• Question: What is the hardest problem you have ever had to solve?

    Asked by ethan1705 to Christina, Colin, Jess, Samaneh, Steve on 17 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Christina Pagel

      Christina Pagel answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      Hi Ethan,

      The thing about science after you’ve finished all the training (ie university) is that often the hardest thing isn’t solving the problem but working out what the problem is!

      So the hardest thing for me is talking to a hospital about what issues they have and working out what the *actual* problem is! Once you’ve done that, solving it tends to be the easier bit…

    • Photo: Colin Dick

      Colin Dick answered on 17 Jun 2013:

      Hi Ethan,

      I suppose the hardest problems are the ones that you never fully solve… and these are the problems that I like to forget about so I don’t really have a good answer! The problem I’m solving at work just now is how to make sure the engine of the car doesn’t get too hot during the race, which is proving quite difficult.

      I totally agree with Christina as well – once you know what the problem is, you just have to put the right numbers into the right equations =)

      Cheers,

      Colin.

    • Photo: Steven Gardner

      Steven Gardner answered on 18 Jun 2013:

      Trying to invent a model for light scattering from cells in the cornea. Everything I tried either made it impossibly complicated or gave a silly answer. Then I had a brainwave and it all just clicked into place, and it’s moments like that which make you feel glad you spent years studying!

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