His background is an academic and entrepreneur in mineral engineering, energy storage systems and environmental technologies. He has founded several innovation based businesses, including two PLCs.He is a Fellow Academician of the Royal Academy of Engineering (UK), the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (Australia) and the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He is an Advisor to the UK Board of Trade. He has worked extensively in establishing new educational and research collaborations in Middle East, Africa, Singapore, Malaysia and China.