Meet the scientists!
My CV
Education:
Bognor Regis Community College (1992-1998), University of Reading (1998-2004)
Qualifications:
GCSES; A-Levels; BSc in Physics with Computer Science; PhD in Computational Physics
Work History:
University of Reading (2004-2007), Diamond Light Source (2007 – Now)
Current Job:
Software Scientist
My STFC Facility:
Diamond Light Source
Mark Basham
Busy day today, but enjoying the live chats
Favourite Thing: Writing software which other scientists use is quite demanding, but there is nothing better than when it helps them to understand tricky data which hopefully leads to great science being done.
Me and my work
I write computer programs to analyse the data that other scientists collect from the Diamond Synchrotron
My work is mainly in 2 software projects, the GDA (Generic Data Acquisition) and the SDA (Scientific Data Analysis)
The GDA (shown here working on a beamline) is used by scientists who are collecting data at Dimaond Light Source to plan and run their experiments.
Here is a closeup of the GDA running and looking at some data from one of the beamlines
The SDA is used by the scientists once they have collected the data, and s a tool to help them understand what the data they have collected actualy means. The images below are from a poster I presented at a conference in Paris earlier this year.
My Typical Day
Each day is different, but in general I spend about half of my time writing software, and the other half communicating between many of the other scientists and engineers around Diamond.
We have an computer calender system at STFC which is invaluable for helping me with what i need to do in a day. I work as part of a team of about 25 Scientists and Engineers who write all the software that the scientists who come to Diamond Light Source interact with. This team needs to communicate a lot, so every week I will go to 5 short meetings (15 mins) and 2 long meetings (1:30) purely to make sure the software being developed is consistant and relevent.
I will also then generaly go to several hours of meeting with the scientists who run the beamlines at Diamond, this is to collect information about the science that is being done, and then focus our software on these tasks.
Thats it for meetings, but I do end up going to beamlines on a regular basis to fix problems and help with collecting and analyising data which the users are collecting, this includes running training courses for our staff so they know best how to get things done.
When all of this is done, I spend the rest of my time writing software.
If nothing else there is never a dull moment 
What I'd do with the money
I like to help students understand how programming and engineering are used in lots of scientific areas, a superb tool to help with this would be a LEGO Mindstorms educational pack and some accessories.
When we visit schools to talk about what we do, it would be really useful to be able to demonstrate how we collect data. With a lego mindstorms kit, I can connect the software we use to control the experiments to it, and conduct models of those experiments, to show exactly what we do.
In fact we already use lego on one of the beamlines for holding samples!
My Interview
Other stuff
Work photos:
Diamond Light Source from the Air
The main entrance to Diamond House which is the office block attached to the main synchrotron building, I live in the offices on the left hand side of this Photo
Me giving a tour of the Synchrotron Machine to some A-Level Students, this is the heart of Diamond, and part of the machinery that accelerates electrons to nearly the speed of light. These fast moving electrons are then used to generate the light that which the scientists use to proform their experiments.
Here is a picture of one of the beamlines, Diamond has over 20 beamlines, each of them is equipped to do different science, dependant on what the UK scientific community needs.
The best time to visit:
There is always exciting new science being done at Diamond Light Source, and I would recomend visiting the website and booking a tour.
My profile link:
http://subatomicn11.imascientist.org.uk/profile/markbasham/
Short link: http://ias.im/u.17065
Print this profileSearch
- would you agree science has madness in its mentod the method, finding out the the simple information that starts a
- if its true that are stomach acid is ph2, why doesnt it burn our throats when we are sick?
- What programming language(s) do you use most often?
- what is quantum physics
- What is the Doppler Effect?
- how big is your television?
- how do you like your eggs in the morning?
- How advanced is the software you create?
- Possibly more chemistry, but whyc is the sea salty?
- Who would you consider the unsung hero of scientists?
- View all my answered questions
Comments
- Can Any of you solve a rubiks cube and if so, how quickly? (1 comments)
- As a physicist, how much of your work can you actually see? How much is theoretical, and how much do you need (1 comments)
- Do you support the theory that there is only one photon in the universe? (1 comments)
- Do you think perpetual motion can ever be achieved, or will the laws of thermodynamics defiantly never allow it? (1 comments)
- Do you feel like all the fields of science (chemistry, biology and physics) are connected? Or are they very seperate (1 comments)
- Do you think perpetual motion can ever be achieved, or will the laws of thermodynamics defiantly never allow it? (1 comments)
- do u like turtles? i think they are cool (1 comments)
- what car do drive (2 comments)
- Do you like twilight?? :) (1 comments)
- What is your favourite book? :) (1 comments)
copyright and produced by gallomanor communications ltd 2010
