Professor Barrie Mecrow received a PhD degree in Electrical Engineering from Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK, in 1986. He was previously a Turbo-Generator Design Engineer at NEI Parsons, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. In 1987, he became a Lecturer, and in 1998, a Professor at Newcastle University. His research interests include fault-tolerant drives, high-performance permanent magnet machines, and novel switched reluctance drives. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering.