Profile

I live in Stafford with my family. Apart from being a scientist, I’m also a brownie leader in my spare time. My favourite food is pasta and I also love ice cream! I also enjoy sport – at the moment I’m enjoying running and cycling. Going to the beach is something I love to do – I think because I live so far away from the sea.

This is a photo of my favourite beach

I make different powders for energy generators called fuel cells. Fuel cells work very similar inside to how a battery works – like the one inside your phone – just instead of having to re-charge the battery, in a fuel cell, you just supply it with some gas or liquid fuel when it runs out. I’m trying to make the fuel cells work better and for longer before they get worn out. You can buy a car that uses a fuel cell instead of an engine or battery. Here’s a photo of one that you might see at the University of Birmingham where I work:

I make lots of different powders and I test them to see what I’ve made. Once I know I’ve made what I wanted, I then test the powder in a test that is similar to how a fuel cell works. Then, I can make tiny fuel cells and test the powder in a fuel cell. Here’s a photo of one of my powders:

I have worked in lots of different labs across the university that I work at, but at the moment, I’m working at home and I’m finishing off my big science report of the last 4 years work – called a thesis.

This is the lab where I work most days

In a typical day, I will get into the lab about 8:00 and make myself a drink. While I’m drinking my drink, I’ll plan my experiments for the day. Then, I set up my first experiment for the day and get that running – usually its a long test to see how much electricity my material can produce in a fuel cell.

this is a photo of one of my experiments where I test how much electricity my materials can make and how long it can work for before the material breaks down.

Once my first experiment is set up and running all day, I’ll move on to reading some other scientists work, and writing up my work. I’ll have a break for lunch with my friends who work in the same lab as me, or with some friends who work nearby.

there has to be plenty of cups of tea when I’m reading at my desk!

After lunch, I might do some small experiments like testing my powders with an x-ray or a giant microscope to see what my powder looks like. I could also spend my afternoon sending forms and emails to ask other labs if I can use their labs to test my material. I usually leave to go home about 4:00 to 5:00pm.

More recently though, I’ve been spending all my time working at home writing up my results from the last 4 years in a big book called a ‘thesis’.