Profile

I live in Loughborough with my wife and 2 year old son. I have a degree in Physics with Astrophysics and a PhD in physics where I was using Saturn’s rings as a real world laboratory to study planet formation theories. I have always been interested in how things work which usually results in me taking things apart. Sometimes I have been able to put things back together. As soon as I passed my driving test at 17 I began taking my car apart and putting it back together. I also found ways to improve it. When I started studying for my physics degree I also got a part-time job working as a mechanic at the weekends and holidays. Over the years I was doing my degree and working as a mechanic I built an extremely quick car. Essentially it was a Vauxhall Corsa with a huge turbo charged engine and nitrous oxide. I took it to many tracks and events and managed to beat many super cars around the track.
Something else I do outside of being a scientist is training for a sport. I was training to enter some power lifting competitions but after an injury call it off for a bit. I still train but i do not plan on competing in the near future. At Loughborough University we have many world class athletes and training alongside them can be quite inspirational. I always find that I solve some of the problems I am working on and having trouble with whilst I am training.

In my current role I cover a wide range of work. The core of my work is the teaching of physics and astrophysics. I teach a practical astronomy module at our observatory. Students that come to Loughborough get to learn how to make astronomical observations like a professional astronomer using our own equipment. I also teach astrophysics which is basically the physics of stars and practical experiments in the teaching laboratories.

My research at the moment uses computer models and simulations to try and understand the exciting features we see in Saturn’s rings thanks to the Cassini spacecraft. Being a good astrophysicist is about being a good computer programmer and I find myself writing new programs to understand the world we live in daily.

I am also the the radiation protection supervisor and health and safety officer for the physics department. This means that I oversee all the experiments and X-ray work being done, making sure it is done safely.

Most days are different, there is no set standard day for a scientist which makes it quite exciting. A typical day might start (I arrive at work for 8:30am) with me checking my emails first thing and the results of any simulation I may have left running over night. Depending on the system I am modelling I leave the computer working away for a day or up to a month at a time. So the morning might be the first time I get a glimpse at something new and exciting that no one else has seen.

Around mid morning is when I would normally arrange some training on equipment for either students or researchers. At lunch I will go powerbase gym to train. There are many Olympic athletes that also train here along with the GB Olympic weightlifters that are also base at the same gym. I find it good to leave the work environment for a time as it can help when you are stuck on a problem. The best way to solve a problem you can’t solve is to actually not work on it. You may have heard of scientists discovering things in most unusual places and it is normally because you actively stop thinking about the problem.

During term time I most likely will have a fair bit of contact time with physics students. So I might give an hour lecture on astronomy or astrophysics which normally have been around mid afternoon. Then in the evening approximately 7:00pm – 9:00pm if the weather is clear I will run practical astronomy session for students doing the Practical Astronomy module. Most of the time if I have done the lectures and demonstrations well all I need to do is stand back and observe as the students carry out their work. Only stepping in to help if they get stuck. We try to let students at university have more control over the work they do. So it’s not so much about teaching but guiding them to figure things out themselves. After all we are training future scientists.

Out of term time I will spend most of my time preparing lectures and tutorials that I will deliver later on in the year. This is also the time when I would look at formally writing up any of the results I have obtained from my research.