What's the Tech?

About the author

 

My name is Neil Harrison and I'm a technology leader in advanced manufacturing. My current role is in the world of metal additive manufacturing (AM), or 3D printing as it is more commonly known, and I have an Masters in Physics and Astronomy and a PhD in AM of aerospace alloys.

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A life spent in research and technology means I write a lot of technical artifacts, but for anyone who has ever engaged with a scientific or engineering journal article, you will know that they are not always the easiest of reads. More over the structure and language can sometimes make it difficult to extract the main takeaways. This type of writing, understandably, does not really succeed in more commercial settings, and so when I moved to industry it was necessary to be able to adapt my writing style. I have 4 papers published in journal articles to date, (one with over 400 citations, but who's counting) - but I have literally lost count of the number of customer facing technical reports, summaries, presentations and case studies I have written in my years of employment. I am, therefore, now rather experienced in the consideration and writing of a text which is technical, yes, but more also accessible.

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Like many of my fellow engineers/scientists, I have a insatiable interest for new and exciting technology and science. I remain a close follower of advances in astronomy and space exploration and am particularly interested in the green revolution of transport and energy generation. A common result of this, is the digestion of successive articles and Wikipedia pages until I am satisfied I understand something, whether that be how solid state batteries work or why Apatosaurus and Brontosaurus are actually two separate species of dinosaur. This behaviour sends my wife crazy, when I will 'research everything to nth degree', particularly when looking to purchase an item, spending literal days researching things like which smart watch to get. 

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So ultimately I decided to combine something that I love doing, with something that I'm good at. I do a lot of technical review writing in my job, but I'd like to do some where I have the freedom to choose what I am researching and to inform and interest more people.  As a minimum it will offer me a creative release, and if someone learns something new as a result, well that's a bonus.