Join our panel of speakers as they discuss the opportunities and challenges of a career in science, drawing on their range of experience to reflect upon the diverse range of career choices and the skills required to succeed.
‘Perspectives’ is a series of free, public lectures hosted by Bolton School. They are free to attend and open to pupils in Year 9 and above, parents, alumni, and all other members of the School and local community.
Speakers:
Andrew Markson - Class of 1981
Andrew has been working in the lubricants field for over 35 years, primarily associated with aviation lubricants and heat transfer fluids.
He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in chemistry at the University of Reading before beginning his career with Castrol in their aviation lubricants technology team in 1988 at their UK global research center.
He relocated to the US in 1997 as a commercial manager for the Castrol Energy group before moving into the AirBP Lubricants business following acquisition by BP Corporation. Here, he spent 14 years managing technology, technical services and business development functions.
Following acquisition by Eastman Chemical, he currently manages the Specialty Fluids Technology group supporting both aviation and heat transfer fluid businesses. He currently resides in Kingsport, Tennessee.
Andrew Bird - Class of 1989
Andrew Bird graduated with a PhD in Chemistry in the UK and began his career as a Research Chemist. Although he enjoyed the industry, he quickly realised his skills and interests were better suited to the commercial world of pharmaceuticals. He chose to quit his job, completed an MBA from Cranfield School of Management, and then joined a multi-national pharmaceutical company in 1999. Over the next decade he held multiple positions starting as a Medical Sales Representative and then taking the traditional route of moving through various sales and marketing roles.
In 2009, he took a life changing opportunity and moved to Dubai with his family for a Regional Marketing Director role covering Africa and the Middle East. Several years and several promotion later he now works for a Global Pharmaceuticals company, called Acino (https://acino.swiss) where he holds the role as CEO.
Julia Miskelly née Gorski - Class of 1995
Julia was Deputy Head Girl 1994/95 studying Biology, Geography, Economics
Julia graduated with a First Class degree in Biochemistry from the University of Dundee where she developed an interest in genetics and gene transcription which led to Doctoral work in transcription and gene regulation. She subsequently moved to Queens University Belfast, where she studied the transcriptional regulation of the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1. focusing her studies around Next Generation Sequencing technologies (NGS) and applications.
Since 2010 Julia has been involved in developing NGS processes in Ireland and in 2014 was seconded to pharmaceuticals company Almac Diagnostics as Team Leader for NGS development in Internal Products. Julia returned to QUB in 2017 to manage the Faculty of Medicine Health and Life Sciences (FMHLS) Genomics Core Technology Unit (GCTU) at Queens University Belfast, leading a team of highly skilled technicians providing consultation on the newest technologies and best approaches for researchers and their collaborators on experiment design.Her team at Queens was heavily involved in supporting Covid testing and part of the COG-UK initiative sequencing all the Covid variants in Northern Ireland. Julia was highlighted in 101 jobs that change the world – UKRI a UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) wide campaign aiming to recognise the diversity of roles which make major contributions to the wider research and innovation ecosystem (ie not just researchers and innovators).
In 2022 Julia was recruited to Illumina, a global biotech company , who’s innovative sequencing and array technologies are fuelling ground-breaking advancements in life science research, translational and consumer genomics, and molecular diagnostics. Julia is currently working with research facilities across universities, biotech companies and the NHS to improve diagnostics across Ireland.
Grace Ball - Class of 2017
Grace Ball (Class of 2017) studied Chemistry at the University of York (MChem) with a year abroad in Grenoble, France and continued to pursue academic research, starting a PhD in Chemistry at the University of Birmingham in 2021. Currently she is in her third year of her PhD, researching Silica Nanoparticles for Advances in the Combat against Antimicrobial Resistance. Grace thoroughly enjoyed her time at Bolton School, where she was given the confidence to pursue Chemistry at a high level by both friends and teachers. Grace will discuss how her experiences at school and university helped her gain a PhD scholarship and how high impact research is carried out at University.
