RSC Early Career Energy Sector Chemists Symposium

On Friday, I went to the Rolls Royce Learning and Development Centre in Derby for the RSC Early Career Energy Sector Chemists Symposium. It was an interesting and varied day, with attendees presenting posters, alongside presentations from those further on in their chemical careers. 
The chair of the energy sector committee, Richard Wayne, opened the day with the objectives for us to think about our career direction, network and have fun! 
The first presentation was from Paul Stein, the Chief Scientific Officer at Rolls Royce. After a few minutes racking my brain, I realised that I recognised his name as a contributor to my POST note on Big Data in Business! I managed to catch him after his talk to thank him for his help, and he was very complimentary about my note. He spoke about what he considered to be the significant technology trends for the future, and how they were likely to effect Rolls Royce. It was interesting to hear that in-flight engine shut downs used to be commonplace on passenger aircraft, but are now very rare, because of the ability to collect so much data from the engines in flight. 

The next two presentations were from Alexander Kilpatrick (who won the poster competition at last year's event) and Alissa Cotton (who won the energy sector PhD thesis award last year). Both spoke about their research and how it progressed into their current job. 

My poster - on my recently published work

It was then our turn to talk... Each of the poster presenters had to do a 2 minute flash presentation about their research, to signpost their poster to the rest of the group. I enjoyed this, as it brings life to the abstract book! We then had lunch and the poster session, in which I had some interesting conversations about my research and also other peoples'. 

After lunch, the focus moved from research to careers beginning with a very useful talk from Charlotte Ashley-Roberts from the RSC. We were given lots of good tips about how to look for jobs, how to write a CV and how to come across well at interview. 

We then heard from Stephen Preece (Chief Chemist at edf energy) and Professor Upul Wijayantha from Loughborough University. They told us about their career paths, and what they had done that meant they had been able to progress. 

Key points that I picked up on from the last few talks were that you really need to know yourself! I will be going away from the event planning to really think about what my strengths are, and how involved with science I want to be in a future job. We were advised to be prepared to move around and do something different to learn more about the company or the research area. 

Unfortunately I had to head off before going on the tour of the heritage centre, but I thought it was a very informative day, and an ideal opportunity to present a poster at an event aimed at younger researchers. 

FameLab Academy part 3

So, as part of my role as an mentor for FameLab academy (here and here), I went back down to Pates to work with their school finalists on their FameLab academy speeches before their final on Monday. We had an hour over lunch, and I had heard that they really wanted to rehearse more than anything else. 7 of the 10 finalists were able to make it, and so we went through each of them in turn. After they had done their 3 minutes, I asked the other students to give them feedback on the parts they should keep and the bits they should change.

Not only was I very impressed by the quality of the pieces, but also the excellent feedback that they were able to give each other. I admitted afterwards that I had seen worse competitors in the real FameLab competition, and these guys still had a week to go!

After we had been through the group, with topics ranging from dreams to erasers, I stressed the point that FameLab is about your audience learning something new. We then went through the talks as a group, discussing what we had learnt from them. The speaker would then know what impression they were leaving their audience with, and whether that was what they had intended for them to take away. All of the students were clear enough that this was the case, which was good to see.

I wish them all luck for their school final on Monday. I go to judge at St Edwards on the 12th Feb, and if they are as good as the group at Pates, then I'm in for a challenging afternoon!

Bright Club Birmingham!

As part of my non-researcher life, I am spending 2015 doing a series of challenges for charity. (For more info go to radcc2015.blogspot.co.uk, or justgiving.com/radcc2015) Occasionally the challenges overlap with my life as a scientist, and February's challenge is one such example. Last night I performed at the Birmingham Rep, as part of Bright Club. The description for the show read:

"Join a new set of academics as they channel their inner comic genius to show that university research isn’t always as serious as you might think. Expect amusing tales about life and work in an evening of laughter and music."

A few weeks ago I went along to some UoB organised training for the event. Before turning up, I had no idea what I was going to talk about, or how much I was supposed to be speaking about my research or trying to be funny! Afterwards, I felt the same, but slightly more terrified... 

A long train journey and many long bike rides later, my mind had been given a chance to wander, and come up with some ideas. Although I still maintained there was nothing amusing about my research, I was starting to realise that many of the day-to-day things that happen in a lab might actually appear a bit odd to an observer. So these were what I focussed on. 

