David is a condensed matter physicist working in the UK photonics sector.

He currently leads the engineering side of Causeway Sensors, a spinout from Queen's University Belfast that is developing nanoplasmonic protein sensors for the biomanufacturing industry.

David also sits on the Executive Board of the Smart Nano NI consortium, a £63.9M UKRI Strength in Places Fund project to enhance the nanomanufacturing and photonics research capability in Northern Ireland.

He is an active member of the Belfast startup scene, consulting on a wide variety of tech companies, most recently a zero-emissions delivery infrastructure project. David also previously founded Northern Ireland's first hackerspace, Farset Labs, and was a trustee of the charity for a decade, with a mission of providing technical education and resources to children, young people and adults alike.

Outside of the day job, David enjoys photography, sewing and, for some strange reason, helping organise conference logistics.