Profile
Struan Simpson
My CV
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Education:
Inverness High School (2007-2013),
Millburn Academy (2012-2013),
University of Aberdeen, MChem (2013-2018),
University of Aberdeen, PhD (2018-Present)
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Qualifications:
8 Standard Grades – English, Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Physics, Music, History, French;
5 Highers – English, Maths, Chemistry, Biology, Music;
3 Advanced Highers – Chemistry, Maths, Music;
Masters Degree in Chemistry
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Work History:
During uni I worked in an information centre in Aberdeen. I got to help visitors plan their stay in Scotland, give them ideas for things to see and do, and make sure they had the best time they possibly could! Aside from that, I also did a couple of summer research projects for the university during my degree, and I’ve done a bit of tutoring in the past too.
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Current Job:
PhD Student
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About Me:
I’m studying for a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Aberdeen. I love music, squash/badminton, and watching videos of cute dogs.
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Read more
You might be wondering about my name – “Struan” means a small stream in Gaelic, and it’s a pretty uncommon name (even in Scotland!). I’ve got a black lab called Fergus, who has a pretty annoying habit of stealing socks.
My big passion outside of science is music. I’ve been playing the clarinet since I was 11, and I’m also handy with a saxophone! I’ve played in a bunch of different ensembles like orchestras and wind bands, as well as smaller groups like jazz bands and woodwind trios. From time to time, I also like to write music!
Otherwise, I like to spend my free time playing squash and badminton, solving puzzles, and playing video games.
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Read more
Quantum computers use advanced physics to calculate things much faster than ordinary computers. We’ll be able to use these new types of computers to create new medicines, model really complex physical systems, or even have better weather forecasts!
At the moment, quantum computers don’t have the best memory. We spend a lot of money trying to help them remember things, so we’d like to find new, cheaper ways of doing this so that more people can have access to them and use them!
My PhD involves making materials in which energy behaves really weird. Normally, it likes to spread out as much as it can – just like how heat from your radiator heats up your whole room. In my materials, the energy stays exactly where you put it and isn’t lost over time. Scientists have predicted that this property could act as a form of memory for quantum computers, so that’s what I want to show!
To do this, I pass electricity through my pellets to try and understand more about how energy behaves within them. From time to time, I also get to visit nuclear reactors since they are a source of neutrons, a type of subatomic particle. Neutrons are really useful for telling us more about things like atomic structure or how atoms interact with each other, so this lets us understand more about why energy behaves so weirdly in these materials in the first place.
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My Typical Day:
A lot of my time’s spent in the lab making my materials. When I’m not in the lab, you can find me on my computer trying to make sense of data while drinking lots of coffee.
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Read more
One of the chemicals I use to make my materials is arsenic, which is extremely toxic to humans. It’s not the nicest thing to work with! Since it’s so dangerous, I have to work in a glove bag – it’s a bit like a glove box, although maybe not as “glamorous”…
Inside the glove bag, I mix my chemicals together and turn them into a pellet. Once I’ve prepared my pellet, I place it inside a glass tube before melting it in the middle with a really hot blowtorch. I end up with a sealed tube, which looks a bit like this:
I then put this tube inside a furnace. I roast my samples at temperatures above 1000 °C for several days at a time, so it’s a bit like what baking would be if it became an extreme sport!
Once my pellets have finished “baking”, they’re ready for me to take measurements of them so I can understand why they behave the way they do. I usually then spend my afternoons in front of my computer in my office trying to figure this out!
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I want to teach people about the solid state of matter using toys like Geomag!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Friendly, smiley, and silly!
What did you want to be after you left school?
Pretty sure it changed on a daily basis, but I remember I always wanted to be some kind of doctor.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Not as much as I should have been...
Who is your favourite singer or band?
According to Spotify, it's a tie between Katy Perry or Panic! At The Disco.
What's your favourite food?
Macaroni cheese.
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1) To own a million dogs 2) To have my own island to put them on 3) Is another million dogs too many...?
Tell us a joke.
Did you hear the one about the chemist who read a book about helium? He couldn't put it down.
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