Question: is it interesting working with metals and medicine and why do you do it?

Jade Owen answered on 15 Jun 2015:

Yes – I find it very interesting. I like to figure out how to test a sample and then find out how much of something we are looking for is in it! Sometimes it’s easy and other times it really makes you think!

When looking for metals in things I would use lots of different acids to digest the samples, then heat it up to 7000⁰C for the metals to shine light. One metal called Yttrium was lovey to see as it would shine red, blue and white all at the same time in the different temperature zones of the equipment.

When testing the medicines it’s really rewarding to think that I am part of the first few people examining a brand new medicine and that one day it could help people. So figuring out how to check it properly is really important and a wonderful challenge.