People News

Changing the way we live with tech.

My career started…

… with an undergraduate degree in Business and Computing at Brunel University, followed by a master’s in Information Systems at Southampton. During both, I was working in an IT Department at a company called Fast Track (later known as CSM). I got to work with lots of sports including Rugby, Cricket, Formula 1, Olympic Sports, Football and Athletics.

In my current position at Hoare Lea…

….I work within the Intelligent Buildings team – leading the ICT department. Together we coexist alongside Audiovisual and Building Intelligence, working in a range of sectors. As ICT lead, I manage current projects, capitalise upon new opportunities, promote our offering and interface with the wider business.

The most challenging project I’ve worked on…

…. was the Al Rayyan Stadium for the Qatar 2022 FIFA World Cup. I took the lead on the ICT Passive and Active Network design. A tough project programme and multiple locations added to the normal challenges, but following lots of hard work, the stadium is now built and looks fantastic!

I’m excited about technology because…

…it’s enabling buildings to change dramatically for the better. For example, Covid-19 has required social distancing measures, increasing the need for touchless technology. Now, the demand for these innovative solutions is higher than ever and we are in a position where we can help.

I think the next decade will see Intelligent Buildings moving into the mainstream, aided by the reduction in the cost of technology and vendors building integration into their products.

Once buildings are intelligent – our urge to innovate will mean we then move towards the concept of cognitive buildings.

I am looking forward to…

…seeing the concept of cognitive buildings explored further over the next decade. The hope is that buildings will be able to learn without human intervention, adjusting rules and parameters automatically. They are centred around preventive maintenance and will be able to run auto-diagnostics, order replacement parts or upgrades when required. Advances in technology, like speech recognition, virtual reality, holograms and artificial intelligent will only increase this capability further.

Outside of work I enjoy…

…water-based activities – I nearly went to the 2000 Olympic Games Sydney in a 470 sailing dinghy.

Of course, I also love spending time with my family and together we go sailing, diving and wakeboarding around the south coast.