Ken did both his BSc in Mechanical Engineering and his PhD in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Nottingham, before spending six years in industry writing CAD based programming systems for industrial systems including robots, machine tools and CMMs.  He then spent 20 years at Warwick Manufacturing Group during which time he led their IMRC and the Manufacturing Technologies research group.  

In his current role he oversees research in fields as diverse as additive manufacturing, electronics, informatics, simulation, friction welding, advanced fixturing and intelligent automation.  The MTC specialises in maturing manufacturing processes from laboratory proof of concept through to being proven at low volume.

Since he joined the MTC in 2011 it has grown from two people to more than 800 and has become an £80m turnover business.