About Me

I have always been interested in maths. As a boy, I mostly read books of facts and books of mathematical puzzles. At school, Maths was really the only subject I would say that I enjoyed. At university, I discovered computer science and that then became a subject I also enjoyed. I got my degree at Edinburgh University in Mathematics and Computer Science.

After university, I got a job that suited me in research and development for British Gas. This involved developing software programs to simulate gas flow through networks. It had Maths, in the form of Operational Research, and Computer Science. I discovered that British Gas had large amounts of data on the reliabiltiy of domestic gas appliances and I started a project to analyse the data to find patterns. This was when I studied Statistics and obtained a Masters degree in Statistics and Operational Research Techniques.

To further my career I joined a government department, Defra, as a lead Statistician running statistical surveys relating to agriculture, the food chain and waste collection. In contrast to many of my colleagues, I redeveloped almost all the systems that I dealt with, modernising them and making significant gains in productivity.

After retiring from Defra in 2015, I searched for new ways to involve Maths in my life. Initially I volunteered to help in Maths classes at Woldgate school in Pocklington. Soon after that I discovered that private Maths tuition was more rewarding. However Jessica, my wife, took over assisting on a voluntary basis at Woldgate school in Maths and continues to do so.

After several years of having two or three students I found that I still wanted a bit more of a Maths challenge and managed to get a job with the Open University. This is an on-going part-time job, teaching about twenty students each year in a third year undergraduate course in Applied Statistics.