Loughborough School of Science hosted 3 excellent students and 2 amazing teachers from St. John’s College Cardiff over a week in the summer. Everyone had hands on experience of multiple lab practicals ranging from culturing living cells to making micro-devices in a clean room. The students fed back from their experience that they learned a lot and were able to explore areas of science that they have never thought about.
The students got to grips with the micro world, using a scanning electron microscope to see the surfaces of materials at this very small scale.
During July, I undertook a work experience with Dr Roach at Loughborough University which was an incredible experience. It really brought my passion for science alive and I was able to experience chemistry and biology in a practical setting. My most memorable moment was probably gas chromatography which interested me by how many uses it had and the explanations by the members of staff were brilliant. I was able to use this experience to strengthen my application for medicine and it motivated me to continue along this career path.
Matthew Logan
Using Schlieren photography you can visualise small changes in air density, even the thermal changes from a hand.
We went to Loughborough University to undertake work in the laboratories there with Dr. Roach for work experience, during which we experienced quite a lot of amazing things that combined chemistry, physics and biology together. My favourite part was looking at electron microscopy, as I could look into any part I wanted to observe and the appearance was so magical that it let me realize that a very, very small corner on the earth could have such a wonderful world inside. Besides this we also done many fantastic things such as cell cultures, fluorescent imaging and analysis Chemistry which greatly broadened my horizons. As an overseas student, I haven’t done any formal practical work before the AS level, so this trip was quite challenging for me, but it really taught me a lot of useful skills and developed my interest in natural science. Really want to thank Dr. Roach as he was so kind and knowledgeable that he arranged our rewarding trip perfectly and helped us so much along the way.
Estella Shi
Thank you very much for this amazing trip!
It was quite a long week with lots to see and do, but everyone left smiling and making plans for a return next year. St. John’s College Cardiff students are welcome anytime – and their teachers are pretty fun too.
Paul Roach