Engineering
Growing up I learnt diagnostic & repair skills in my mechanic father’s workshop. I have a B.Eng in Chemical Engineering, an MSc in Maritime Engineering Science & a PhD in Marine Composites & Statistics, & shop-floor production experience of windsurfer fins, sailing catamarans & yacht spars. I have designed & built test machines, composites workshops, & carbon sailing ship spars.
Marine
Born & bred on the River Colne on the UK North Sea coast, I started sailing 50 years ago & have never stopped – be it dinghies, windsurfing (and surfing) or yachts. Sailing & the sea have always been central to both my life & career choices.
Research
My life-long fascination with science, engineering background & love of sailing and the sea all inexorably led me to a career in Maritime Engineering research. Over the last 30 years I have specialised in lightweight marine structures & high performance sailing craft. From 2020 to 2025 I have been listed on the Stanford University (yearly and career-long) rankings of the top 2% cited scientists in the world & have h-indices of 23 in Scopus, 22 in Web of Science & 24 in Google Scholar. I am the Leader of the Structures Research Group here at CENTEC.
Teaching
I have supervised undergraduate, Masters & PhD students throughout my career, & was responsible for all undergraduate admissions & all examinations in the Department of Ship Science at Southampton University. I wrote & teach the Instituto Superior Técnico MSc courses on Marine Composites and Yacht & Small Craft, & have taught Physics in a UK secondary school & English as a Foreign Language in Germany.