I spent a day in the lab building my antenna out of coaxial cable and SMA connectors - Caitlin

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how Caitlin got on at her Extended Work Placement! 

Week one - 

"It’s the end of my first week at Surrey satellites, and I’m already having an amazing time. The week began with me being rather lost at Guildford train station, before spotting the minibus which takes me directly to Tycho house. The receptionist was lovely and guided me through the signing in process which I would have to complete every morning. 

Once I had received my work experience card, Andy was called down to meet me. He was very welcoming and gave me a tour of both the office (Tycho) and lab (Kepler) buildings. I was told what codes I needed to get into each building, where to go and who to ask for technical help, and most importantly, where to go for lunch! From there, I was taken to IT to receive a laptop for me to work on at my time at Surrey Satellites. I was given a laptop rather than a desktop as many of my experiments involved moving buildings or staying outside for prolonged periods of time. The rest of the week mainly consisted of research into what ADS-B actually was, and different computer programs to find and record ADS-B signals.

 I also got a chance to learn how to solder professionally which I’d never done before! I can’t wait for next week!"

Week two - 

"My second week at SSTL went really well, and I’m amazed by how much I’ve learnt. I was given an ‘RTL-SDR dongle’ by a colleague (a device which is tuned to 1090Mhz, ADS-B frequency) and I’ve managed to get it working, with some help from IT! I’ve been using programs such as SDR# and DUMP1090 to convert the received signals into aircraft data, and RTL1090 to plot the data into a live map showing where aircraft are in the nearby area.

 My next goal is to increase the range of the antenna, either by building a new antenna myself, or perhaps by using a LNA to boost the signal. I’ve also been calculating the range the antenna should receive by using some tricky calculations involving antenna gain, using measurements I hadn’t heard of before I came here! I found that my antenna should receive a lot more signals than it currently is, but this lack of signal may be down to the large buildings and trees nearby that are blocking the signal. I’m looking forward to building things next week!"

Week three - 

"It’s the end of another week, and there has been a small amount of improvement! After a lot of research, I discovered that an antenna design worth trying would be a ‘coaxial collinear antenna’. A study online described the calculations for the proportions of the antenna in detail which was just what I needed! Next, I headed down to the lab and put on all of the necessary gear. It’s taken some time to get used to, but now putting on all of the electrostatic protection and clean room clothes feels like second nature. 

I spent a day in the lab building my antenna out of coaxial cable and SMA connectors, before taking it out to test. To my surprise, it worked quite well, though somewhere my measurements weren’t perfect as the antenna was slightly out of tune. It worked wonderfully at 900-1000Mhz, but not at that magic 1090Mhz that I was looking for! We still tested it in the ‘R2D2 building’ – named as such because of its shape – and my signal strength and range has increased slightly. Next week I hope to make another antenna with what I’ve learned!"

Week four - 

"I can’t believe my time at SSTL has come to an end already, it feels as if I only started yesterday! In my final week, I managed to significantly improve my antenna design, so much so that I’m now receiving signals from as far as Scotland! This time, I decided to create a helical antenna with a copper baseplate. This antenna would be much more predictable as the calculations were simpler and it could easily be adjusted. The antenna expert very kindly helped me with my design by showing me how to 3D print with solidworks. The 3D print would have a groove carved into the outside of a cylinder, to make the angle of the wire more accurate than I could by hand. 

The print took over 25 hours, but in the end made my antenna so much more solid and stable. When we tested the antenna on an RF analyser in an anechoic chamber, we found that the antenna had a huge gain at 1090Mhz, which was exactly what I wanted! As expected, the antenna worked really well, so well in fact that the computer program couldn’t handle the amount of data that we were discovering!

There are so many more things I’d like to try but unfortunately my time here has come to an end. I said my goodbyes and gave out presents and cards on my last day and yet I didn’t feel like it was enough after everything that everyone had done for me. Hopefully I’ll get to work with some of these people again!"

                                                                                                                                  - Caitlin

My program adds to an existing one which takes data from their satellite, TechDemoSat1, and plots it onto the Earth’s surface using Google Earth. - James

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how James is getting on at SSTL! 

Week one - 

"This week, I learnt to program with the MATLAB computer language in order to write a piece of software for the team that I am working in. My program adds to an existing one which takes data from their satellite, TechDemoSat1, and plots it onto the Earth’s surface using Google Earth. 

