I originally trained at the Royal Naval Stores Depot, Corsham, where the Ministry of Defence operated an Apprentice Training Centre known as the Technician Apprentice Training Centre (TATC).
Initially I studied both Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Bath College.
I then joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment at West Drayton, located in Hillingdon close to London Heathrow Airport.
I trained in the design of high, medium and low voltage systems used on Warships, and spent much of my formative years designing electrical safety systems. Following this, I went on to become Trials Officer responsible for managing and planning Warship stress trials covering topics such as power supply quality, mechanical shock (via sea mines at Portsmouth) and at-sea diagnostic trials (Portland).
I obtained a Degree in Electrical Engineering at Brunel University (Uxbridge). At Brunel, I specialised in microprocessor designs and I learnt everything I know from Professor Douglas Lewis and Ivor Catt synonymous for the ‘Catt Spiral’ *
After my time at RAE West Drayton, I transferred to an Armament Depot at Ernesettle, Plymouth as assistant chief engineer, responsible for various engineering aspects of the site such as: electrical, explosive and environmental safety, electro-magnetic effects on explosive ordnance, including static electric discharges together with air quality used for missile testing, defect management and Legionella pathogen infection management of the site’s cooling systems.
Then I transferred to Chief Inspectorate of Naval Ordnance at Bath, where I began and completed the transfer of a US designed finite element technique to enable the effects of heat on explosives to be modelled through to an explosion. This was followed by the design and introduction of an Armament Depot production planning system called NAWBUS, the primary aim of which was to efficiently manage Royal Naval stocks of Armaments for explosive life and safety.
Following this, I transferred to Combat System design at Portsdown, Portsmouth, then to Type-45 Frigate Combat System design, including the use of blown optical fibres.
In 2008, I gained an MSc in electronic engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
- The ‘Catt Spiral’, was designed to enable the use of partially faulty integrated chips (called partials), which were otherwise discarded by manufacturers.