We are united in making a commitment to actively promote, celebrate and respect all staff and student individual differences and encourage a culture of inclusivity.
The Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, EDI Committee is committed to Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion. We are united in making a commitment to actively promote, celebrate and respect all staff and student individual differences and encourage a culture of inclusivity. We want all to feel comfortable in their workplace or environment of study without any fear of prejudice or discrimination against a person’s characteristics; race, sex, age, disability, gender identity, religion or belief, sexual orientation, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity.
The EDI Committee has outlined the following two main initiatives as part of its commitment to promote equality, diversity, and inclusion throughout the department.
· Continuous self-assessment: Positive change cannot happen if we don’t know where we are and where we want to be. To know where we are, we are committed to constantly monitor our situation to ensure a culture of inclusivity. This includes having an updated picture of the composition and representation of minorities in our staff and student body, the attainment gap of our student cohorts, reasons for people leaving us and our recruitment processes, among others.
For case studies and advice from promoted professors / associated professors within EEE, please see:
The members of the EDI Committee are as follows:
Dr. Alejandra Beghelli - Deputy Head of EDI, Chair of ATHENA Swan
I'm the Deputy Director for EDI and the Chair of the ATHENA Swan Self-Assessment Committee within the Department and a Lecturer on Optical Communications and Networks. As a member of the EDI Committee, I expect to help establish a culture of constant self-assessment and improvement to make EEE an even greater place to work
Prof. Izzat Darwazeh - Co-Chair ATHENA Swan
Professor Izzat Darawazeh is Head of Group for the Information and Communication Engineering (ICE) Research Group, with a focus on addressing cutting-edge aspects of current and future technologies required to engineer the communications network and information services that will support a data-driven society in both the near and long-term future. As an EDI Committee member, I would like to strive for a more diverse and inclusive work environment.
Prof. Sarah Spurgeon - Head of Department
I am Head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering as well as being a Professor of Control Engineering. As a member of the EDI committee I am seeking to build a EEE community where all staff and students can flourish
Mr. Andy O’Reilly - Departmental Manager
Prof. Sally Day - Head of Teaching
UCL is an institution made up of people from a wonderful range of backgrounds, interests and ways of being. It is vital to all of us that everyone is able to be themselves and flourish in an inclusive environment. I am Deputy Head of Department (Education) and this guiding principle of inclusion is core to how I fulfil this role.
Prof. Neil Curson - Academic
I am the UCL Director of the Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Characterisation of Materials and the EEE department Careers Liaison. I lead a research group that develops atomic-scale fabrication processes for next-generation nanoelectronics and quantum technologies. I see the departmental EDI committee to be part of a wider effort within UCL to promote fairness and equality across the institution, and continuous open dialogue is vital in this regard.
Dr. Lingxi Li - Research Fellow
I am a postdoctoral research fellow in Prof. Ioannis Papakonstantinou's group, working on the "Radiative Cooling Project" a potential solution to global warming of enhancing terrestrial heat flow to outer space through the installation of thermally-emissive surfaces on Earth that require zero energy consumption or pollution. As a member of EDI Committee, I would like to support an increase in the involvement of female PhD candidates who are pursuing research positions.
Dr. Chow Yin Lai - Lecturer (Teaching)
I'm a Lecturer (Teaching) in Robotics in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE). I lead the 3rd year robotics module in EEE as well as the IEP robotics minor, and I am also the 1st year departmental tutor, providing pastoral care for 1st year students. As a member of the EDI Committee, I would like to give support to students to reduce the attainment gap between students of different gender and ethnicities.
Louise Davies - Senior Teaching & Learning Administrator - Inclusion Lead
As Senior Teaching & Learning Administrator for undergraduate students in Electronic and Electrical Engineering, I’m looking to use my position on the EDI committee to gather and share knowledge on how we can further develop our systems, information sharing and processes to ensure all staff and students feel included and welcomed at UCL.
Wellbeing Champion - TBC
Dr. Lalitha Ponnampalam - PDRA Research Fellow
I am a Senior Research Fellow within the Photonics Group. I represent the researchers within EEE and hope to see an increase in the number of PhD students from the under-represented communities taking up research positions.
PHD representatives:
- Malau Hadumanro
- Christina Vivian
Postgraduate Representatives:
- Farah Comis
Undergraduate Representatives:
- Anna Dixon
- Aldrie Chandradinata