Profile
Andrew Fensham-Smith
Had a fantastic time interacting with everybody! Thanks for the votes and congratulations Jessica!
My CV
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Education:
Sharnbrook Upper School (2001-2008) University of Bristol (2008-Present).
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Qualifications:
Physics, Chemistry, Maths, Electronics A Levels, Chemistry MSci (Masters in Science)
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Work History:
I’ve worked at Unilever and several supervisors at university of a variety of projects
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Current Job:
Doing my PhD in Bristol
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Read more
Gold reacts with hardly anything – you use it in Jewellery because it won’t react with oxygen in the air or water. Contrast this to iron (the main metal in steel) – put it in water or leave it in air for long enough and it rusts and turns orange. This is the iron reacting with the oxygen in the air. Gold doesn’t do this! My project revolves around trying to force gold to react with things it normally doesn’t – the oxygen in air, chemicals it normally wouldn’t – in the hopes that in forcing it to do these things we will end up with more interesting and useful chemicals. My research can be applied to help make other chemicals – things like drugs, agricultural chemicals (fertilizers or hormones) or industrial building blocks that are used to make other chemicals.
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My Typical Day:
Mixing chemicals, taking the mixtures to big machines which give me information on if anything has happened.
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Read more
Day to day, I mix various gold chemicals with other reagents and test to see if anything has happened using complicated techniques which tell me how symmetrical the compound is, and what sort of environment each atom in it ‘feels’. I also supervise undergraduate students and advise them on what experiments they should do.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I’d spend it on a high quality camera, and on glassware to show how different molecules diffuse.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Creative, opinionated chemist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Nothing serious – chatted back at teachers sometimes.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Currently Alt-J, historically Eddie Vedder/Pearl Jam
What's your favourite food?
Anything spicy
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1) Live forever 2) No supervisor 3) Infinite money
Tell us a joke.
What’s green, has four legs, and could kill you if it fell from a tree? A pool table.
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