At the impressionable age of thirteen I saw the film 2001 a Space Odyssey.  This film left me with a lasting impression of a future where space travel would be commonplace and people would be living on the Moon before I was fifty.  Alas, this was not to be.  And I, and many in my generation, were left with unfulfilled expectations of the future.  From this seed I did develop a lasting interest in engineering and astronomy. 

When I left school I worked in engineering, in the machine tools industry, for about twelve years before deciding to study physics at the University of York.  After seven years, I left York with a B.Sc. in physics and D.Phil in electron spectroscopy and went to work as an academic in the Open University’s Technology Faculty.  Coming from physics, I found the approach of the Faculty to technology and engineering somewhat surprising, in that it paid attention not only at the facts but also to society’s values and beliefs.  At last it became clear to me that the future that never came about, was often less about the technical challenges and more about the values and beliefs of the time.  After working as an Open University Staff Tutor – appointing teaching staff for the University’s East-Anglian Region – I became a senior lecturer in the University’s Systems Department in 2002.  Along the way I taught on courses ranging from astronomy and planetary science to engineering mechanics, electronics and logic design.  I eventually became head of the Systems department in 2006 and, since finishing as Head of Systems, I have returned to doing research in electron spectroscopy.

I was the Academic Consultant on the BBC2 series: James May’s 20th Century and James May’s Big Ideas.  These programmes examined the impact of technologies on the 20th century and looked beyond to comparing the futures that we anticipated with the future we find our selves contemplating today.  I have a particular interest in future transport and my interest in consulting on these programmes emerged from a curiosity over the value and currency of ideas from science fiction.