Plus Careers with Maths Library

Chuck Gill caught the space bug as a child when watching Alan Shepherd launch into space. Since then he's worked as a US Air Force navigator, a satellite operator, and in the US intelligence service. These days he's busy reducing carbon emissions and preparing London for the 2012 Olympics. Plus went to see him to find out more about his career.

Exhibition design is not a career that the mathematically inclined tend to think about, let alone pursue. Barry Phipps is the first interdisciplinary fellow with the Kettle's Yard gallery in Cambridge. His remit is to develop projects of an interdisciplinary nature — "to find the common ground between things." Whilst most people think that art and science are two completely separate non-overlapping areas of human endeavour, Phipps does not see it this way.

Rupa Patel never wanted to be a financial engineer — she wanted to be a maths teacher. However, her skills in conveying difficult mathematical concepts to others, as well as a love of maths, enticed her into the exciting field of financial mathematics. Now she models risk, travels Europe and occasionally finds time to herself to examine the maths of her job in detail.

Jet engines, aircraft carriers and telecommunications networks — these are just some of the things that Nira Chamberlain has modelled. And while he's figuring out defence logistics, he's also pursuing a pure mathematical interest in games. Find out what mathematical modelling can do and why it can also make you slim and fluent in French.

Penguin eggs are not something you'd normally associate with maths, but they are right there on the archives of the Smith Institute, an organisation helping businesses use maths to solve their problems. Claudia Centazzo tells us about her role at the institute, selling maths to unsuspecting business people.

Adrian Bird, a performance engineer at Rolls Royce, tells Plus that it doesn't matter what anyone else thinks. You can follow your dreams to do maths and it can lead you to the skies.

Emily Poskett works as a government statistician for the Department for International Development. With lots of travel and the opportunity to make a real difference in poorer countries, her job is far more than just number crunching.

From Einstein to water power, Plus author Anita King explains where maths has got her.

Travel, money, meeting new people, living in new cultures, and a whole lot of sport — that's where maths has lead Jamie Clarke, an IT project manager who specialises in international sport projects such as the recent Winter Olympics in Torino. Jamie tells Plus how he went from engineering to the Olympics.

Two designers tell us how they took the long way round to design, and how the maths and science they took in on the way helps them with their work today.

Teaching a machine to understand music is an incredibly difficult task, which uses all the mathematical power of digital signal processing. But teaching a machine to compose music is quite another matter, and the wonderful world of mathematical patterns proves to be a gold mine. Nick Collins talks to Plus about his artifical musician.

Adrian Dow has a huge change ahead of him: after fourteen years in the UK and around the world, he's about to return to his native Trinidad with the ultimate aim to open his own school. Plus intercepted him on the way to the airport.

Riaz Ahmad's mathematical career has led him from the complexities of blood flow to the risks of the financial markets via underwater acoustics. Plus found out how maths can explain all this and more.

Shane Whelan likes a challenge, and his career path has been defined both by what he enjoyed and by a desire to keep learning. Becoming an actuary seemed like the perfect solution.

Nick Crawley had recently set up his own financial consultancy firm in Sydney, Australia, offering advice on large-scale financing deals. He tells Plus about the challenges and rewards of working in an incentive-driven environment.

Jose Munoz explains how engineering can allow you to explore the unknown, from understanding how mechanical structures bend to investigating the way genes affect the shape of embryos.

Francesca Harris has always known she wanted to work in the music or film industry, and she has found that her maths skills have stood her in good stead as she works her way up.

Jason Winborn specialises in human resource management software Peoplesoft, and has been working freelance as a consultant for four years.

André Léger studies the fluid mechanics of food travelling through the intestines for consumer goods giant Unilever.

Bharat Dodia tells Plus how his love of maths has taken him from turbulent times to building better IT systems for Ford.

In this issue we talk to maths student Emily Dixon about her university studies, and where maths might take her in the future.

Skot McDonald talks to Plus about how he uses mathematics to understand music, and how he managed to combine his passions for music and computing to create a successful career.

Wen Quek works for an award-winning architectural cooperative based in London. Recently, she worked on the new library at the University of Cambridge's Centre for Mathematical Sciences. As she tells Plus, Wen sees many parallels between mathematics and architecture.

Whether you love maths or hate maths, your opinions on the subject were probably formed early. So primary teachers have a vital role to play in promoting mathematical skills. Plus meets primary teacher and maths coordinator Maureen Matthews.