Rather than talk you through my set - I will let you watch it (here) instead. (I can't bring myself to watch it!)

Despite being a complete bag of nerves before going up, and shaking like a leaf afterwards, I did actually enjoy it a lot! So, if any of you out there are looking for your next #scicomm challenge then look no further than bright club...

I hate to admit it, but I would totally do it again! Thanks to Sarah Cosgriff for the recording, and Jim Bell for the photos. 

FameLab academy part two - first school visit

As part of my FameLab academy mentoring, I planned to visit my allocated school at least once. My first visit to Pates was in late November and started with an assembly to the whole of year 9. With no introduction, only the FameLab banners, I gave my 3 minute presentation on my research topic (very similar to this one:). I could see that a number of the students were very intrigued as to why I was there! Once I had finished, Janet began the introduction with “Could you explain a science or engineering topic in 3 minutes?” before giving some more information about the competition. We only had 10 minutes, but it seemed to prompt some interest amongst the students. It was also really encouraging to hear the enthusiasm of the staff involved. The head of Year 9 even suggested that he should do his own FameLab presentation on a topic suggested by the students to show them that anyone can do it.

It was interesting to hear why the school was so keen to take on the project. It seems that, even at this early stage, presentations by the students usually are just reading from a script or a powerpoint slide. It is good that this project gives them the opportunity to see that it’s not actually that bad to present outside of your comfort zone!

I then went into some year 9 lessons, where the teacher was introducing the competition and going through the first workshop. This was mainly looking at good science communicators (Alice Roberts and the winner of FameLab UK) and discussing what made them good and easy to understand. The students then had a chance to think about what kind of topic they would talk about, and how they would hook the audience for this topic. Some of them were a bit stuck for ideas, so we discussed the idea of answering questions that everyone wants to know the answer to (e.g. Why is the sky blue?) or starting with a topic they had studied recently and thinking about how it could be applied in the real world.

I then spoke to some students about engineering and interviews in general. There was a mixture of age groups, with the older ones engaging more than the 15/16 year-olds. I think that they found it helpful – it did at least put engineering on their radar as something they might consider.

So one successful school visit down - the next stage is for the school to begin going through the workshops and see where they think I can be of most help. A lot of the students seemed keen, so there should be a good competition at the end of it! 

FameLab Academy

As an alumna of FameLab engineering, I was asked to take part in FameLab Academy. For those of you who don’t know what FameLab is: it’s a competition for scientists and engineers to explain a science/engineering/technology topic of their choice in 3 minutes with no powerpoint slides or any props that they cannot carry on stage. Competitors are judged on content, clarity and charisma and tend to have a lot of fun! FameLab academy is the same competition, but for Year 9 students (13/14 year olds). There are 8 schools in Gloucestershire competing this year, and the Royal Academy of Engineering and edf are helping to provide engineering mentors for each of the schools to help train and inspire the students. I am one of those mentors and have been lucky enough to be paired with Pates Grammar School.

The first stage in the process was a two day course where both engineers and the link teachers from the schools were given details on how the competition would work, and the structure of the training workshops for the students. The first day involved lots of FameLab pitches and feedback with Elin Roberts @elinoroberts training the engineers, and Nick Harrigan @sparrigan with the teachers. We learnt how to catch our audience’s attention, hold it and then reveal our key point. We looked at using storytelling to our advantage and tried selling imaginary products to each other.

As each school has planned different ways of running the workshops and the competition, we were given an opportunity to discuss with our link teacher how we could best help the school we were placed with. At Pates, they were planning on involving the whole of year 9, with each of the 5 groups in the year selecting 2 students to go trough to a school final. After talking to Janet, we thought it would be best if I go in when they launch the competition, to give my FameLab piece and a bit of an introduction. She also thought it might be useful for me to speak to some of the older students about engineering, and the variety of careers that can come from it. As an Oxford graduate, I was also happy to speak to nervous Oxbridge applications about interviews if that was needed.

On the second day, the teachers went back into the schools full of enthusiasm and we were given Nick and cameraman Jonathon Sanderson @jjsanderson to direct some instructional videos to support the workshops. This was very challenging but also a lot of fun. We were in pairs, and managed to get 7 video clips produced by the end of the day. My topic was rehearsal, and so involved Nick talking to himself, a fencing mask, and his friends. After some speedy editing, we got to see the videos and were all very impressed with how they came out. The final version is now online - take a look, they are very funny!

