WORKING at Sharp - real lives
Pamela - system on panel
My biggest dilemma about going to University was not where to study but which subject to study; I already knew that the vibrant and energetic city of Glasgow was the place for me but should I study music or physics, music or physics, music or physics? In the end I decided to study physics and play the clarinet and saxophone in my spare time. Physics appealed to me as it is a subject that is applicable to everyday objects – you use physics all the time without realising it and I was looking forward to a challenging degree course that had some practical applications!
My undergraduate degree at the University of Glasgow was four of the best years of my life. The nightlife in Glasgow was second to none and I met so many great people. My actual physics class wasn’t particularly large and as a result we all became really good friends and our labs became more of a social event as opposed to grinding studying! We worked hard and played hard and had numerous class nights out.
I spent the summer after graduation travelling around America and Canada before going to Chile for 3 months to do some voluntary work with the youth development charity Raleigh International. My work with Raleigh was nothing short of amazing, where else would you get the opportunity to use the analytical skills gained from a physics degree to study the calving dynamics of a glacier on the North Patagonian Ice Mass? The scenery was breathtaking and as part of the expedition we spent 3 weeks trekking around the Patagonian landscape!
I returned from Chile in December 2001 and started a PhD in Physics and Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Glasgow in January 2002. My PhD was multi-disciplinary with most of my research carried out in optics while collaborating with engineers, chemists and biologists. I was a CASE award student with Unilever which gave me an insight into the corporate world of research and, as part of my PhD, I took the opportunity to work with collaborators at Harvard University, America, and at Gothenburg University, Sweden, both of which were hugely enjoyable and rewarding.
I submitted my PhD in March 2005 and started looking for a job. I decided
against a career in finance or accountancy or actuary and knew that research
was the type of job that would keep me interested and inspired. An advert
for a Bio Scientist position with Sharp Laboratories of Europe caught my
attention; this was a cross-disciplinary job using physics, engineering,
chemistry and biology with lots of scope for learning and being creative
– what more could I ask for? I had the opportunity to use my PhD to
carry out cutting edge research on the forefront of new technology, developing
products that we will all be using in the future! I joined Sharp in May
2005 and I thoroughly enjoy working here. The atmosphere is relaxed, inspiring
and friendly and you are positively encouraged to be creative and put forward
new ideas no matter how crazy or wacky you think they may seem! No two days
here are the same; the nature of research ensures that you are constantly
thinking of new ways to do new experiments. And just when I thought I was
settling into work in the lab, I decided to take advantage of in-house Japanese
lessons and learn to speak Japanese – Sharp is a Japanese owned company
after all!!
