Profile

I live in Cheshire and have 2 grown-up children. I got into chemistry when I was at school because I loved mixing chemicals and doing experiments, watching things change colour, bubble away and make weird smells! One of my hobbies is cookery, which is really just chemistry in the kitchen! My favourite food is pizza but I like cooking new recipes, especially cakes. I like travelling and I used to live and work in Germany which was fun because I had to learn to speak and write in German. I keep fit by cycling and running and I also like walking in the hills. I like seeing live music. I have a little red sports car which I polish up and then display at some motor racing events like at Silverstone and Oulton Park.

I work in Research & Development, inventing new materials to solve our customers’ problems. Our end customers are companies like Boeing, Airbus, as well as car and smartphone companies. The materials we make are based on a very special type of plastic called PEEK which can be used to replace many metals.  We use the PEEK to make fibres, films, pipes, carbon fibre composites, gears and medical devices.  Most people use our materials but don’t know it.  For example, we invented a special type of PEEK film called APTIV which has been used in over 4 billion smartphones.  PEEK is also used to make gears in cars, and some of the wire insulation in electric cars.  PEEK composites are much lighter than metals and are used in aeroplanes to save weight and fuel.  PEEK is also used in the human body:  there are over 15 million people who have had PEEK implanted in them to reduce pain, and improve their mobility and quality of life.  And if you have anything made by Dyson, like a vacuum cleaner or a hairdryer, you’ll find our PEEK in there too.  Often when the customers’ problems are difficult to solve, I work with universities to find the answers.