56 | New Scientist | 13 July 2019
The back pages Me and my telescope
Sue Black has done a lot since leaving school
at 16, including leading the campaign to save
Bletchley Park. She talks empowerment,
technology and knitting before it was coolFirst up, do you have a telescope?
No.As a child, what did you want
to do when you grew up?
Drive a big red London bus.Explain what you do
in one easy paragraph.
I am a professor of computer science
and technology evangelist at Durham
University, founder of social enterprise
#techmums and Women’s Equality Party
candidate for London Mayor in 2020.What does a typical day involve?
Some of the things I did in one week recently are:
I interviewed candidates for #techmums CEO,
went to a #techmums graduation in Leeds where
I met 45 wonderful women and heard their
stories, gave a talk for a UK government
conference about technology and had a
TechUP Women meeting at Durham University.What do you love most about what you do?
I love technology and how it can empower people
to change the world for the better. I love the
people I meet, the projects I am working on
and the people I work with.Were you good at science at school?
Pretty average, I think. I loved chemistry but was
persuaded to take home economics instead.
I hated the subject and failed it. My physics
teacher used to take the piss out of me in front of
the class, which put me off physics completely.Sum up your life in a one-sentence
elevator pitch...
If I can do it, so can you.What’s the most exciting thing
you’re working on right now?
I am so excited about the new programme we
have put together, called TechUP Women, which
will retrain 100 women into tech careers this year.
At #techmums, we are working towards creating
1 million #techmums by 2020. I love igniting
potential in people and seeing them change
their lives for the better.If you could send a message back to
yourself as a kid, what would you say?
Don’t listen to the haters. You are amazing
and can do so many incredible things with
your life, just get out there and have a go!What’s the best piece of
advice anyone ever gave you?
Trust your gut instincts.If you could have a long conversation
with any scientist, living or dead,
who would it be?
Ada Lovelace. I would love to tell her how
groundbreaking her work was and find out
how she managed to be so far ahead of her time.
It is so tragic that she died at just 36 years old.What’s the best thing you’ve read
or seen in the last 12 months?
Invisible Women by Caroline Criado Perez.Do you have an unusual hobby, and
if so, please will you tell us about it?
I have been teased my whole life for knitting
and crocheting clothes, until recently, when it
became trendy. I loved making clothes for my
kids and now my grandchildren.How useful will your skills
be after the apocalypse?
I am quite practical and good at problem solving
in difficult circumstances, so hopefully my skills
would be pretty useful.OK, one last thing: tell us something
that will blow our minds...
I left school at 16, was a single parent in a refuge at
25 with three children, went back to education at
26, got a degree in computing, a PhD in software
engineering, ran the campaign to save Bletchley
Park, got an OBE in 2016 and am now living the
dream as a professor of computer science. ❚Sue Black is a professor of computer science
and technology evangelist at Durham University,
UK, and author of Saving Bletchley Park (Unbound)“ My physics
teacher used to
take the piss out
of me in front of
the class. That
put me off
completely”
ALI TOLLERVEY; SERG VELUSCEAC/GETTY