I can’t wait to start getting involved and watch the project progress throughout the year. FameLab was such a confidence booster for me that I hope it can do the same for the students!

Hydrogen in Parliament 2014

Almost exactly a year after my interview for my parliamentary internship, I was back in Westminster, but for an event unrelated to POST. The event was introduced by Peter Aldous MP from the All PartyParliamentary Group for Intelligent Energy as an opportunity to see hear case studies on the implementation of hydrogen technologies across the globe, before discussing how the same ideas could be applied to the UK.

Celia Greaves gave an update on the work done by the UKHFCA, who focus on promoting the benefits of hydrogen and fuel cells. An example of this is their work with DECC, increasing the role of hydrogen technologies in their 2050 calculator, a tool used for public engagement with climate change issues (it’s a great tool – check it out!).

Marieke Reijalt from the European Hydrogen Agency, who were sponsoring the networking drinks, spoke about how the first EU article mentioning hydrogen had been approved in the last fortnight.

Up first to present was Robin Hayles from Hyundai, the company that brought the first hydrogen fuel cell vehicle into mass production in 2013. To them, the hydrogen fuel cell brings the best of both worlds of diesel and electric vehicles: long range but no pollutants coming out of the exhaust. The challenges they face are a lack of refuelling infrastructure, public awareness of the technology and that their target market will be a small number of “early adopters” to start off with. Easily able to get 300 miles out of a tank of his ix35, Robin encouraged us to place an order – we’d get our own fuel cell car delivered in the next 4 months!

Chris White from the Californian fuel cell partnership was up next, having travelled all the way from the USA. The progress in California is amazing – they have 10 hydrogen filling stations that are used already, with another 41 coming online by 2016. Their challenge was knowing who should make the first commitment: vehicle owners or filling station owners. They initially made a deployment plan, and then looked at how they could fund this. This was followed by an integrated policy plan, which had two strands: vehicles and stations. It also included other community integration, such as fire service training, building regulation and maintenance training. They still face challenges with public perception (is a kilogram too weird for the Americans?) but the Governor’s executive order (look up) for 1.5 million zero emission vehicles is spreading to other states. The use of “zero emission vehicles” is important, as it enable fuel cells to be used (rather than stating battery vehicles explicitly).

Bob Kelly from AFC energy then spoke about the progress in South Korea. Having been there earlier this year for a conference, I knew that they were pretty far ahead of the UK in terms of the application of the technology. This is due to the Korean “Renewable portfolio standard”, which forces energy companies to source a certain percentage of their power from renewable sources. These goals must be met, with severe financial penalties if not. It proves that the economics of hydrogen fuel cells is compelling once the government gets involved. (Korean priority is energy security – they import 97%: Independence, Sustainability, Economic, Environmental: ISEE).

The discussion that followed was chaired by Alex Stuart, and brought Diana Raine from Air Products onto the panel. The initial discussions were about the relative position of the UK and Europe when compared to the USA and South Korea. There was agreement that there is a need for government intervention as has been done in both of the case studies discussed. In California, initially there was a need to push industry with zero emission vehicle regulations, but now companies can see a market emerging. The main tipping point for Hyundai and its UK relationship will be in 2017, when they make the decision whether to mass produce a right hand drive fuel cell vehicle, or delay until a later date.

Another question asked was about filling stations: is it better to have smaller ones in more locations or larger stations further apart? Should they dispense hydrogen at both 350 and 700 bar? The lesson from California is that you need to ask the consumer. Research into how people use their vehicles should be done to determine what would be acceptable. For example, do people want to fill at the same stations as large trucks?

The “greenness” of the hydrogen (whether it comes from renewable sources) was brought up and it became apparent that it is very difficult to define what “green hydrogen” actually is. The consensus amongst the panel was that, because green hydrogen is not widespread yet, we will need to implement the technology with a “darker shade of green” to get the ball rolling, and then make the transition later when it becomes more available. Cue lots of jokes about “50 shades of green”…!

To finish the discussion, each of the panellists were asked what the UK could do to help drive the implementation. Greater recognition came up as a key point: both the public and regulators need to know about the technology and that it works. Rob Kelly believes we should take responsibility for this and spread the word. Chris White spoke of Californian officials being invited to drive a hydrogen car, or even just to touch it because “if you touch it, then it must be real”.

