Mel Loveridge, Senior Research Fellow
Never compromise your passion
I grew up in Pontypridd near Cardiff, and my family had very different interests to me. My mother was a nurse and my sister has followed the same path. My father worked in the paper mill industry. Although my family has always been very supportive of my choices, I discovered my love of science myself.
Young scientist
As a child, I loved chemistry. From about seven years old I had various chemistry kits and really enjoyed carrying out little experiments. I also loved anatomy and taking things apart to see how they worked. I was fascinated with skeletons, and built up an impressive toy collection. Although I loved the little skeleton models and toys that people bought me, what I really wanted was a larger model that I could study more closely.
At school I loved and excelled in maths too. Not surprisingly, some of my teachers suggested accountancy might be a good career for me. But science was, and still is, my true love, and I believe you should never compromise your passion.
After school, my love for science continued and I went on to study Biochemistry before completing my PhD in corrosion and electrochemistry at the Material Research Centre at Swansea University.
Working at WMG
I joined WMG in 2014 as a Research Fellow. A year later I was promoted to a Senior Research Fellow in the Electrochemical Engineering and Materials research team.
Battery science and innovation is growing in significance, and fast! It is a great place to work – we are an academic department carrying out ‘timely research’ supported by industry. That collaboration (between academia and industry) feels so unique, as do the people and facilities here.
