Diving deep - Creating tomorrow's submarines

Can you tell us a bit about your sailing background and how it influenced your career choices?

I was a keen dinghy sailor prior to heading off to University. I got into the sport fairly late on, at the age of about 15, through a kids summer sports camp. From then on I was completely hooked; sailing for my local county sailing team, spending my weekends travelling the country for local and national events, and eventually becoming the team coach. I then spent my gap year prior to university teaching sailing and other outdoor activities at the centre I first learnt to sail in. 

Sailing is really putting engineering theory into practise; understanding the theory of lift and drag and how to optimise a boat for speed. I think this led me into the path of naval architecture without me really realising. It was by pure coincidence that I came across naval architecture as a subject when browsing a university prospectus – originally I was looking at a career in medicine, but this seemed to suit my interests and abilities better.