Batteries, electricity and cleaner power

Inspiring Scientists is a series of resources to help develop students’ understanding and awareness of science and the diversity of scientists. The video profiles were commissioned by the Royal Society and carried out as an oral history project by National Life Stories at the British Library.

The resources showcase the life stories of British scientists with minority ethnic heritage and cover issues such as being a minority in science, influences in their childhoods and the fun and importance of science both to themselves and to the wider community. The activities that accompany the profiles relate to the area of research that the scientist is involved in.

Professor Saiful Islam is a chemist who never wears a white lab coat. Rather than conduct experiments in laboratories, he uses the world’s most powerful computers to produce computer models of the inner, ‘atomic’ structure of materials used in ‘green’ energy applications, from the lithium ion rechargeable batteries in mobile phones, tablets and laptops, to futuristic solid oxide fuel cells. His work at the University of Bath aims to contribute to a less polluting, more sustainable future. He was brought up in London by parents who had emigrated from Bangladesh and often finds that he surprises people when he tells them that, in spite of his surname, he is a humanist. This is Saiful’s story.