Profile
Jesse Dykes
My CV
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Education:
I went to John Mason School in Abingdon, then Barton Peveril Sixth Form College in Southampton, and then on to the University of Southampton.
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Qualifications:
GCSE: Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History, Maths, Further Maths, Media, English Literature, English Language
A Level: Physics, Maths, Further Maths, Chemistry
Degree: Masters in Physics with Photonics
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Work History:
Volunteered at vegan cafe. Worked Christmas at John Lewis. Worked at a bar inside a theatre during uni.
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Current Job:
Optical Scientist
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About Me:
I’m a laser physicist, specialising in High Energy Lasers (the kind that burn holes in things) with some interest in communications, atmospheric effects, and other topics related to firing lasers over long distances
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I grew up in a small town and spent a lot of my free time playing computer games and watching and reading science fiction. I decided that fire and chemistry was cool, and then after some experiments in the back garden I decided I needed funding and a safe place to do bigger experiments. I also learned about lasers from films like James Bond and Star Wars, and then later learned that they actually exist and have lots of uses (often friendlier than I’d seen on TV!)
I then carried on thinking lasers were cool through A levels and a degree, and my enthusiasm for playing with lasers was enough for a company to hire me to do that full time. In my free time I like to sing, climb at a climbing gym, and still play a lot of games!
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Currently it’s hard to fire lasers long distances through the air. It would be useful if we could, because then we could use high speed connections the same as fibre optic broadband, but through the air without needing cables. We could communicate really fast with satellites in space like the International Space Station, detect things very far away and very quickly which would be useful for self-driving cars to react quickly, and transfer power to remote places without needing electricity pylons.
The problem is that the air isn’t still, it’s constantly moving in unpredictable ways and chock full of dust, water vapour, smoke, and other things that make it hard for a laser beam to get through. Over short distances this isn’t much of a problem, but when you’re trying to send a beam across a country or into space, the losses add up quite quickly. My work is in finding ways to get around these problems, in smarter and safer ways than just having more or bigger lasers.
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My Typical Day:
I get up at 7 in the morning, do some exercise, and then set off for work at a science park, where I’ll spend time in two places: in an office at a computer, where I do some maths and figure out whether my ideas will work, or in a laser lab where I put together my idea for real and see if it actually does work! My ideas usually have two or more lasers and lots of mirrors and lenses which all need to be perfectly put together, so this can take a very long time, but it feels great when you finally get it right.
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I get up at 7 in the morning, go for a run, have some breakfast, and relax a bit before I set off for work at a science park. I always make a cup of tea and sit down at my desk to plan what I’m going to do that day and check emails and talk to colleagues. When my tea is finished, I either go into a lab to work on my experimental setup, or stay in the office to write code. The code might describe how air moves outside when it’s windy, and how a laser beam will move through this air, and how it will change as it does. In a lab, I might take a laser, blow air through the room, and fire through it to see if my code was right. I might then go back to the office and advise people on safe ways to use lasers, help out my colleagues, and have meetings about projects. After work I go home, do some more exercise like climbing or running if I feel like it, make dinner, chat to friends, play some games, and go to bed again.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Build a small test chamber to try and replicate the sky – wind, clouds, dust, and anything else that you might find in the atmosphere
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Focused, Careful, Imaginative
What did you want to be after you left school?
A laser physicist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes! Usually for not doing homework
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Led Zeppelin
What's your favourite food?
Pigs in blankets
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I wish I had the confidence to go to a ballroom dancing class, I wish I never had to do my washing up, and I wish I could get a dog
Tell us a joke.
A lady walks into a library and orders a burger and chips. The librarian says "This is a library". So the lady says "Oh! sorry." and then whispers "I'd like a burger and chips please"
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