Alumni profile: Mahum Khawar - Risk, Disaster and Resilience MSc (2023/24)
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- Name: Mahum Khawar
- Programme: Risk, Disaster and Resilience MSc
- Graduation year: 2024
- Current city: London
- Connect on: LinkedIn
If students want to get a head start and become directly exposed to professionals in the RDR fields, this degree is a fantastic stepping stone to get started and build industry connections.
What is your current role and organisation?
While working on my dissertation towards the end of my degree, I took up a summer internship at a technology consulting firm as a CIO Advisory Analyst. During my time there, I applied my critical thinking skills to cybersecurity consulting projects through extensive research and networking to understand the area, as I had no prior cybersecurity knowledge. After submitting my dissertation, I joined Verdantix, a research and advisory firm, where I currently work as a Risk Analyst in the Risk Management team. My role entails researching and writing reports on risk topics such as organisational resilience, GRC software, and climate risk by conducting thorough research and providing strategic market insights geared towards vendors or corporates in those areas.
Why did you choose to study at UCL Risk and Disaster Reduction?
The RDR programme offered an end-to-end understanding of risk and all its facets, ranging from climate and natural hazards to cybersecurity and corporate risks. This was important to me because I wasn’t decided on which line of risk management I wanted to pursue professionally; thus, gaining a comprehensive understanding of all the different types of risk equipped me with a broad skillset for any risk I would encounter in my professional career. This proved useful because I now research and cover a range of risks in my job, which I have a baseline understanding of thanks to my master’s degree.
What did you enjoy most during your time at UCL?
The RDR master’s fieldwork trip to Wales was the highlight of my time at UCL. Not only did I gain an additional certification in first aid and emergency response, I also learned how to navigate difficult landscapes such as mountains. This was a great opportunity to connect with and get to know my peers on a deeper level, as well as use the navigation and safety skills learnt in challenging real-life situations. Most of all, I can navigate using only a traditional map and compass now! Google Maps, who?
What advice would you give to students considering this RDR degree or a career in your current field?
Network makes the dream work. During my time at UCL, my professors would frequently invite guest speakers who were highly reputable in their respective fields and would give us industry insights on how the knowledge we gained in the course could be applied in practice. After my degree, I unexpectedly came into contact with several professionals from those events in my current job as clients, which helped me build rapport and become known as a well-informed risk practitioner. Therefore, if students want to get a head start and become directly exposed to professionals in the RDR fields, this degree is a fantastic stepping stone to get started and build industry connections.
Who or what inspired your career path?
My crisis management module during my undergraduate degree piqued my interest in risk after I learnt the risks of poor project planning, global supply chain disruptions, and natural disasters on wide-scale business operations. This interest was further deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic, which revealed the risks of poor business continuity planning and a lack of emergency preparedness. After seeing the severe financial and social impacts of the pandemic, especially on businesses, I decided to pursue risk at master’s level with the end goal of helping businesses better prepare for similar future events, which I do now!