Modern African / Caribbean UK Scientists You can find out more about all of them by looking in Meet Your Match… Dr Dwain Neil I'm a Management Consultant with a science background. On completion of my PhD in Nuclear Chemistry, I was recruited by Shell International as a management trainee. This meant that I was in regular contact with Shell's manufacturing and distribution facilities in the UK and in Holland, and my science training and background was in constant use. In 2000, I was invited, with the assistance of headhunters, to assume the role of Director, Focus Consultancy, a 'change management' consultancy that conducts research in the field of diversity and offers professional advice to clients. Overall throughout my whole career, I have been driven by a passion to test myself in new situations, as new challenges have always given me, and will always give me, a buzz. In the next generation, all three of my children show on going interest in science. My eldest son is studying pharmacy at Aston University. My younger son is doing sciences at AS level, and my daughter enjoys the sciences. All have on going interest in science fiction, which is a passion of mine. Find Dwain in Meet Your Match under 'Chemistry' Stephanie Ankrah Sports Materials Engineer - I am doing a PhD in Football Shin Guards. I am a very keen sportswoman and wanted to combine my interest into my research. I look at how the materials in equipment behave when they are impacted, and potential materials that may improve the protection levels. I am studying at the University of Birmingham in the Department of Metallurgy and Materials Science. Science subjects at university level are well sponsored and it is possible to get scholarships throughout undergraduate years as well, particularly with academic achievement. I find I have an excellent balance with work and life. Because of my work I have visited Aston Villa, Sheffield Wednesday and Wolverhampton Wanderers and met a few professional players, which was exciting as I am an avid football fan as well as a scientist! Find Stephanie in Meet Your Match under 'Engineering' Olu Ibidunni I am in my third year of my four year course at Imperial college of science, technology and medicine engineering in the Computing department. Every summer I have worked as a software engineer in computer firms and I am currently on a six month placement with Hewlett Packard as part of the third year of my course. At hp I work on semantic web applications in the research labartories located in Bristol. My father is a systems engineer and I worked with him while at school. I enjoyed the work I did with him and wanted to learn more about it. I was also very good at fixing things at home when they broke and this was something my parents encouraged me to do. By the time I started to study engineering I was already very confident in my ability to do the job! Find Olu in Meet Your Match under 'Engineering & Technology' Charles Ifajika I have invented a device for cleaning contact lenses. It helps to keep them clinically clean and very hygenic. I am now also involved in marketing the device. In the beginning everything happened by fluke. In others words I had no clear idea bout what I was doing. However once I realised there was something in it, I studied with experts in my field. No one in my family had any background in science. The closest to this is my mother who worked as a matron of a hospital. My family and friends are very impressed. Find Charles in Meet Your Match under 'Health & Medicine' Dr Eunice Laleye I am a general practitoner working in London NW3. I have particular interests in women and child health and psychological medicine. It's difficult to say what or who inspired me get into science, I suppose I sensed that I would be good at it. Thought academically I would be able to cope (although I didn't find it easy). I've met some inspiring people in medicine and my teachers encouraged me. You know sometimes you watch a soap opera or a film and you think "That would never happen!". Well it does, and people come and see you to discuss it because you're their GP and you can, and usually do, really help them. It makes me feel humble some of the stories I hear and keeps life in perspective. Honestly, I don't feel there is a better job in medicine. Find Eunice in Meet Your Match under 'Health & Medicine' Toyin Solanke I got into Geoscience because I was always curious about life on Earth, the interior and the other planets' composition and had great encouragement from Environmental Science and Biology teachers. However English Lit, Drama & Theatre Arts ranked highly alongside, with much encouragement from those teachers too. Having left school I was doing a summer musical with a regional youth theatre and during it, realised I still wanted to discover more on Earth, Evolution & the Universe so I took up 'A' level Geology evening classes. I was at the Natural History Museum when I came across a leaflet telling of some interesting subjects being run at South London College, which led to my career in Petroleum Exploration. Find Toyin in Meet Your Match under 'Earth Science' Tony Waithe When I was at school I craved the excitement of a real outdoors/adventure lifestyle. At 12-years-old I joined the Air Training Cadets where I went on to learn to fly light aircraft, to parachute and climb mountains - just some of the skills and team leadership qualities which can be gained through the cadets. It was while I was studying Engineering & Science at the North London College that I came up with my first inventions. An inventor is not a one-man band - we have to relate to manufacturers, designers and a whole raft of people and organisations. Being a cadet gave me more than physical strength and endurance: it instilled in me a strong sense of self-reliance, the importance of self-discipline and team spirit. My designs - including a folding fire-escape ladder and a revolutionary bicycle saddle - led to television appearances on BBC, ITV and C4, and in 2000, I won a Bronze medal for the bicycle saddle at the world's largest invention exhibition in Geneva. Find Tony in Meet Your Match under 'Engineering & Technology' Go back