Callum Ormonde

Unboiling an egg

TEDxPerth 2015
November 2015

Talk length:

10.21mins

Unboiling an egg | Callum Ormonde | TEDxPerth

Can working on your weaknesses reward you in surprising ways?

A chance discovery by Callum led to the realisation that an egg could be “unboiled”. The quirky, yet profound research garnered much international attention and led to his team winning an Ig Nobel Prize for achievements that make you laugh, but then make you think.

Callum Ormonde is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia, department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

Callum Ormonde
Protein researcher

Callum Ormonde is a PhD candidate at the University of Western Australia, department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

A chance discovery by Callum led to the realisation that an egg could be “unboiled”. In early 2015 he co-authored a paper describing a means of protein folding by mechanical energy using a machine that Callum and colleagues at the University of California Irvine patented the year before. The quirky, yet profound research garnered much international attention and led to his team winning an Ig Nobel Prize for achievements that make you laugh, but then make you think.

Before university, he was better known for his interest in drama and stage theatre than chemistry. He took a gap year position at The Auden Theatre in East Anglia, England where he developed acting and teaching skills, and proficiency in stage lighting and sound. His theatrical experience culminated allowing him to direct his own production of The Glass Menagerie.