No time to waste! - Edgars Kelmers

Last few weeks have been intense, because I spent all my time on exam preparation. Finally, I finished both of my exams in Stem Cells and Finite Element Modelling Analysis. A year ago, when I first started my studies I was worried, because I took 3 year off from university to work in industry. So my knowledge in mathematics got rusty. But eventually it turned out fine; this extra one year given by the CDT program was enough to catch up with the basics. Now I feel confident, that I have passed my exams.

However, as much as I would like to relax and take a holiday, there is no time to waste. My supervisors are waiting for me to start working on the PhD project right away.  First I need to sort out logistics. I need to:

• Write up a project plan for the next 3 years.
• Get trained on the knee simulators and other laboratory machines.
• Get NHS access, so I could visit surgeries.
• Go and talk with manufacturing shop, so I could cut my first polymer knee insert prototypes.
• Visit a retrieval laboratory to see how implants get damaged after long time in use.

I am also currently busy with the “I’m an Engineer” project. It is an online event where school kids of all ages can ask me questions about engineering, science, work experience and life in general.

And that is all fine, I am glad to finally work on my own ideas. I will have a holiday at the end of August, so it will be great to get some quality work completed before that.