Profile
Joseph Barker
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About Me:
I’m a materials scientist with a background in chemistry. I live in South Oxfordshire with my partner, but I grew up in Reading. When I’m not in the lab I enjoy gardening, video games and occasionally cycling.
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My pronouns are:
He/Him
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How I use Science in my work:
I am a characterisation scientist which means I develop and conduct experiments to help us better understand the materials we produce. We use a lot of different techniques to study the materials. One of our most used pieces of kit is a microscope to look at small features within the materials, especially after they’ve been tested to see if there’s any signs of damage.
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My Work:
I’m a characterisation scientist, I help other scientists at my company to better understand features and properties of the materials we use and produce. A lot of the focus of my work is looking at our products after they have been tested to see if there’s any signs of damage.
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Read more
The work of a characterisation scientist is to develop and perform tests to better understand our materials (characterise them). I test a wide range of materials that go into making our products such as catalyst powders, inks, plastics and more. A lot of my work is focussed on examining parts after they have been tested to look for signs of damage. If our products don’t last in testing, no one will want to buy them!
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My Typical Day:
My day is balanced between lab and office work. A typical day will start in the office reviewing what samples I have to test, planning my lab work to make the best use of my time and then doing that work. In between experiments or once I have finished in the lab, I return to the office to write up my results. As Adam Savage from Mythbusters once said, “The difference between messing around and science is writing it down”.
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One thing I really like about my job is there isn’t really such thing as a typical day. I use a very wide range of equipment in my work which keeps it varied and interesting. One day I may be look at things with an optical microscope (a typical microscope you may have used in school) or an electron microscope (which images things by shooting electrons at them!). Another day I might be testing the strength of materials by putting them on a machine that stretches them and measures how much force is used. Then on other days I might be focussed more on testing our inks. We measure the size of particles suspended in our inks by bouncing lasers off them.
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Education:
Highdown Secondary School and Sixth Form for GCSE’s and A-Levels. It is a state comprehensive school in Reading.
I then went to the University of Birmingham for an MSci in Chemistry and Industrial Experience and stay at the University of Birmingham for a PhD in Chemistry.
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Qualifications:
GCSEs including triple science.
A Levels in Physics, Chemistry, and Government and Politics. I also did an AS in History. I was quite late in deciding to go into Science.
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Work History:
Whilst I was in sixth form I did a few bits of part time work including as a waiter, helping to teach kids swimming and in the local Waitrose.
As part of my degree I did a year in industry which I did at Johnson Matthey.
During my PhD I did a bit of part time work in the university teaching labs supervising students doing their experiments.
After my PhD I thought I wanted to continue working in universities so my first job was as a Research Fellow at University of Leeds, I worked under a professor studying how crystals form. I didn’t enjoy it and decided I wanted to work at a company.
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Current Job:
I am a Characterisation Scientist at Johnson Matthey within their Hydrogen Technologies business.
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Employer:
Johnson Matthey
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
Some sort of scientist but I wasn't sure what yet.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes, lots actually. I was (and still am) quite distractable and chatty.
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Laufey
What's your favourite food?
Pizza
Tell us a joke.
One atom says to the other "I've lost an electron!" The other atom asks "are you sure?" The first atom responds "Yes, I'm positive!"
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