Charlotte Blake

"Charlotte is a friendly, reliable and supportive individual which are characteristics that are suitable for her interest in the medical field. Charlotte identifies well with the ‘Explorer’ type as, being a researcher, it is important that you are able to motivate yourself to investigate the area under question and explore a variety of options before coming to a solution. Charlotte also relates well to the ‘Coach’ type, which is clearly proven as one of the things she enjoys most is connecting groups together across the University to get the best skills out of everyone."

"Charlotte is in the last year of her PhD, focusing on 3D printing for medicine, in particular the safety of implants which could be used during surgery and left inside people’s bodies. Charlotte’s work really varies, one day she could be preparing samples to be tested, the next writing up results from work she has been involved with, providing a good and varied balance. An exciting part of Charlotte’s job is that she gets to travel – later this year she will be going to Malaysia! She loves taking her research and presenting it around the world. As a PhD student, Charlotte earns £14,777 per year."

"Charlotte studied Biology, Chemistry, Maths and French at A-Level. She then went on to study Physiology at the University of Liverpool, before joining the Engineering department at Nottingham University. Charlotte was always interested in Biomedical Engineering but mistakenly believed she was not good enough at maths to enrol straight onto the course. She had also been told she would not be able to convert to engineering after her degree. That wasn’t true, and with determination and passion she found a PhD course at Nottingham aimed at those with non-engineering backgrounds. Charlotte’s advice would be to never doubt yourself and always reach for the top. You can do so much more than you believe!"

"In Charlotte’s spare time she plays a lot of different sports. She and her friends from the office often do a lot of climbing, softball and trampolining – a complete mix of activities. Charlotte has also recently completed a marathon, which is a huge achievement. In addition to all these sports, Charlotte volunteers in the healthcare sector which is a great thing to get involved with. Once Charlotte has finished her PhD she aspires to move into industry and find something related to biomedical engineering – a fast-growing field!"

"Each day is a bit different in research. Some days will be spent mostly at my desk, answering emails or writing reports. Those reports go towards either writing my thesis, or applying to go and speak at conferences all around the world about my research!Other days I'll spend mostly in the lab, collecting data and analysing it to further my research. I've had a wide range of lab experiences, from dissection in hospitals to standing in front of a 3D printer for 6 hours waiting for my samples to be done. The other main part of my work is going out to talk about my research, which I really love. It could be a scientific conference where I have to speak to other scientists in my field and answer questions on what I'm doing, or it could be coming out to schools to discuss with students what the future could hold! I recently presented my work as far away as Malaysia and as close to home as a conference across the road from my office. "

"In my GCSEs I achieved 7A* and 4A grades, including dual award science, english and maths - all of which were really important to get into my university course! I went to University and got a First Class degree in my first subject and am now studying for my PhD."