THE winners of the Study UK Alumni Awards 2017 in Saudi Arabia were announced last March 1 by HMA Simon Collis, British Ambassador to Saudi Arabia at a gala award ceremony hosted at his Residence in Riyadh. Dr Yousef Alshammari was awarded the Professional Achievement Award, Dr Talal Almaghrabi was awarded the Entrepreneurial achievement Award and Faisal J. Abbas was awarded the Social Impact Award at a prestigious ceremony. The awards were organised by the British Council and British Embassy in Saudi Arabia. Speaking at the ceremony, HMA Simon Collis said "I believe that UK's alumni are great ambassadors for my country. In Britain, we welcome international talent, and are delighted that a UK education has enriched and enhanced the lives of many around the world, including over 100,000 Saudi students. The knowledge, institutional networks and personal friendships that alumni bring home last a lifetime. I congratulate all of the finalists as well as the winners tonight, their hard work and use of their UK education to shape the future of Saudi Arabia is inspiring." Amir Ramzan Director British Council Saudi Arabia said, "A huge congratulations to the winners of this year's award. Selecting the finalists was incredibly difficult; there are so many outstanding alumni achieving in their communities and country. As Saudi Arabia makes strides to implement Vision 2030 UK graduates will continue to have an important role to play in transferring skills, creating new jobs and driving innovation and we hope these stories will inspire the next generation." Ambassador Collis, in consultation with Director Ramzan selected Nadia Bakhurji to receive The Ambassador's award 2017 in recognition of her achievement and contribution both to her profession and to Saudi Arabia. Nadia is a successful architect and trailblazer for women in education, engineering and industry. The Study UK Alumni Awards 2017 in Saudi Arabia received over 140 applications out of which 9 finalists were selected through a competitive process.
