His primary degree is in Aeronautical Engineering from QUB. He earned his PhD for work on flow-induced vibration in heat exchanger tube bundles. He has also been a Visiting Professor at McMaster University. His technical expertise is in the area of unsteady fluid mechanics, especially when coupled with noise, vibration or structural interaction. For nearly a decade, he has focussed his work almost exclusively on power generating and energy conversion applications, having been active in the field of aircraft noise at a European level. His favourite colour is red