S5 Ep3: Keeping Halley Research Station online, with Dominic Jaques

About this episode

Dominic Jaques discusses the challenges and experiences of working at Halley VI Research Station in Antarctica.

Dominic Jaques' job is like being a remote-control engineer for one of the most isolated places on Earth! As a computer engineer at Halley VI Research Station on Antarctica's Brunt Ice Shelf, Dom has to be ready to look after the systems and science at Halley when it's staffed in summer, and when the station is empty and automated in Antarctic Winter. Dom talks to host Nadia Frontier about his six-year Antarctic career, from the technical challenges of keeping an automated research station running 9,000 miles away, to the more unexpected parts of his job - like stepping in as head chef during the Covid season and building his own private igloo that became a legendary invite-only tea spot. From debugging micro-turbine software that fails in extreme cold, to learning how to make bread that actually fits in the toasters, this is a job that demands both serious technical expertise and serious creativity in problem-solving. --- Welcome to Antarctica. What's it like living and working in one of the most extreme environments in the world? From polar scientists to plumbers, ICEWORLD is a series of interviews with ordinary people who are doing extraordinary jobs in Antarctica. The team…

People in this episode

Host: Nadia Frontier

Guest: Dominic Jaques

Topics covered

• Antarctica
• research stations
• computer engineering
• extreme environments
• climate science

Keywords

• technical challenges
• Covid season
• igloo
• Halley VI
• Brunt Ice Shelf
• automation

Mentioned in this episode

Products: micro-turbine, toaster

Books & works: ICEWORLD

Places: Earth, Antarctica, Brunt Ice Shelf

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