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Ruth Aldred

    • About Me:

      I am a nuclear physicist. My job involves modelling nuclear reactors and demonstrating that they are safe to operate. I love travelling, exploring and reading.

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      I live with my partner, 3 year old and baby. I love travelling and exploring and normally find somewhere exciting to go on holiday. In my free time I like climbing and cycling when the weather is nice, and reading when it’s raining!

    • My Work:

      I specialise in reactor physics and use computer models of nuclear reactors to demonstrate that they are safe to operate. I work in research and development – growing our knowledge and understanding of the nuclear reactors so we are able to answer questions and solve problems in the future.

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      Since starting work I’ve always tried to have a balance of different types of work. I love doing ‘number crunching’ – running computer models and analysing data. However, I also get lots of satisfaction from understanding the bigger picture and listening to people’s problems and working out solutions.

    • My Typical Day:

      I am normally in work by 8am. My typical day normally involves a couple of meetings with different experts (often held remotely now), performing some analysis or writing a report. I normally have a tea break mid morning and then an hour break for lunch. I go to the office about once a week.

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      I start work at 8am as I’m working from home so I just need to roll out of bed and I’m in the office! This means I can finish work at 4:30pm and I have the rest of the evening to myself.

      I work in research and development. There is normally a couple of meetings with different industry experts – no one works in isolation so it’s good to get different opinions from lots of different people. I spend a lot of time planning what analysis might be needed in the future and talking to different experts to understand their needs. I also do some of the analysis myself.

      I normally try to keep a few hours aside for technical work (otherwise you spend your whole day talking to people and not actually getting anything done!). This might be thinking really hard about a problem, or something a bit more routine such as inspecting some computer code for bugs.

      When I’m in the office I normally go for a tea break with my colleagues – it’s nice to catch up face to face! If I’m working from home I try to get out for a walk at lunch time.

    • What I'd do with the prize money:

      Develop a computer game that can be used to understand how to control a nuclear reactor

    CV

    • Education:

      Chepstow School
      University of Exeter

    • My Interview

      • What did you want to be after you left school?

        I had no idea!

        Were you ever in trouble at school?

        Not really, just got on with things!

        What's your favourite food?

        Chilli con carne

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