Postgraduates elect Giovanni Rolandino as next MCR President

Congratulations to Giovanni Rolandino who has just been elected by his fellow postgraduate students at St Edmund Hall to be their next MCR (Middle Common Room) President. Giovanni is a third-year DPhil Student in Surgical Sciences. We asked Giovanni to answer a few questions to help introduce himself to the wider Teddy Hall community.

Can you tell us a little about yourself and what you’re studying?

Hey Everyone. I’m Giovanni (Gio for most) and I’m a third year DPhil in Surgical Sciences. I grew up in Milan, where I also studied for my BSc in biomedical engineering. After that I moved to the UK for my masters in Human and Biological Robotics at Imperial. I fell in love with this country and, to keep pursuing my passion, I decided to start a DPhil in the same subject.

My research consists in developing and validating Artificial Intelligence algorithms to translate physiological electrical signals to control of advanced prosthetic devices. We hope to soon fix the condition of the millions of amputees living worldwide, especially in poorer countries.

Why did you decide to run for MCR President?

I moved to Oxford in October 2021, when the pandemic was still very well present. I was amazed by how, despite all the issues, Teddy’s MCR committee managed to build and keep a happy and healthy community. I became for social sec in my first year to do my part in maintaining this amazing environment, and after two years of doing that it felt natural to run for this position. I hope to make this MCR as welcoming to everyone as it has been for me!

What are you hoping to achieve?

With renovations at 17 Norham Gardens (our postgraduate centre), we have a postgraduate community scattered across town, now more than ever. I hope to be able to keep up Teddy’s reputation as a welcoming and enjoyable college despite this issue.

What do you think are the current strengths of Teddy Hall’s MCR?

Definitely the social atmosphere or ‘Hall Spirit’: there is always someone at dinner or in the common room that you can sit down and have a chat to, often studying something incredibly interesting and very different to yourself.

In what ways have you already been involved in College life?

I have been social sec for the past two years, at times alone. It’s been extremely rewarding, and I hope being president will be at least twice as rewarding. Other than that I have also been rowing with the boat-club for the past year.

What’s been your personal highlight of your time at Teddy Hall so far?

Both holiday seasons I spent in Oxford. There is something magical about the whole of college coming together to celebrate such an amazing time.

The following committee members were also elected at this election:

Vice-President: Siddhant Dhingra
Stewards: Efterpi Nikitopoulou, Daisy Bressington
Welfare: Ambra Speciale, Jasmine Laing
Treasurer: Oliver Beaven
Academic: Sophia Abusamra (ad interim), TBD for the coming year
IT/sports: TBD