Chris is a Lecturer in the School of Engineering at Lancaster University, with a focus on teaching and engagement. A lot of his work delivers experiential learning such as student-industry projects, placement years and employability initiatives, all of which include collaborating with external partners. Chris is the Director of Engagement and co-ordinator of the Industry Advisory Board (IAB) for the School. He is also the Academic Employability Champion for Engineering.
Before becoming an academic, Chris worked for 22 years at the cusp of university-industry engagement, fulfilling a variety of roles in knowledge exchange. This included securing, delivering and managing funded programmes to support the development of new products in small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). He has been responsible for managing a variety of funding and multi-disciplinary teams in achieving this ambition.
Chris has considerable experience in delivering experiential learning, via authentic problem-based learning (aPBL) within engineering. He is a Registered Technology Transfer Professional (RTTP) and Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).
ENGR205: Business Development Project - Deputy Convenor
ENGR300/301: BEng/MEng dissertation projects - Supervisor
ENGR311/345: Engineering Management - Convenor
BIOL383: Innovation in the Biosciences - Guest speaker and panel member
ENGR445: Industry-linked Group Projects (UG) - Convenor
ENGR530: Industry-linked Group Projects (PG) - Convenor
ENGR407: MEng Group Project - Deputy Convenor
ENGR570A&B - Dissertation Project for MSc Engineering with Project Managemnet programme - Convenor
Chris’s research interests are in the area of university-industry collaboration and engineering education. He is a part-time PhD student in the Department of Educational Research, supervised by Prof Paul Ashwin. The focus of this research is on the role, impact and interaction of Engineering graduates with innovation in SMEs.
External Examiner - University of Greenwich, 2024-2028
External Examiner - University of South Wales, 2022-2026