Thursday 9 September 2010

Manchester student named Britain's top black graduate [BBC Article]


A Manchester student who created a re-useable water bottle to raise money for African countries has been named Britain's top black graduate.
Edwin Broni-Mensah, who is studying for an Applied Maths PhD at the University of Manchester, was given the title by Future Leaders magazine.

He topped their list of 100 graduates, which profiles bright students of African and African Caribbean origin.
He said he was "overjoyed to be named number one on such a prestigious list".
Twenty-five year old Edwin made the news in August 2010 when he launched GiveMeTap, which raises money for drought-stricken countries through the sales of a special aluminium bottle.

 What gives me the most pleasure is being in a position where I can meet and inspire young people to pursue their dreams as literally anything is possible 

Edwin Broni-Mensah


70% of the company's profits go towards providing clean water and irrigation in Africa.

It was his entrepreneurship in setting up the company, coupled with his first class degree in Mathematics and Computer Science (which led him directly into a scholarship for his PhD), that impressed the judges enough to put him the top spot.

'Entrepreneurial spark'
The Future Leaders list profiles Britain's brightest students of African and African Caribbean origin and is collated to provide a link between publishers Powerful Media's Powerlist, an annual list of Britain's 100 most influential black people, and the young people it was created to inspire.
The judges of the student list selected Edwin after a rigorous process that included contacting every university in the country. 

The University of Manchester are understandably proud of their student's achievement.
Edwin said he hopes to work full-time on his company, with the aim of offering his bottle's services at the 2012 Olympics.

No comments: