Here is a Chat transcript from April 2024 with an FE College.
Moderators, Students, Scientists
Mod Jamie
Hi everyone, welcome to the Chat. I’m your moderator, I’m here to make sure everything runs smoothly 🙂
duke1peps
Hi Jamie!
Mod Jamie
Looks like we’ve got plenty people here early, so let’s get started and maybe some more people can join the conversation in a few mins!
Mod Jamie
I’ll run through some quick instructions to get you all started 🙂
Mod Jamie
💻 Students, you will see who’s here on the left of your screen
Mod Jamie
💻 You will see the scientists’ @names at the bottom of the screen. Try clicking on their name to ask them a question
Mod Jamie
💻 If you want to reply, click on the ‘Reply’ button to the right of a message
Alex H
Good afternoon everyone!
fact1peps
hi
Rachel A
Hi Everyone 🙂
case1peps
hello all
duke1peps
Afternoon : )
cast1peps
Good afternoon! Hope everyone is doing well! 🙂
Mod Jamie
You can start chatting with the scientists as soon as you’re ready – you can read a little bit about them on the left, maybe there’s something there you’d like to know more about?
fast1peps
hello
Natasha P
Good afternoon
each1peps
Hi all!
Rachel E
Hello 😊
Rachel E
Haha, it’s another conversation with two Rachels :). Hi @Rachel A!
Rachel A
@Rachel E: Hi to you too! We get everywhere!
fact1peps
I have a question for all. What was it that made you realise that the course you specialise in was for you?
Rachel E
@fact1peps: I enjoyed maths, but only as a tool for doing something useful. I chose to study physics as that fitted well. I’ve moved into applied physics through my career.
Alex H
@fact1peps: I wanted to be an engineer when i was at high school, so i decided to do an apprenticeship and soon as I started I realised i was in the right place
daws1peps
@Alex H: Hi I am looking for apprenticeship in chemistry and am struggling to find in my area. Could give me some tips?
Rachel E
@daws1peps: Have you looked at the new degree apprenticeships too?
Alex H
@daws1peps: Other than the online services from the institute of apprenticeships, what kind of role are you looking into?
daws1peps
@Alex H: I want to work in a laboratory
Rachel E
@daws1peps: Labs are great places to work in. We have someone doing an apprenticeship as a lab technician alongside doing a part-time degree.
daws1peps
@Rachel E: That I want to study and work, but I struggled to find where and what to do.
Rachel E
@daws1peps: It’s a really hard thing to find. Sometimes you just need to ask – this was something special arranged for someone after they applied for a lab technician apprenticeship.
Alex H
@daws1peps: I’m not too familiar with lab based apprenticeships, but Chemical engineering may allow that?
sandrarobertson
@daws1peps: I would say the people you work with are a big part to enjoying where you work. I have been for interviews at some labs and it just didn’t feel right, but my current job I knew instantly I wanted to work there.
sandrarobertson
@fact1peps: 6th year chemistry at school, I loved all the lab based work and thought it would be a good thing to make a career out of mixing potions!
cast1peps
@sandrarobertson: Did you find chemistry hard to understand during school?
sandrarobertson
@cast1peps: honsetly yes, by 6th year I was struggling to keep up with all the learning from books, but loved the hands on experiments. I chose not to go to university partly due to this, and left school taking a lab assistant role instead
cast1peps
@sandrarobertson: Oh right, I couldn’t do chemistry at university. I struggle a lot with the fundamentals, let alone the basics! What do you find most interesting about your job?
sandrarobertson
@cast1peps: That the test solutions I am producing are saving peoples lives. It’s quite a powerful thing to know that your work is having an impact on how people are being medicated by doctors.
cast1peps
@sandrarobertson: That would be a wonderful feeling. How long does it take to create these kits and how do you make them?
sandrarobertson
@cast1peps: Each of the tests are slightly different. Typically it takes 6-8 weeks to make all the parts, and bring the final combination of solutions together. Most of our tests are based on immunoassay running on large automated machines.
Rachel A
@fact1peps: It was it was something that I enjoyed and I love being in a lab
Natasha P
@fact1peps: Good question. For me it was process of elimination I think. At GCSE I found Science/maths came much more naturally to me than other subjects. Then at A Level I preferred Physics over Chemistry. The role I am in now is actually a bit of a deviation from my degree which shows that you can make moves within the same field later in life
fact1peps
It’s good to know that there is room for deviation in careers from what you study at University etc.
Rachel E
@fact1peps: a lot of the physics undergraduates that work with our group on projects end up going into engineering in industry – there’s lots of movement after university.
Rachel A
@fact1peps: A lot of what you learn can be transferable. If you asked me when I was studying chemistry if I would be working in archaeology I wouldnt have believed you.
sandrarobertson
@fact1peps: Most of my colleagues are now doing something slightly different to what they studied. I myself have taken ‘secondment’ opportunities within my work, where I get to try being in a different role for a fixed number of months.
fact1peps
@sandrarobertson: that’s good to know, I’m hoping to go to Uni in September for biomedical science but am feeling attractions to other areas of science that are similar
sandrarobertson
@fact1peps: You can always change your course during your university journey, as you get to experience the different options available, you might like something better and chose to follow that path more.
case1peps
what is it like on an average work day for you all
Alex H
@case1peps: i don’t really have many of the same days, i get to work on international projects, but at the moment I’m office based designing a very powerful laser system
Rachel A
@case1peps: My days vary, they mainly involve emails and looking at some artefacts under the microscopes. At the moment I am looking at a Bronze Age hoard
Rachel E
@case1peps: I’m an academic. So I spend some of my time teaching physics to our undergraduates. The rest of my time I’m doing research or helping my research group with their work.
sandrarobertson
@case1peps: An average day can be a real mixture of activities. There are always meetings and boring administration things to be completed, but I spend most days either deciding which experiments I want to run, or running the actual study and gathering the results.
Natasha P
@case1peps: Most of my day is sat down using my computer. Today I am running my test case to debug the software and work out what is going wrong. Soon I’ll talk to my colleagues who make the SW about what I think needs to be fixed
Rachel E
What year group are you all in?
fact1peps
@Rachel E: second year college
Rachel E
@fact1peps: Thanks – what qualifications are you working on?
fact1peps
@Rachel E: BTEC applied science
Rachel E
@fact1peps: Thanks!
fast1peps
first year of college
cast1peps
I’m in my first year of the BTEC Level 3 Applied Science 😀
Alex H
@cast1peps: I did a Level 3 BTEC as well, but in Manufacturing and Operations Engineering
cast1peps
@Alex H: Oh! Very interesting, how did that open up options for you to move onto higher education or an apprenticeship/internship?
Alex H
@cast1peps: it allowed me to progress to a HNC, HND and then jump into a degree at the final year. I’ll be doing a masters part time next, so the BTEC gave me the same options as anyone else
Alex H
@cast1peps: Also lots of employers are fond of the BTEC/HNC/HND route, especially combined with vocational experience
fact1peps
thanks for your answers guys 🙂
derm1peps
@Alex H what is the laser system used for
Alex H
@derm1peps: Its a very powerful (200 Petawatt) laser system that will be combined with an electron beam to allow scientist to research things like elctron beam dynamics, accelerating principles and all sorts of beam and plasma interactions
each1peps
@Alex H: how big is a petawatt?
Alex H
@each1peps: about 1×10^15 times more powerful than a 100 watt lightbulb, so many billions
fast1peps
@Alex H does the 200 petawatt laser enough to make a lightsaber sort of thing?
Alex H
@fast1peps: It would cut through things yes, but unfortantely it takes quite a lot of kit to make a laser that powerful, so making it hand-held would be the issue there. There was a laser called dragonfire, used as a defense system for reference
fast1peps
@Alex H so is it more of a death star type laser then?
case1peps
what university’s did you go too and how was ur experiences there
Rachel A
@case1peps: I went to Keele and really enjoyed it. It was a campus based uni. which I really liked
Natasha P
@case1peps: The University of Kent. I had a great time ! It has a lovely campus and I’m still in touch with several of the friends I made there. I also did a year abroad in the USA
Rachel E
@case1peps: I went to Oxford – my school suggested applying and lots of people told me I wouldn’t survive there, so I went :D. I work at a campus-based university now, and it’s a lot more of a relaxed environment.
Alex H
@case1peps: I’m at UCLan (University of Central Lancashire)
duke1peps
@Natasha P I have a question, are peak hours for television usage a thing, is there any factors that affect internet at certain times of the day ?
Natasha P
@duke1peps: Hmm I’m not sure to be honest. I know we have service level agreements which dictate how much outage there can be. They may have stipulations in those about peak times
derm1peps
universities for learning forensics science?
Rachel A
@derm1peps: I used to worked at De Montfort Uni in Leicester, I supported the team with the research. They have some lovely lecturers, but it is important to go where you feel happy
Rachel E
@derm1peps: There are a lot of options. What Rachel A says about going somewhere you feel happy is important. Most places have similar content – visit places and see where feels right.
derm1peps
@Rachel E: Do i get to make it as a career
Rachel E
@derm1peps: There are also apprenticeships. I don’t know details about career options in that field though, sorry!
case1peps
@Alex H what is ur laser for
duke1peps
@sandrarobertson has the demand for health testing kits increased since the pandemic ?
sandrarobertson
@duke1peps: For us definitely! My company were part of the direct supply chain to the NHS during the pandemic – we went from one 8 hour shift to operating 24 hours
fact1peps
How do you guys (whom this is relavent to) keep calm and collected with doing work that can have such an impact on people’s life and wellbeing?
case1peps
@Rachel A what is the best part of archaeology
Rachel A
@case1peps: Good question, I have only been doing in just under a year. The digs can be exciting, but boring at times! I think it has been analysing 2000 year old swords and daggers, the hardest bit has been getting used to skeletons!
case1peps
@Rachel A: you must get a rush when you find something in the digs
Rachel A
@case1peps: Yes, but unfortunately I have only found a rusty nail and an animal bone, but that was still exciting! Friends have found Kings under the car park and Roman mosaics!
duke1peps
@Rachel A I hope i have the right Rachel! I’d like to ask if you have worked with anything in your career that has made you nervous, like a harmful bacteria ?
Rachel A
@duke1peps: There has been plenty of things that have made me nervous. I have handled toxic and harmful pharmaceuticals and resistant bacteria. The important thing was that I had PPE to protect, but it still makes you nervous.
derm1peps
any robotics engineering?
Rachel E
@derm1peps: we use robots as tools to deploy our sensors – but don’t develop any.
Alex H
@derm1peps: I don’t do any robotics work, but have worked with a few people who have. Is that the field you are interested in?
derm1peps
@Alex H yes sort of because i want to get into engineering
Alex H
@derm1peps: Its a great and varied field is robotics, you would work on anything from manufacturing robots, machaining robots, robots for the film industry (I have been to a company that did this), medical robots, space robots, – you name it really!
Alex H
@derm1peps: My field is Accelerator Engineering, so I do a lot of mechanical systems, vacuum, RF, Lasers and that kind of stuff
derm1peps
@Alex H: do they develop vacuums?
Alex H
@derm1peps: We take a chamber and use a series of pumps to suck all the air out of it. We either do this with classic pumps that suck, or when you need a really low pressure, we use ion pumps that attract gas molecules
Natasha P
@derm1peps: I haven’t done any personally, but Airbus is working on the ExoMars Rover. I expect robotics to be a growing field
duke1peps
@Natasha P is 5G signal becoming more widely available, i can get it in the living room but not the kitchen, I’m guessing it has a short range ?
Natasha P
@duke1peps: 5g is becoming more widely used yes, as for the range I’m not so sure. Payload specialists have a better understanding of how the technology works
Mod Jamie
🕒 15 minutes left everyone!
fast1peps
is light speed travel feesable in the next 50 years
Rachel E
@fast1peps: No… we won’t reach light speed, and need a new source of energy to get us even slightly closer!
fast1peps
@Rachel E ok
Alex H
@fast1peps: Travelling at light speed is tricky due to Einstein’s relativity theory, the faster you go, the more mass something gains (in a basic sense) so you need more energy to get it to move that fast..
fast1peps
@Alex H
cast1peps
@Natasha P What programming languages do you use to create software applications and how long would it take (dependent on the project you have assigned).
Natasha P
@cast1peps: Ooo how long is a difficult questions ! Most projects take several years to go through all the project phases. We use C to write the software and Java to test it. Some of the hardware team use Python as they aren’t doing flight code
cast1peps
@Natasha P: Ah! Very nice. I take an interest in computers and have learnt some basic programming myself, I’m curious to know how many languages you know how to program in?
Rachel E
@cast1peps: Python is a really useful one to have a play with now – it’s a good practice language.
cast1peps
@Rachel E: That what I’ve been learning for the past few years. It is a really versatile language to use! What programs would you recommend as an IDE (as I know there are other IDE’s available).
Rachel E
@cast1peps: We use one hosted at the university, so I can’t recommend one unfortunately! And to be honest, I do all my programming in LabVIEW, because I prefer graphical languages 😀
Natasha P
@cast1peps: 😀 Personally I know 1 in total ! I’d say 0.5 C and 0.5 Java. In my degree I only actually learnt Fortran. I’ve taught myself Java and C using online resources.
cast1peps
@Natasha P: Oh right, ok! What did you do to get to where you are? (College/University/Apprenticeship)
Natasha P
@cast1peps: My degree was Astronomy, Astrophysics and Space Science with a year in the USA. I liked Space Science the most so I applied to companies like Airbus, BAE and Lockheed Martin. I started as a thermal analyst, then propulsion engineer, now software
cast1peps
@Natasha P: Wow! That is incredible, I love space! Thank you for the answers!
derm1peps
what are some possible jobs for studying physics and chemistry
Rachel E
@derm1peps: Our physics students go into research, teaching, finance, business, engineering… so many different options.
Rachel A
@derm1peps: Like what Rachel E has said, there are so many options. I have friends who I did chem with work in finance, teaching, research and buisness
Natasha P
@derm1peps: I agree, I did an Astrophysics degree and my fellow students have ended up in all sorts of places. Some in industry and some in academia. One person I knew now works at CERN
duke1peps
@Rachel A what is the oldest artifact you have observed, and what did you find
Rachel A
@duke1peps: I think it has to be the daggers from Must Farm. They are about 2000 years old. We found that the hilt of the dagger had a high concentration of lead, compared to the blade. The blade had also been deliberately damaged
Mod Jamie
🧠 Lots of good questions today, students! You’ve still got 10 mins left to chat, but if you want to ask more afterwards, head to the Ask page: https://ackroyd.imascientist.org.uk/ask/
duke1peps
@Alex H have you worked on any large scale productions, and will it become international news
Alex H
@duke1peps: I have worked on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN, that’s probably the most famous accelerator in the world. I have also worked on one called PIP-II for the USA. The one I am working on at the minute is called CLARA
Alex H
@duke1peps: CLARA stands for Compact Linear Accelerator for Research Applications
duke1peps
@Rachel A have you ever found or observed anything that was linked to a previous crime
Rachel A
@duke1peps: Not directly, I have worked on research to support people understand case work. I have looked at the transfer of Gunshot residue and if you can pick it up from a police car or custody suite. I have also looked at knife damage
duke1peps
@Natasha P do you find you job difficult first thing on a monday morning
Natasha P
@duke1peps: I do, I’m not really a morning person, so I usually try to ease in 1st thing
derm1peps
@Alex H does your field go into nuclear physics
Alex H
@derm1peps: We have some nuclear physics work such as designing detector systems, and also some nuclear physicists and some focussed on Radiation Safety as well/
duke1peps
@Natasha P what would happen in the event of a large internet outage
Natasha P
@duke1peps: Alot of people would have trouble ! So much of our lives now are based around the internet for basic things like banking, communication etc
Mod Jamie
⏳Just a few minutes left! Remember to 🏆Vote for your favourite scientists! https://ackroyd.imascientist.org.uk/vote/
fast1peps
i will vote for my fave scientist in a sec
Mod Jamie
@fast1peps: Don’t worry, you’ve got plenty of time after the Chat too 🙂
fast1peps
ok @mod jamie
Mod Hannah
Also students I just want to say this Chat has been great. I’ve been distracted watching it 🙂 I hope you’ve enjoyed it!
Rachel E
@Mod Hannah: I agree 🙂
cast1peps
@Mod Hannah: It has been very interesting! Thank you for having us here to meet the scientists!
case1peps
@all thank you for answering our questions have a nice day
Rachel E
Hey we still have 4 minutes left 😀
derm1peps
@Alex H what university did you go to
Alex H
@derm1peps: I went to the Universty of Central Lancashire (UCLan), but I did a part-time day release course as part of a Level 6 Upskill Engineering Apprenticeship
duke1peps
@Rachel A have you ever experienced an outrbreak of a serious disease
Rachel E
@duke1peps: my household (kids) are experiencing an outbreak of chickenpox at the moment, does that count? 😀 –other Rachel.
Rachel A
@Rachel E: I think that counts! Hope that the chickenpox isnt too bad!
Rachel E
@Rachel A: not too bad! The oldest is over it now 🙂
Rachel A
@Rachel E: Thats good, hope the youngest gets over it soon 🙂
Rachel E
@Rachel A: Me too, she’s only 1…
Rachel A
@duke1peps: I havent I am afraid. We have had strains of coronavirus to look at along with the antibiotic resistant bacteria
sandrarobertson
@duke1peps: For my company the Covid-19 pandemic was a huge challenge, trying to get our test kits to market before our competitors in the fight to control it.
case1peps
how do we know if your human
Rachel E
@case1peps: the typos? Different styles of answers? We are all real! 🙂
derm1peps
thats what robot would say
Rachel E
@derm1peps: Haha :S
Mod Hannah
@derm1peps: How do we know you are real too? haha
Mod Jamie
🧠 Students, as the chat is ending soon, perhaps copy and paste your last questions to the Ask page so the scientists will have more time to answer them: https://ackroyd.imascientist.org.uk/ask/
Mod Jamie
⭐️Thank you students for some really excellent questions today! We hope you’ve enjoyed the chat⭐️
Mod Jamie
👏🏻 A massive thank you to the scientists for making time to chat with you today! 👏🏻
case1peps
bye bye
derm1peps
thank you all
Alex H
Thanks everyone – great q’s
cast1peps
By everyone! Thank you for having me!
Rachel A
Thank you all for your questions
fast1peps
have a nice day lol
duke1peps
THANKYOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Rachel E
Bye all! Thanks for the lovely questions 🙂
sandrarobertson
Thank you, this first chat wasn’t so scary after all!
Rachel E
@sandrarobertson: they are lots of fun 🙂