Profile
Daniel Jones
My CV
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Education:
Oakdale Comprehensive School (2002–2007)
Coleg Gwent Crosskeys (2007–2009)
Cardiff University (2009–2016) -
Qualifications:
GSCEs in English Language, English Literature, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Music, Religious Studies, and Welsh (Oakdale Comprehensive School)
A-levels in Chemistry, Maths, Music, and Welsh (Coleg Gwent Crosskeys)
BSc in Chemistry, MSc in Catalysis, PhD in Catalysis (Cardiff University)
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Work History:
January 2017–July 2018: Graduate Trainee/Technical Specialist. Hichrom Ltd.
July 2018–January 2019: Technical Specialist, Hichrom Ltd
January 2019–January 2020: Quality Control Chemist, Biosynth-Carbosynth.
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Current Job:
January 2020–present: Senior Quality Control Chemist, Biosynth-Carbosynth.
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About Me:
I am a Welshman now living in Reading who can usually be found drawing or binge-watching Netflix when not stuck into my chemistry!
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I grew up in South Wales and completed my education in the Valleys and Cardiff before moving to Reading after I completed my PhD. I live there now with my boyfriend of nearly 5 years. When I’m not at work, I enjoy exercise (walking, cycling, particularly a gym session at 5 am!), drawing, reading, playing video games, and binge-watching Netflix shows with my other half. I’m also very musical. I’ve played the piano since I was 6 years old and am terribly guilty of singing in the shower—with varying degrees of success! I’m a huge fan of musicals and love going to the theatre (having London just a short train ride away is very convenient!). I directed a musical while I was at university and it was one of the most fun things I have ever done!
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I am a Senior Quality Control Chemist as part of the company’s Quality Control (QC) Team. My job is to make sure that the chemicals my company sells are as good as we can make them. This involves chemical testing using techniques such as HPLC, NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy (feel free to ask me what all that means!) and many more. A lot of my time is spent developing the best ways to test all the new chemicals we produce.
Each test gives a different piece of information. What is the identity of the chemical? How pure is it? Is there anything else in it that there shouldn’t be? With each test, I build up a picture of how good the chemicals are—a bit like a jigsaw puzzle!
Because the company I work for make a lot of the chemicals we sell itself in our labs, I work closely with synthetic chemists to help them make high purity chemicals! We also buy chemicals from other companies which need to be tested before we can sell them again. I spend the majority of my time developing the best way to analyze all these chemicals. Part of my job involves carrying out chemical tests to answer questions from our suppliers and customers. I get to experience a lot of different sides of the company as part of the Quality Control Team! Though it looks a lot like a machine quickly spitting out a number, a lot of work is needed from people like me to create and optimize a method to make them do that!
I am also the manager of our QC lab technicians, who are incredibly important in helping us do our jobs and keeping the lab in top shape!
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My Typical Day:
After my early morning gym session or run, I drive to work. After a cup of tea, I power up the equipment in the lab and start my day of chemical testing! By late afternoon, I am usually writing reports on what I’ve seen and deciding which chemicals are good and which are not.
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I am an early riser—I get up at 5 am to go to the gym go for a run before I drive to work. When I get to work, I usually make myself a cup of tea and catch up with my manager about yesterday’s work before finding out what chemicals I will be testing that day.
The good thing about my job is that there can be a lot of variety. Some days I can be doing standard tests on stuff we buy in just to make sure they are okay, but other days I can be working closely with my colleagues that make some of the chemicals, or I can be doing tests on something a customer has complained about to check whether their complaint is true (that’s one of my favourite things!)—I’m never doing the same thing every day, especially since most chemicals needs different types of test done on them.
Since I am one of the senior chemists in the lab, I’m usually asked a lot of questions throughout the day from the less experienced members of the team. I’ll spend a time helping them with their work and developing their knowledge and skills as scientists. This is one of the most rewarding aspects of my job.
By late afternoon, I am usually writing up the results of the tests I’ve done throughout the day. It’s really important to keep good notes and clear documents in our industry so that anyone who needs to can look at them later if they need to and know exactly what you’ve done!
At 5 pm, it’s time to go home, eat dinner, and spend the evening with my boyfriend before doing it all again tomorrow!
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Hardworking. Perfectionist. Particular.
What did you want to be after you left school?
I didn’t really know. All I knew was that I wanted to be really good at whatever that was, so when I decided that was going to chemistry, I knew I was headed for a PhD in it eventually.
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Honestly, never! I was one of those annoying people who didn’t get into trouble!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Tough one, but I’ll go for Sara Bareilles
What's your favourite food?
Easy: curry, always
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Eternal youth, infinite knowledge, and a mug of tea that refills itself and never goes cold.
Tell us a joke.
Why do people make bad chemistry jokes? Because all the good ones Argon. (I’m sorry…)
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