Christopher Rhys Bowen has a BSc degree in Materials Science from the University of Bath (1986–1990) and a DPhil in Ceramics from the University of Oxford (1990–1993). Post-doctoral work has been undertaken at Technische Universität Harburg-Hamburg and University of Leeds (1994–1996). He was Senior Scientist at the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency from 1996 to 1998. He joined the University of Bath as a Lecturer in 1998 and is now Professor of Materials and former ERC Advanced Investigator. Research areas include energy harvesting, piezoelectric materials and functional ceramics.