Profile
Will Furnell
My CV
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Education:
2002-2009: Petham Primary School
2009-2016: Simon Langton Grammar School for Boys (for GCSEs and A-Levels)
2016-2019: The University of Kent -
Qualifications:
GCSEs: English Language and Literature, French, Maths, Design and Technology, Computing, History, RE, Physics, Biology, Chemistry.
AS-Level: Maths (but I got an E… I’m not good at maths!)
A-Levels: Computing, Design and Technology, Physics
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Work History:
Throughout university I worked part time with the Institute for Research in Schools, where I mainly worked on software to analyse data from Timepix radiation detectors.
At University I also worked in the Physics department one summer creating a website and analysis pipeline that allows amatuer astronomers to upload photos that they take of the sky to build a massive database of stars.
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Current Job:
I work in the Scientific Computing department as a Scientific Computing graduate – so will work on four different projects in my first two years to try and figure out which work in the department I enjoy the most!
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About Me:
I’m an excitable 22 year old who lives in Didcot, Oxfordshire. Apart from work, I like playing with obscure and old technology, and visiting remote train stations!
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I also enjoy Photography a lot – and walking – often combining the two hobbies. I often spend my weekends travelling to somewhere new by train and just exploring and taking photos.
I have two cats (that live with my parents), Mr Jinx and Florence.
Here’s a photo of me at the most remote railway station in Britian – Courrour:
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As I’m on a graduate scheme, I rotate through four six month projects in my first two years. In my first project, I worked on building a system that is used for monitoring thousands of our servers, and worked on automating it so it would be easier to manage in the future. I also worked in the machine room – three big air conditioned rooms where the computers that we use for storing data and running analysis on (servers) run. It’s really loud in there, so you have to wear ear defenders (as the picture shows – here I am looking at the back of some SCARF [one of our computer clusters] servers).
In my current project, I am working on a dashboard to allow scientists to log into websites (like you might do with Google or Facebook) with their university username and password, so they don’t need to create lots of accounts. I’ve not worked with the technology to do this before, so a lot of my time is spent learning how it all works, and trying things out to get an idea how all the pieces fit together.
I also get involved with public engagement events, which includes showing people around where I work and the machine room, and helping with LEGO robot projects.
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My Typical Day:
I spend most of my day coding and trying to find and fix problems in my code. I write tests to help with this. I also spend some of my time in meetings to discuss what progress I have made, and new features that my team would like included in the website.
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- 08:30: I log on to my computer and check my emails and calendar to remind me what I’m going to be doing today!
- 09:00: I have a quick team meeting to find out if there were any problems with the services we run overnight.
- 09:05: I get started on programming, which involves loads and loads of searching the Internet, particulary StackOverflow for problems I’m facing and testing the snippets of code I write – and writing these tests.
- 12:20: Lunchtime! Normally I’d go the canteen with my friends, get a hot meal and chat. If it’s a Wednesday, then I’d join some friends in our team for the weekly quiz!
- 13:20: Back to work now, and more figuring out how to make the website talk to the computer that stores all the user data (an API).
- 14:30: I have a meeting with my team to discuss my current progress with the website, and find out what they have been up to. I collaborate with another government organisation in Italy.
- 15:30: More programming and problem solving, working through my issues and features lists.
- 17:00: Home time!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Curious, troubleshooter, driven
What did you want to be after you left school?
I didn't know!
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Rarely
Who is your favourite singer or band?
It changes constantly!
What's your favourite food?
Lasange
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