I managed to catch Chris during the networking, and spoke to her about any challenges they had faced with public perception. The impression I got was that as soon as people understand the technology, they are very accepting. She also mentioned vehicles that had been in service for much longer than they were designed to be that were still working remarkably well. The key barrier to implementation at the moment is cost, with the cost of carbon fibre compressed gas tanks being more important that the cost of the fuel cell itself.

Having attended a similar event last year (and the yearbefore!) and it was really good to see that actually progress seems to be being made! The fact that hydrogen cars are now available to the public in the UK is a massive step forward. Although we are still well behind California and Korea, I hope that the UK can learn from these areas when considering how to drive forward the implementation.

POST Big Data seminar and annual reception

Yesterday I went back to parliament for the POST Big Data and Governance seminar followed by their 'Information Age' annual reception.  It was great to be back, although a shame not to have my all access pass! It was good to see all the fellows that I had worked with, and catch up with the rest of the staff. The event itself was really interesting, and was definitely a #throwbackthursday for me, reminding me of all the research into big data I had done while I was working with POST to create my POSTnote. This combined with Tim Berners-Lee speaking at the reception and the science museum was showing off some pieces from their 'Information Age' exhibit made for a great afternoon!

Adam Afriyie MP opened the seminar, emphasising the importance of POST and the potential opportunities of Big Data. The POST director Chris Tyler was chairing the session, and directed a question towards each of the panel before opening the discussion up to the floor. 

Chris Fleming, from the Government Office for Science, thinks the government has a role to play in maximising the opportunities that can be gained from big data whilst minimising the risk by building skills and infrastructure and enabling debate. He reminded the audience that technology (e.g. the car) has driven social norms in the past, and the same can be expected from big data. 

Dr Susan Grant-Muller has experience in the transport sector of the benefits that use of data can bring, and also about how the public feel about their data being used. As I found when writing my note, people are willing to share their data if they can see personal value from doing so, but are uncomfortable if companies benefit financially. 

The Information Commissioner, Christopher Graham, agreed that the data protection directive was very out of date, but that the principles remain valid. The future important regulation is likely to come through the EU, but it is proving difficult to get agreement at a European level. He later reminded us that a country's history may greatly influence their views on data sharing and governance. 

However, with many companies operating globally, there is a need for harmonisation across national borders. Matthew Rice from Privacy International agreed that better business practices will come from harmonisation of regulation. 

Professor Carol Dezateux gave lots of great examples of the use of linked datasets in healthcare but explained that it is not always evident to a patient what is for the public benefit. It is also important that all demographics in society have the same level of education about how their data is used. 

Professor Amanda Chessell (Master Inventor - best job title ever!!) spoke about data security, and how important it is for no damage to occur, so that data can be thought of as trustworthy and misinterpretation reduced. 

The concept of people offering up their data for free was discussed by Carl Miller from Demos, who had strong views on the need for increased transparency and control by the public vs the internet giants. 

Dr Emma Uprichard made an interesting point that when delivering education to the public on the subject of big data, it is not just important to focus on the those who are usually considered 'vulnerable', as we are all vulnerable if we do not have the correct information. 

When the discussion was opened to the floor, a common view was that 'Big Data' is not just about technology, but also communication of this technology with the public. However, there is nothing cheap about public engagement! Privacy is likely to become more important, with companies showing a higher level of care for customer data likely to take the lead.

The seminar was followed by the POST annual reception, this year with links to the Science Museum's 'Information Age' exhibition. Opened by Adam Afriyie, who warned that science is often used by politicians as a lamp-post: not to illuminate but to lean against, but that the work of POST was helping to change that. 

The speaker at the reception was Tim Berners-Lee (of www fame) and he was very engaging and entertaining. It was interesting to hear how the web was developed and how it got used just because "people thought it was a good idea, so they used it". He said his next aim was to de-centralise the web, and that search engines and social media sites were just the latest in a long line of monopolies that have dominated the web. 

The formal part of the event finished with speakers from Cubic Transportation and the Science Museum introducing their exhibitions. During the rest of the reception, I caught up with the other POST fellows whilst playing with the exhibits the science museum had brought along. 

The event was a great opportunity to hear the views of a variety of experts on Big Data and highlighted the challenges faced when trying to govern such large and complex data sets. It will be very interesting to see what happens to data use in the future.