 A graduate of the University of Glasgow (BSc, 1963; PhD, 1967) and the University of Aberdeen (DSc, 1982), he gained industrial training as an undergraduate vacation apprentice for a firm of electrical contractors at ICI Nobel Division, and with Cossor Radar and Electronics, Harlow.Following graduation he worked for International Research and Development Ltd, Newcastle, as a research metallurgist.He then held research appointments as a Demonstrator and Senior Research Fellow at respectively the University of Leicester, the University of Queensland and the University of Edinburgh

He was a Lecturer (1972–1977), then Senior Lecturer (1977–1980) and Reader (1980-1983) in engineering at the University of Edinburgh, before being appointed in 1983 to the Regius Chair of Engineering at the University of Edinburgh.