Dashboard – Helium Zone

About Me:

Hi! I’m a mechanical engineer working on clean fusion energy. I work with magnets! I love video games, fantasy books and films, playing tennis and Dungeons and Dragons 😀
Read more

I live in Oxford with my friends, but my family is in Poland (it’s in Eastern Europe). I was always good in Maths and Physics and came to the UK to study Engineering! I lived in Bath for 5 years and now I moved to Oxfordshire.

Throughout university and after I worked quite a bit with electro-magnets and with really, REALLY low temperatures and now I apply that knowledge to provide clean energy!
Read more

I’m involved in design of HUGE electromagnets which are supposed to held shape and keep together plasma – the fuel which we use in fusion to generate electrical power. You might think it’s easy but imagine you have a pot with boiling water and we want to trap steam. You try to put a lid on it, but the lid will try to jump up and release! With plasma is the same – but like a MILLION times harder!
My Typical Day:

I wake up around 7am, eat my breakfast (some honey hoops with milk – always warm!) and catch my train to work. I start work at 8.15am, sometimes code some stuff on the computer, sometimes read interesting articles and sometimes do some fun computer simulations. I come back from work around 5.30 pm and play some video games with friends or read interesting books.
What I'd do with the prize money:

Short answer – LEGO!

Education:

I lived in small town in Poland and went there to primary and secondary school. I did IB programme (it’s like interantional A -levels) and from there I moved to Bath near Bristol and studied there Mechancial Engineering. I did Integrated Masters and now I’m working!
Qualifications:

IB diploma – IB programme

Msater of Engineering – University of Bath
Work History:

I worked a bit in gardening centre over some summer holidays and also helped my dad in this company (he is selling windows for houses). Since I went to university I worked in Harwell for STFC and now in Culham for UKAEA, both places near Oxford and in both as an engineer working with magnets!

Jan Sprengel