Profile
Letizia Protopapa
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About Me:
I’m originally from Italy, but I moved to England 9 years ago for my studies, then started working here. Now I live in Swindon (Wiltshire), and I work as Research Software Engineer. In my free time, I like hiking and dancing!
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My pronouns are:
She/her
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My Work:
I work on improving software that allows scientists to see inside objects, e.g. historical objects, without having to cut through them or ruining them. I also work on software that helps to extract useful insights from the data that has been collected from the object.
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Education:
I attended high school in Italy, in a small town in the south of Italy. I moved to England when I was 18, to study Mechanical Engineering in Southampton. I then moved to London for an MSc in Human and Biological Robotics.
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Qualifications:
Diploma from high school in Italy.
BEng in Mechanical Engineering.
MSc in Human and Biological Robotics.
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Work History:
After university, I worked for one year as graduate data scientist for a private company, but then realised I was missing the scientific world too much so I joined STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council) on the graduate scheme. As part of this, I did 4 rotations within the Scientific Computing Department, as well as an external placement at Diamond Light Source. At the end of the graduate scheme, I decided to join one of the groups I had already been in, specifically the Computational Mathematics group, where I work as Research Software Engineer.
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Current Job:
Mathematical Research Software Engineer
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Employer:
STFC (Science and Technology Facilities Council), Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Oxfordshire
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
After high school, I knew I wanted to go to university, and I knew I wanted to study engineering, but I wasn't quite sure which type of engineering. That's the reason why, at the start, I went for Mechanical Engineering, which is a bit broader / less specialised than other types of engineering.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Mmmm, rarely, I'm a very quiet and calm person
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Not so sure, but it wouldn't be much different from this one
What's your favourite food?
I'm Italian, so definitely pizza!
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
One of them would be to have more confidence definitely. Other two, not so sure, maybe more hours in the day, so I could get more things done! Or maybe a working week of 4 rather than 5 days, for the same reason
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