Profile
Daniel Friedrich
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About Me:
I am originally from Germany but I live with my wife in Edinburgh. I’m a professor and research in energy engineering. Outside of work I like to play football, go hiking, listen to power metal and play computer games.
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I am currently a big fan of Wind Rose and Brothers of Metal, play most weeks in a 6-a-side football game and play RPGs.
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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My Work:
I teach engineering mathematics to engineering students and research ways to make heating of homes more sustainable.
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Mathematics is a key skills for engineers. It enables them to calculate and optimise the impact of engineering solutions. For example, you could calculate the difference in costs if you heat your home to 18C or 20C.
While you read a lot about wind farms in the news, over 50% of all energy used in Scotland is used to heat things: heat our homes, heat water for the shower and generate heat for industrial processes, e.g. making cement. Unfortunately, most of that heat is generated from fossil fuels. I am researching ways to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels for heating.
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My Typical Day:
I have cereal at home before I cycle to work at 8:40am. I usually start my day by reading and deleting lots of emails, followed by replies to some of them. My days are fairly varied and depend on the time of the year. During the teaching semester, I will spend a lot of my time teaching as well as preparing material and correcting assignments. Outside of teaching, I work on a large number of projects ranging from research projects to outreach and consultancy. I might spend a few hours researching a topic: going through academic papers and other reports, making notes and compiling them into a short report. This is often followed by developing, implementing and running computer simulations. Currently I mostly teach Python but use Julia for most of my own research. In addition, I will meet my researchers to discuss their projects. I normally head home around 6pm.
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What I'd do with the prize money:
I am planning to develop material for public engagement about sustainable heating and thermal energy storage. I don’t have any further details at the moment but will think about it.
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Education:
I went to a Gymnasium Handrup in the northwest of Germany. I think a German Gymnasium is similar to a Grammar School in the UK. I did my Abitur which should be rougly equivalent to A-levels or Advanced Highers. I focussed on maths, chemistry, physics and informatics. I also did music and history but not as well as the others.
After school I went to university in Karlsruhe, Germany, to study technical maths. I was only the second person in my family to go to uni; my sister being older beat me by a few years.
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Qualifications:
I got the German Abitur in 1997. This enables you to go to university.
I went to Universität Karlsruhe (TH) to study technical maths and finished with a Diplom which is similar to an MSc. I spent a year in Auckland, New Zealand during that time.
After my German degree I followed my now wife to England and did a PhD in Engineering Maths at the University of Southampton.
After the PhD I moved to Edinburgh where I have been ever since. At the University of Edinburgh I did a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice to improve my pedagogical skills so that I provide better learning and teaching to my students and colleagues.
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Work History:
Apart of a short research post at Fraunhofer Gesellschaft in Karlsruhe in Germany, I have spend all of my career at the University of Edinburgh. I started as a post-doctoral researcher in 2009. I got a research fellowship in 2013 and have been promoted to professor in 2022.
While I was at school and at university, I did a lot of odd jobs to get money: I delivered the local church newsletter, worked in a warehouse for a big drinks distributor, sorted documents in a local administration and a few others.
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Current Job:
I am Professor of Energy Systems in the School of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh. My job is roughly evenly split between teaching and research with administrative duties and outreach in between.
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Employer:
University of Edinburgh
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
metal-loving, football-playing mathematician
What did you want to be after you left school?
I didn't really know, probably some weird mix between engineer and mathematician
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes, I even got in trouble in Kindergarten: a friend and I used to cycle a popular toy between us after the allotted time instead of letting others play with it.
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
Technology consultant
Who is your favourite singer or band?
At the moment it is Brothers of Metal but I am a lifelong fan of Pearl Jam as well.
What's your favourite food?
Pancakes
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
Stay healthy and get Star Trek beaming technology so I can quickly visit friends and family in other places without carbon emissions
Tell us a joke.
Two people are stumbling through a very hot dessert and are already a bit delusional due to lack of water. One of them carries a car door. The other asks them, "Why are you carrying a car door?" They answer, "You don't know how pleasant it is to lower the window from time to time."
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