A medical engineering student has received a top award for her study into the cells. Bernadette Deere, 21 from Carshalton Beeches, was presented with the award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ last Wednesday in London.

Now studying at the University of Sheffield, Miss Deere scooped the Corin Group Prize for best sports, healthcare and well-being technology project with her investigation into a new way of imaging and analysing cells.

Her method speeds up cell analysis saving doctors valuable time.

She said: “It’s been a great day and I’m very honoured to have won. The competition was so strong so it feels like a great achievement to have won the prize.”

Dr Iain Charlton, chairman of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers’ Medical Engineering Student Project Competition, said: “As health technology continues to advance at a frenetic pace, medical engineers are playing an increasingly vital role in improving the health of the nation. That’s why it is so encouraging to see the next generation of medical engineers showing the enthusiasm and innovative thinking that the industry will sorely need over the coming decades. The standards of all the entrants to this year’s competition were impressively high and so all the winners deserve to be immensely proud of their achievement.”