Guiding principals.
The universe is a fantastic place, and understanding even a small part
of it is like peering through the curtains the night the circus comes
to town.
Science brings us amazing facts and spectacular pictures, from a stunning
nebula to the wonder of our own genes. But Engineering turns this knowledge
into a tool, engineering gives us the power to shape our lives, to extend
out individual powers and create new opportunities for achievement,
entertainment and enlightenment.
Engineering touches nearly every part of our lives now, and I want to
show people the beauty and ingenuity that surrounds them. By helping
people understand, I hope to bring a greater appreciation and respect
for what engineers do, and encourage a new generation to explore engineering
as both an interest and a career.
On an individual level, the more we understand the technology we use,
the better decisions we can make, even if it's just choosing the right
tyres knowledge is key, and I hope to spread as much of it as I can.
Good engineering innovation is driven by passion, particularly where
a single vision is driving the whole adventure, and I hope to convey
some of that energy in my writing. There is drama and excitement in
every engineering story, which is sadly lost all too often, these tales
should be shared to entertain and more importantly to nurture the next
wave of engineering talent.
Never before have we, as a species, faced so many life and death problems.
There are tragic man made issues such as climate change, weapons of
mass destruction, global food and water shortages. But there are even
greater threats from nature such as asteroid impact and pandemic disease.
Only engineering has the ability to solve these massive problems, if
I can enthuse even a tiny fraction of my readers to explore engineering,
or to simply show their support for it, then I will feel I have contributed
something, however small, to the solution.
I have been mucking
about with machinery since my first Meccano set as a child, the great
thing about that stuff is it doesn't normally melt when you set fire
to things, ahem, unlike Lego, I discovered..After studying engineering
at Exeter Collage (where I would lecture 20 years later!) I progressed
to Warwick Uni where I studied 'controlling things with computers
and doing hard maths'. This lead swiftly to having to get a proper
job, as luck would have it Ford needed some fresh minds so off I went
to Dunton. After six years, and becoming a chartered engineer, I set
out on my own offering contract engineering to the world of automotive
dreams.
I have had the privelege of working all over Europe with a variety
of companies including Bentley, Jaguar, Land Rover, and a range of
small manufacturers and race teams (many of which no one has heard
of!).
In recent years I have started writing technical articles for magazines
such as Evo, Practical Performance Car, Practical Classics, Full Throttle
and Classics Monthly as well as the occasional TV appearance.
Qualifications
Member of the Guild of Motoring Writers
Member of the Institute of the Motor Industry
Member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology
Chartered member of the Engineering Council
B.Eng degree in engineering
Ordinary National Diploma in Engineering
