My first degree, awarded 1977, was in Pure and Applied Mathematics, at Sheffield University. I was fortunate enough to stay on and complete a one-year Masters Degree in Industrial Applied Mathematics, held jointly at Sheffield and Hull Universities, with funding from the Science Research Council. This led to a further two years funding for a PhD, based on a topic in aerodynamics, concerning the movement and deposition of ice from freezing fog. Subsequently, and in order to complete my PhD work, I held the post of Postdoctoral Research assistant in the Department of The Science of Materials in the Materials department at the University of Sheffield, where I completed work relating to the propagation of cracks in pressure vessels in the nuclear industry, funded by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate. I have been a lecturer, mainly in mathematics, since 1982, having worked in colleges of FE in Andover and Sheffield, and in higher education since 1987, in London and Huddersfield. Because of my background in the application of mathematics, I have always favoured teaching engineering and technical students. During my time at Huddersfield I have supervised both PhD studies in Geography and Engineering, in which mathematical models were applied. I am now a part-time lecturer, as I run a small company besides my academic work.

My doctoral thesis was centred on the flow of droplets of supercooled water (freezing fog) around obstacles, specifically building components. It was required to predict the deposition of ice upon these objects. It was this ice accretion which led to the collapse of Emley Moor mast. Methods used included the then novel Boundary Integral Method. I have also had dealings with Dislocation Theory and Finite Element Methods in relation to Stress Analysis and Fracture Mechanics, mainly in connection with the nuclear industry, modelling the stresses around growing cracks in nuclear pressure vessels. I Have also undertaken study and supervision in the areas of groundwater contamination and river pollution, using finite element and other mathematical modelling techniques. I have an interest in all types of application of computational mathematics, including heat transfer, aerodynamics, groundwater flow, stress analysis, and electrostatics. Current research is focussed on the design and analysis of an ecologically sound hull for boats on inland waterways. Such a hull consumes less fuel, produces less backwash and does less harm to banks and the wildlife whose habitat they are.