Caroline Norrish

"I am a very curious person and love finding problems and solutions in all sorts of places.

As a \"developer\" I am driven to make the world a better place and I am especially passionate about the environment.

The \"innovator\" in me means I am always open to new ideas and I find it fun to explore different ways of doing things.

I like to be organised and have a notebook full of lists on my desk so I don't forget stuff (I love to colour coordinate everything as well! I'm the best person to ask if you need a coloured pen).

I will always make time to tell anyone and everyone all about what I'm working on at the moment as I'm a very typical 'trainer' and love to share what I have learned."

"I am doing research that will hopefully allow steelmakers to use more recycled steel. This will be really beneficial for the environment and can reduce a lot of the emissions from the places that make steel.

I am using a new method that recreates the big factories on a mini scale in a laboratory to work out if adding more recycled steel will make the new steel stronger or not.

Researchers like me earn £20,000 each year and this is likely to increase in the future as I gain more qualifications through her research."

"I did maths, further maths, physics and product design at A-level. I really enjoyed maths and loved the experiments in physics but more than anything, I was fascinated by the theory in product design where I learned all about how things are made. This lead me to look into an engineering degree.

I never considered engineering to begin with, and only stumbled across it when I was researching a degree in quantity surveying. Luckily I read a few pages further on in the university prospectus and found out about engineering degrees.

Initially I wanted to do mechanical engineering at university but then decided to do materials engineering at Swansea University because there was a lot more interesting theory about different materials.

My favourite part of my degree was learning about different metals and using equipment like microscopes to do my own investigations and discover things on my own. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to do a sponsored PhD learning all about steel and haven't looked back!

I am still deciding what to do in the future. My dream job would be working with other people to invent a way to recycle every material in the world but, until then, I am making the most of being able to learn as much as possible and use lots of fun experimental equipment."

"I play quidditch which is the only full contact, mixed gender sport in the world. I used to captain my local team and have taught children from nearby schools how to play too! I recently played for Wales in the Quidditch Premier League which also encourages more LGBT+ people to take part in sports, including being part of a pride parade in Cardiff last year, and will be attending Manchester pride this year. "

"My days can vary a lot! I spend a lot of time in the laboratory making mini steel samples. Sometimes I will need to use the microscopes to take close up pictures of the steel and other days I will have to do strength tests by using a machine to pull the steel until it breaks. I will sometimes travel to other cities and show my work to other people in meetings or at big research events. "

"I did maths, further maths, physics and product design at A-level."