Igår delades utmärkelsen SDCN International Talent of the Year Award ut. Utmärkelsen ges till en person som under året varit särskilt aktiv och framgångsrik i sin professionella utveckling och etablering i Stockholm, och som varit en aktiv medlem i Stockholm Dual Career Network. 2019 års pris gick till Mehdi Attarpour, med följande motivering:

Mehdi Attarpour is from Iran and has a background in data analysis. A go-getter and a persevering professional, he came to Stockholm in August 2018, and was a regular at SDCN events and career development sessions. He made the most of an opportunity to attend a course at the Software Development Academy in KTH, a collaborative effort with Novare Potential. With this course under his belt, there was no looking back for Mehdi. He is presently employed as Junior Java Developer at 3 Sverige and is doing all sorts of geeky things!

Priset delades ut i Stadshuset av Stockholms Akademiska Forums VD, Maria Fogelström Kylberg.

Carrie Greenwood, Meghna Anand, Ayla De Schutter och Will Gastineau-Hills var också nominerade till priset med följande motiveringar:

Carrie Greenwood from England is an amalgam of hard work and resilience. Presently, an Archive Assistant at The Hagströmer Medico-Historical Library, Karolinska Institutet, she has successfully managed to translate her curatorial passion towards preserving and providing access to historical objects, into her profession. An active member of SDCN since May 2018, Carrie has been an enthusiastic participant in career development sessions, språkcafés and professional events.

Meghna Anand is from India and has an academic background in media engineering and software development. After studying and working in Germany at the Offenburg University of Applied Sciences for a few years, she came to Stockholm and is presently working as a PHP Developer at Pied Tanca Group AB. An individual of many interests, Meghna, alongside her professional pursuits, has also started working as a volunteer member of the SDCN Communication team on the side.

Ayla De Schutter from Belgium is as multifaceted as her background suggests. A tourism expert, classical linguist and artist all rolled into one, she presently works at Klarna as a Service Agent – a job that she managed to bag in just a few weeks after her arrival in Stockholm! Ayla has been a part of SDCN since October 2018, and in her brief time with the network she has been generous with giving back to the community by sharing her experience with other members.

Will Gastineau-Hills is from Australia and has a background in geography, urbanism and collaborative transport planning. He is passionate about working towards sustainable solutions in the context of urban development. In his first career support session at SDCN, Will expressed an ardent interest in working at Sweco. Fast-forward a few months, he got precisely that – his dream job, and presently works at Sweco as a Transport Planning Consultant, leveraging his substantial experience in the domain of transport planning and analytics. Will also volunteered with the SDCN Intelligence team for a brief while, in which time he was generous with his contribution of ideas.