Profile
Alex Bytheway
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About Me:
I live in a semi-rural area of North Wales with my family and enjoy spending time outdoors. Nature photography, including wildlife and landscape interests me and whilst I was at university I worked as a freelance nightlife photographer, however, I now prefer to spend my nights indoors with friends, having food and watching movies.
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Besides photography, shooting is a passion of mine and I work at a nearby shooting range at weekends!
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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My Work:
laboratory technician supporting forensic, biomedical and biochemical teaching + research in academia
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I’m a laboratory technician, which means that I provide technical support to laboratory users. Most of the time I am in the laboratories repairing equipment, calibrating measurement apparatus and advising people on how to use different instruments. However, I also spend a lot of time completing paperwork relating to health and safety in the laboratories and ensuring we comply to the latest legislation.
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My Typical Day:
No two days are the same in my role. One moment I might be digging a grave for our forensic students to examine and the next I can be responding to a chemical spillage in the laboratory. It certainly keeps the job interesting!
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I typically arrive in work and go straight to my office to check my emails. Then I walk around the laboratories to ensure no issues have arisen overnight and say hello to my colleagues. Sometimes my colleagues will use this time to ask for my assistance, this can be anything from locating a piece of equipment to assisting with a chemical synthesis.
After the morning walk-around I begin my to-do list, trailing practical’s, assisting with teaching, engineering new apparatus or preparing stock solutions. Each week there are a number of scheduled tasks such as checking the emergency spill kits, running the emergency showers and inventory of first aid boxes which occur during this time.
After lunch, I tend to complete more desk-based tasks such as writing risk assessments, raising purchase orders for equipment/materials and completing inventories. After this, once my food has settled, I hit the laboratories, either teaching or research, to continue with my to-do list.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
The Royal Society of Chemistry used to run a Spectroscopy in a Suitcase practical activity which was very successful with sixth-form students around the country. I would like to produce a similar set of activities, but instead of a spectroscopy focus, I’d like each activity to revolve around analysis of a crime scene using fingerprinting, casting and chromatographic analysis techniques. The money would be used to buy the resources required to print such resources once written and buy some of the non-consumable items to allow our university department to have a ‘kit’ to run such sessions. This includes items such as fingerprinting brushes, ink pads, rollers and casting plates
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Education:
I began my education at a catholic primary school in Rhyl on the coast of North Wales before attending a nearby school. This school was rough and many of our science lessons did not have practical work because our class at the time was very poorly behaved. Despite the lack of practical work in science, it became my favorite lesson very early on. For my GCSE’s I moved to a private school a little further away. I struggled to settle in at first but then everything began to fall nicely into place and I continued at the schools sixth-form to complete my A-levels.
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Qualifications:
I completed my GCSE’s with 3 B’s, 3 A’s and 3 A*’s. I also did French and got a D in this. Languages have never been my strong point! Most people assume I did ‘harder’ subjects like Geography and History for my GCSE’s, however, I actually choose Art and Home Economics!
After my GCSE’s I completed A-levels in Chemistry, Biology and Physics, along with AS Maths and a level Extended Project Qualification. This put me in a strong position to study science at university and in 2020 I graduated in Chemistry, Medicinal and Biological Chemistry at the University of York.
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Work History:
In my early teens my parents encouraged me to get a weekend/holiday job and I had a variety of them growing up. The more memorable ones included a carwash, garage and software company.
After university I worked as a school science technician for a couple of years. This was never the plan but it was a good job during the COVID-19 pandemic and made me more interested in the role of a technician as a whole.
Even alongside my current job, I work as a freelance photographer from time-to-time and spend most weekends working at a local gun range. My role at the gun range has become useful in my technicians day job for supporting forensic science from a ballistics perspective.
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Current Job:
I am currently a Laboratory Technician for teaching and Research as part of the department of Applied Science at a university. I also coordinate Health and Safety for our department.
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Employer:
Wrexham Glyndwr University (North Wales)
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My Interview
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What did you want to be after you left school?
Synthetic Chemist
Were you ever in trouble at school?
No... I was a bit of an angel :)
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
I couldn't think of a better job!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Imagine Dragons
What's your favourite food?
Lamb Bhuna (my mum makes the best one!)
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
A higher salary, an Aston Martin db11 and three more wishes!
Tell us a joke.
How did the barber win the race? He knew a shortcut!
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