Skip to content

I’m not a scientist, but let me have a go… Students during work experience

This week I have the pleasure to have a couple of enthusiastic students doing a bit of work experience with me at Imperial College working on lasers and their applications. Keep an eye here as they might also feature in the Quantum Tunnel Podcast!

adambekele
My name is Adam Bekele, a sixth form student at Camden School for Girls. I am doing my A levels and I have just finished my first year AS in Maths, Further Maths, Physics and History. I have always loved Maths and Physics. Maths is very intriguing as it exercises your problem solving skills, especially at A level and above, as we start looking at more complex mathematical ideas. Physics complements mathematics, it shows you the real life uses of mathematical ideas and that is what I find most interesting.

I am doing work experience with Dr. Jesus Rogel-Salazar at Imperial College London. I am really looking forward to this week as we will be working with Lasers, the uses, mechanism and the science behind it all. From this week, I would like to gain an understanding of how Laser behaviour can be explained mathematically, using graphs etc. It would also be interesting to find out about the types of mathematical equations that theoretical physicists have to solve in order to explain things such as Lasers. In doing this I would be able to also look at the use of computer programs within mathematics and physics. At school we have been studying energy levels and the nature of light so this work experience would better my understanding of this topic as they are very much related. It would also enable me to get a grasp of the type of things I would be doing as physics undergraduate and go beyond the school curriculum.

I have many hobbies. I play three instruments, saxophone, clarinet and bass guitar. I very much enjoy practising my instruments and playing in a band. I also row in a club, Royal Docks Rowing Club. Besides these things I also like running and doing art in my spare time.

oscarprice

My name is Oscar Price and I am a sixth form student at Camden School for Girls. The processes of GCSEs are what really sparked my interest for physics. I found that at GCSE many of the lessons endured are taught by teachers only aiming to guide you through the course you have chosen and not teach you the subject itself. They lacked passion. The result of this for me was boredom which gradually turned into a dislike of the subject, however this was not the case with physics. However tedious a certain topic would be made to seem, the fact that the principles I was learning were applicable to almost every aspect of daily life gripped me. I could find no other subject that could relate to or explain the World in quite the same way, I was inspired and remain to be so.

For the purpose of “broadening my horizons”, as my parents would say, and padding out my University application form, I took up the offer of a week’s work placement at the Physics Department in Imperial College London with Dr Jesus Rogel-Salazar working on the theory and applications of lasers. From it I hope to develop my understanding and interest of the subject while confirming it to be the right choice for me at university.

Tags: