David Kipping

We were delighted to welcome ex-pupil David Kipping back to Twycross House during the last week of term. David left school in 2003 after studying Maths, Further Maths, Physics, and Chemistry at A level.

David had always been interested in science, and space especially, from a young age. Mathematics with Mrs Padgett, Physics with Mr Fox and Chemistry with Dr Brooks were classes that fostered this passion during his time at Twycross. Aside from just studies, David also enjoyed playing football and made lifelong friends with his classmates.

David was admitted to Cambridge University, where he studied Natural Sciences with a focus on Physics. It was here at Robinson College that he met his wife-to-be and began to become increasingly interested in astronomy.

During his college years, David also spent time in Grenoble, France, conducting summer research at a small-angle neutron scattering facility. This research experience galvanised David’s interest in research especially and helped him decide that a PhD was the next step. After graduating with a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in 2007, David started a PhD at University College London under the tutelage of Professor Giovanna Tinetti, studying planets outside of our solar system – exoplanets. His thesis focused on the possibility of detecting moons around such planets and developed new ways to achieve this, winning several prizes including the Springer best thesis award which led the work being published as a book.

David then moved to Harvard University in 2011 as a prestigious NASA Carl Sagan fellow, allowing him to work on whatever he chose during his time there. After four years there, discovering numerous new planets and writing dozens of new papers, David was hired as an Assistant Professor at Columbia University in Manhattan, New York. There, he leads the Cool Worlds Lab and teaches astrostatistics and exoplanet classes. He has been named as one of Popular Science magazine’s ‘Brilliant 10’ scientists, Science magazine’s ‘10 Scientists to Watch’, awarded the Sloan prize, and has appeared on The Sky at Night, How the Universe Works as well as leading his own outreach channel on YouTube with 100,000 subscribers.

During his day at Twycross he enthralled an audience of staff and pupils from Senior 1 to Senior 4 with his talk, ‘Science meets fiction: Astronomy closes in on fantastic worlds’. Afterwards we had great pleasure in asking David to open one of the new laboratories, which has been named after him. He cut the ribbon and welcomed Form 3 to their Physics lesson.

The evening saw the annual presentation of A level and GCSE certificates to past pupils and the current Lower Sixth. David spoke fondly of his time at Twycross House urging current pupils to make the most of such a unique school with dedicated teachers in an inspiring learning environment.

We welcomed back ex-pupils after their first term at university; Billy Roberts (Philosphy) Newcastle; Euan Barlow (Business with Industrial Experience) Exeter; Nathan Harris (Deloitte Degree Apprenticeship); Jonathan van Zyl (Aerospace Engineering) Delft, the Netherlands; Peter Lumb (Modern Languages) Lancaster; Harry Calder (Geology) Hull; Adam Dodd (Manufacturing Engineering) Coventry; Edward Blackman (Geology) St Chad’s, Durham; Alexandros Poupazis (ACCA Accountancy); Katie Wells (Mechanical Engineering) Swansea; Alexandra Vero (Biomedicine) Lancaster; Lucy Slater (Geology) Exeter; Olivia Milner (Classics) Regent’s Park, Oxford; Lilith Weston (Creative Advertising) Lincoln; Polly Bill (French and Italian) Bristol; Hannah Walker (Mechanical Engineering) Warwick; Scott Williams (Flight School); Tim Cotterill (Agriculture with Farm Management) Harper Adams; Harry King (Computer Science) Leicester; Thomas Leyland (Geography) Gloucestershire; Theodore Zuzarte (Physics and Astrophysics) Sheffield; George Arnold (Forensic Psychology) Coventry; Jake Sanders (Biomedical Sciences) Birmingham; Ethan Morrell (Economics and Management Studies) Cardiff; Luke Barrowclough (Financial Mathematics) Leeds; Oliver West (Chemistry) Merton, Oxford; Georgia Hargreaves (RAF Apprenticeship); Mollie Gibbs (Biomedical Science) Northampton.