More seriously, he spends his time giving workshops and presentations exploring the surprising ways that maths pops up in unexpected places, and even spends a week each year as "Mathematician in Residence" at a school in Berkshire.

Well ... usually. Not in 2020. Obviously.

In normal times he has been giving 150 to 200 presentations a year, 20 to 30 of which have been overseas(*), and is founder and director of Solipsys Ltd, a company that provides outreach and enhancement in STEM subjects, concentrating on mathematics.

He is also a director of a company that does the maritime equivalent of Air Traffic Control, though his role there is now largely non-exec.

Colin has appeared on Blue Peter, The One Show, Tomorrow's World, How 2, BBC News, and Come Dancing. In what's laughingly called his "free time" he juggles, and goes ballroom dancing. He plays piano (badly), Bridge (worse), and Go (worst of all). When necessary he will program in C, Python, fexl, and bash.

He completed his PhD in Pure Maths at Cambridge University in the second half of the 80s, after completing his B.Sc.(Hons), also in maths, at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia.

(*) See Countries Where I Have Spoken

So this is currently a place-holder for a brief biography. I'm dumping things here as and when I (a) remember them, and (b) have time.

• Full-time freelance STEM Outreach and Enhancement
• 2013(?) - 2018(?) : Part-time Teaching Fellow at Keele University
• 2003 - present : Director of Denbridge Marine Ltd
• 2000 - Married Rachel Wright
• 1995 - present : Director of Solipsys Ltd
• 1993 - 2003 : Head of Research and Development
  • Initially dB Electronics,
    • which became Datawave Technology
      • which became Denbridge Digital
        • Dissolved in 2003
        • New company formed: Denbridge Marine Ltd
• 1990/1993 : Research Associate in Computing at Liverpool University
• 1990 Awarded PhD
• 1987/1990 : Research Associate in Maths at Manchester University
• 1984/1987 : Research for PhD at Cambridge (in Pure Maths )
  • Some time in here I started giving talks
  • 1984/Q4 was spent at LSU
  • 1985/Q4 was spent at LSU
• 1983/1984 : Part III of the Maths Tripos at Cambridge
  • (sort of a taught MSc)
• 1980 - 1982 : BSc(Hons), Maths, Monash University
• 1974 - 1979 : Blackburn High School, Melbourne, Victoria