By training I'm a mechanical engineer who has mostly worked in nuclear energy. I completed both my undergraduate and PhD at Imperial College London. My PhD investigated data analysis methodology for creep crack growth testing in austenitic stainless steels used in advanced gas cooled nuclear reactors. After my PhD I rejoined the company where I did a year in industry during my undergrad and worked primarily on STEP (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production), the UK's power generating fusion reactor programme. So most of my experience till now has been in structural analysis and integrity for nuclear applications, with a couple of funky other projects thrown in here and there (e.g. a concept design for a cryogenic irradiation test rig for superconducting materials and structural optimisation of a space harpoon for deorbiting space debris!)

I recently took a sabbatical and used some of that time to have a rethink and explore what I want to do going forward (significantly inspired by the 80,000 Hours career guide). I'm currently upskilling in Python to potentially move into data science, but I generally want to move more towards software and be more conversant in topics related to AI so that I may in some way be able to tackle AI related issues in the future. Having completed the Introduction to Effective Altruism virtual programme, I have also learned that physical engineers may be needed in mitigating biorisk (developing more advanced PPE, improving the resilience of the built environment to the spread of pathogens), so would also be interested to know if I could be of use there. I recently started a new job, still in engineering, however the company also has a growing capability in data science so I planned to build my skills while working there. But I am here to find out if the right role is already there waiting for me!

Most of all, I would like to know if there are any blind spots in my understanding of where I could make a difference. As mentioned in my bio, my recent plan has been to move into data science so that I can be more aware of ML and AI topics to potentially allow me to move into an AI safety role. But I would be interested to know if this is perhaps unnecessary, and instead of spending time doing that, are there roles that I could be applying to right now with the skills I already have.

I'm always happy to have conversations and be a sounding board. I have read the full 80,000 Hours career guide and attended the Introduction to Effective Altruism virtual programme, and have spent a lot of time over the past few months building my understanding of EA, the major problem areas that we face and how one might alter the career trajectory to try and make an impact, so hopefully some of that could be useful to others! I unfortunately don't have too much to offer in terms of connections as I have only worked in nuclear energy. I can also discuss my experiences in academia.