
empowering 2E students to excel in stemm
I am the student representative of 2eMPower, an organisation I am extremely excited and proud to be part of. 2eMPower celebrates neurodiversity by empowering 2E students to excel in STEMM.
OUR MISSION
2eMPower’s mission is to inspire, nurture and support 2E secondary students to explore careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine (STEMM). We believe an inclusive and neurodiverse workforce will enrich and benefit the scientific community. 2E scientists have made some of the greatest contributions to science. For example, Stephen Hawking, Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin, Marie Curie and Isaac Newton. We aim to empower 2E students to harness their unique perspectives and ways of thinking, because we believe their contributions will spur greater innovation and creative solutions in STEMM.
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OUR workshops
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2eMPower runs exciting, hands-on STEMM workshops at Imperial College London that are specifically tailored to engage and stimulate 2E students. The workshops are designed to celebrate neurodiversity and to encourage 2E students to harness their unique insights and to apply creative approaches to problem-solving activities.
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The workshops also bring together 2E students from across the United Kingdom, helping to foster a 2E student community,
where young people with unique strengths and similar challenges and experiences can meet and be embraced and understood by their peers.
We run two bespoke workshops: workshops for 2E students with learning disabilities and workshops specifically tailored for 2E ASD students.





2eMPower is a joint project between Professor Sara Rankin of Imperial College London and Dr Susen Smith of the Gifted Education Research and Resource Centre (GERRIC), UNSW, Sydney, Australia.
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Professor Sara Rankin - Lead
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Professor Sara Rankin is a professor of Leukocyte and Stem Cell Biology at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College London. Professor Rankin is the Institute lead for outreach and is involved in a variety of public engagement and outreach activities. She is also dyslexic and dyspraxic, which has motivated her to mentor and support students with learning disabilities so that they can harness their strengths and achieve their full potential.
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Dr susen smith - c0-Lead and 2e expert
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Dr Susen Smith is an expert in gifted and special education. She is a Senior Lecturer in Gifted & Special Education at UNSW, School of Education of GERRIC. She has three decades of teaching, leadership and research experience in 2E education.
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Mr Ray Smith - educational developer
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Mr Ray has extensive experience as an Educational Developer and Higher Education consultant. He specialises in online learning design, targeted degree program re-development and educational research projects.
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Dr Simon Foster - physics leader
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Dr Simon Foster is a solar physicist, science presenter and the Outreach Officer for the Physics Department at Imperial College London. Dr Simon prepares and runs exciting and engaging physics lessons at our 2eMPower workshops.
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Ms Kamini Lakshmikanthan - Expert Science TeacheR
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Ms Kamini Lakshmikanthan is the Director of Crea8tive Flow Ltd, an education services organisation.She is a specialist science teacher with extensive experience in designing, teaching and implementing the Key Stage 3 Science curriculum.
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Ms Vargini Ledchumykanthan - Expert SENDCO Teacher
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Ms Vargini Ledchumykanthan is the head of SEN at Preston Manor School. In addition, she is an educational consultant and is the Outreach Officer for 2eMPower, responsible for planning and delivering 21st Century Skills STEM workshops to 2E students.
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Mr Giles Holford - Outreach Administrator
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Ms Siena Castellon - student representative
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I am a 15 year old student, who also happens to be autistic, dyspraxic and dyslexic. Since I was 10 years old, I have spent my summers in the United States attending residential summer programs for academically gifted students. Many of the students at the summer programs were 2E students. As student representative of 2eMPower, I provide a student's perspective, and more importantly, the unique perspective of a student with learning disabilities and autism. I also share the insights I gained from having attended many 2E programs.
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Dr Sunday Popo-Ola - ExPERT ENGINEER
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Dr Sunday Popo-Ola is a professor in the Department of Civil and Environment Engineering at Imperial College London. He specialises in concrete structures, steel structures and the environmental and computing aspects of systems and mechanics.
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Professor Kevin buzzard - ExPERT mathematician
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Professor Kevin Buzzard is a professor of pure mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at Imperial College London. He specialises in algebraic number theory and prime numbers.
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OUR TEAM
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