Profile
Christopher Woods
My CV
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Education:
University of Southampton –
Kirkley High School, Lowestoft, Suffolk –
Elm Tree Middle School, Lowestoft, Suffolk –
Elm Tree Primary School, Lowestoft, Suffolk –
Bedford Street Infants School, Crewe, Cheshire -
Qualifications:
GCSEs in Double Science, Maths, English Language, English Literature, History, Music, French, German, CDT (Craft, Design and Technology) –
A-levels in Maths, Physics, Chemistry and General Studies –
AS-level in Further Maths -
Work History:
* Technical Lead for the BrisSynBio Research Centre (2014-2016)
* Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Chemistry, University of Bristol (2006-2014)
* Postdoctoral Researcher in Computational Chemistry, University of Southampton (2003-2005) -
Current Job:
Head of Research Software Engineering
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About Me:
I was a chemist who wrote software that was used to design new medicines, who has now moved to be a scientist that helps others program computers to do cool research.
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I live in a small flat in Bristol with my wife. We have a lot of travel books as she is a travel writer, and I am lucky to have seen a lot of the world. I love cooking and eating new things, and am a big fan of chocolate ;-). I grew up in a single parent family after my parents divorced when I was young, and so knew real poverty. We were on benefits, and I had free school meals, and I am so thankful to my Mum who did so much to keep a roof over our head and food on the table. I have four brothers and sisters, two of whom were born when I was a teenager. Juggling looking after them and going to school and doing my exams was difficult, and it was very painful to leave them to go to university. But I wouldn’t change things as my relationship with them now is so strong. I am thankful for everything I have been able to experience in my life, and have done so much more than I ever imagined I would be able to do as a child.
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What’s your project about?: I write the computer programs that are used for research. My work covers everything from modelling proteins, through the spread of disease, to the social network of Victorian engineers.
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I am a Research Software Engineer who works on a large number of projects. I am a scientist that understand enough about other people’s science that I can write the software and program the computers. I’ve written software that is used to model how medicines work in the body, software that models the spread of disease around a country, software that looks at the social network of Victorian engineers and investors etc.
The aim of my research is to find ways to make it easier for scientists to develop better, more reproducible, faster, more trustable and more sustainable software. I also look for ways to better teach how to program. Software is everywhere now, and we need to empower people to be able to write software so that they can control and build upon the technology around them.
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My Typical Day:
I get up, open my computer and connect with people all over the World. I talk with my team and with the researchers I work with to find out what software I will need to write. I then put on the music, and spend the day typing on my computer, but driving software that is running on computers all over the world.
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I wake up about 7am and, after showering and cooking and eating breakfast with my wife, start the working day around 9am by catching up on emails. I lead a team of research software engineers, so will have a video call with them to catch up with what they are doing. I’ll then put on some music and will write some new software. Even though I am in my flat, I connect my laptop to computers all over the World. After a relaxing lunch break around 12.30pm I will catch up with email again, and then have a meeting with one of my collaborators or industrial partners. We will talk about what software is needed, and I’ll create some plans for how it could be written. I then run an online training workshop from 2pm where I teach lots of new people how to program. At the end of the day, around 6pm, I switch off my computer, enjoy dinner, and then relax with a little chocolate and maybe watching some k-drama 😉
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What’s your project about?: I write the computer programs that are used for research. My work covers everything from modelling proteins, through the spread of disease, to the social network of Victorian engineers.
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Read more
I am a Research Software Engineer who works on a large number of projects. I am a scientist that understand enough about other people’s science that I can write the software and program the computers. I’ve written software that is used to model how medicines work in the body, software that models the spread of disease around a country, software that looks at the social network of Victorian engineers and investors etc.
The aim of my research is to find ways to make it easier for scientists to develop better, more reproducible, faster, more trustable and more sustainable software. I also look for ways to better teach how to program. Software is everywhere now, and we need to empower people to be able to write software so that they can control and build upon the technology around them.
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How will your work shape the future?:
Software is everywhere. Helping researchers write better software, and training others so that we are all empowered to write software, means that we will all make better use of the new technologies that are emerging around us. Better software means better research. It means using supercomputers more efficiently, so that we can use them to find ecological solutions to our problems while also reducing the environmental impact of computing itself. It means making predictions more reliably, so that we can better trust the advice based on simulations from experts. It means making software sustainable and reusable, so that we can build on what was made before, and reach higher.
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Do you have any extra resources?:
Computer programming training material: https://bristol.ac.uk/acrc/research-software-engineering/training/
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
creates cool code
What did you want to be after you left school?
Architect, then Marine Biologist, then Chemist (I didn't know I could be a programmer when I was at school)
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Very infrequently ;-)
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Blackpink
What's your favourite food?
Massaman curry
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
1. Ability to time travel. 2. Ability to travel in anywhere space in an instant. 3. Ability to cure any disease by touch.
Tell us a joke.
There are 10 types of programmers. Those that understand binary, and those that don't ;-)
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