Cool Lord of Science
Lord Drayson Minister for Science and Innovation
By H. Phan, A. Rigby and M. Shah.
Witton Park High School Blackburn Lancashire

Extract:
When Lord Drayson discovered that he was going to race at Le Mans he felt “very emotional and lost for words”! He had always wanted to do this and he was over the moon that he had achieved his goal.
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Cool Lord of Science
By H Phan, A Rigby & M Shah

After a quick tour of central London we headed towards the BERR Offices where we were interviewing Lord Paul Drayson. Security guards stood at doors and we were not permitted to go any further until passes were issued. We all felt really important. We then had to be escorted to the tenth floor in a special lift which required a security code, which played on our minds with curiosity.

Adults seemed more nervous and anxious than we did whilst awaiting Lord Drayson’s arrival. We were more relaxed because we had experienced interviewing a knight prior to this meeting. We were also aware of a time limit with this interview which made us keen and determined to ask our questions.

Lord Drayson arrived with a big, friendly smile apologising for being late. As we sat we asked him how he would prefer to be addressed during the interview. He replied “Paul” in a welcoming tone.

We questioned Lord Drayson on how he was inspired as a child to take up science and engineering. He told us that he had been brought up in Kent near Brands Hatch where his father used to take him to watch the races being held. He is now the owner of numerous Aston Martins including the Vanquish, Lotus and single seater race cars. Lord Drayson was “fascinated by how things worked” and wanted to understand the engineering behind the vehicles he saw. He said that he “really loved doing cool experiments”.

He was so enthusiastic that he got his PA to go and collect some “cool” stuff. It turned out to be an orange isotropic material which could stop bullets, but felt and looked like play-dough. We were unsure as to whether it was a solid or a liquid because if it was left, it would spread across the desk. Lord Drayson proudly announced that it was a British invention.

Lord Drayson’s interest in engineering helped him create a bio-fuel powered Aston Martin to compete in the 24 hour Le Mans 24-hour race. He described the moment he found out he had qualified as “really emotional… I was lost for words.” He was kind enough to pass around his iPhone showing a picture of his race car. He showed great passion and enthusiasm for science which he has passed on to two of his five children but he encourages all of his children to “do what they really love”. His family take up most of his spare time but he also enjoys motor racing, reading, music and fixing things.

Lord Drayson’s love for science and engineering helps him greatly in his role as Minister of Defence and Science and Innovation Minister. His role as science minister includes: being a champion for science across the government; making sure that good decisions are made on how to tackle problems; being responsible for the university research budgets and making sure that new discoveries are properly commercialised.

When asked how he was going to inspire young people to pursue careers in science, he replied that it was important to portray scientists as heroes and raise awareness of the careers in science and engineering. There will be potentially 2.7 million jobs created in science over the next 10 years and he has persuaded the Director General of the BBC to make 2010 the ‘Year for Science’.

After telling us how he would inspire others Lord Drayson was asked who had inspired him. His reply was that while his was gaining his PhD in robotics his professor inspired him. He encouraged Lord Drayson never to give up and continue until he achieved his aim. This led Lord Drayson to keeping a notebook on his feelings as to how he felt when things were going well and not so well. It meant that he could look back and see that things always turned out better and he advised us to do the same.

Lord Drayson was a really interesting person to interview. He was funny, kind, inspiring and a great story teller. He feels that he has been really lucky in life being able to do things he loves. If he had not been an engineer he doesn’t know what he’d have done but we think whatever path he followed he would be successful. Lord Drayson is definitely a good role model to follow.