Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

I'm currently involved in 4 projects where Solar energy is used as an driving force to power many chemical and power processes in order to address pollution, global warming and depletion of fossil resources. My responsibilities include: the design of many aspects of a novel-technology pilot plant; modelling the mathematics of reaction kinetics; assisting in the developing of new simulations; and finding the best way to feasibly build solar/nuclear/wind equipment or systems.

A typical day would start with a nice creative chat with my colleagues to provide ideas for the projects that we're involved with over a cup of coffee. I would spend a couple of hours in the Solar Simulator where we would do experiments at 800 to 1200 degrees centigrade. Some calculations would be necessary, for example, solving some equations, also the reading of technical data for the completion of certain design aspects of a reactor and simulations to provide approximations for the real behaviour of a system. Lunch with my colleagues from different departments gives me the opportunity to practice my German, English, Spanish or even Turkish! After a couple more hours in conference calls from Stuttgart to San Diego, consulting providers and other experts in the field for advice, the day would finish with the planning of the next couple of activities that are needed for tomorrow.

Working with people from all over the world that can switch 3 languages in a single conversation; the promise of solving problems for potentially millions of people; and the thrill of discovering new things! A work-life balance is also incredibly important, not to mention the money is not that bad!

Sometimes it is hard to solve a problem, sometimes you need to go to very obscure sources of information, you're not looking information in your average Information Commons 3rd floor! But with perseverance and the help of your colleagues, (almost 95% of the time) a solution for a problem exists!

When you're doing Engineering and Design in Research, nothing is exactly written: you've sometimes no clue on how to start solving a problem, and this sensation of doing something completely new is exhilarating! Calculations for the Research field is like Engineering on Steroids!

Technically there are many things that you need to do in Research: programming is absolutely necessary for the modern day engineer, proficiency with computers, a foreign language (or more), on the soft skills side, being a team player, being able to network and collaborate in a multidisciplinary team and being a sincerely nice guy to everyone!

I've been receiving training in Flowsheeting & Simulation software, raytracing analysis, thermodynamic properties, modelling of custom chemical processes and continuing my language learning.

A 2.2 level in German in 2 months

Gaining project management expertise and forming my own research group; collaborating with industry as we progress and develop new technologies; and even starting our own umbrella companies to market these.

Attitude and hard work are the entirety of success. If you apply a positive attitude, constructive arguments, discussions, networking with people outside your field, and have a good word for your colleagues, positive things will come back to you! If you are not a genius (like most of us that can't calculate natural logarithms on the fly *and there are quite a few of those around my building*), trust me, you can compensate this with hard work and you'll gain the respect of your colleagues!

I'd like to point out that if you don't work in a team, and if you're not a people's person, you've got no chance, no chance at all. None. You might become a good cab driver or have a PhD and end up working at Tesco's cashier 2. If you feel you don't have enough social interaction skills, the Uni is the time to start developing them before it's too late!