STEMalive! Inspirational Speaker - Phil Edwards, Weald Technology

STEMalive! events are a collaboration between educational charity, SATRO and Dr Elaine Hickmott of EH Enterprises. The events are designed to bring together STEM professionals and students in Years 11, 12 & 13 in a supportive environment to have cool conversations and be inspired by real career stories and insights in science, technology, engineering and maths. 

The next event is taking place on Thursday 10th March at St Peter's School, Guildford. We already have four STEM speakers confirmed! Over the next few weeks, we will be blogging short bios on each speaker.

Next up is Phil Edwards!

Phil Edwards

Founder and Managing Director

Weald Technology

Phil worked in design and manufacturing roles up to board-level, predominantly in high-technology organisations, until 2005 when he became a self-employed manufacturing advisor working on lean manufacturing, value-engineering and process improvement projects across all sectors.

In 2010 Phil spotted the emerging electric-vehicle sector and began a project to design an electric racing motorcycle, little knowing where it would lead to. That bike went on to set a UK record and, spurred on by its success, he is now running a project (that’s been 4 years in planning) to break the electric motorcycle world-record. In 2012 Phil founded Weald Technology to exploit the innovations and, under his leadership, the company has picked up numerous awards for engineering and innovation.

As well as a managing a number of other low-carbon transport projects Phil spends much of his time working with schools to inspire young people into taking up STEM subjects.

Weald Technology Website:      http://weald-tech.co.uk/

Fast Charge Website:                 http://fast-charge.org/

Phil on Twitter:                            @weald_tech

Phil on LinkedIn:                         https://www.linkedin.com/in/philaedwards

STEMalive! is FREE for schools to attend – Contact Lisa@satro.org.uk

Engineers share your knowledge and experience with us – Contact jules@satro.org.uk

James Lovelock by guest blogger John Faulkner

Hiking with his father on Leith Hill, young James Lovelock would admire the view across to the South Downs. Years later, in the 1960s, the view did not seem as clear. There was a haze. Was it man made? Where did it come from? The answer would introduce a precision instrument for measuring air pollution, both help to start the environmental movement and avert a catastrophe.

Inspired by visits to the Science Museum, impoverished James Lovelock self funded his ambition to become a scientist. Frustrated with university authority he did his science independently as a 'maverick'. Among his discoveries and inventions is the Electron Capture Detector (ECD).  This is an instrument so sensitive it can detect airborne particles in parts per trillion (1 in 1000,000,000,000). The ECD works by ionising a gas then passing an electrical current through it. Specific atoms or molecules introduced to the gas can be identified by changes in the current.

He used his ECD on the North Downs air. Testing for man made chlorofluorocarbons (CFC), used for aerosols and refrigerants, he discovered them in the wind from London. Was CFC dispersal wider? He part funded joining British research ship Shackleton on it's 1972 Antarctic voyage. His resulting paper and lectures on global dispersal alerted other scientists. Alarmingly they found CFC action was destroying the earth's ozone layer. Ozone protects life from the harmful effects of the sun's Ultra Violet radiation. In 1987 the Montreal Protocol, to control CFCs, was agreed by 197 UN countries and is the first worldwide agreement to protect the Earth's environment.

After a distinguished science career, at 96, James Lovelock now writes on the environment. He is most famous for the Gaia hypothesis developed while consulting NASA on how landers might test for the presence of life on Mars. Gaia proposes the Earth's environment is self regulating, where life maintains the balance of nature. Living processes, for example, coordinate to maintain the air's oxygen level at 21%, the exact proportion in air needed by our biosphere to survive.

Recognising Science Museum influences, in 2015, he donated his fascinating and important archive to it. It includes the ECD, built in his garden shed laboratory! See the link below...

http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/visitmuseum/Plan_your_visit/exhibitions/lovelock.aspx

There are many anecdotes from him and one that impresses me is his response during the war to using shaved rabbits to categorise degrees of skin burn. He refused to harm innocent animals and successfully conducted the tests on himself which he described as 'exquisitely painful'!

- John Faulkner, SATRO Volunteer

STEMalive! Inspirational speaker - Keisha Smith, CGL

STEMalive! events are a collaboration between educational charity, SATRO and Dr Elaine Hickmott of EH Enterprises. The events are designed to bring together STEM professionals and students in Years 11, 12 & 13 in a supportive environment to have cool conversations and be inspired by real career stories and insights in science, technology, engineering and maths. 

The next event is taking place on Thursday 10th March at St Peter's School, Guildford. We already have four STEM speakers confirmed! Over the next few weeks, we will be blogging short bios on each speaker.

Up next is Keisha Smith!

Keisha Smith

Principal Engineer

Card Geotechnics Ltd

Keisha is from Barbados and I did her BSc in Civil with Environmental Engineering at the University of the West Indies in Trinidad.  She came to the UK in 2005 to do her MSc in Environmental Engineering at the University of Nottingham.

Since then she has worked for Card Geotechnics Ltd (CGL), progressing from Engineer to Principal Engineer within a nine year period.  During this time she also became a Chartered Environmentalist. CGL is a consultancy which provides ground solutions and Keisha is responsible for the assessment of brownfield sites (for example; former gas works, chemical works and landfills) and the remediation of these sites prior to redevelopment.

Keisha is proud to be a STEM Ambassador and frequently goes into primary and secondary schools presenting her work and actively encouraging more young people to pursue careers in STEM.

CGL Website:                    http://www.cgl-uk.com/

CGL on LinkedIn:              https://www.linkedin.com/company/card-geotechnics-limited

Keisha on LinkedIn:        https://uk.linkedin.com/in/keishaannmariesmith

STEMalive! is FREE for schools to attend – Contact Lisa@satro.org.uk

Engineers share your knowledge and experience with us – Contact jules@satro.org.uk

STEMalive! inspirational speaker - Linden Vongsathorn, Microsoft

STEMalive! events are a collaboration between educational charity, SATRO and Dr Elaine Hickmott of EH Enterprises. The events are designed to bring together STEM professionals and students in Years 11, 12 & 13 in a supportive environment to have cool conversations and be inspired by real career stories and insights in science, technology, engineering and maths. 

The next event is taking place on Thursday 10th March at St Peter's School, Guildford. We already have four STEM speakers confirmed! Over the next few weeks, we will be blogging short bios on each speaker.

First up is Linden Vongsathorn, Software Development Engineer at Microsoft!

Linden Vongsathorn is a Software Engineer at Microsoft, working on the Windows operating system and Xbox gaming system. She was on the Xbox One launch team and currently develops TV and entertainment technology. Before joining Microsoft, she was a game designer and developer at “Hide&Seek” game design studio, and she studied how people interact with technology as an intern at Microsoft Research and the Oxford Internet Institute. 

Linden has an undergraduate degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College in the USA and a Master's degree in Sociology from the University of Oxford. She has created and contributed to games played at venues including the Southbank Centre in London, the London 2012 Festival, the New York Come Out and Play Festival, and La Gaî​té Lyrique in Paris. 

Linden is also actively involved in programs encouraging and supporting young people who are interested in the sciences. She speaks at schools, industry events, and mentors young women entering the field.

Microsoft UK Website:                 https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/about/

Microsoft on Twitter:                    @MicrosoftUK

Linden on LinkedIn:                      https://uk.linkedin.com/in/linden-vongsathorn-25423361

STEMalive! is FREE for schools to attend – Contact Lisa@satro.org.uk

Engineers share your knowledge and experience with us – Contact jules@satro.org.uk