Profile

I grew up in Cambridgeshire and left school to try and join the army. That didn’t work out, so I ended up going to university in Liverpool. I had a great time there and became a Materials Scientist, picking up both of my degrees there. From Liverpool I moved to Italy to carry on my post-doc research work. In Italy I learned to speak Italian and also got married there.

After coming back to the UK, almost 30 years ago, I got my first job by looking up Science and Engineering companies in the Yellow Pages (we didn’t have Goggle back then) and simply phoned them all up. From there I’ve worked in many different jobs including forensic science, fibre optics, robotics, printing, medical devices, F1 motorsports, aerospace (literally working with rocket scientists), and even food companies that make ice cream. I’ve worked in small companies, and also huge global multi-national companies, and I’ve been able to travel all over the world throughout my career.

These days I run my own consultancy business from home, and I work 1 day a week with Anglia Ruskin University.

3D printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, is changing the way we make things and my work involves helping other companies to learn about what is possible.

I’ve been involved with helping to make so many things happen using 3D printing. Things like surgeons to heal cancer patients, with F1 Teams to win races, and with space exploration including parts for Mars rovers.

One of my specialties is helping to prove that metals can be 3D printed.

I also write for an industrial magazine, Metal AM Magazine, and act as technical editor.

One of the best things I was involved with making was the Queen’s baton for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Another company I worked for made all the wands for the Harry Potter movies, as well as the prototypes for the latest Star Wars movies!

As a consultant I can find myself doing a lot of different things because I get to meet lots of different companies and people. I also fly to other countries from time to time. 3D printing is now being used almost everywhere and there is nearly always something new to work on.

A lot of my day is spent talking to others and helping them to learn about 3D printing. It could also mean giving a talk to a group of other engineers or scientists.

Since I run my own company this can also involve having to balance the accounts, learn new things like Python programming or CAD skills, plan marketing campaigns, or look for new ways to use 3D printing technology.