UCL student wins prestigious award for undergraduate research project

A UCL Medical School student has been selected as the Global Winner in the Medical Sciences category of the

undergraduateawards.com/" target="_self">Undergraduate Awards - the world's largest international academic awards programme.

Maniragav Manimaran worked on his research project, which aimed to help doctors practice minimally invasive heart procedures, while completing a BSc in Medical Physics and Bioengineering.

He accepted his award at November's UA Global Summit, which gathered 150 of the world's top undergraduate students in Dublin and featured keynote speaker Dr Mae Jemison (NASA astronaut).

Titled 'Developing an ultrasound phantom using 3D printing for practicing minimally invasive intracardiac procedures', Maniragav's project was selected from a record 5,514 submissions, from undergraduates of 121 nationalities in 244 institutions.

"It was a total surprise when I received a call from the Undergraduate Awards team to let me know that I had been selected as one of the Global Winners," he said. 

"It was exciting to know that my work had been recognised at an international level and I'm grateful for the support of my supervisors throughout the project. 

"The opportunity to attend the Global Summit in Dublin alongside a diverse and talented group of students was incredible and I'd definitely encourage other UCL students to apply in the future."

The Undergraduate Awards recognise innovation and excellence at undergraduate level, also offering top performing students support, networks and opportunities to further their career paths.

Find out more about the Undergraduate Awards.

Maniragav was supervised by Dr Adrien Desjardins (Senior Lecturer, UCL Medical Physics and Bioengineering), received support from Dr Wenfeng Xia and Dr. Daniil Nikitichev (UCL Medical Physics and Bioengineering, and received clinical guidance from Dr Malcolm Finlay (Consultant Cardiologist, Barts Health NHS Trust).