My program makes it so the data tracks are only loaded when the camera comes close to them, which allows large data sets to be displayed, which previously would have crashed Google Earth. With this, I have been able to detect soil moisture."

Week two - 

"This week, I continued to work on my MATLAB program and got it to stage where it works effectively. I have had to solve numerous problems involving the program, including making special cases for data crossing the antimeridian, as this would break Google Earth. 

My supervisor uploaded it to the main computer server, and we let it run over the weekend to process a backlog of data. Next week we will be using it to analyse things like seasonal variation in rainfall in certain areas."

                                                                                                                            - James

I started looking into participation trends in different sports, and how those sports may affect the heart differently; came across marathons and ultramarathons. - Sophie

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how Sophie is getting on at St George's University! 

Week one - 

In my first week, here is what I achieved: 

-Research into heart muscle conditions; physiological adaptations vs. pathology, specifically cadiomyopathies, hypertrophy and athlete's heart. 

-Read article 'Exercise and heart disease: from athletes and arrhythmias to hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and cogenital heart disease' (Abbas Zaidi, Sanjay Sharma).

-Read 'The U-shaped relationship between exercise and cardiac morbidity' (Ahmed Merghani, Aneil Malhotra, Sanjay Sharma).

-Read 'Sudden Cardiac death in young athletes' (N. Chandra, R. Bastiaenen, M. Papadakis, S. Sharma).

-Decided project would be the effect of too much/long term excessive exercise on the heart.

Week two - 

In my second week I ...

-Started looking into participation trends in different sports, and how those sports may affect the heart differently; came across marathons and ultramarathons.

-Changed project plan to causes of death at the London marathon, Prof Sanjay Sharma is medical director at the marathon and had access to the data I would need.

-Wrote the introduction and background of my report, then wrote the pre-2007 section of the results.

Week three - 

In my third week I ...

-Started planning the 2008-2016 section, put together tables of causes of death and incidence of medical conditions in this period.

-Wrote up the section, then wrote up the conclusion; what was the most common cause of sudden death during the marathon.

-Completed my report with references and filled out checklist.

Week four - 

In my final week I...

-Worked on databasing screening results for Manchester City FC and Fulham under-18s players; involved looking at questionnaires, ECGs and echocardiogram results and writing up the data into one computerised record (37 individual's results inputted during this time).

-Looked through report with Aneil Malhotra and made final changes and adjustments.

                                                                                                                - Sophie

We have learnt incredible new things, such as working in Angular 2, which is a brand new web development framework made by Google - Sophie and Noah

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how Sophie and Noah are getting on at RBI! 

Week one - 

"We have had an interesting first week here at RBI, working in the technology department of XpertHR. We have learnt incredible new things, such as working in Angular 2, which is a brand new web development framework made by Google, what it is like to work in an office environment, and how to work in a development team.

 We have been placed together to experience pairing (paired programming) where we work at the same workstation together to complete tasks more efficiently. We’ve thoroughly enjoyed our first week working at RBI and look forward to the next three to come." 

Week two - 

"Week two at RBI has been equally exciting, we're still learning new and interesting things everyday. We have been conducting initial interviews to complete the research part of the project assigned which has allowed us to learn more about the team we are working in, the difficulties they face on a daily basis and the overall office work environment, which has been a great experience. 

We have started to test our new found knowledge by working on our assigned project and the initial development of it. There have been a few learning curves which have taught us how to deal with future difficulties."

Week three - 

"We've just completed week three of our placement here at RBI! It has been great fun and we've been making even more progress on our assigned project. We have completed our research and are starting to write up the requirements that the team requires from our project. We have continued to develop our product, using the skills and knowledge we have gained over the past three weeks, all the while, learning more about the team and becoming more accustomed to the work environment. 

So far, this placement has been an incredible experience and we hope that our last week will be as memorable as our time here so far!"

Week four - 

"Here we are at the end of our four week placement. The placement was a very enjoyable learning experience, as it allowed us to develop new skills, experience a new environment and help a professional development team to start to produce a new product.

We feel much more informed after these four weeks at RBI about the work environment in an office and have learnt much about the software aspects of things in a company. It was a great experience and opportunity to talk with specialists in the field and to gain a better understanding of the daily life in a development team.

Thank you for this amazing opportunity."

                                                                                                                                 - Sophie and Noah

I’ve been doing a lot of online research on what Vitamin D is and how it helps us function! - Jaimee

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how Jaimee is getting on at the University of Surrey!

