What is your job title, and what department do you work in?
I am a Biological Research Officer in the Department of Surgery and Cancer.
Why do you think the Technician Commitment is important?
To ensure that all staff who fall under the Technical family are given the best opportunities to explore and discover similar or alternative pathways to achieving career development.
What do you enjoy about being involved with the Technician Commitment?
I feel that I can, and am, making a difference to people's working environment and the challenges such a large organisation poses.
What has the Technician Commitment achieved at Imperial that you are most proud of?
One goal was to encapsulate the extent of technical support and identify areas, via the Technician's Portal, where support is needed, and slowly change the ethos of how technicians are seen, to make them more intrinsic in research success. Promoting the recognition of technicians who have been involved in a study, and rather than just acknowledgement, the technician should have recognition through authorship, normally as second author.
Tell us something interesting you have discovered about technicians (past or present) at Imperial.
Ken Livingstone was an Animal Technician at Imperial (very much past).
What is your top tip for technicians who would like to progress their careers at Imperial?
Get involved and take as many training modules as possible. Be an Emergency First Aider or a Mental Health First Aider, and gain as many qualifications as are on offer through the University's training schemes. Also, get to know people; you never know when they may come in handy.
Tell us something that people would be surprised to find out about you!
I have swum with sharks off the coast of Hawaii, and I love Pepperoni pizza smothered in Taramasalata.