Professor John Loughhead, Chief Scientific Advisor for DECC comes to Birmingham

Yesterday, the chief scientific advisor for DECC, Professor John Loughhead, came to Birmingham to speak as the first in a series of lectures run by the Birmingham Energy Institute. 
Before the lecture, there was the opportunity to attend a student Q&A session, which I signed up for as soon as I heard about it! 

I arrived to discover there were only 12 of us in the Q&A, so an ideal opportunity for us to ask Professor Loughhead our questions in a much more personal environment. There were students from a range of research backgrounds, which led to a nice variety in the questions asked. From small modular nuclear reactors, to onshore wind subsidies via Electric Vehicle uptake and carbon labelling we covered most of the main areas of a future UK energy system. I, of course, asked about hydrogen and it's part of the UK's future. Professor Loughhead agreed that the technology is very attractive, mainly because there are no emissions at point of use. However, whilst there is still the option to buy petrol/diesel cars, there needs to be additional advantages to ownership: people don't like to be different. Maybe even the support of a Hollywood star would shift the balance...?

Throughout the session, Professor Loughhead was very personable and answered (or at least, tried to answer) all our questions: even when asked whether DECC, and himself, actually had any influence over governmental decisions! 

After a quick chat with us over a cup of tea, we all went upstairs to be joined by a theatre full of people to hear his lecture. Beginning by admitting he had one of the best jobs in the world, he then went on to speak about the UK's targets as set by the Climate Change Act, and how DECC was helping the UK get to these targets. 

He stressed the need for new technologies, and encouraged us students to get back to the lab! However, we were warned of the uncertainty of the energy system (including oil price fluctuations) and how this can be a massive turn-off for investors.

There were some really interesting graphs in his presentation, including one showing the reduction in research and development funding in energy research that occurred towards the end of the 1980s, and which is only just starting to rise. 

To finish, he stressed that innovation is not just needed in technology, but also business models and markets. 

It was a great talk, with an excellent opportunity before hand to discuss individual issues with the speaker. I look forward to the next in the lecture series!

3 Minute Thesis 2015

2 years ago I competed in the University's "3 Minute Thesis" competition. This involves PhD researchers explaining their thesis to a general audience in 3 minutes with no props and using only one stationary slide.

Last time I made it through to the university final, but no further. I really enjoyed the experience: so much so, that I managed to persuade my Mum (who is studying for a DBA at Henley Business School) to enter the heats at her university! After she made it through to her university's final, I knew there was no way I wasn't going to be able to give it another go...

Last time, I started with the basic chemistry, building up to the topic of my research and then finishing with the applications. The video is here. After attending a 3MT training session put on by the graduate school before the heats, I decided to change the order a bit: starting with the motivation and application of hydrogen fuel cell technology and then going into more detail. 

After a hectic week prior to the heat, and the timer having technical issues during my presentation, I wasn't sure how it had gone, but was pleased to find out that I had made it through to the final (phew - at least Mum hadn't beaten me yet!!). We then had a morning of training from Lucy Vernall from @ideaslabproject where we analysed previous 3MT presentations and discussed ways to improve our own. 

I came away buzzing with ideas, and had a bit of a re-write. I then did quite a lot of practice: in my room; in the car; even out running along the canal! I made some changes to my slide: coming up with the final version below illustrating the different way that hydrogen is stored in the two vehicles. 

The day of the final began with filming in the media centre - instructed not to wear green so that we didn't disappear into our slide, we headed to the studio underneath the great hall. I was first up, having been randomly selected to present first both for filming and for the event in the afternoon. I stood on my piece of tape while the camera and lights were lined up, and I was "powdered" to remove any shine. And.... action! 

I managed it in one take! I found it hard to not move around and keep my focus on the camera, but I think it went OK. Even though I began calm, by the end I was shaking like a leaf, so I'm glad there had been no major problems because there was no way I would have been able to do that again. 

Now followed a few hours back in the office preparing a conference presentation (with very different slides!) before the live final in the afternoon. 

The final was put on as part of the graduate school's awards ceremony: we presented at the start and then after all the other awards were given out, the winner would be announced. Up first, I gave my presentation to the audience, who were really open and welcoming. It felt much less nerve-wracking than either the heat or the filming! Although I did finish and I was shaking like a leaf! The finalists were all based in a different room, so I didn't get to hear anyone else present. But everyone seemed to come back feeling confident that they had done well.

After a drinks reception we returned to the main room for the prize giving. One of my fellow School of Chemistry researchers won the publication prize, so Chemistry was already doing well! They announced the prizes for the runners up for the people's choice and the judges choice first and then, to my complete shock, they announced me as the winner! 

I am so pleased to have got through to the next round - thanks to everyone who helped with the organisation and the training, and apologies to those who saw me talking to myself on the canal! The next round is judged based on the videos, and then the national final is in September in Manchester. So watch this space....

Leading Academics: Prof. Jennifer Tann

I knew the second session of Leading Academics (see here for the first session) was going to be good when the speaker was introduced as having "laughter" on her list of interests on LinkedIn. And I was not disappointed. Professor Jennifer Tann was a very engaging speaker and was there to talk us through how to recognise (and make the most of) personality traits in both ourselves and other people. 

Before the class, I completed a Myers-Briggs test on "Type Dynamics", which told me that I fitted the "ESTJ" profile. This means that:

• I am more Extroverted than Introverted (E vs I)
• I pay more attention to things I have directly Sensed than by iNtuition (S vs N)
• I make decisions based on Thinking rather than Feeling (T vs F)
• I make Judgements based on action plans, rather than Perception: letting things happen. (J vs P)

Some people had only vague preferences for one of the two options, but for the last 3 points I was pretty much off the scale! I wasn't very surprised by the results, but I was looking forward to learning what this really meant. 

In groups of similar temperaments (all the SJs were together) we discussed leadership practices: which would come most naturally for us, and which we would struggle to be good at. It was interesting considering how much more comfortable we all felt "leading by example" when compared to "encouraging from the heart".

So, as an extrovert, I show everyone my strongest personality trait: my judgement. However, introverts display their 2nd strongest, making them more difficult to get to know. It was intriguing to hear how illness or stress can change this: exposing your more hidden personality traits. I guess this is why people say "you're not yourself" when you're feeling unwell. 

After another session on the Leading Academics course, again I went away wanting to spend more time on self-assessment. I have been sent away with the "Strengthsfinder" book which also profiles you based on a series of strengths. We were advised to learn what we are good at, and what we enjoy doing, but not to use it as an excuse! Carrying out tasks which are not covered by your strengths may be exhausting, but they are often necessary. Discovering what kind of environment you need to be in to compete them is also key: as they are against your normal habits, they may need to be done in a similarly contrasting environment. 

Thanks to Jennifer for such an interesting session, and again to the careers network for running the course. It was great to be a part of it, even if only for a small while!

Leading academics: Adair Richards

The University of Birmingham enterprise unit run a course called "Leading Academics". The description is as follows:

In June 2015 we will be hosting a six-session series which gives doctoral students the opportunity to engage with guest speakers on how they have made it to the top and the issues they face and have overcome, as well as acquiring frameworks and toolkits for their future careers.

Unfortunately I was unable to attend all 6 of the sessions, as lab work for me is reaching its peak, but I had spotted the phrase "Science communicator" in the description of one of the speakers, so I spoke to the organisers and managed to arrange to come along for just one session: the one Adair Richards was presenting. 
(To hear more about Adair's work: go to his TEDx talk - well worth a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqmPUm54oew)

Arriving halfway through a course is never ideal, but the first exercise was to discuss the most intriguing ideas that had come up from the previous sessions, so I was able to catch up with the key points. The course is about learning what key attributes leaders have, how to recognise the skills that you have, and how to develop yourself to become a successful leader. 

We spent some time in groups discussing the definition of leadership, with most coming up with the same key words: influence, inspire, understanding, enabling, integrate, common goal. 

Adair then took us through some leadership theories, and I found myself thinking of examples of both good (and not so good) people I had been working with in the past, and how those theories applied to them and the group we had been working in. All the characteristics painted a picture of someone worth respecting, and who you desire to work for. The key point for me was that it became about how you act in a way that means people want to do what you are asking them, and go ahead with their task without feeling directly influenced. 

We heard about Adair's background: of opportunities seized; failures; successes and learning how to be lucky. It was interesting to see how he has guided his career path not by making a goal and working towards it, but more short term decision making based on his basic values. It made me realise the importance of self-assessment, and knowing your own definition of success. 

The session ended with his "Top 10 leadership lessons learnt". From the importance of a good attitude, to the need to keep on learning, all the points made me want to sit down and spend some time thinking more about myself and what I want, rather than my work and where it is taking itself. 

A very interesting and engaging session! To the extent that I'm coming back for the next speaker tomorrow... 
Thanks to Adair for delivering it, and to the careers network for letting me come along. 

FameLab Academy - the final!

This year, I have been able to be a part of FameLab's launch of FameLab Academy in Gloucestershire. I have been on a training masterclass, been a mentor for Pate's Grammar School (visiting twice: 1 and 2) and had the scary experience of being a judge! Yesterday was the final of the competition. All of the twelve finalists had qualified via their school finals, been on a science communication masterclass, and had the opportunity to visit an engineering company. 

Before the final started, I had the chance to catch up with the other engineer mentors to find out how they had been working with their link schools and what other science communication activities they had been up to. I also spoke to the teacher I had been working with at Pates and found out that the student I had spoken to about Oxbridge interviews had been offered a place at Cambridge! I wonder whether any of those in my engineering introduction session will end up pursuing it as a career.

After an introduction from edf energy, who were hosting the event, the final began! What followed were 12 fantastic talks, on scientific and engineering topics ranging from how we handle pain to invisibility using octupuses (octupi?). I was impressed by the improvement I saw in the students I had mentored at Pate's, and the finalist we put through from St Edward's. There were some great props and demos, and I learnt a lot!

After all the students had spoken, Nick Harrigan (@sparrigan) gave us a fab demo on lightbulbs (yeah, I know - but it was actually interesting!). I never knew that you could use a gherkin instead of a filament, although it was a relief that said gherkin did not set off the fire alarm...

The judges: Ben Garrod (@ben_garrod), Louise Emerson from Cheltenham festivals and Ben Salisbury from edf had a tough job... 

After their deliberation, they awarded runners up prizes to Abi (Pittville School) and Lexie (from Pate's - wooo!!!) who spoke on living in space and the feasibility of swimming in syrup. The overall winner was Harry from The Cotswold School, who grabbed everyone's attention with his opening line of "Aphids SUCK" and then went on to discuss these tiny creatures, which I never realised were so interesting... The engineering prize went to Chris, from St Edward's whose enthusiasm for trains meant his talk on streamlining was gripping. 

A huge well done to all who competed - not just yesterday, but throughout the process. Also to Ali Mawle from Cheltenham festivals and her team who made the whole of FameLba academy happen so successfully. And thanks to edf, who made it possible for me and the other engineers to be a part of such an awesome competition!

Astronomy in the City

Every month, the University of Birmingham Observatory team runs an evening event called "Astronomy in the City". At the last #brumscicomm social, I met a few of the PhD students who are involved, and so I dragged a friend from to solid state chemistry group along to see what it was like... 

The night was pretty cloudy, so we didn't get the chance to actually do any stargazing, but the evening was still very well managed and attended, and I still had a lot of fun (and learnt a lot!) After an introduction from Dr. Graham Smith, Simon Stevenson gave us an excellent presentation on observing black holes. 

We learnt that black holes are relatively easy to see if they are next to another star (although the radio and X-ray images look nothing like the very glamorous artistic impression from NASA on the left) but if that second star collapses and you have two black holes next to each other, then it becomes very difficult to see anything at all. However, these black holes will orbit one another, with the orbit slowly decreasing in size until they combine. This combination causes a ripple in space time (coolest phrase ever??!) and produces gravitational waves. It also produces a sound! He introduced the LIGO - a massive experiment set up to try and measure these gravitational waves. 

After Simon, Callum Bellhouse gave us a guide to the Night Sky in March: there is a lot to see! The "most exciting night sky object" will be Jupiter, which will be easy to see in the sky at ~21:40 each night (you'll be able to tell it's a planet not a star because it won't twinkle). The big event of the month will be a partial solar eclipse on the 20th March. We were given some good tips as to how to see the eclipse safely, using objects we have at home: including a colander! The peak viewing time will be 9:30 in the morning, so I'll be dragging the rest of my office out with their kitchenware hoping for a clear sky...

After the talks there would normally be telescopes out in chancellors court, but because of the weather we were inside. There were still lots of things to look at and do, including some very fancy telescopes that you could program to track specific features across the sky. I was surprised at how short the telescopes were! By adding in a series of reflections, the effective length can be increased in what appears to be a short casing, like the orange one on the left.

A telescope built by a former member of UoB's AstroSoc

They also had a lycra universe which gave an awesome demonstration of how the planets orbit the sun - it's the first time I've seen a golf ball painted like the Sun before! After asking lots of questions about the inner workings of the LIGO, and battling each other on the computer at "Big Bang pong" we left chatting excitedly about all the things we'd learnt, and wondering how we could get our work in the Chemistry department even half as engaging...

The next of these event is on the 25th March, and I'm already crossing my fingers for clear skies!

FameLab Academy - judging!

As part of my FameLab academy mentor-ing, I went to another school (St Edwards in Cheltenham) to judge their final. They had 10 students in the final, and I was sent a list of topics in advance, so I knew (vaguely) what they would be talking about. There was a wide range of topics, and I was excited to learn new things! I got to the school and met the other judges before the final started. It turns out that I wasn't the only one nervous about asking questions! After each talk, each of us was going to ask a question: either about the topic, or the research process the student had done to make their talk.

Just like the "adult" version of FameLab, the students were all required to talk for a maximum of 3 minutes on a science topic of their choice. I think I was expecting a lot of nervousness, and a lot of mumbling. But I was so impressed by all of the talks! From chocolate, to steam trains, to bugs that live in your face the topics were all interesting and the facts were delivered clearly. All of the students were very confident in their delivery, but there were some that really stood out. They were passionate about their topic and that really showed. I never thought that steam engines or bugs that live on our faces (yes, I know - yuk!) could be so interesting. It was a tough job picking the top 3, with some disagreement amongst the judges, but we managed it…  If that is what the rest of the schools’ finalists look like – I cannot wait until the final!!