A STUDENT who hopes to push back the frontiers of science to help blind people see again has won a £30,000 bursary to kick-start his career.

Sam Williams received the award from the HSBC bank after it spotted his academic talents and chose him from 2,000 other applicants nationwide.

Now the 19-year-old, who lives in Liverpool Road, Newcastle, will be putting the cash towards his studies into areas such as artificial intelligence and brain wave patterns.

He is in his first year of a creative computing and neuroscience degree at Keele University and will be given £10,000 for every year of his course.

Sam said: "I couldn't believe it when I heard I had won the bursary.

"HSBC hasn't said it needs to be spent on one particular thing.

"It can go on extra-curricular activities and travelling to lectures and seminars across the country.

"If a bill comes up that I can't pay, I could also put some of the money towards my living costs."

Sam's long-term goal is to research the next big breakthrough in his field.

It will revolve around perfecting the links between the brain and computers, so technology can transform the lives of patients and people with disabilities.

He said: "I have a particular interest in prosthetic eyes and linking them to the brain. There could be a camera fitted to the prosthetic eye and the image would be fed back into the eye socket.

"This would be wired up to the human mind.

"It could process the image as if it had come from a normal eye and would be interpreted as vision. Effectively, the blind would be given sight again."

The same type of technology could also be used to help people who have artificial arms or legs, with the limbs responding to their thoughts.

Sam is one of four students nationally to be awarded a £30,000 HSBC bursary.

The competition's winners were picked by a panel of judges, who based their decision on the most "passionate, unique and tenacious" entries.

The bank will be keeping in touch with the students over the next three years to encourage them to excel in their field.

Nicola Hainey, HSBC's youth and student manager, explained: "The bursary will help students through university and help them achieve their goals."