Author: admin

Bachelor of Science in Energy Studies and Physics

Test Engineer, Segula Technologies

Growing up in a rural town in Northland I wanted to experience life as far away from home as possible. The student feel of North Dunedin was also appealing. These two points combined with the fact the University of Otago has a great reputation made the decision easy for me to study at Otago.

Initially I was drawn to physics because I liked the idea of understanding the underlying concepts that all other sciences are built upon. After the first year I discovered Energy Management to be a great fit for me – still learning a lot of the underlying physical concepts but with a much more practical light to it. I enjoyed the meeting of science, engineering, and social constraints. It’s fair to say that as a student, the more practical concepts came to me a lot easier than some of the higher level theory stuff we were learning in our physics courses, so if I were to continue my studies in the future it would definitely be within the energy side of things.

MSc in Physics, Designer at Buckley Systems 

“Reading about giant science projects inspired me to study physics – projects like experimental fusion reactors, neutrino detectors, and particle accelerators.”

There aren’t many of these in NZ, but Buckley Systems in Auckland designs and builds parts for particle accelerators, big and small, all over the world. After his MSc in the Quantum Optics lab at Otago, Hamish found a job at Buckley Systems, where he works on designing precision electromagnets for applications in cancer treatment, fundamental research, and silicon implantation for micro-electronics.

“The magnets I design go into state-of-the-art cancer treatment facilities, synchrotron light sources the size of my hometown Takaka, or machines used by places like Apple and Samsung to make smartphones.”

Hamish’s research at Otago was on using rare-earth-ion-doped crystals, cooled to a few degrees above absolute zero, to store pulses of laser light. Such a system would act as the memory for a ‘quantum computer’. Now Hamish is involved with research on plasma sources and particle beams at Buckley Systems when he is not designing electromagnets.

“Although my new job doesn’t involve lasers or any sort of quantum mechanics, a lot of what I learned at Otago is applicable to the physics of magnets and particle beams. More importantly, my studies taught me how to methodically solve all sorts of problems – not just in my design work or research, but in practical problems with equipment on the factory floor, and even with logistical and organisational problems in the company.”

Hamish has been surprised by the respect that people have for physicists:

“My co-workers at Buckley bring me all sorts of problems to solve, from materials that are difficult to electroplate, to figuring out the pressure drop in a cooling pipe. My physics training gave me lots of confidence and experience in problem-solving and now some of my colleagues seem to think I know everything!”

Master of Science with Distinction, Banking Analytics for ASB

Bonar Carson chose Otago because of its good reputation for science.

“I found Physics really intriguing and thought provoking – it just drew me in. I wanted to know how and why everything in the world worked and Physics was the best way to answer those questions. Physics was what worked best for me.”

Bonar followed his first class honours BSc with a master’s in space physics, investigating relativistic electron precipitation — what happens when electrons trapped in the radiation belts collide with the earth’s atmosphere.

“It was a world first project noone else had investigated on this scale, and even though we are in a remote part of the world I had regular interactions with colleagues in the USA, the UK and Europe.”

PhD in Physics, physical sciences analyst in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet

Adam Norrie might be a specialist in the finer points of quantum mechanics, but on any given day he could be writing reports on subjects ranging from Antarctica to aerospace.

Since graduating from Otago with his PhD, Adam has taken up a role as a physical sciences analyst in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, helping to inform policy-makers on science-related matters.

But while some of Adam’s work might look at the warming of the planet, it’s when explaining what goes on at very cool conditions that he really knows his stuff.

At Otago, Adam became part of one of the first groups in the southern hemisphere to explore the behaviour of certain kinds of atoms at very low temperatures, “as in millionths of a degree above absolute zero”. At these temperatures some atoms can come together in their millions to coalesce into a kind of super-atom known as a Bose-Einstein condensate. Adam’s research explored what happens when two of these collide.

It was meticulous work. “To get a single data set, you’d need tens of computers running for months at a time.” But in the future, the knowledge could potentially be used in quantum computing, or for very precise measurements of time or gravity, Adam explains.

And although there’s not a lot of low-temperature collisions going on in his office now, Adam says he uses skills gained during his postgraduate study daily.

“My job is to communicate complicated concepts to people who often have a minimal scientific background. Years of explaining a PhD to friends and family makes you an expert in that.”