Brief bio.....
I graduated from University of
Surrey, UK with a bachelor's degree in electrical
engineering and a masters' degree in electronic
engineering. I completed a doctorate at Durham
University, UK. I am a Chartered Engineer (CEng - UK
and Hong Kong), Chartered Physicist (CPhys - UK),
and a Chartered Information Technology Professional
(CITP - UK), a member of the Institution of
Engineering and Technology, UK (MIET), a Senior
Member of the Institute of Electronic and Electrical
Engineers, USA (SMIEEE), a member of the British
Computer Society (MBCS), a member of the Hong Kong
Institution of Engineers (MHKIE) and a member of the
Institute of Physics, UK (MInstP).
I started teaching at North London Polytechnic in
1971, and became closely involved with consultancy
work for many consumer electronics companies - from
audio and hi-fi in the early 70s, to electronic
calculators and early home computers in the late 70s
- early 80s.
During
the 1970s and 1980s I had a number of start-ups and
other programmes focusing on educational
computing and related technologies. This included
designing and building LOGO-based robots for primary
education as well as developing educational
programmes based around the developing personal
computing technologies. Companies I worked for included
Sinclair Research, Commodore, Casio, HP, and
Acorn (BBC Computer). I have also written
over 20 books as well as many instructional
manuals, and worked closely with the BBC on
a number of programmes, including The
Computer Programme.
I
moved to Hong Kong in the mid 80s to run my own
consumer electronics consultancy where I advised a
number of new start-ups in S E Asia and China. I
joined City University in 1990, and mainly taught
consumer mechatronic design and electronic product
design. My research interests included applying
consumer electronics technology to robotics and the
evaluation of the marine environment, as well as
engineering education methodologies. I have
published over 60 journal and conference papers
since joining CityU in 1990.
I retired from the University in 2010, and have
spent the time since then mainly doing volunteer
work for both the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society,
IEEE Oceanic Engineering Society and the IET Hong
Kong. I worked at, and was latterly Director of,
CityU's Marine Science and Engineering Laboratory,
based at Hoi Ha Wan. I am currently Asia Region
Coordinator for the MATE International ROV Contest.
I introduced a number of educational programmes
whilst volunteering for IET and IEEE including the
Faraday Challenge and various robotics
contests and workshops.
I was also founding Chair of the IEEE Consumer
Electronics Chapter in Hong Kong in 1994; a member
of the IET (IEE) Hong Kong Branch Committee from
2004 - 2012, serving as Branch Chair in 2010-11, and
2016-2018; and the founding Chair of the IEEE Hong
Kong Robotics and Automation/Control Systems Joint
Chapter. I was 2nd Vice-President IEEE Consumer
Electronics Society AdCom 1998-2000, and, from
2009-2012 the Vice-President International Affairs
IEEE Consumer Electronics Society AdCom, being
responsible for the Society's Distinguished Lecturer
Programme as well as Chapter Liaison.
I also served as a Deputy Chair of the Board of
Directors of Hong Kong Internet Registration
Corporation/Hong Kong Domain Name Registration
Corporation 2006-13, and was elected a member of the
IT Sub-sector for the Election Committee for Chief
Executive 2006-2010, 2011-2015 and 2016-2020. I
recently retired as Secretary and member of the
Board of Directors of the Professional Commons, a
well known 'think tank' in Hong Kong.
I have recently formed a consultancy group to build on my more than 40 years of experience in pioneering STEM education.