An exceptional student from East Kilbride with high ambitions of becoming a leader in the tech industry has been named as one of this year's recipients of the national Amazon Future Engineer Bursary.
Alia, 18, was awarded the £15,000 bursary by demonstrating a passion for innovation and driving change through technology.Get all the news from your area – as well as features, entertainment, sport and the latest on Lanarkshire’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic – straight to your fingertips, 24/7.
Since the bursary launched in 2021 in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering, Amazon has awarded over £1 million worth of funding and currently supports 75 women studying STEM-related degrees at UK universities. When the family moved to East Kilbride she continued to go the extra mile to chase her engineering dream, choosing an interdisciplinary course which included building a rocket car. She’s now studying mechatronics at the University of Glasgow, with hopes of becoming a biomedical engineer.
"I actually struggled with the application," Alia added. "I found out I’d got in on the same day that I found out I got my first choice for university, so it was a great day! I ran to tell my mum as she’s always been pushing me on to succeed, and I loved how proud it made her."