I started work in 1972 as a Technician Apprentice at the Royal Naval Stores Deport, Corsham, where the Ministry of Defence had an Apprentice Training Centre known as the Technician Apprentice Training Centre (TATC).

Initially I studied Mechanical and Electrical Engineering at Bath Technical College in 6-week blocks, this scheme allowed two groups of students to attend the College throughout the academic year.

In 1974 I joined the Royal Aircraft Establishment at West Drayton, located in Hillingdon close to London Heathrow Airport.

I was trained in the design of high, medium and low voltage systems; mainly for use on Her Majesty’s Warships, and spent much of my formative years designing electrical safety systems. Following this, I went on to become the RN Trials Officer responsible for managing and planning Warship trials cover topics such as quality of power supplies, mechanical shock (via sea mine) and at sea diagnostic trials.

Throughout the period of 1978-1982 I studied for a Degree in Electrical Engineering at Brunel University (Uxbridge) via an MOD bursary, which proved to be an innovative approach to studying, as I mixed study with work experience and this enabled me to apply my learning to real-world problems. This approach has given me a unique insight into electrical engineering theory and practice throughout my career, which I believe, has made me standout in every regard from my peers. The MOD was able to apply this approach as they were funding the degree programme tailored to their business needs. During my time at Brunel, I specialised in microprocessors at a time in their formative years, I learnt everything i know from Professor Douglas Lewis.

Following my time at RAE West Drayton, I moved to the Royal Naval Armament Depot, Ernesettle in Plymouth, as a graduate engineer where I became the assistant chief engineer, responsible for electrical, explosive and environmental safety aspects of the site, including the electromagnetic effects on explosive ordnance, and static electric discharges being imparted on explosives; air quality for missile testing, defect management and Legionella pathogen infection management of the sites cooling systems.

Following this placement, I joined the Chief Inspector of Naval Ordnance at Bath, where I transferred a US designed software programme call EASD, which was a finite element system to enable the effects of heat to be modelled on explosives through to an explosion. This work was followed by the management of an Armament Depot production planning system called NAWBUS, whose primary aim was to efficiently manage Royal Naval stocks of armaments, to cover the important items of explosive life and safety.

I then joined the Combat System division in Portsdown, Portsmouth, where I coordinated data management of Warships to ensures all standards across the UK Fleet; such that x, y and z axis were aligned (very important, so everyone knows where they are in the world); that data transfers were compatible and all this ensured inter-compatibility with internal Navies’, especially with NATO and the US Navy.

Following this placement, I was promoted to Group Leader and ran the software programme for the Trident Missile Targeting System where I held a senior position in the UK Government. In 2008, I gain an MSc in electronic engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).