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This year I finished working on a project coding algorithms that will use data from the Atomic Clock Ensemble in Space (ACES) mission. This is a project funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to put atomic clocks on the International Space Station (ISS). The ACES mission will run an experiment to test the laws of physics, our current understanding of the universe. In particular it will look at Einsteins law of relativity, this is the physics of things that move very fast. It is built on the idea that the speed of light in free space is a constant, that is it never ever changes. ACES will be able to test better than any experiment has previously. Additionally the ACES mission will contribute to international time. Clock comparisons are a key ingredient to generating a global time scale called UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time). ACES will allow very accurate international clock comparisons. It will also contain a clock PHARAO which has been specifically designed to work in the low gravity environment of space. The project I worked on was funded by NPL and the UK space agency in which we built a basic structure of software code to model and interpret the data that will be received once ACES is launched and attached to the International Space Station.

More recent work I have been doing is in atomic physics/quantum physics which is what my PhD was on.

NPL is about to produce its own engineering outreach packs of water rockets, which can be shipped out to schools worldwide – just like yours! Any school can apply for one. In fact, we would be happy to ship out packs to all the schools involved in ‘I’m an engineer get me out of here!’ so please get your teacher to get in touch with me if you want to. With the instructions and the material in the pack, anyone with some large empty drink bottles, a bicycle pump and water supply can build their own rocket to touch the sky! Learning about forces and aerodynamics (the skill of making things glide through the air smoothly), while getting some hands on building experience. The pack includes a fantastic water rocket launcher so these rockets can go pretty high and travel far. Every year we hold an annual water rocket day here in South West London, but these packs are designed to be shipped out all over the UK or indeed the world.