A professional doctorate ... but what comes next?

The University of Reading's Graduate School Bulletin (November 2014) featured an interview with Dr Marek Kubik, one of the first graduates from the university's Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments (TSBE) Centre.

A PROFESSIONAL DOCTORATE... but what comes next?

Marek Kubik graduated from the University this summer with an Engineering Doctorate (EngD), from the Technologies for Sustainable Built Environments (TSBE) Centre. 

The TSBE is an industrial Doctoral Training Centre for construction technology, climate and business enterprise research and was established in 2009 with a £6 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Marek followed a four year programme instead of the traditional three year PhD; which included an industry based research project and University taught modules relevant to the project. He was sponsored by AES, a global power company, supported by two academic supervisors and spent a significant amount of time based in industry.

What have you been doing since you graduated?

I took up an advisory position in AES, the company I completed my doctorate with, reporting directly to the Vice President for UK & Ireland. I have responsibility for mapping a route to market for energy storage, something that follows neatly on from my research.

Recently, I successfully led a bid through the first round of Innovate UK funding to support a $6.6m 10MW battery storage project in Northern Ireland (the largest of its kind in Europe). I am also organising a high profile energy storage seminar hosted by the All Party Group at Stormont, Northern Ireland’s Parliament.

Was there anything you did at Reading that you feel has helped you in your new position?

The supportive attitude of the TSBE Centre to pursue career development opportunities, such as my secondment in UK Parliament, teaching STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) in local schools and Henley Business School mentoring was very valuable. The Graduate School was a useful entity, both in terms of facilities and in networking outside my immediate research group.

Why did you select Reading?

I chose to undertake an EngD at Reading as I wanted a project with strong links to industry and that focused on an immediate industry challenge in the field of sustainability. Working for both the University and my industry sponsor has allowed me to gain invaluable experience, which I believe is the single most important factor in gaining employment post completion.

What was your biggest challenge during your studies?

The biggest challenge was managing the divergent expectations of academia and industry, and keeping both sides happy with the scope and nature of my research. The EngD programme requires delivery on both fronts; the full academic rigor and contribution to knowledge of a PhD, but with added industrial impact and relevance.

Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give a new 1st year doctoral researcher?

My first piece of advice is to publish early. Publishing international conference papers and journal papers helps hone your writing ability and gives you material that can be readily dropped into your thesis. Second, plan ahead. Your time shoots by and you need to factor in writing-up time. I began dedicating a couple of days a month to start writing up 18 months ahead of submission. Finally, enjoy it. It is unlikely you will ever again get the opportunity to have as much flexibility to work in an area and to really think about how to solve the challenges your field faces.

And finally, where do you want to be in 5 years?

I would like to be in a position where I can look back and be proud of delivering the change urgently needed in the energy sector. I want to see ‘us’ on a trajectory of avoiding catastrophic climate change and relieve energy poverty where it exists.

First, PubhD... What about InngD - pub talks on engineering research?

Thanks to a tweet from Professor Trevor Drage, "soon to be former Professor at University of Nottingham, in clean fossil energy and carbon capture... Relocating to Wellington NZ" (that's what his Twitter profile says), we have learned of the "PubhD".

From the PubhD blog, it involves explaining the subject matter of a doctoral research project in language intelligible to a layperson, and takes place, naturally enough, in a pub. It envisages:

"A monthly event at which 3 or 4 local PhD student speakers, from any discipline from Art History to Quantum Mechanics, explain their work to an audience of laypeople.
The talks would be about 10 minutes long and would be followed by up to 20 minutes of (friendly!) Q&A.
The “friendly” aspect is important. This isn’t about bringing PhD students into a “lion’s den” to be grilled about their studies. The audience, we hope, will be genuinely interested in hearing about a wide variety of academic areas."

PhD students would get a pint (seems fair!) plus some public speaking and public engagement practice, while the audience would have something interesting to listen to. The first event is provisionally schedule to take place in Nottingham (home of the Efficient Fossil Energy Technologies industrial doctorate centre) on 22 January 2014.

We like this idea, but think it needs to extend to Engineering Doctorates (EngDs), so would like to propose that our friends in Nottingham also allow some "InngD" talks by EngD research engineers.

It might also be something that could be taken up by other universities and/or industrial doctorate centre as part of their public outreach and STEM engagement work.

Improving public understanding of STEM subjects through communication

It's not just the AEngD which is focused on the need to improve public understanding of STEM subjects through communication (through, for example, our Engineering Research Writer of the Year competition, and local initiatives by industrial doctorate centres such as the Systems Centre).

The Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) recently announced that the 2013 winner of the CIPR President’s Medal will be decided by CIPR member nominations for an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the public understanding of science through effective communication.

This initiative, led by current CIPR President Sue Wolstenholme, intends to highlight the contribution of a non-professional communicator in the fields of medicine, mathematics, technology and engineering. If you would like to suggest a nomination, it may be worth seeking out a CIPR member (many university PR departments and in-house communications team include CIPR members), but do it soon; the deadline is 22 November.

Improving public awareness of STEM

Many EngD researchers contribute to efforts to promote uptake of science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) subjects. Some initiatives are undertaken by industry sponsors; some are promoted by institutions - for example, the IET has supported events marking Ada Lovelace Day; and other STEM projects are undertaken by universities or by industrial doctorate centres (IDCs).

Sophie Causon-Wood of the IDC in Systems at University of Bristol has sent word of two great projects undertaken by EngD researchers this summer:

• The Systems Centre recently organised a two-day event in which students learned the skills of writing and creating a short film to communicate their research in an accessible way. The event was led by Kate Butler, a highly-experienced ex-BBC journalist and documentary producer. Read more about it here.
• The Centre also hosted two outreach sessions, welcoming local school students to the centre to introduce them to engineering and its flavour of systems thinking. Read more about it here.

For those of us engaged in research it is reminiscent of the Einstein quote: "If you can't explain it to a six year old, you don't understand it yourself."

Let us know if you are engaged in any interesting STEM initiatives (and did you know the AEngD is currently running its own Engineering Research Writer of the Year Award to promote public understanding of EngD research projects?).