Age 16-18
Clark Baker is a postdoctoral research associate at Cambridge University, having completed a PhD at Queen Mary, University of London. As part of his position, he is involved in the ‘Terra Hunting Experiment’, which is a large-scale observational campaign that aims to find habitable, Earth-like planets around stars similar to our own Sun.
After leaving Havering Sixth Form in 2012, Clark studied for an MSc in Physics at Imperial College London and then moved on to the PhD at Queen Mary.
His previous work includes the design of resonators for Superconducting Qubits with Quantum Computing applications at the Karlsruhe Institute for Technology; and the design, construction and testing of temperature control systems for novel compact Magnetometers for use in satellite navigation at Imperial College London.
He worked on the discovery and characterisation of Exoplanets, specialising in instrumentation – specifically the design and construction of stable, high resolution Spectrometers.
A former Royal Liberty Boys School student, Clark achieved an A* and 2 A grades in A Level Double Maths and Physics while studying at the sixth form from 2010 to 2012.
He said: “I can say completely that the Maths and Science teaching staff at Havering Sixth Form College were instrumental in my academic journey – along with being incredible teachers, they always had the best intentions for their students’ progress and in my case, I’m very thankful that they went above and beyond to let me be flexible with course modules to best suit where I wanted to go.
“In fact, they put some concepts across so well that there are lessons of theirs that I still refer back to today.”
