’m now a full-time PhD student at Surrey, further developing my capabilities as a nutrition researcher.

Sue Kershaw is our Alumna of the Year in the Vice-Chancellor’s Alumni Awards. Currently the MD Transportation at Costain, Sue graduated from our Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering in 1982.    

From growing up in East London, to achieving a first-class honours degree in Business Management from Surrey, Segun tells us about his favourite memories at Surrey and how he mixed his two passions to set up The Gym Kitchen.

The set-up for distance learners is second-to-none at Surrey. It’s very interactive, accessible, and I have felt very much part of the class.

I was drawn to Surrey due to the reputation of the university and the Business School, as well as the stunning campus.

Shaun Webb, who completed his MSc in Information Security at Surrey in 2019, is a Senior Cybersecurity Architect at global software company Citrix, and has won numerous awards for his work, which has included creating an automated source code analyser which ensures that sensitive data is kept out of source code.

Marie Enfrin studied for a PhD in Chemical and Process Engineering jointly with the University of Surrey and Deakin University in Australia, researching how microplastics lead to pollution. She’s now working as a postdoctoral research fellow at Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Australia.