Colin

Hobbies

I'm interested in far too many things and rarely have adequate time to follow-up on any of these interests. However, a few of these interests have turned into hobbies, projects and some just stay as general interests that I try to follow-up whenever I can. Here are a few:

    • Photography - I've always been interested in Photography. Actually since I was old enough to hold my Grandfather's wonderful Voigtländer camera. It has great knobs and dials to turn and many mysterious gadgets and lenses. I learned a lot about photography from him. I bought my own first Camera when I was about 18 - an Olympus OM10. This was really fantastic 1st camera. In the good old days I even developed my own black and white photos and joined an evening school so I could developed my own colour slides and printed on cibachrome paper. I was was a member of the Marconi camera club during the period I lived in Chelmsford. I now have a Sony NX3 - which is compact and light and takes good pictures. It has so many automatic features hidden in sub-menus that I alway forget how to use them, so normally after a quite frustrating fight with the damm software, I end up turning the camera into manual mode Not really what photography is all about ......so I'm now looking for something really basic and simple to use - something that just takes pictures.

    • Painting, Sketching, Drawing and design - My first studies were in engineering design and have always retained a passion for design, drawings and painting. This is now one of my favourite hobbies.

    • Motorbiking - At the age of about 15, when there was no Internet or computers, I use to repair old motorbikes as another one of my hobbies together with my mate Jeff Rosen. We had great fun with Vespas and Lambrettas and even an old 250cc Suzuki for off-road fun. My first legal road bike at the age of 16 years old was a Puch moped. I then bought an RD200 Yamaha when I was 18 and which I did my motorcycle test on. Then I bought a classic Honda 400x4 motorbike when I was 20 and rode sorund the UK for 1 month: up to John-o-Groat and Lands-end. I've always loved the thrill of biking and still do. I now have a Yamaha Virago 550 which I take for a spin now on sunny days. It's rather a dull bike so I'm now itching to get something much bigger .... Triumph or BMW....mmm

    • Gliding - Since a teenager I loved flying radio controlled aircraft...so when I took my M.Sc at Cranfield Institute of Technology (which had it's own airfield) I just had to learn to fly. Luckly student had subsidised rates, so any free time I had during studies was spent on the airfield.

Yes - that's me at Cranfield airfield in 1990

    • Microlighting - This is just great ...much more fun than gliding...but with the same 'flying by the seat of ones pants' feeling.

    • Sailing / Boating / Canoeing - I did canoeing course in 1982. Started sailing when I lived in Chelmsford and am RYA certified Day Skipper. Coastal sailing theory I took back in 1985 and finalised my competent crew in 1998 and day skipper practical saliing course in 2008. Also took RYA motor boat course in 1993 in Rochester when I bought a 18ft weekend motorboat.

    • Mechatronics - In 1997, when I visited California, I bought a book in PaloAlto about microcontrollers and robots and got interested in microcontroller programming. This complemented my electro-mechanical engineering design experience.

    • Clockmaking - I took my first clock apart when I was about 9 years old and mangaged to get it back together again. Since then no clock was ever safe in the house. This turned into an interesting hobby of clock repairing and clock making which got me a chance to talk to Prince Phillip!

    • CNC Woodworking Projects - Some projects I've completed on my CNC machine

    • KineticART - I admire art that moves - a combination of all my internets into one topic. This is often labelled kinetic art or kinetic sculptures. When I've completed some projects I'll post these here.

    • Jogging - I started jogging in 2011 and still manage to prioritise this most mornings for at least 1/2 hour and on Sunday for an about an hour. My aim is to be able to run 1/2 marathon in Dec 2012. It feels really great after a jog in the forest where I live. I often see deers and occasionally even a fox or wild boar. The method I used to start running was from a Belgium initiative called 'Start-to'Run'. I found this simple approach worked for me. They recommend realistic jogging targets with walking breaks in between and to biuld up over several months to 5km then 10km then 20km.

    • Hiking - Something I really enjoy when the weather is nice. I currently have day trips but am considering a longer walk along the Eifelsteig - a well documented Pilgrim route starting from Kornelimünster to Trier with a distance of 313km! It has Over 15 stages (between 14 and 29 km), the Eifelsteig heads from north to south, through valleys and over high plateaus, hilltops and through dense forests, open landscapes with sparse grassland and junipers - a joy for every hiking enthusiast. The route holds very true to its motto - water and rock accompany hikers every step of the way. As it literately passes my front door - this is something I really need to plan!

Home Projects

  • Gardening: Front Garden Project, Back Garden Project, Irrigation System

Other Interests

  • Organisational Change Management

  • Publications:

    • Multimedia: An assessment and Manufacturing business application 1993 JAI Press, ISBN 1-59939-273 Volume 2 pages 233-260 Advances in Computer Integrated Manufacturing -

My CV

    • German and English CV's