I’ve recently moved to Auckland (New Zealand), from Birmingham. Some contrast!

Work-wise, I am now based at the Dept. of Chemical & Materials Engineering (University of Auckland). I have moved here to do some research on articular cartilage (the stuff that covers your bones at your joints, to allow smooth gliding, i.e. very low friction, of bone on bone during movement). When arthritis affects a joint this leads to structural changes in the cartilage/bone that lead to poor articulation (i.e. higher friction, as well as pain). The physical properties of the cartilage also change.

Auckland is an amazing place, with some wonderful scenery, for example, from the harbour side (city centre) you can look over the water and see Rangitoto island which has a volcano on it. The Skye tower is the dominant feature of the city sky-line, and people can be seen abseiling down from it. Near where I live, there is Mount Eden (another volcano). Not far from the centre there are beaches at places like Mission Bay or St. Heliers. At the moment I am experiencing a summer here (winter time in the UK) and it really is an impressive place. Although, I have to say Christmas was made for the cold weather, it just isn’t the same in shorts and sunshine.

From what I have seen of New Zealand so far, it really has quite a range of scenery, and having been to Wellington recently, it has some great views over Cook’s straight (towards the south Island). A country with snowy-mountains and beaches can cover everything from winter sports to surfing or just lying on a beach. People here are, not surprisingly, very active.

Of course, on arrival into New Zealand (and my first time in the southern hemisphere), the first thing I did was… to flush the toilet and watch the water go round the ‘wrong’ way!!

      I've been really bust lately with several things, including my heart valve research, supervising a student doing some computer simulations of how your heart and valves behave during blood flow, and preparing for the start of new term (I get to give some lectures on Biomedical Engineering). My research is interesting to work on because we’re hoping it’ll make a real difference in heart valve surgery, using state-of-the-art engineering methods.

      Today, I also had a brief chat to Jo from the Metro, about X Rays and its anniversary (110th anniversary of the X-ray being discovered).

I was based in a Medical Physics department for my PhD up in Aberdeen, and I know their use for scanning or treating patients has helped save hundreds of thousands of lives. X-ray scanning is the granddaddy of all scanning methods used in Medical Physics which help save lives.

      It’s funny to think that X-rays were discovered almost by accident, and anyone who has seen Jackass the movie will recognise their value in finding objects lost in the body…