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Sima Adhya, 29, studied Natural Sciences at Cambridge, and a PhD at UCL on how spacecraft wobble in their orbits because of sunlight. She now lives in London and works for QinetiQ, in their Space Department as a Space Mission Scientist. She's recently been trying to model how we might deflect asteroids by crashing into them with spacecraft for a European Space Agency Project. Sima still harbours hopes of one day going into Space herself, but in the meantime occupies herself with learning to fly and Bollywood dancing.
Sima won in Belfast last year. This is what she said about her experience:
"It was a bit hard not to feel like a rabbit caught in headlights on Saturday morning, as the cameras rolled, the spotlights shone, and the judges looked on expectantly. It suddenly seemed crazy to be trading the usual start to my weekend, tucked up in a duvet in front of Saturday Kitchen with the self-inflicted risk of public humiliation. My panic did however ebb as my first tentative words were greeted with encouraging nods and interested cocks of the heads of the panel.
The judges were very positive about everyone's performance in the first round, giving only constructive criticism and really valuable feedback. The second round came with a few more probing questions from the judges, and we needed to show we had a wider appreciation of issues related to our talks.
One of the best things about Famelab is meeting so many passionate, like-minded people, with completely different areas of interest. It was inspiring, and a whole lot of fun. Now that I've recovered from the shock, I'm absolutely thrilled to be through to the final. See you in Cheltenham..."
Sima's engagements since FameLab
- Speaking tours in South Africa and Sri Lanka
- Interview with BBC Radio 4’s Material World
- Interviews with local BBC radio and BBC Asian Network
- National and local print coverage
- In negotiations with production company to make a science series
- Event at Cambridge Science Festival March 2007
- Event with Café Scientifique
CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO VIEW SIMA'S SHOWREEL
© Cheltenham Festivals 2006/7
