Profile
James Gilbert
I WON! This has been such a blast :) Now, let's go launch a space balloon...
My CV
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Education:
I went to Torquay Boys’ Grammar School between 1998 and 2005, Bath University between 2005 and 2009, and since 2013 I’ve been ‘back at school’ at Oxford University.
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Qualifications:
I’ve got a Master of Engineering (‘MEng’) in Electronics with Space Science and Technology, and A-Levels in Physics, Maths and Design & Technology. My main GCSEs were in Science, Maths, English, Design & Technology, Music, and Spanish.
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Work History:
I was an electronics engineer at the Australian Astronomical Observatory in Sydney, Australia. I’ve also been a hotel porter, a builder, a burger ‘chef’, an ice cream seller, and a rock concert photographer.
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Current Job:
I’ve gone back to university to do a PhD in Astrophysics, building equipment to observe stars and galaxies with some (rather large) telescopes.
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My Typical Day:
I’ll be tinkering with some hardware – usually a robot – or writing code to test it.
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Read more
I work in a lab, but there aren’t any white coats. In my lab you’ll find three computers, a box full of tools and an iPod dock. You’ll also find Steve and Sandra, who are robots.
Steve doesn’t look like you or I, but he has a very important job to do in the world of astronomy. In a couple of years, Steve will be on top of a telescope in the Canary Islands, taking care of the complicated task of moving one thousand optical fibres into *just* the right place to catch the light from individual stars in the sky. This has to be done so quickly and with such accuracy that humans would find it impossible. With Steve, astronomers will be able to precisely measure the electromagnetic spectrum coming from one thousand stars (or faraway galaxies) in just one hour. That’s more than 2 million every year!
This is Steve! What you can’t see is how he can place things to an accuracy of the width of a human blood cell!
So on a typical day I’ll be working on Steve’s control system, either hardware (computer networks and motor controllers) or writing code for his ‘brain’.Don’t tell the astronomers, but Steve has two secret modes:
copying human handwriting, and
making gin and tonics.(Sometimes the freedom to experiment goes a bit far.)
I love my work. I’m allowed to work pretty much however I want, because it’s the results that matter. I have a boss, but I’m never told what to do. When you’re a scientist, there’s always something you know a lot more about than anyone else, and there is a mutual respect for that. You become an expert among other experts 🙂 You still have to work hard and you still have to meet deadlines, but your work is exactly that – yours!
Ask me about Steve if you like, or about Sandra the ‘spinebot’ or ‘Starbugs’! Starbugs are my favourite past project 😀
This is ‘the office’:
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’d launch a high-altitude balloon project, where students like you get to send experiments to the edge of space! (pics below)
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Imaginative, resourceful, ambitious.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Always in trouble for homework (lack of). Nothing serious though..
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Quite possibly one of these: Coheed & Cambria, Dream Theater, Radiohead, Rammstein m/
What's your favourite food?
Indian – the spicier the better.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To always do work I feel is meaningful. To always know good people. To always remember to be happy.
Tell us a joke.
How do you throw a party in space? ………………. You planet.
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