Stuart MacPherson

People doing Physics

This month, our guest is Stuart Macpherson, Post-doctoral researcher in experimental opto-electronics in the Stranks Lab at the Department of Physics. Stuart’s research focuses on understanding the physics of solar photovoltaics based on perovskite compound, one of the fastest advancing solar technologies of today.

Stuart is also the founder of Sustain/Ed, a non-profit organisation that aims to provide sustainability resources to young students. One of their activities is the energy mapping challenge, aimed at primary school students(9-11 year olds). Through hands-on measurements and data logging, students increase their awareness about climate change and learn how to critically approach scientific problems and apply the knowledge gained to solve real world problems. The project has already been piloted at 6 schools across the country, and is now scaling up further.

Another activity that he has launched with Sustain/Ed is the Sustain/Ed learning module, an educational package which augments the KS2 curriculum in the UK by offering activities which reinforce awareness of sustainability and climate action while maintaining core learning outcomes.

For his projects with Sustain/Ed, in 2021 Stuart was recognised with the Vice Chancellor’s Social Impact Award. But how did his journey in sustainability start? And how does it relate to the technologies he has been developing? We will ask him this and more in our interview. Stay with us…

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Jump into the conversation:

[00:33] - Guest's intro

[02:13] – Background and how did he end up choosing physics?

[04:31] – Teacher’s influence in studying physics

[06:45] – Experience studying physics at St. Andrews

[8:40] – Starting St. Andrews Engineering Group

[10:06] – Weather balloon project to measure some interesting atmospheric properties

[12:07] – Building a RADAR device during Masters

[14:25] – Reason behind the PhD decision

[17:40] – Interesting PhD hiring process at Cambridge

[19:56] – Research at Cambridge is on compounds called perovskites that are useful in solar panels

[22:30] – Defects and problems associated with perovskite

[24:43] – In the news this month: Existing copper network cables of UK can support faster internet speeds only to a limit. Researchers say that additional investment is urgently needed if the government is serious about its commitment to making high-speed internet available to all.

[26:20] – Involvement with Sustain/Ed, a non-profit organisation providing sustainability resources to young students

[27:50] – Idea of Energy Mapping Challenge

[30:51] – Small grant to scale up the idea

[33:21] –Worked closely with the University of Cambridge primary school, designed an actual learning module – Sustain/Ed learning module

[34:17] – Novel inventions and innovation, what people are doing to tackle the climate crisis

[35:27] – Summing Sustain/Ed – teaching next generation science to the next generation

[35:48] – Goals and Future Endeavours - Sustain/Ed

[38:14] – Personal Goals, 5 years from now

[39:45] – Outro

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Useful links:

• Visit the Optoelectronic Materials and Device Spectroscopy Group (StranksLab) Website to learn more about their research.

• Read the article on this month's news - Existing infrastructure will be unable to support demand for high-speed internet

• Journal Article link of the news release - Investigating the upper bound of high-frequency electromagnetic waves on unshielded twisted copper pairs | Nature Communications

• If you want to know more about Sustain/Ed, visit their website at - sustaineducation.org

• To learn more about the Cavendish Laboratory, or if you are interested in joining us of studying with us, go to www.phy.cam.ac.uk

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Episode credits:

Hosts: Paolo Molignini and Jacob Butler

News presenters: Simone Eizagirre Barker

Producer: Chris Brock

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacy