Profile
Emmett McKenna
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About Me:
I’m a Northern Irish Rugby fan living & working in Reading.
As my dream of playing Rugby for Ulster & Ireland (more enthusiasm than talent) didn’t come true, I’m glad I get to do work I enjoy related to my favourite subject (chemistry) from school.
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Reading trashy Sci-fi or fantasy to Relax, watching anything Sci-fi, I love playing or watching Rugby.
I spent a lot of time in hospital, having to use a wheelchair or crutches as I had a hip problem until getting surgery when I was 14 so had plenty of time to read.
I come from a very big family (I have 9 blood aunts/uncles and 31 first cousins), where no one had gotten a degree among my Parents, Aunts, Uncles or counsins before me.
I served time as an apprentice bricklayer (my Dads job) as a backup while studing my A levels, before getting to university (twice) and getting to work in science.
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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My Work:
I’m a researcher who develops methods that others will use to make sure that food & medicines are made properly.
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Its my job to develop the methods that others will use to make sure that food & medicines are made properly.
As a second part of it I do lots of investigations to get new medicines on the market or improve foods while training up others as I have been a development scientist for a while now.
Some of the projects I am currently working on are
Improving cocoa bean processing to get better tasting chocolate, longer lasting perfumes, lung cancer medicine, a nerver repair bandage, getting food ingredients from seaweed, lab grown meat, plant based meats, making baby formula better so there are less upset stomachs.
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My Typical Day:
I wake up around 6 am having breakfast & relax for a few hours before going to work.
I have a 25 minute walk & get to work around 10am. I help others who are new to working in a lab with any problems they are having, before getting to do my experiments in the lab.
Lunch with the friends I work with. Then back to the lab.
Everyone else goes home at 4pm & I get peace to read research papers or write emails/reports until I go home at 6 or 7 pm.
Unwind at home and asleep around 11pm.
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I wake up around 6 am, watch TV, read or play computer games before having breakfast (Gammon and several coffees).
I have a 20 minute walk to work and get in around 10am, where I check in with the other people in the lab who start at 8am and see if they need any help for the first hour, then its coffee break & I get started on my experiments in the lab.
Then I have lunch with the friends I work with or take a picnic to the park beside where I work & meet up with non-work friends.
Then in the afternoon it’s back to the lab to look at my results. Everyone else goes home at 4pm & I get peace to read research papers & write reports until I go home at 6pm.
Unwind relax at home and asleep around 11pm.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
Donate it to the engineering development trust (EDT), I used to run a program with them where I brough students (Year 8/9) from local schools where relatively few got to university into my company to get a better understanding of what life in a chocolate companies lab is like before they made GCSE choices..
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Education:
I went to a Quaker grammer school in Lisburn (Northern Ireland) where I studied my GCSE’s & A-levels.
My first choice (What my family wanted) was to study Medicine at Glasgow university
My second choice (What I wanted) was to study Chemistry at Queens university Belfast
I didn’t get the grades to do medicine, so happily got to study the subject that most interested me, which was also at the Uni to which most of my friends went to.
I didn’t really know anyone who had gone to university (my closest relative who finished Uni was a 3rd cousin) other than my teachers & none of them had actually worked in science. This meant I didn’t particulary understand what it was to work in science away from a School or University.
So after graduating I worked in a factory for 2 years & went back to Queens for a Masters in chemical engineering, as I had a better idea of what I wanted to do in Science. I moved to England where there were more companies to work for, 12 years ago.
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Qualifications:
10 GCSE’s including English, additional Maths & triple award science (3A, 2B, 4C & 1D)
4 A2 Biology (B), Chemistry (B), Physics (C) & Mathematics (C)
BSc (Hons) Chemistry (3rd class)
MSci Process engineering
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Work History:
Apprentice bricklayer, Labourer, Tree Surgeon, Shop assistant
QC analyst -(First job in science) tested & released veterinary medicines
QA Technician in a Coca Cola factory making soft drinks
QC Technician – (First job in england), in a factory making Fairy Liquid
Scientist I – (First job in Reading), Testing medicines
Scientist II – Developing methods to test medicines
Local councillor & Chair of planning committee in Reading.
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Employer:
Reading scientific services Limited (RSSL) a wholey owned subsidiary of Cadbury UK
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Rugby loving Scientist
What did you want to be after you left school?
Someone who worked in science (didn't know what that meant)
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Detention was a good place to do homework
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Shift chemist in a factory or a politician
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Papa Roach
What's your favourite food?
Gammon or Curried Mutton
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I'd be Happy, wealthy & Wise
Tell us a joke.
What do you call an acid with attitude? A-Mean-OH-Acid
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