I am a Materials Scientist with over 40 years’ experience working with non-metallic materials, including plastics, composites, elastomers, adhesives and sealants, and even at one time, paper and board. I began my career in the Ministry of Defence providing materials-related support and advice to UK Armed Forces and MOD project teams. I later joined DERA and moved to QinetiQ when it was privatised in 2001. My role at QinetiQ included developing and leading multi-partner teams undertaking a range of work for MOD and major companies, such as Babcock, Airbus and Boeing. I joined Avon in 2011 and lead the Materials Innovation team, which provides materials development, characterisation and testing support to customers within Avon Protection and wider industry. We develop, agree and execute programs of work for customers that meet their requirements, whether it be a simple testing regime or more complex tasks, such as material developments or failure investigations. I also identify and submit proposals to competitive research calls. These are often in collaboration with other partners and recent successes have involved partnerships with Frazer-Nash Consultancy, the University of Southampton, and BMT Defence Services.I am a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining and a member of the leadership teams of their Elastomer and Adhesion and Adhesives Groups.Away from work my interests are walking, military history, and Sutton United where I am a match-day volunteer.