Computer Related

Much of my career centred around computers.  Although I initially studied Applied Physics, my first appointment after graduating was as a programmer.  I could do this because my undergraduate industrial training (with Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd at their research laboratories in Runcorn, England) involved the interfacing of computers to laboratory equipment and writing short programs (often in assembly language) to test the rigs.  Also, as part of the undergraduate studies we were taught to program in Fortran.  I went on to spend several years in the software industry, however I later switched to academia, teaching computing to sixth form (pre-university) students.  In this 22-year period I carried out research in different fields of computer science.

Astronomy Related

Interested in astronomy from a very young age (and remembering well watching man's first lunar landing on TV when I was 13 years old), I continued to be fascinated by this subject ever since.  Over the years I attended BAA meetings, visited some large European astronomical observatories, and met (and dined with) people that included (among others) Patrick Moore, Guy Consolmagno, Arthur Frank of the Glasgow-based optical makers Charles Frank Ltd., professional astronomers working at the Royal Greenwich Observatory when it was still located at Herstmonceux, and lunar astronaut and US senator Harrison Schmitt when he visited Malta in April 2009 during the International Year of Astronomy.

My knowledge of programming enabled me to combine computing and astronomy by developing various astronomy-related programs, mostly involving the field of celestial mechanics; and my interest in photography from a young age later developed into another pastime, namely that of astroimaging.