- who, what, why?

Right. Driven by an immense need to express myself in an electronic medium, and also by ego, this page sets out to tell you a bit about me, hopefully with some amusing links, maybe with some amusing photos, and with a total lack of second-order partial differential equations with non-linear, non-constant coefficients.

Me in as few words as possible

For just over three years until the end of 2004, I worked for Cambridge Consultants Ltd as a software engineer, with special interests in networking, mathematical modelling, user interfaces, PC architecture and Windows development. One of my perennial projects was development and testing for the Highways Agency's NMCS2 (the motorway communications system in the UK). And yes, I know it's irritating you're driving in fog, and you see some sort of glowing sign ahead, and peering through the murk you eventually realise it says 'Fog'. And no, I can't close the M42 at will or put "Hello Mum!" on the overhead gantry signs. At the start of 2005, I began working for a global financial software organisation (whose IT policy appears to caution against mentioning by name on a personal webpage), based in their Cambridge office.

I live in Ely, which was the smallest city in England until it grew rapidly in the last few years (Wells is now the smallest). It's definitely the shortest name of a city in England, though. But I'm no soft southerner; I was born in Durham in 1979 and lived there until I started at CCL in 2001.

Working backwards, I was a one-year Diploma in Computer Science postgrad student at Christ's College, Cambridge University. For the previous three years, I was studying for a BA (Hons) in Mathematics : Pure & Applied, including some Statistics, which I completed with a 2:1 in June 2000. Before all of this University lark, I went to Newcastle Royal Grammar School, and before that, I watched TV.

Outside of work, I keep myself busy by DJing, collecting 7" singles, listening to all sorts of music and maintaining a strong interest in radio by producing the Sunday evening request show on Radio Addenbrooke's at the hospital in Cambridge. (I was the Station Manager of Cambridge University Radio for two years and I also presented a show and produced hundreds of jingles for my own show and others on CUR - you can read all about that here). I officially play the clarinet (Grade 8 merit), and unofficially dabble with keyboards (often using software synths) and an old acoustic guitar (mind you, it's strictly rhythm - I don't want to make it cry or sing). I also go geocaching, which is probably best explained by following the link.