Scottish Government - Inspiring Teachers - Campaign

8th February 2016

Case Study: Professor Iain Baikie.

Dynamic chemistry teachers provided the launch pad from which Professor Iain Baikie became a world expert in surface analysis and a successful business owner; developing scientific equipment used by NASA to investigate surface properties on other planets.

Wick High School, one of two secondary schools in Caithness, was where Iains trajectory into a career in science began. He attended the school from 1972 to 1978 and enjoyed both the intellectual challenges within school and, as a kayak enthusiast, the outdoor lifestyle on offer at the northern tip of Scotland.

Iain recognises that although his parents were a positive influence on his early academic life, his excellent chemistry teachers Mr Bruce and Mr Sinclair opened the door to studying science at university. He recalls that Mr Sinclair and Head of Chemistry Mr Bruce were not only good chemists but they also brought valuable industry experience to their teaching.

Remembering his time at Wick High fondly Iain says, I was a child of the space race so this was a fundamental influence from an early age. My role models at school were my chemistry teachers, in fact my first notion of pursuing a career in science was to teach. Both have warm personalities, cared about their pupils and were comfortable with letting children run their own experiments under supervision - I was encouraged to be inquisitive and under such enthusiastic tutelage couldn't but do well.

The budding physicist found that studying Applied Physics and Electronics at Heriot-Watt University was definitely my thing and subsequently completed a 5-year PhD in The Netherlands where he was appointed as a lecturer in 1988. Iain went on to win a Rotary International Scholarship at Brown University in Providence Rhode Island University in the US and together with this wife Elena, a software engineer, founded Wick-based technology company KP Technology.

At KP Technology Iain developed the Kelvin Probe, a scientific implement used by world-wide laboratories for measuring surface properties. He takes orders for the device from 500 customers across 35 countries, including space exploration, military, naval and research hubs such as NASA and Los Alamos. The company has received the UKs highest accolade for business achievement, the Queens Award in both 2008 and 2013.

Iain believes that, Physics is about good experimenters doing good experiments and that running a successful business is based on the same premise.

Having the right teachers in schools provides the golden key to successful learning. Teachers need to be born leaders to inspire their classroom. I was lucky in that my chemistry teachers helped me at the start of my journey into science, without the qualifications they helped me achieve it would have been much harder to have experienced the range of opportunities I was later offered. Classroom teaching needs to be rigorously monitored to ensure that the teachers chosen to inspire our children and assist them in making career decisions are sufficiently well equipped to do so.

Recognising that Iain is a world leader in physics and particularly on the Kelvin Probe method of surface analysis, The Institute of Physics has awarded Iain the prestigious Swan Gold Medal for 2015. As Chair of Wick High School parent council he is an active advocate of both science and teaching and is proud that both of his sons are carrying on the family tradition of excelling at school and in science.

For more information about a career in teaching visit http://www.teachinscotland.org