Profile
- Name: Dave Sanders
- Job title: Head of ePRO and eClinical Services
- Pets: We have a guinea pig. During the summer it likes to roam free in the garden.
- Favourite animal: Elephant
- Favourite food: Fish, chips and mushy peas
- Favourite film: The Star Wars collection
- Fun fact: I have jumped out of an airplane
What do you enjoy the most about working at Scimcon?
Prior to joining Scimcon I had worked for large and medium sized corporations. I enjoyed my time in these organisations, but one of the qualities that initially attracted me to Scimcon was the small, close nit team that felt more like a family where every individual really matters to the success of the company. As it is a small company, you cannot hide, sit back and let others do the work for you. Everyone pulls their weight, and we back each other up if we face challenges.
Scimcon has also allowed me to work on a variety of interesting projects in areas I may not have been able to access in my previous roles.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I have always had an interest in photography, but my real passion lies in astrophotography. My degree was in Physics and Astronomy, and I have therefore always had a fascination with the Universe. I like to take photos of the Milky Way, and I have travelled to Lapland and Iceland where I was lucky enough to have been able to get photos of the Aurora Borealis. I also recently took a photo of the Neowise comet over Ely Cathedral. My 9-year-old daughter has recently become interested in photography, so when we get chance to go for a walk in the countryside as a family, we take our cameras and try to get some landscape photos or photos of flowers, birds, and similar.
Something else I do in my spare time is exercise – I would not say it was a hobby, but more of a chore! I exercise for at least an hour a day, six days a week. This consists of two days at my local bootcamp at 6:20am, outside in the cold, dark and often rain in the winter, with an instructor and a team of about 20 other people. The other four days are purely aerobic, either jogging or using the cross trainer. I am a member of my local gym where I used their cross trainer, but due to the lockdown closing all gyms back in March I bought my own, and haven’t been to the gym since.
When I get the opportunity, I like to have a round of golf too. I usually play with my Dad who is a member of his local golf club, however I do not do it very often as 18 holes usually takes up three hours at least. As I do not play too often, I’m not terribly good, but conversely, I’m not terrible.
What is your favourite travel destination?
When we go on holiday we like to travel to interesting places and try to immerse ourselves in the culture. Some of the more interesting places we have been on holiday are; as mentioned above, Lapland and Iceland, but we have also been to Beijing and walked along the Great Wall of China, Istanbul, Malaysia, Singapore. Once COVID-19 is behind us we would like to take the kids to Australia and Japan.
2020 has been an interesting year – how has it impacted you outside of work?
Prior to COVID-19, it was nice to spend time with friends, having a drink and a laugh, however with the changing restrictions it is not something we get to enjoy regularly at the moment. One thing my friends and I enjoyed doing was a games night. Poker, Black-Jack and Trivial Pursuit; it’s very light-hearted, but it brings out the competitive nature in people.
With the restrictions discouraging activities with people outside of your household, we have recently taken up coarse fishing as a family. It is something that we thought would be something fun to do, to get out of the house and enjoy together. We fish on the nearby Great Ouse river and catch fish such as perch, roach and rudd. It is purely something we do for fun, so we always return the fish back to the river.
Scimcon as a business is deeply rooted in technology – but how technology-oriented are you? What devices do you use, and does your use of technology differ outside of work?
This question brings a smile to my face as my wife knows only too well how much I like technology, much to her annoyance. Over the years I have added more and more Philips Hue lights to the house, to the point where every room has at least one. We use Alexa to turn lights on and off.
Similarly, we have a number of Sonos speakers around the house which are also controlled through Alexa. I like the idea of having an electronic assistant, I think it reminds me of some scifi films of the 80’s and 90’s.
I use a Macbook and Adobe Lightroom to edit photos and I share them on Instagram (if I think they’re good enough).
My use of technology at home is very different to work. However, I think the skills I learn from setting up a new device or configuring the way it works can be applied to my work. The use of these devices, and the associated interconnectivity in the home setting helps me keep abreast of the latest technology, which has applications within projects at work too
