Profile

My CV

• Education:

  Peckover Primary School (Wisbech, Cambridgeshire)

  Wisbech Grammar School (Wisbech, Cambridgeshire) – Secondary School (11-18)

  University of Reading (Reading, Berkshire) – Undergraduate Degree

  University of Portsmouth (Portsmouth, Hampshire) – PhD Degree

• Qualifications:

  SECONDARY SCHOOL

  GCSEs – Wisbech Grammar School

  English Literature, Maths, Latin, German, IT, Physics, English, History, Chemistry

  A-Levels – Wisbech Grammar School

  Maths, Further Maths, Physics, History

  We had little choice with our GCSEs in that we had to do maths, english and english literature and then at least one language and at least one science and at least one humanities (geography or history). I knew I liked maths and physics so those were good choices for me. History I took as I enjoyed it.

  For A-levels, I knew I wanted to do maths and further maths and physics. I had to really fight with my school to do history because they thought I should take chemistry but I was really poor at doing experiments so didn’t want to. I wanted to do history personally because I enjoyed it but because it teaches you how to build an argument and assess material and to see both sides to an issue

  Undergraduate Degree (2001 to 2005)

  I did an MMath Mathematics degree at the University of Reading. MMath stands for ‘Master of Mathematics’ and this was a 4 year course, rather than a standard 3 year course. I wanted to do it as I wanted to learn more maths.

  Originally, I applied to do maths and meteorology as I thought weather forecasting could be an interesting career but it turned out I was much better at maths than physics (for meteorology, good maths and physics skills are important).

  By switching to just maths, it meant I was taught modules that form the basis for machine learning (though I did not know that at the time). I received a first class degree.

  PhD Degree (2007 to 2011)

  I discovered machine learning during my first job and wanted to learn more about it. I saw a funded PhD opportunity at the University of Portsmouth. It was to explore patterns in data that comes from passenger aircraft. Like car drivers, pilots must have a lot of training and pass exams before they can fly. Data from all passenger aircraft is analysed by law to make sure the planes are flown safely. During my PhD, I developed a new method that helped detect unseen anomalies. This meant that those flights could be checked out and actions taken, which is why flying is very safe.

   

• Work History:

  Clearswift Ltd – 2006 to 2007

  This was my first job after University but it took me a long while to get it. When I was an undergraduate, I did a lot of maths, but I hardly did any computer programming at all as it didn’t appear too important. When looking for jobs, I really struggled as without being good at coding, it would be hard to implement any ideas I had.

  I didn’t use the careers service much during school or university but I really should have. Fortunately, I got an opportunity because the son of a person I tutored at University worked here, which got me an interview. Always try and help others. You never know, they might help you in the future.

  This job was about detecting inappropriate images in emails so that they can be blocked before they are viewed in the workplace or in schools. I used machine learning to classify safe images and unsafe images. It was really powerful and made me want to do a PhD. There was a lot of coding with this job which I struggled with as others were much better than me. Leaving was the right choice because a PhD is at least 3 years and that was plenty of time to improve my coding skills.

   

  University of Portsmouth – 2011 to present day

  After my PhD, I continued with the research group as a staff researcher. I started off as a junior researcher, before moving up to senior level and taking over the group after my boss left.

• Current Job:

  I’m a senior research fellow and leader of my group. In university’s, there are roles such as lecturer or senior lecturer. These staff do teaching (lecturing) and also research. My role is research only so I do no teaching, other than PhD supervision and undergraduate project supervision.

  There is a lot of broad skills that I need in this role. Maths and coding is of course important but there are a lot more skills that help me…

  1. Writing For Different Audiences – my history A-level really helped because it taught me to construct arguments and present evidence and conclusions. Very useful when writing papers and especially when writing grant proposals for new project ideas
  2. Working With Others – Research is often done with others. You need to be able to discuss plans and ideas and all agree on a plan for future work
  3. Communication – Your research can be complex so it’s important to explain it to other researchers but you might want to explain it to a potential partner who isn’t an expert in that area so they might be more interested in results and applications, rather than methods
  4. Being Humble – It is likely at some point you won’t be the cleverest in the room. Doesn’t matter. Learn from others and ask questions.
  5. Be Adaptable – Research is a constantly changing field and its important to keep up to date with new methods, new ideas, new techniques. Keep learning