Profile
Andrew Stonor
My CV
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Education:
1) Brookwood Primary School
2) Winston Churchill Secondary School
3) Farnborough 6th Form College
4) University of Bristol -
Qualifications:
GCSEs, A-levels, MSc & PhD
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Work History:
Gardener, worked in Sainsburys, cabinet factory worker.
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Current Job:
Pollution control scientist (specifically, product development chemist)
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About Me:
I’m a pollution control scientist and I develop new coatings to improve catalytic converters in cars and lorries to help reduce air pollution. After work I like to learn about all areas of science and geography, play computer games with my friends and go mountain biking.
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I live in Cambridge and work in Royston. I like to go mountain biking, watch Sci-Fi & action films and play computer games with my friends (Crash Bandicoot is my favourite). I also really love to travel to new and different countries and see foreign cultures. My favourite food is sausage and mashed potato but I also really like salt and vinegar crisps.
My favourite music:
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We need to make catalytic converters for cars and trucks because when they burn fuel, they sometimes produce toxic gasses like NOx and carbon monoxide. These gasses are poisonous to people and animals in large quantities but NOx also causes acid rain. Soot particles are sometimes produced in the exhaust too and these are also a health problem for humans and animals as they irritate the lungs. Because of these problems we need catalytic converters to improve the air quality. When we make new and improved catalytic converters we can test their performance on engines and test cars to understand if they are better than our previous ones. We are currently able to stop most of the NOx and soot coming out of cars, but we still need to improve! At the moment I’m focusing on improving coatings for the catalytic converters for lorries and trucks. These need slightly different catalysts to cars because trucks use different fuel. We use new and different metals, other elements and chemical compounds in these coatings to improve performance of pollution control overall.
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My Typical Day:
At work I read and write some e-mails, mix lots of chemical compounds together in a bucket to make new coatings and cook the final catalysts bricks at a very high temperature to complete them.
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I wake up, drink a cup of tea (which helps me wake up more!) and then I drive to work. Once at work I read and write some e-mails and check my calendar for meetings. Once this is done, I change into my overalls and get into the lab! Then I can start mixing lots of chemical compounds together in a bucket to make new and improved coatings for catalytic converters. The next step is then to put the coating onto the solid-honeycomb-brick and we do this by sucking the coating onto the brick using a vacuum. Then we dry the catalyst before putting it in a big oven to cook it at a really hot temperature. Then it’s ready for testing and time for me to go home!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Inquisitive, practical, sociable
What did you want to be after you left school?
A research scientist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Rarely, but it did happen very occassionally!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Tycho and Red Hot Chili Peppers
What's your favourite food?
Sausages and mashed potato
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
To own an aeroplane, be able to pilot it and to go to any country in the world!
Tell us a joke.
What did Yoda say when he saw himself in 4K for the first time? "HDMI"
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