Nina Patel

During her placement year she worked as a laboratory technician at an oil refinery in north east Lincolnshire.  Although the oil refinery bragged about its carbon capture programme, it was a polluted environment with lots of greenhouse gas emissions released constantly. Billowing smoke and blazing flares was an eye opener to how anthropogenic activities like the oil refinery are destroying our world.

Her final year at Leeds saw her working on her masters project in crystallisation chemistry. More specifically the characterisation of the crystal growth of calcium sulfate using x-ray diffraction. It was a hands on project with the modification of flow reactors so that the characterisation was as clear as possible. She immersed myself in the research and found that she excelled in this way of learning. In addition, her research group of like-minded scientists made it enjoyable for her and she felt part of a community. Doing a PhD excited her and she felt  inspired by her masters project.

When discovering AAPS Nina was surprised at how it mixes combines the work of different disciplines into ways of providing cleaner transport systems. To see that she could mix her passion for cars and bikes with chemistry into a PhD was a dream come true. When offered a position with a project in hydrogen fuel cells at AAPS she genuinely could not have been happier. Her project is looking at hydrogen fuel cells. Although hydrogen fuel cells are a not often seen in cars, they have incredible potential for long-haul transport and in aeroplanes. With AAPS's welcoming community, she has no doubt about how much she will enjoy her time here in Bath, Nina is very excited for her future which she hopes will bring us closer to a cleaner world.