Profile

I live in Cheshire with my fiancee and travel in to Manchester every day to work. I love the countryside and all the pretty towns near to where I live. I love reading fantasy/science-fi books as well as books about science and science history (Jim Al-Khalili is a great author of these kinds of books). I am a huge fan of Lord of the Rings and quote the films regularly, although I am yet to visit New Zealand (where the movies were filmed) that’s where my fiancee and I want to go on our honeymoon!

Polymers (also known as plastics) are long chain molecules (think really tiny spaghetti!) that have all sorts of uses as they can be made into lots of different shapes very easily. They are also last for a very long time – this is really good as it means the thing it’s used for will still be useful when you need it, but it’s bad when we want to get rid of them!

We make polymers by using smaller bits (known as monomers) and sticking them together to make a really long polymer. If we use a mixture of different bits then we can change the use of the really long polymer to be bendy or stiff, hard or soft, and also change how much water it absorbs.

I use polymers in paints. The idea of a paint is to put a small amount of plastic onto a surface, such as a wall or a garden fence. This has two uses; to protect the thing the paint is put on, and also to make it look better by adding colour or making it look shiny. I want to change the monomers I use (the different bits we stick together to make the polymer) to better protect the wall or garden fence you might put it on.

This is really important as the longer my paint protects your wall or garden fence, the longer that wall or garden fence can be used for. This means that by using a small amount of plastic (a paint) we can make lots of things last for much longer. This saves money and stops us from needing to make more new things, using energy and materials.

My research is also trying to make paints better for the environment. Years ago paints were made using nasty chemicals. Thanks to research like mine, we can use paints made with water, which are much better for the environment.

7:54 – I get the train from my home to my work.

9:00 – I get into work, check my emails and then do any work on my computer.

9:30 or 10:00 – this is usually when I will start an experiment, either making a new polymer or trying to test the new polymers I have made.

12:30 – my friend always likes to have lunch on time, so I make sure I’m finished with my work to have lunch with him.

13:00 or 13:30 – I will continue with the experiment I was doing in the morning, or start a new one if the last one was quick.

17:00 – I will tidy away my experiment and then get the train home.

Group photo – this is a picture of the group I do research with (my boss – Lee – has taken the photo). At this weekly meeting we talk about any problems we have and talk about how to solve the problems.