OVs 1990 - 1999
Allan Clayton (Hostel House 1991-1999)
Extract from report by Rupert Christiansen; "Opera's rising star" in the Daily Telegraph 14th May 2009.
"Appearing at the Wigmore Hall as one of the BBC's New Generation Artists, he gave a poised, elegant and sensitive solo recital of Schumann, Wolf and Tippett, which marked him firmly down as a talent with the potential to make the international front rank alongside John Mark Ainsley, Ian Bostridge, Mark Padmore and Toby Spence.
This paragon emerges as a chatty, relaxed and instantly likeable 28 year-old, who doesn't take himself too seriously, enjoys a beer or two, and doesn't care much about the finer points of personal grooming. A keen Liverpool FC supporter, he is more likely to be listening to Radiohead than Rossini on his iPod."
"Opera's rising star" - see Daily Telegraph May 2009 >
Photo: JACK LIEBECK
Flt Lt Ben Plank (Bright House 1992-1997)
The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, is proud to announce two candidates selected to join the world-famous 'Diamond Nine' for the 2010 display season. The successful candidates Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore of number X111 Squadron, RAF Marham and Flight Lieutenant Ben Plank of number 1(Fighter) Squadron, RAF Cottesmore, will fly as part of the 2010-2012 display team, enthralling millions with their exhilarating manoeuvres, demonstrating the skills and excellence of the Royal Air Force, promoting British industry and contributing to defence diplomacy.
The Royal Air Force fast-jet pilots will join the Red Arrows in September 2009 to begin training for their three-year tour with the team, based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
Wing Commander Jas Hawker, Officer Commanding and Team Leader of the Red Arrows, said: "The shortlist of candidates to join the Red Arrows represents some of the very finest fast-jet pilots in the Royal Air Force. Their skills, experience, dedication and enthusiasm are second to none. We are equally proud to be welcoming both pilots to the team and are looking forward to their arrival in September 2009."
Flight Lieutenant Ben Plank (30) from Worcestershire joined the RAF in 2000. He has served as an instructor on the Hawk at RAF Valley, from where he went on to his current operational tour flying the Harrier with 1(F) Sqn from RAF Cottesmore, Leicestershire.
For the latest news on the Red Arrows visit www.raf.mod.uk/reds
Source: BBC news May 2009
Ben Panter (Chappel House 1990-1997)
Dr Ben Panter is now lead researcher of Blackford Analysis. In 2008, he and his team at Edinburgh won the prestigious Research Council's UK Business Plan Competition for their idea to apply the MOPED principles to a completely different field from his original work in astronomy – the stabilisation of MRI images. Ben has set up a start-up company – Blackford Analysis - to commercialise the algorithim, which has the potential to benefit thousands of patients.
Watch Ben's 'elevator pitch'
Ben's interest in astronomy took off when he used Nottingham University's telescope for his third-year physics project. He also took advantage of one of the summer placement scholarships to gain experience in Professor Merrifield's research group, where he studied the rotation curves of galaxies. On graduation from Nottingham, Ben moved to the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh to study for his PhD in Astronomy. The aim of his project was to recover star formation histories from the spectra of galaxies. However, he encountered a problem – with over a million galaxies to survey, how could he find time to eat and sleep as well as do research in astronomy? The solution was to join with his supervisor to invent the MOPED approach to image analysis, which reduced the time spent on each galaxy to around a minute. The result? He could eat, sleep, socialise and finish his PhD on time! Ben later went on to join the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.
Source: Physics at Nottingham Newsletter 2009
Nick Robertson (Bright House 1989-1994)
Nick appears to have been the first Briton to reach the summit of Everest this year, arriving at 07:17 on the 19th May: "I'm told I was the first Briton to the top this year (closely followed by two of my team mates), but I need to verify this with some internet research to confirm."
From the Guardian of 28th March 2009, before the final climb:
An estimated one in 15 people who reaches the top of Everest dies trying. What drives them to undertake such a venture? "I have a hit list of things I want to do - this is one of them," Richmond says. Having conquered the other six, Carlos Morey, a twinkly 43-year-old Brazilian, is hoping to bag the last of the world's Seven Summits - the highest peaks on every continent. Nick Robertson, 33, is more prosaic: "I started climbing at school. At some point, Everest becomes a reality and you think, why not?" For Goodland, the time felt right. "I'm 42 - I thought, will I be any fitter at 45?"
