Alliance Niyigena wins Schwarzman Scholarship

Alliance Niyigena has become the first engineering alumna from the University of Edinburgh to be accepted onto the prestigious Schwarzman Scholarship programme.

The intensely competitive scheme invites applications from high-achieving graduates around the globe, and successful applicants embark on a one-year, fully-funded Master’s at Tsinghua University in Beijing to deepen understanding between China and the rest of the world.

Alliance recently graduated with an MEng (Hons) Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. During her time at Edinburgh, she was President of the Civil Engineering Society (2016/17), Head of Power with the University’s Hyperloop team HYPED (2019/20) and she is a Saltire Scholar (2018).

Alliance is from Norway, and during her high school years, was one of a small group of Norwegian students given a full Norwegian State scholarship to attend high school in France, which she completed with the highest merit. Following this, she won a China Council Scholarship which took her to the Beijing Language and Culture University to study an intensive course in Mandarin.

Alliance is currently working as a Graduate Research Engineer with the Barcelona Institute of Microelectronics (IMB-CNM CSIC), which specialises in the applied research and development of nano and microelectronics devices.

“I am thrilled and immensely proud to be the first engineering alumna from University of Edinburgh accepted onto the Schwarzman program.

Energy is critical to almost every conceivable aspect of development. The developed world is working to transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. In contrast, emerging and undeveloped economies are still focusing on the electrification of its remote regions. The lack of electrical infrastructure makes it difficult to establish health centers, schools and industry, which keeps these regions underdeveloped.

I aspire to use my electrical and mechanical engineer training, international experience, and pentalingual fluency to support emerging nations with tailored sustainable energy solutions, infrastructure development and education.

Looking forward, I plan to join the new generation of international energy policymakers. Since China is currently leading in global energy development, I believe that the Schwarzman program and Tsinghua would be of incredible value providing me access to extensive knowledge on China, the Chinese energy industry, and a global network of high calibre leaders.

I would like to thank my professors Michael Merlin, Stephen Finney and the Career Service for their amazing support!”

~ Alliance Niyigena, MEng (Hons) Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (2020)

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Alliance Niyigena (MEng Hons Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, 2020)
Alliance Niyigena (MEng Hons Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, 2020)

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