Chief Engineer
My role is fundamentally about expanding and improving our range, adding more functionality, simplifying the products so the customer has to do less; it is about providing more of our products as a ‘plug and play’ option. My job is to engineer solutions to make them integrate easily into lab systems.
Another part of my remit is to ensure our commercial activities support the research side of the business. Our research tackles larger, future-orientated challenges and comes with a lot of flexibility to be creative and solve issues in many different markets.
Main Areas of Expertise
I am a physicist by training, my first degree was a Master’s in Physics from University of Surrey. I then completed a PhD in Optoelectronics at the ORC (Optoelectronics Research Centre) at Southampton University under the tutelage of Professor Peter Smith.
I was working on direct UV writing which is effectively a CNC manufacturing process for making integrated optical circuits. After I finished my PhD, I was offered an opportunity to join a start-up from Peter’s group called Stratophase.
Stratophase was a company of two halves at the time, one half was concentrating on the development of optical microchip sensors and the other half on PPLN technology. When we started Stratophase my time was split between both areas of the business. After a few years we got the investment necessary to commercialise the waveguides and the decision was made to split the business in two. The name Stratophase went with the direct UV writing and Bragg grating technology which by then was my main focus and Covesion was spun-out as a completely separate entity to develop and manufacture PPLN technologies.
I joined Covesion in 2020. It is a University spin-out that can stand commercially on its own two feet. That is a rare thing. It has been exciting to see what we have achieved over the last few years. We are working in cutting edge markets like quantum technologies with huge growth and development possibilities.
Hobbies and Interests
I like to tinker with 3D printers at home, I have far too many really!
Mainly outside of work it is all about my family. So, it’s doing things with the kids like going out for family walks and getting out into green spaces as well as introducing them to all things technology and engineering and trying to keep them on the right path.
Academic Achievements
>50 international publications, presentations & posters
PhD from the University of Southampton.
1st class (Hon) Masters degree in Physics (MPhys) from the University of Surrey
4 patents granted