Graduating from De Montfort University in Systems Engineering, I initially went into the music industry gaining further qualifications in sound engineering. Alongside the music production contracts, opportunities were explored testing developmental magnetic tape innovation within the commercial studio sector. Following my time in the music industry, I went back into Systems Engineering with Fujitsu to project manage the delivery of a number of high value IT installations including the NHS back-end infrastructure upgrade at Richmond House and the installation of an EDS/EBS global private banking network. On the completion of the NHS projects, I moved to the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) to lead business steams within their Knowledge Management division. I spent a number of years developing the IET partnership strategy in a variety of sectors including power transmission/distribution, electromagnetics, building energy efficiency and infrastructure risk and resilience. Now working for the Knowledge Transfer Network, the focus remains with the future city challenges, the impact of connected systems and urban innovation programmes and where the opportunities lie for the innovators in this sphere.