| Jem Stansfield | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | |
Jem Stansfield is an inventor and television presenter, currently working in the United Kingdom. He has appeared on Scrapheap Challenge (Channel 4), Science Shack (BBC Two), Home On Their Own (ITV1), Zero to Hero (Channel 4), Men in White (Channel 4), Bang Goes the Theory (BBC One), Wild Thing I Love You (Channel 4), and Planet Mechanics (National Geographic Channel). He presented a documentary Explosions: How We Shook the World (BBC Four) in October 2010.[1]
For the past decade, Jem has been creating special effects for movies like Lost in Space and Van Helsing, and producing jaw-dropping exhibits for the Science Museum and Royal Observatory. He's worked with kindred spirits Wallace and Gromit.
When companies want mad machines and quirky gadgets, they turn to Jem. That's hardly surprising. This is the man who invented the world's first air-powered motorbike, and won a New Scientist prize for boots that walk on water.
Before Bang, this hands-on approach to science and technology found a small-screen outlet on Scrapheap Challenge, Men in White (both Channel 4), Science Shack (BBC Two) and Home on their Own (ITV1).
Jem has also turned his hand to herding sheep, labouring, and, stand-up comedy.
He has a degree in aeronautics from Bristol University, and, before his television career, worked in a Czech school and as a shepherd in the Australian outback. Among his inventions is a compressed-air powered motorcycle. He has worked on the special effects for the movies Lost in Space, The Avengers and Van Helsing.
Jem designs, builds and invents for a living. He has a degree in aeronautics from Bristol University and a tremendous general understanding of scientific principles. He’s also a qualified welder and has the skills in his hands to build many of the ideas in his head.
Before settling to a life in science his ‘can do’/’make do’ attitude led him to surf tubes and reefs on cheap hire boards, have fleeting success as a stand up comic, teach children in a rural Czech school and ‘enjoy’ life as a shepherd in outback Australia. But for the past decade it’s been mainly science and engineering projects; creating special effects for movies such as Lost in Space, The Avengers and Van Helsing, producing prominent installations and interactive exhibits for worldwide museums, and working on a ludicrous range of machines and gadgets for companies that need that kind of thing.
Over the past six years he has applied his skills to the world of television. In 2001 he was an on-screen ballistics expert for the television show Scrapheap Challenge and went on to become a permanent part of the engineering team for subsequent series. He used to invent kids’ dream gadgets on ITV’s Home On Their Own with Ulrika Jonsson and he was the on screen man behind the machines and experiments on BBC2’s Science Shack. For Channel 4’s series Zero to Hero he was on screen engineer.
In 2006 Jem presented two series for Channel 4. In Men in White (an irreverent Sunday evening science show) he answered cries for help from members of the public. Combining his skill, knowledge and a few important experiments, he invented the machines which solved their problems.
Wild Thing I Love You was a groundbreaking Sunday evening nature conservation show for the channel. Jem worked with wildlife experts to examine situations where mankind exerts too much pressure on nature and where, with a little cunning design and engineering, he was able to build something to redress the balance. His first series for National Geographic, Planet Mechanics aired in 2008 and he also made guest presenter appearances on another new series for the channel, What Would Happen If…?