I currently hold a Senior Lectureship in Materials Modelling and Design at the University of Edinburgh, UK. My activities and interests are in the fields of biomimetic design, mechanical metamaterials and composites engineering. I research a number of different biological organisms from a structure-properties perspective, and am active in developing mechanical materials and systems. I am a Chartered Engineer within the Institution for Mechanical Engineers, earned a Professional Certificate in Innovation and Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (USA), am a Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining, United Kingdom, and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, UK. I previously held a Senior Marie Curie Fellowship which focussed on the fatigue modelling of carbon fibre reinforced plastics applied to marine energy technologies.