Notable Alumni

DREW PURVES – RESEARCH SCIENTIST (DEEPMIND)

Graduate from Beauchamp in 1995
In 1998 Drew studied at the University of Cambridge before going on to study a PhD at the University of York, followed by a Post Doc at
Princeton. After an eight-year journey with Microsoft Research, he was then approached by DeepMind to help design virtual environments. Drew is the Co-Creator of the Madingley Model, and was included in Wired Magazine’s 2012 ‘Smart List’ as one of 50 people who will change the world.

DR. RHAANA STARLING - ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ASTROPHYSICS

Graduate from Beauchamp in 1995
Rhaana studied Astrophysics (MSci) at St. Andrews University, then working as a Research Assistant at the Harvard- Smithsonian Centre for Astrophysics before taking up a PhD position at UCL. Research for her PhD continued at the University of Leicester, where she now resides as an Associate Professor. In 2011, Rhaana was awarded a Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship, and has been a co-chair for NASA review panels and an operations scientist for NASA Swift mission.

Pratik Thakkar – Medical Advisor, Bristol Myers Squibb

Graduated from Beauchamp in 2007
‘Beauchamp helped me develop my scientific interest. The teachers, resources and curriculum helped drive my interest in pursuing Science further’

In 2007 Pratik enrolled in the School of Pharmacy at the University of London. After finishing his studies, he worked at Great Ormond Street: first as a General Pharmacist and then as a Specialist Pharmacist. He then joined the UK’s Medicine and Healthcare Regulatory Body (MHRA) before joining Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS) as a Medical Advisor in Oncology. At BMS, Pratik specialises in the development and evaluation of medicines for skin cancers, and previously in gastrointestinal and paediatric cancers. He is also the Medical Digital Innovation Lead for BMS UK/IE, assessing and executing new technologies to improve research in future medicines.

Uzayr Kader – Computer Science, University of Warwick

Graduated from Beauchamp in 2017
‘Through the Maths Society I was introduced to competitions which stood out on my application to university’

In 2017 Uzayr began his studies at Warwick University after achieving 3 A*’s in Computer Science, Maths and Further Maths at A-Level. His course is partly funded by BAE Systems as a result of his successful application to GCHQ’s Cyberfirst University Bursary scheme. The scheme also grants Uzayr three paid placements with BAE systems. In his first placement he worked in the threat intelligence team monitoring malware, vulnerabilities and suspicious activities. His current placement is with the service transition team. Outside of academia, Uzayr has taken part in Google Hashcode and the ICPC (International Collegiate Programming Contest).