Week one - 

"So -  this week I started my research project about factors affecting Vitamin D, more specifically weight. I’ve been doing a lot of online research on what Vitamin D is and how it helps us function. I found this quite interesting because although I thought I knew the basics already, there was a lot I didn’t know which could help me have a better diet.

 I think that a lot of people would be healthier if they had access to better nutrition education. After my initial research, I began to write up the preparation for my project that I’ve done."

Week two - 

        

"I spent most of this week at the University of Surrey working with my mentor. She is currently working on new Vitamin D regulations for the government which is quite exciting as it shows my research project is current.

 I spent this week being set tasks doing online searches to compile lists for my mentor. One interesting one was to find manufacturers of Vitamin D supplements that exceeded the recommended dosage the government has suggested and find out if they were approved on a government register anyway. I also spoke to some PhD students about university life."

Week three -

"I have been using mostly websites for my research so I started looking at scientific journals about relationships between Vitamin D and other factors. I will make a scientific poster once I’ve completed this project but because I’ve never made one before I walked along a corridor in the university building that I’m in and took down notes about the format of the posters that are displayed on the walls.I was then able to create my own template.

 Today, I received the data on Vitamin D statuses which means I can begin my analysis starting next week." 

Week four -

"This week has been very busy finalising all the bits and pieces that I need to do to complete the CREST award and give to SATRO. I have been working with my mentor to find the correct variables I should use to present my graphs in a way that is easy to understand. 

I then  wrote up the conclusions for my report ready to be sent off to be assessed. It’s my last week and I know way too much about vitamin D but this project will be worth it once I have my Gold CREST award!"

                                                                                                                  - Jaimee

I have spent this week at the University of Surrey with Dr Sporea, researching semi-conductors and their use in transistors.

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how Ross is getting on at the University of Surrey! 

Week one - 

"I have spent this week at the University of Surrey with Dr Sporea, researching semi-conductors and their use in transistors. After learning the basic physics behind transistors, such as the doping of different elements into the base material to increase the conductivity, I have begun to learn about the simulation software available, and started looking at some more complicated transistors, in preparation for writing my own programs to simulate different compositions and materials next week.

I have learnt lots of new physics (even if I am still getting my head round some of it), met some amazing staff and fellow placement recipients, and had the opportunity to use some really interesting equipment that I likely never would have had the chance to use – definitely makes the 2 hour train journey to the University worth it!"

Week two - 

"Last week, I continued my research placement at the University of Surrey. I began to modify existing code and create new programs to simulate different types of transistors, and began "sweeping" different variables to see what effect they have on the transistors operation, as well as saving images of their characteristics graphs for comparison and use in lecture notes. It can be somewhat repetitive (my largest program so far has 75 unique combinations for my different variables), but is still very interesting and quite useful for Dr Sporea for use in educational materials and lecture notes. 


This week, I plan to begin looking at some more complicated transistor types such as MOSFET and BJT, and how different materials in the contacts affect their operation."

                                                                                                                                                          - Ross 

Learning theory on semiconductor physics and devices, such as diodes and BJT's! - Sukant

The STEM placement students are sending us weekly blogs all about their experience in the world of work! 

Work experience is great and it provides students with many benefits whilst gaining skills and helping choose the right future career path for pupils. Having work experience on a Curriculum Vitae will make a person stand out to employers as they will notice they have motivation and a real passion for work. It will also help to boost a students confidence in themselves!

See how Sukant's getting on at the University of Surrey! 

Week one - 

"I have really enjoyed this first week. I have walked to and from the placement at Surrey University with no difficulty at all. 

This week has mainly been about learning theory on semiconductor physics and devices, such as diodes and BJT's, and their characteristics and manufacture. I have had a small look at MOSFET's and FET's too. 

I have also started to have a look at how to simulate the structures, electrical properties and behaviour using Atlas. I am currently learning a code in Deckbuild which runs the simulation. I have mainly been working in a computer lab. The barbecue on Wednesday was a good way to mix with other people on the placement."

Week two - 

"This week was again fruitful and enriching: I used a device simulator to model p-n junctions, diodes and their characteristics. I also used a process simulator to model the fabrication of a diode. I generated a huge number of different types of files in the process.

 I also did some research on MOSFET's; a type of transistor I shall be investigating, and started writing my report. I met some of my school friends who are also doing CREST Gold placements at Surrey University. I will continue on my report this week-end and next week will probably model another device, either a BJT or MOSFET."

                                                                                                                                             - Sukant