Alumni

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Alumnus profile: Oliver Armitage

Alumni Oliver ArmitageAfter completing his A levels at Abbey College Cambridge in 2006, Oliver moved on to study Engineering at The University of Cambridge. He is now completing a PhD in Bioengineering at Cambridge University’s Engineering Department and running his own start-up company, Cambridge Bio-Augmentation Systems.

What are you doing now?

‘I am at the end of a PhD in Bioengineering in the Cambridge University Engineering Department, I am also running a start-up I founded in May 2015.’

What are your plans for the future?

‘I am planning on growing our company which is designing a medical implant to improve amputee care.’

How did your time at Abbey College Cambridge help you?

‘My education begun at Abbey I would say. I was at a state school previous to Abbey and the environment there was one of very low aspiration. I had always wanted to come to Cambridge University and I don’t think I could have got to the academic level required or the correct mind-set to believe I could do so had I stayed at my previous school.’

Was there any particular aspect of your experience at Abbey College Cambridge that you found most interesting or useful?

‘The teachers were the best part of the experience at Abbey, they were very knowledgeable and pushed me to attain an academic level that I knew I was capable of but did not know how to get to.’

What advice would you give to Abbey College Cambridge students interested in following in your footsteps?

‘I am lucky to have had a passion for what I do from a very early age, even while I was at Abbey I knew I wanted to work on the implant I am now designing. The passion for this shone through in my application to Cambridge and my clear desire to achieve a technological goal was, I think, the primary reason I was admitted and have gone on to higher degrees.

While not everyone has a clear vision of what they want to achieve, you will be a more genuine, and likely successful candidate, if you are applying for a degree you want to do for a reason greater than it just being at Cambridge.’

To find out more about Oliver’s’ work, visit the Cambridge Bio-Augmentation Systems website and read this recent profile of the company in the Guardian.

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