Hello World

Life Story. Been there and done that...

I'm a professional mad scientist, engineer, mathematician, programmer, part time capitalist-industrialist and surf bum. Before that I have been a professional student (Auckland University, Caltech), a professor (Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh and Auckland University in New Zealand) and a professional windsurfer (Key West).

Right now I'm working on various books (high pressure gas processing, a sci-fi novel, and one on engineering software), a slurry test rig (for characterizing heat transfer in non-newtonian laterite slurries at high temperatures), transportation systems using methane hydrates, small scale gas liquefaction plants, and a theory of life, the universe and everything.

I live in Stockholm, Sweden most of the year, but spend time in Auckland New Zealand as well. I'm married to Marie, we have a two year old daughter Emily, who occupies much of my time at the moment, along with a newly arrived daughter Amanda, who is keeping Marie very busy. We live in the Old Town of Stockholm, in a 350 year old house, just a few hundred meters from the palace.

(According to the local guidebook: In 1643 Själagårdsgatan 3 was the home of a forgotten couple whose initials JAC BSD, are carved in the carouch above the discreet entrance which they commissioned from the stonemason Johan Wendelstam. Behind the enchanting 19th century facade is an exquisitely renovated building with a medieval cellar which the tenants use for parties....)
The house is also rumored also has a ghost in it, though I haven't encountered it.

I fix gas compressors for fun.

Sweden is a good place to have a family, people still have family values, the government provides a years maternity (or paternity) leave, and the quality of life is generally excellent. (Taxes are high and alcohol can only be bought during the week from the state store, but these are minor disadvantages. After all, the taxes pay for maternity leave, and everyone knows someone who owns a still. And you can still buy low alcohol (3%) beer cheaply in the local market)

Research and Work Interests

On the uniqueness of the square root of a symmetric positive definite tensor
Convergence of implicit-explicit algorithms in nonlinear transient analysis.
The equilibrium field near the tip of a crack for finite plane strain of incompressible elastic solids.
On the ellipticity of the equations of finite plane stress.
Imaging deformations of biological tissues.
Stress related failure modes of bovine pericardial heart valves.
Utilization of biogas and landfill gas in vehicle applications.
Stability of recycle processes in gas compression.
Optimization of cascade fill systems.

Computing.

• Tcl/Tk for general computer tasks.
• If I have any number crunching I revert to c, though I've been playing with java as well. In the past I used FORTRAN a lot.
• latex/metapost/xypic for documents.
• Gnuplot for graphs.
• Maxima (a port of macysma) for symbolic manipulation. (Though if its just a quick integration I use the calc package under emacs)
• The Opera browser.
• Pegasus for email.

Fun Stuff.

• The Hash House Harriers.
  An international running club with a drinking problem (or is it the other way around) Anyway, check it out if you enjoy mild exercise, a few beers and some socializing. (On the other hand, if the thought of drinking a beer out of a running shoe, running through ice cold rivers, getting lost in the woods, or getting trapped by the incoming tide in the middle of a mangrove swamp appalls you, don't bother!)

• Surfing and Windsurfing. I've surfed in Hawaii, California, Australia and New Zealand. There is supposedly one beach in Sweden that gets waves about once a year but I haven't checked it out. I've been windsurfing all over the world but I still head down to Taranaki for the waves whenever I'm back in New Zealand.

• The Waitakeres. I enjoy hiking, and there are good trails in the range to the west of Auckland. I spend a lot of time up there when I'm home. A typical days hike can take you along a kilometer-wide black sand beach, up a narrow canyon to a swimming hole under a waterfall, over bush covered hills, then back to the beach for a final swim in the Pacific surf. Magic.

Things that piss me off

• French Nuclear Testing in the South Pacific. If they're so safe, why didn't you test them outside Paris somewhere.

• Microsoft. I don't use it myself any more than I have to, but I have relatives and acquaintences that do, and I can only conclude that their application software is the cause of an immense loss of productivity worldwide. Being computer literate means being dragged into sorting out problems for people, and the problems can usually be traced to the use of Microsoft bloatware. Programs like TeX and emacs show that stability and simplicity are more important than a plethora of features that only lead to confusion and time wasting.