Stephen Ramsey

Stephen Ramsey is a British scientific glassblower. He spent about 50 years in industrial and academic labs as a glassblower. He is most prominent for his involvement at the Department of Chemistry at Imperial College London, where he repaired and crafted research lab glassware before retiring in 2018.

Career Ramsey left school at the age of fifteen. His first job was as a machine setter in a glassworks factory.

In 2017, the BBC Radio 4’s Inside Science aired a programme featuring footage of one of Ramsey’s glassblowing activities recorded in his workshop; the programme described him as the final scientific glassblower at Imperial College.

Professional recognition In 2013, “dream job” in New Scientist featured a short piece where Ramsey talked about working as a scientific glass blower. In 2016, another New Scientist article reported how few scientific glass blowers were left working in scientific labs, as Ramsey did at Imperial College.

In 2015, Ramsey obtained the certificate of Registered Science Technician (RSciTech) through the award scheme made available by the Science Council. He was one of the first Imperial College technicians to attain this status. In 2018, he obtained the title of Registered Scientist (RSci) from the Royal Society of Chemistry.