Alumnus named top innovator

  • October 28, 2014
Alumnus named top innovator

Gates Cambridge Alumnus Jakub Szamalek has been named one of the top 100 leaders of innovation in Central and Eastern Europe.

A Gates Cambridge Alumnus has been named one of the top 100 leaders of innovation in Central and Eastern Europe.

Jakub Szamalek is on the list of New Europe 100 created to promote innovation in Central and Eastern Europe by distinguishing those who are “the engine of positive change”. The list was compiled by Res Publica, in cooperation with the Visegrad Fund, Google and the Financial Times, as well as dozens of institutions from Central and Eastern Europe.

Candidates for the New Europe 100 list included people and teams that use new technologies in their industries and whose activities have a positive impact on the economy, science, culture and local communities. They were nominated by organisers of the project and a group of nomination partners, including research centres, public authorities, non-profit organisations and experts from every country in Central and Eastern Europe.

Jakub [2009], who did a PhD in Classics, is a senior writer at CD Projekt Red where he works on new video games. He was nominated “for taking our imagination to the next level”. The games Jakub has worked on include The Witcher, which is based on a book series by Polish science-fiction cult author Andrzej Sapkowski. It is described as one of the most successful Polish products of this type. The third part of the game, titled The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, will be released by CD Projekt Red in February. Its complex plot was created by five writers, including Jakub. As a senior writer at CD Projekt Red, he is responsible for the design of the story, quest and dialogues.

Jakub himself has also published two crime novels taking place in ancient Greece: Kiedy Atena odwraca wzrok (When Athena Looks Away) and its sequel Morze Niegoscinne (Inhospitable Sea). Both books received critical acclaim in Poland.

Wojciech Przybylski, editor of Res Publica Nowa and organiser of the New Europe 100, said: “We have been working on the list for nearly a year. We were interested in innovators of different professions who decide today how to shape tomorrow. Thanks to them we have discovered that despite of stereotypes, our region has a lot to offer. It can be even said that the culture of start-ups has been blooming here for the last 25 years – the time, when Central Europe had started from the scratch and it’s still on the rise today.”

Latest News

The process of history-making

Olin Moctezuma-Burns [2020] is keen not to repeat the patterns of some past researchers and to give back to the communities she studies. For that reason she recently co-organised an international gathering of Imagining Futures projects on archiving indigenous and traditional knowledges in Sotuta, Yucatan. The meeting brought together people from Colombia, Peru, Kenya, Tanzania, […]

How might extreme heat contribute to human migration?

Rising temperatures due to climate change are likely influencing human migration patterns, according to a new study co-authored by Gates Cambridge Scholar Dr Kim van Daalen [2018]. The study, led by Rita Issa of University College London, is published today in the open-access journal PLOS Climate. It looks at the role of heat in human […]

Scholar scoops prestigious science innovation fellowship

Freja Ekman has been named one of the 2023 class of Hertz Fellows as the prestigious fellowship celebrates its 60th year. The 15 fellowships in applied science, engineering and mathematics are awarded by Fannie and John Hertz Foundation, a non-profit organisation for innovators in science and technology. Winners will have their graduate studies funded for […]

Scholar hosts first UN communications technology access meeting in India

Gates Cambridge Scholar Pradipta Biswas has hosted a UN meeting on improving access to communications technology – the first ever held in India. The meeting of ITU-T Study Group 9 (SG-9) on “Broadband Cable and Television/Audiovisual content transmission and integrated broadband cable networks”  was held in May at the Indian Institute of Science in Bengaluru […]