Source: Guardian 28 March 2009
Extract from report by Rupert Christiansen; "Opera's rising star" in the Daily Telegraph 14th May 2009."Appearing at the Wigmore Hall as one of the BBC's New Generation Artists, he gave a poised, elegant and sensitive solo recital of Schumann, Wolf and Tippett, which marked him firmly down as a talent with the potential to make the international front rank alongside John Mark Ainsley, Ian Bostridge, Mark Padmore and Toby Spence.
This paragon emerges as a chatty, relaxed and instantly likeable 28 year-old, who doesn't take himself too seriously, enjoys a beer or two, and doesn't care much about the finer points of personal grooming. A keen Liverpool FC supporter, he is more likely to be listening to Radiohead than Rossini on his iPod."
"Opera's rising star" - see Daily Telegraph May 2009 >
Photo: JACK LIEBECK
Flt Lt Ben Plank (Bright House 1992-1997)
The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, the Red Arrows, is proud to announce two candidates selected to join the world-famous 'Diamond Nine' for the 2010 display season. The successful candidates Flight Lieutenant Kirsty Moore of number X111 Squadron, RAF Marham and Flight Lieutenant Ben Plank of number 1(Fighter) Squadron, RAF Cottesmore, will fly as part of the 2010-2012 display team, enthralling millions with their exhilarating manoeuvres, demonstrating the skills and excellence of the Royal Air Force, promoting British industry and contributing to defence diplomacy.The Royal Air Force fast-jet pilots will join the Red Arrows in September 2009 to begin training for their three-year tour with the team, based at RAF Scampton in Lincolnshire.
Wing Commander Jas Hawker, Officer Commanding and Team Leader of the Red Arrows, said: "The shortlist of candidates to join the Red Arrows represents some of the very finest fast-jet pilots in the Royal Air Force. Their skills, experience, dedication and enthusiasm are second to none. We are equally proud to be welcoming both pilots to the team and are looking forward to their arrival in September 2009."
Flight Lieutenant Ben Plank (30) from Worcestershire joined the RAF in 2000. He has served as an instructor on the Hawk at RAF Valley, from where he went on to his current operational tour flying the Harrier with 1(F) Sqn from RAF Cottesmore, Leicestershire.
For the latest news on the Red Arrows visit www.raf.mod.uk/reds
Source: BBC news May 2009
Ben Panter (Chappel House 1990-1997)
Dr Ben Panter is now lead researcher of Blackford Analysis. In 2008, he and his team at Edinburgh won the prestigious Research Council's UK Business Plan Competition for their idea to apply the MOPED principles to a completely different field from his original work in astronomy – the stabilisation of MRI images. Ben has set up a start-up company – Blackford Analysis - to commercialise the algorithim, which has the potential to benefit thousands of patients. Watch Ben's 'elevator pitch'
Ben's interest in astronomy took off when he used Nottingham University's telescope for his third-year physics project. He also took advantage of one of the summer placement scholarships to gain experience in Professor Merrifield's research group, where he studied the rotation curves of galaxies. On graduation from Nottingham, Ben moved to the Royal Observatory in Edinburgh to study for his PhD in Astronomy. The aim of his project was to recover star formation histories from the spectra of galaxies. However, he encountered a problem – with over a million galaxies to survey, how could he find time to eat and sleep as well as do research in astronomy? The solution was to join with his supervisor to invent the MOPED approach to image analysis, which reduced the time spent on each galaxy to around a minute. The result? He could eat, sleep, socialise and finish his PhD on time! Ben later went on to join the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics.
Source: Physics at Nottingham Newsletter 2009
Nick Robertson (Bright House 1989-1994)
Nick appears to have been the first Briton to reach the summit of Everest this year, arriving at 07:17 on the 19th May: "I'm told I was the first Briton to the top this year (closely followed by two of my team mates), but I need to verify this with some internet research to confirm."From the Guardian of 28th March 2009, before the final climb:
An estimated one in 15 people who reaches the top of Everest dies trying. What drives them to undertake such a venture? "I have a hit list of things I want to do - this is one of them," Richmond says. Having conquered the other six, Carlos Morey, a twinkly 43-year-old Brazilian, is hoping to bag the last of the world's Seven Summits - the highest peaks on every continent. Nick Robertson, 33, is more prosaic: "I started climbing at school. At some point, Everest becomes a reality and you think, why not?" For Goodland, the time felt right. "I'm 42 - I thought, will I be any fitter at 45?"
Source: Guardian 28 March 2009