Profile

Photo:

Sonia Ramos Pascual

Curriculum Vitae

  • Work History:

    I have interned at an Engineering firm in Spain called Sener

  • Current Job:

    I am working on getting my PhD

  • Employer:

    University of Bath

  • My Work

    I am studying the biomechanical behaviour of the human spine

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    I imagine the spine as a structure, it is just like a building or a car, forces are applied to it, and I study how the spine is able to resist these forces, and how it is maintained straight, and it doesn’t collapse. I look at how the spine moves when we bend over to get something from the floor, or when you turn your head around.

    I also study how the spine changes with age, and why as we grow older (as old as your grandparents) we become shorter, and our spine deforms and becomes hunched.

    The spine consists of two main “things,” one is the bone which is hard and strong, the other is the disc, which is soft and similar to jelly. This “jelly” is what makes it possible to bend down, or rotate. Sometimes people need to replace their discs, because the “jelly” becomes hard, and they can’t bend or rotate easily any more. I study how the artificial disc that replaces the “jelly” is similar or different to the original one.

    You can see how a spine looks like in the figure below:

    The disc, called the intervertebral disc can be seen in the figure below .

  • My Typical Day: I work in an office with a lot of fun people and some days I go to the lab, where we have very interesting machines.

  • What I'd do with the money

    I would like to bring more women into engineering

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    There is still a big difference between the number of boys and girls that do engineering. I think this is because it is not easy to explain to young people what engineers exactly do, and the image that is associated with engineering is that of engines, cars and planes, and this is in general more exciting for boys than for girls.

    However engineering covers many more things. Engineering is about problem solving, and thinking outside of the box, about being creative and about designing or building new things. Engineering is present in most of the things we see around us, and it is used to improve performance as well as to make things (such as processes, structures or vehicles) more environmentally and user friendly.

    I would like to use the money to visit schools and show girls and boys all the different things that you can do as an engineer. I am sure that if more women knew all the possibilities and opportunities you have as an engineer, they would be interested in becoming one.

  • My Interview

    • How would you describe yourself in 3 words?

      Smart, funny, optimistic

      What's the best thing you've done in your career?

      Designing a solar car to race in Australia

      What did you want to be after you left school?

      An engineer!

      Were you ever in trouble at school?

      Of course…

      If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?

      A chef :)

      Who is your favourite singer or band?

      The Kooks

      What's your favourite food?

      Real Paella! The one made in Spain :)

      What is the most fun thing you've done?

      Scuba diving in the Caribbean

      Tell us a joke.

      I was going to say a Chemistry joke, but all the good ones ARGON