Set to an inspiring backing track, this video interviews four people as they chart their personal stake in University of Derby Research.
Kara Rising, PhD student in Marine Microbial Ecology:
[Kara sits in a lab with maps in the background. Footage shown includes going underwater into the sea, divers by fish swimming amongst corals.]
"What got me really interested in research is probably pretty similar to a lot of people who are in my field of marine biology. I was a little girl and just fascinated with the ocean. Like, obsessed with the ocean. There is nothing I can think of that would make me happier than every day being able to answer and find more of the information that would help answer the questions that I really just am dying to know every day."
Dr David Elliott, Associate Professor in Microbiology:
[David sits in a lab with microscope and specimen display cabinets. Footage shown includes David observing a test tube.]
"I can't remember when I started being interested in research. It's just something that's been forever.
I completed my microbiology degree and microbiology is a fantastic topic because it opens up a whole world of possibilities: in health and disease, in environmental sciences, in biotechnology, just to name a few. And I'm interested in all of those things."
Dr Urvashi Gunputh, Researcher and Lecturer in Additive Manufacturing:
[Urvashi sits in a conference room. Footage shown includes Urvashi talking with a student in the Human Performance Unit and using a handheld scanner to map their foot. The student walks while a tracking system monitors their gait.]
"Originally I’m from Mauritius, where I did my undergraduate degree in biomedical science, and I was aiming to become a medical doctor after that. However, I wasn’t too impressed with the fact that the theory that we were learning it was, but we were not actually applying it in real life there. So I wanted to go into the technology side of things and dig more and do more research to be able to develop those technologies that we are learning, apply the theory and bring it to life. I always wanted to go in industry, and Derby gave me the opportunity to work in a university, but work with companies, work with industry and collaborate with them. Companies who bring our research to life."
Adam Leighton, Senior Technical Advisor in Additive Manufacturing:
[Adam sits in front of a large cutting machine in the IISE. Footage shown includes him using 3D modelling software, a 3D printer producing an orthotic part demo, and Adam using a powder printer to produce the real piece.]
"Within my role, I'm mostly working with additive manufacturing, which is, to some, a new technology.
There are a lot of benefits when it comes to additive manufacturing. It gives us a lot of design freedom to create parts and build parts more quickly than traditional manufacturing methods. It also gives us greater freedom in terms of design. We're able to design parts which couldn't be machined by traditional methods."
Kara: [Footage includes seeing students with scuba tanks swimming amongst corals.]
"One of the things I love about research is that it's so varied. Every day looks different. I could be in the lab one day, I could be in the field the next, and every single thing that I do just fills me with, like, such fascination and joy in what I'm doing. And so that is what really made me excited to go to Derby is because of all the really great research that's cutting edge in that field."
David: [Footage includes David with another researcher collecting samples out in the field, bringing it back to the lab and extracting the sample.]
"Derby is a great place for me for progressing my research. My research has got local focus, but it's also got a global focus to it as well. I want my research to to serve the needs of the local communities, but I also want it to have global significance in what we do. We don't want to produce research for research sake. We want to produce research that is fit for society's needs and fit for solving the challenges of today and tomorrow."
Urvashi: [Footage includes an NHS grade ward environment as the nurse takes notes at a medicine dispensing point.]
"Currently, the project that we are working on is in collaboration with our local NHS trust.
It is on digitalising the workflow for design and manufacturing of orthotics and prosthetic products. The impact that we are hoping this project will have is to digitalise the design manufacturing process, to increase the efficiency of our local trust, to work with other NHS trusts, and to reduce the carbon dioxide emission of NHS."
Adam: [Footage includes Adam's 3D scan on computer becoming the real part that is form fitted to the patient's foot and ankle.]
"Being in Derby, we're well placed to collaborate with leading manufacturers, in engineering for aerospace and the rail industry and also, some of the automotive industries who can be working on, large scale products from prototypes, maybe proving concepts, down to materials testing and in-depth studies. A lot of the work we do feeds into making additive manufacturing more widely accepted and widely used in the industry. As engineers, we're always building on the work of other people. Even the most, small breakthrough can lead to something quite, quite significant further down the line. Contributing to that overall goal is really worthwhile."
Kara: [Footage includes showing tropical fish swimming on the sea floor, followed by a turtle swimming.]
"So my research is focused on looking at how we can develop a probiotic Marine research in probiotic
essentially, so beneficial bacteria, that will help seagrass. One of the really cool things about seagrass is that, it is known to sequester carbon. And so when, unfortunately, those seagrass degrade, that carbon that's trapped in the sediment is unfortunately released back into the water column and then potentially can contribute more to climate change. And so by hopefully being able to help contribute to seagrass health through this probiotic that I'm researching, maybe that will be able to have some impact on the acceleration of climate change. My professor in particular, like he wants me to succeed. And he has such great connections that by coming to Derby, I'm able to actually work all over the world. So it feels like a dream to be working as a researcher. And so sometimes when I wake up in the morning, I'm like, I get to go and actually do the thing that I've always wanted to do. I bet four year old me would be so proud of adult me right now!"
David:
"I think if you're considering becoming a researcher, you probably kind of already are one, because it's just something that's inbuilt to people that they’re inquisitive and, and if you're sort of thinking along those lines, I'd say you can do it."
Kara: [Footage includes two turtles swimming amongst healthy corals.]
"If you have the passion for it, if you have the drive for it, that's one of the key things that you should have in there. It's not as glamorous as what you see on TV. Every day doesn’t look like you're out there catching sharks and being able to dive in the ocean: sometimes you're actually knee deep
in mud! But, as long as you have that drive to learn more about whatever it is that you're studying, then that's one of the best things that you can do. And so you should go for it."
David: [Footage includes David and another researcher working both in the field and at a computer that shows charts of results.]
"We really want the undergraduate students to be a part of our research community. A key outcome for our graduates is that they become creators of knowledge, which means they have to be engaged in research. You have to reach out to the staff and say, 'I'm interested in your work., How can I get involved?' If you choose to be a part of the research, you really can."
Kara:
"The world needs more researchers. We have always new things that we need to learn."
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