Birmingham City University Archives

We are delighted to announce that Hatem Kasseir from Yardley, has been named the winner of this year’s life-changing Millennium Point Charitable Trust Scholarship, earning a fully-funded degree at Birmingham City University (BCU). This degree is joint funded by Millennium Point Charitable Trust in Partnership with Birmingham City University.

How Hatem became a Scholarship winner

Hatem was currently studying an Extended Diploma in IT (Network and Security) at Solihull College and had ambitions to study Computer Science at university. Information of the Millennium Point Scholarship landed in Hatem’s inbox, where he knew straight away, he had nothing to lose by applying.

In Hatem’s application he made it clear how much winning the Scholarship would mean to him, his great passion for computers and his mission to use computing and technology to better lives as a whole. The Millennium Point Charitable Trust team were hugely impressed with Hatem’s application, and selected him along with four other finalists.

All the finalists attended an assessment day at Millennium Point, where they each presented to a panel of five judges, Hatem impressed the panel the most and was selected as the lucky winner of this year’s Scholarship, which has already helped launch the careers of seven outstanding STEM students. Hatem’s degree in Computer Science at Birmingham City University (BCU), will start in September 2022.

Pictured left to right: Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point and Scholarship winner Hatem Kasseir.

Hatem’s reaction to winning

Hatem was shocked and over the moon at being chosen as the winner. The Scholarship winner said “My first reaction was a bit of shock, happiness and excitement. I didn’t know what to do, I was just really happy because I’d put a lot of work and effort into it, so to get that end result was fantastic.

The message I want to give to everyone is that there’s so many opportunities out there so always go for that opportunity, never think you might not have a chance or that it’s just too far for you, always try and reach your goals, no matter how high they are and keep dreaming on.”

A few words from the CEO

Abbie Vlahakis, CEO of Millennium Point added: “When we met Hatem it was really clear from the start that he had real passion for his chosen subject of Computer Science and he was set the task of choosing a problem and how he could come up with a solution. It was really clear and well articulated and when asked about what the Scholarship would actually mean to him, it was really clear that it meant so so much.”

Identifying STEM talent

Now approaching it’s tenth year, the Millennium Point Trust Scholarship has already changed the lives of nine people from the region through their degrees, including 2017 Sagal Qodah, who has since gone on to graduate with a First Class Honours degree in Civil Engineering. She now works for Jacobs Engineering Group, showing the great paths people can take with their career, via a Millennium Point Scholarship.

Apply for the 2023 Scholarship

Each year, the Millennium Point Charitable Trust jointly funds an undergraduate degree in partnership with Birmingham City University at their Faculty of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment, which covers over 20 different courses across computing, digital technology, engineering and the built environment. We’re helping people across the region unlock their future in STEM. For more information on how to apply or get involved in the 2023 Scholarship program please, visit www.millenniumpoint.org.uk/scholarship.

Find more interesting content from Millennium Point over at our news section, or follow us for daily updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn with @MillenniumPoint. Millennium Point is a landmark public building and multi-award-winning events venue in the Eastside of Birmingham City centre. Profits from our commercial activity are invested by the Millennium Point Charitable Trust into projects, events and initiatives which support the growth of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) and education in the West Midlands.

Update: Keep an eye out for 2024’s application, opening Monday 8th January 2024.

Applications are now open once again for the life changing scholarship. In partnership with Birmingham City University, each year Millennium Point Trust funds an undergraduate degree at BCU.

There are over 20 courses to choose from included in the scholarship. Applications are now open, with the deadline on Friday 11^th March 2022, meaning plenty of time to complete the form.

Asima impressed judges last year and secured Scholarship victory

The 37-year-old mum of five was studying Social Science and Humanities at Dudley College, before she secured the scholarship in aims to study planning.

All the finalists attended an assessment day at Millennium Point, where they each presented to a panel of five judges, Asima impressed the panel and was selected as the lucky winner of the Scholarship, which has already helped launch the careers of six outstanding STEM students.

Applying is easy and simple

The competition is open to applicants aged 17 and over within the West Midlands Combined Authority, who are looking to start a qualifying degree in September 2022.

Read the application from carefully and start to answer each question. Think about why you want to study your chosen degree and what you want to do in the future. Also discuss any personal attributes and skills that could help you be the next winner of the Scholarship.

It’s a two-stage application, with the final stage being an assessment day. If you make it to the final, you will be invited to participate in developmental workshops that will focus on supporting our personal development and professionalism in both interview and presentation skills.

We’re here to help you every step of the way

We want everyone to have the best chance of success when applying for our Scholarship scheme, and sometimes bigging yourself up can be a little daunting. That’s why we have created a helpful guide to aid you through your application. Keep an eye out on our social media for any new blogs, videos or resources that can help further.

You can always contact our friendly Trust team for any other enquiries you may have.

Unlock your student’s future by getting your school involved

Get your school involved and spread the word about the Scholarship. Tell parents, young people, teachers, and colleagues. The bigger it gets, the more impact we can make together.

We have created a Teacher’s Portal with assets and information that can help you provide students information on how to apply.

Are you a business wanting to get involved? Visit our Business Portal here. We’re always looking out to collaborate with businesses and professionals on the MP Trust Scholarship.

Why do we do this?

At Millennium Point we believe that STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) is important for the future of the region. Now, more than ever young people need our support and encouragement for them to unlock their potential. The scholarship is just one of the ways we can provide support to help them achieve people’s goals.

Apply today to start your Scholarship journey

Applications are now open with the deadline on Friday 11^th March 2022, apply now and see what you can achieve!