Curriculum Vitae
Benjamin Joseph Craven
Born 29.1.63, Formby, U.K.
Married, 2 children
Address
49 Broompark East
Menstrie
Clackmannanshire
FK11 7AN
Education
1984 B.A. Natural Sciences Tripos, Cambridge University, Class I
1988 M.A. Cambridge University
1989 Ph.D. Cambridge University
My degree was mainly physics and experimental psychology, with a little chemistry and cell biology. I did my PhD in human vision (control of eye movements).
Open University course units:
1998 Renewable Energy Grade 1
1998 Thermofluid Mechanics Grade 1
1999 Engineering Mechanics: Solids and Fluids In progress
As part of the course Renewable Energy I designed a micro-hydro scheme for a building in the Scottish Highlands, for which I was awarded a mark of 94%.
Previous Employment
January-August 1981 Industrial student at British Gas Engineering Research Station, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.
1988-1991 Research Fellow, Department of Communication and Neuroscience, University of Keele.
1991-1998 Lecturer, Department of Psychology, Stirling University
Current Occupation
In September 1998 I resigned my post at Stirling University to become a full-time student on the M.Sc in Energy Systems and the Environment. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Strathclyde University.
Skills
I have 14 years of research experience. This has mainly been within the fields of human vision and statistics, but I have found that the skills I have acquired have transferred readily to the area of engineering that I am now studying.
In the course of my research I have gained experience of giving conference presentations, and writing technical papers for publication. I have produced 15 publications; I am sole author on 6 of these.
I have 10 years’ experience of programming in C. More recently I have started to learn C++, and I have written one Windows application (a practical package for students on the course I taught at Stirling). In the more distant past I have programmed in Fortran.
I have been teaching for 8 years. While at Stirling I had sole responsibility for the undergraduate unit in Perception. I created this course, which covers vision and hearing, from scratch.
Other interests
I enjoy working with my hands, particularly with wood, and I have built myself a pole-lathe (historical foot-powered lathe) for turning green wood. I have been keen on mountaineering for many years. I particularly enjoy wilderness camping in all seasons.