Five students at the College of North West London win gongs

A college student took a break from studying for computing exams to beat out stiff opposition at a national web design competition.

Abid Hussain, who studies at the College of North West London (CNWL), which has campuses in Wiillesden and Wembley, struck gold in the higher level category at the World Skills Web Design UK finals.

The second year computer engineering student came through a gruelling ten hour website challenge to best top competition from across the country, impressing judges with his knowledge of design programmes and use of animation, sound and videos.

The 39-year-old said: “My family and I are overjoyed at this success.

“It was a very difficult challenge in its own right, but even more so considering I had to prepare for this competition and my exams.”

“To hear my name read out as the winner at the award ceremony was an unbelievable feeling and one I will always remember.”

Second year IT student Shilton Fernandes, 21, from Kingsbury, was also among the winners with a second place finish in the intermediate level web design category.

Fellow students and Wembley residents Omar Hassen, 18, Anisha Mukesh, 20, and Rajmohan Velalahan, 22, also competed in the competition.

Ali Sharif, business and computing lecturer, said: “We are very proud of our students, it was a long day and all our efforts have been vindicated.

“We made history for the College and I hope it was an experience that the students will take forward with them in their careers.”

Vicki Fagg, Principal at CNWL, said: “This is fantastic news for us. To have had five students competing was an achievement in itself, but to get gold and silver shows the talent we are developing here.”