Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics (Note: I didn’t actually do A Levels, I took the European Baccalaureate and majored in these subjects).

I took a year out to work at UKAEA Fusion for 8 months as well as doing some basketball coaching in the USA. I then went to Cambridge University to study Engineering (where I returned to work for UKAEA Fusion during two of the summer vacations).

I chose to study engineering because I enjoyed physics and maths at school but liked the idea of actually building something. I was aware that universities encouraged engineering students to get some work experience and, since the UKAEA fusion lab was near by, I decided to work there during my year out. I really enjoyed it and made contacts that eventually led to a permanent post when I finished university.

UKAEA Fusion offers a large number of routes into permanent employment. These include a power academy (which sponsors electrical engineers through university), a graduate scheme, an apprenticeship scheme as well as an outreach programme that builds links with universities through summer placements and research (MSc final year projects and PhD’s). Any one of these routes could lead to long term employment within the organisation.

The best part of my job is the huge variety of engineering challenges you have to face on a day-to-day basis: from the very hot (~100 million degrees in the centre of the tokamak) to the very cold (just above absolute zero on some of our cryopumps), working with large structures (the machine weights several hundred tonnes), big power supplies (several hundred thousand volts) and many others. There is a great atmosphere and team spirit at the lab as everyone focuses on a common goal. You get to hang around with some very clever people and know that you’re playing an important part in trying to solve one of humanity’s biggest problems: meeting our ever increasing demand for energy.

Get some work experience (or apply to come on apprentice appreciation week) to see if you might like a career in this field then consider applying for our apprenticeship scheme. This is an advanced apprentice scheme which also offers the possibility of eventually going on to university if you show the drive and ability.

UKAEA Fusion mainly recruit engineers and physicists. If you’re really keen for a career in fusion, these are the subjects you should look at studying at university. When we recruit graduate engineers, we look for bright, enthusiastic people who work well in teams and are interested in fusion. Examples of creative problem solving, design, complex analysis or practical experience can also help you stand out at interview.

When I was 16 or 17 and first considering what I might like to do as a career (and the dream of playing professional basketball was starting to evaporate!) it wasn’t easy. I wasn’t one of these people who knew from day one what I wanted to be. Like most people, I spoke to careers advisors and considered the subjects I enjoyed the most at school (in my case maths and physics). I also liked the idea of building things so engineering seemed like a good choice. However, I wasn’t really sure that I’d made the right career decision until after university and I found myself as a graduate engineer working in fusion research. Due to a shortage of people in my department, I was lucky enough to be given responsibility for designing and building (from scratch) an entire new fusion sub-system from the ground up (see attached photo). This is when I really got the buzz of what it’s like to be an engineer. It’s difficult to describe the satisfaction you feel from seeing something you dreamt up in your head going onto the computer screen then being built right in front of you.