Sheffield's Sakthy and Sarah join Jessica Ennis-Hill in Europe's Top 30 under 30

Two former Sheffield schoolgirls have joined Jessica Ennis-Hill, Adele and Emma Watson in the prestigious Forbes 30 under 30 Europe list that recognises young leaders across Europe.
Sarah SobkaSarah Sobka
Sarah Sobka

Sakthy Selvakumaran, 28, who left Sheffield High School in 2006, featured in the Industry category and Sarah Sobka, 18, who left last summer, is in the Health and Science section.

Head Valerie Dunsford said: “We are incredibly proud that two of our recent alumnae have been recognised in this list. Both Sakthy and Sarah have shown huge dedication to their work.

Sakthy SelvakumaranSakthy Selvakumaran
Sakthy Selvakumaran
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“These young women are fantastic role models for other young women interested in pursuing careers in STEM subjects.”

Sakthy Selvakumaran is one of the UK’s leading young female engineers, specialising in Civil and Structural Engineering. Working as an innovation engineer with the Engineering Excellence Group of Laing O’Rourke and for Engineers Without Borders UK, Sakthy was also recently named one of 30 rising stars in manufacturing.

Since graduating from Cambridge University, she has been involved in many high profile projects and recently designed a 34-metre long, 90 tonne bridge which has been installed as part of a new Crossrail station at Custom House in east London, linking the station with the exhibitions and conference centre ExCeL London.

Sheffield medical student Sarah was named UK Young Scientist of the Year for research work she did on cystic fibrosis, carried out during four weeks with the University of Sheffield’s Department of Biomedical Science as she completed her A-levels last year.

Sarah subsequently sat on the expert panel at the Always #LikeAGirl Confidence Summit in London and was invited to speak to fellows of the Royal Society of Medicine.