Last summer as part of the Planet Possibility programme, consortium partners the Blair Project and the Lightyear Foundation shared a placement of a physics undergraduate from the University of Southampton . Alife Preston split his time helping the Lightyear Project in their mission to make physics and STEM more accessible to young people who are disabled, and helping the Blair Project in its mission to increase diversity and accessibility in physics and STEM.
As part of this fully funded placement Alfie was able to bring both his extensive knowledge of physics – he is currently studying for a Masters in Physics at Southampton University and this year is on a placement at CERN – and his previous experience working as a science technician in a SEN school setting. This made him an invaluable asset for both organisations.
Elle Wilks from the Lightyear Foundation said "We are hugely grateful to have had Alfie's support over the summer, enabling us to advance some key project areas and to create some new video content for students. Alfie scripted, filmed and edited a series of accessible physics lab experiments and was fantastic both on and off camera. He was conscientious, diligent and enthusiastic in everything we tasked him with, and I learnt something new from him too – that you can use red cabbage as an pH indicator!"
From the Blair Project, Justin Nolan continued “It was a pleasure hosting Alfie, who impressed us with his enthusiasm and knowledge. He massively helped us with improving our curriculum, assisting in the developing of TikTok scripts, physics club projects and general feedback for what we are trying to deliver. If this is available next year we would love to host another student from Southampton.”
Alfie himself enjoyed the experience “This was a wonderful experience. I found out a lot about the history of physics and the struggles that people faced, something I've not been able to dedicate time to while doing a masters in physics, which is somewhat ironic. I really enjoyed the flexibility that came from working from home, as well as the meetings to go over what's wanted and get a consistent flow of feedback for my work”
The University of Southampton are planning on finding more placement hosts for their students this summer and if you are an employer that would like to participate in this programme please contact Michelle Limbert for more details: M.Limbert@soton.ac.uk