Helen is a defence analyst with the MoD, using her maths skills to help defend the nation. Plus finds out about her career path.

Geoff Wilson is an air traffic controller for the Royal Air Force. Recently back from Kabul in Afghanistan, he tells Plus how logical thinking under pressure is crucial in his job.

Ever since the thalidomide tragedy, governments have realised the importance of a strict licensing regime for new drugs. Medical statistician Robert Hemmings explains how his work for the Medicines Control Agency helps to safeguard the health of the nation.

In the real world, balls bounce and water splashes because of the laws of physics. In computer games, a physics engine ensures the virtual world behaves realistically. Mathematician and computer programmer Nick Gray tells us about playing God in a virtual world.

Science writer and exhibition researcher Alison Boyle tells Plus about her work creating up-to-the-minute news exhibits at the Science Museum in London.

John Henstridge and Jodie Thompson tell Plus about life as consultant statisticians, modelling real-world problems in areas as diverse as the shipping industry and water rationing.

Plus talks to Jon Walthoe, a commissioning editor for maths book, about finding new books, windsurfing and choosing a career.

Plus talks to Christine Hogan, programmer, sysadmin and author, now studying aerodynamics and hoping to become a member of a Formula One team.

Steve Traylen tells Plus about life as a Systems Administrator.

Actuaries use mathematics to model the real world, finding business solutions to the perennial problems thrown up by life's uncertainties. Kathy Byrne tells Plus about life as Actuarial Director of an Insurance Company.

Jenni Barker plots the path from astrophysics to science journalism.

Jim McElwaine tells Plus how he combines his two loves - mathematics and mountaineering - in avalanche research.

Paul Clifford Paul Clifford is the Deputy Head of Maths at Elizabeth Garrett Anderson school in Islington. The Plus team visited him there to hear about life as a secondary maths teacher.

Helen Thompson works for Sainsbury's Supermarkets as a Sales Forecasting Manager. The Plus team paid her a visit at Drury House on the banks of the Thames in London.

David Spaughton and Anton Merlushkin work for Credit Suisse First Boston, where they provide traders in the hectic dealing room with software based on complicated mathematical models of the financial markets. PASS Maths interviewed them at their offices in Canary Wharf in London.

Francesco Mezzadri from Italy and Nina Snaith from Canada are PhD students in Applied Mathematics at the University of Bristol. They are also affiliated with Hewlett Packard's BRIMS Laboratory. PASS Maths went to visit them there.

Andrew Wensley works at Eidos Interactive, the company who publish the mega-successful computer game Tomb Raider, featuring 90s icon Lara Croft. Andrew is a long-term computer game fan with an academic background in maths. PASS Maths caught up with him at Eidos's Wimbledon offices.

David Ruddock describes himself as an artist who studied Maths. He talks about how he spent his gap year, his studies and his interests as an artist and mathematician.

Geraldine Paxton, an electronics engineer, is a member of the Ford Motor Company Limited's graduate trainee scheme. Geraldine tells us about her work there, from driving cars on the German autobahns to ensuring production lines keep working. There's also salary information and a careers contact point.

Alexander Langley is a first year BSc Maths student at Sheffield Hallam University. He talks about his interests and life both at school and university.

Karen Reid, whose hobbies include badminton and salsa dancing, is a Maths graduate. She works as a Qualifications Manager at RSA Examinations Board, Coventry and has also taught Maths.

Andrew Snape, an A-level student at the City of Stoke-on-Trent Sixth Form College, talks about his A-level studies and interests.

Find out about what it is like to work as an actuary with Watson Wyatt Partners Worldwide. There's also salary information and a careers contact point.

Sarah Hudson talks about her first year at the University of Sussex. She is doing a BSc degree in Maths with European Studies, which includes a year in Germany.

Read about what it is like to work at the Meteorological Office in this interview with Helen Hewson. There's also a contact point for careers information.

Read about two students at Keele University. Christine Vretta is doing Joint Honours Maths and Physics, and Steve Smith is doing Joint Honours Maths and Computer Science.

We talk to Tim Pilkington, a keen basketball player, who has a joint honours BSc in Maths, Physical Education and Sports Science from Loughborough University. Tim has worked as a mathematics teacher and is now working as an accountant.

Mark Langley, a student at Hills Road Sixth Form College in Cambridge, tells us about his experiences doing A-level Mathematics.

Find out how an early interest in Mathematics and Physics led Dr Helen Mason to a career in solar studies.