Tech Talk with Dr Al: Introducing Alan
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Members,
I am so excited to announce a new expert column by one of your favourite writers, member Alan G! This column will focus on all things technological. If you have any questions or topic suggestions, we’d love to hear from you.
For those who aren’t familiar with his background, here’s a quick summary from the man himself:
I was told by my primary school teacher in England that, like Marty McFly in Back to the Future, ‘You’ll never amount to anything!’ We emigrated to Australia in 1955 when I was 11, and I was lucky enough to be the dux of my primary school, also topping English and Maths. I was doing very well at North Sydney Boys’ High when my parents decided to return to England in 1958. Grammar School was followed by university and a distracting interest in girls and my little Austin 7 car, which I called ‘Tinkerbell’. I worked as a ‘roustabout’ at Butlins and sold ice creams from a Mr Softee van in and around Brighton during University vacations. I’d learnt to play the guitar and composed a large number of forgettable songs that I tried to get published in the West End of London when I should have been studying! It was in Brighton that I met my lovely wife, and my ‘real life’ started.
I worked on Flight Simulators and in other electronic companies that made use of my education; then, with a wife and small child in tow, we emigrated to Australia in 1969.
Thanks to Gough Whitlam’s abolition of tertiary education fees in 1974, while working as a technician at Channel 7 in Sydney, I was able to complete my Bachelor of Engineering degree and invented an ‘eye-blink’ device that allowed cerebral palsy patients to communicate. On the basis of that, after having perfected and miniaturised the electronics, I appeared on the Kerry Ann Kennerley show on Channel 10, took part in several radio interviews and was taken to lunch by the president of the Whistler Corporation in the US, who had seen the TV spot while on holiday in Hamilton Island. The reason for this was that I’d mentioned that the device could be adapted for long-distance truck drivers to help them stay awake. I signed a ‘Letter of Intent’, but the whole idea fell through when the company changed its focus on innovative ideas and the President left. I’d also been to an interview with James Hardy, but that also came to nothing.
I was the Education Manager of the Gravity Discovery Centre in WA for a few years – a venue brilliantly conceived by Professor David Blair (a leading figure in the discovery of Gravity Waves) – that focuses on Einsteinian rather than Newtonian Physics.
As well as the several talent competitions I took part in when I was younger (playing either Shadows music hits or singing my own songs), I also took a turn at acting in local dramatic society plays. I was ‘Norman’ in the Alan Bates play: ‘Round and Round the Garden’ and Austin Proctor – the lead – in ‘Cousin Vladimir’ at Castle Hill Theatre Company. Prompted by the experience of another actor, I appeared in a TV advert for the (then) R&I Bank.
I have been writing short stories for a local magazine:,The Gingin Buzz in WA, for about ten years, and a novel called The Magic Hourglass is a work in progress.
I was also lucky enough to be able to enrol at Curtin University as a part-time student, taking advantage of the ‘fee-free’ Doctorate offered by the Federal Government and obtaining a Doctor of Science Education degree in 2019.
What of the future? I really hope to become a published author – it’s on my ‘to do’ list – but if I do nothing else for the next twenty years (hopefully), I wouldn’t have changed a thing. We have a lovely life in Brisbane and regularly visit our two children in Sydney’s West.
From the Editor
Now you’ve officially met member Alan G, the SDC’s new ‘tech guru’! I hope you’re all as excited as I am for his upcoming articles covering topics from solar panels to smartwatches.
We were only able to create this content because of the financial support of SDC Rewards members. If you'd like to see more of this (and a lot fewer ads!), please consider supporting us and signing up for SDC Rewards today—it starts at just 14 cents per day.Tech Talk with Dr Al: Introducing Alan
I am so excited to announce a new expert column by one of your favourite writers, member Alan G! This column will focus on all things technological. If you have any questions or topic suggestions, we’d love to hear from you.
For those who aren’t familiar with his background, here’s a quick summary from the man himself:
I was told by my primary school teacher in England that, like Marty McFly in Back to the Future, ‘You’ll never amount to anything!’ We emigrated to Australia in 1955 when I was 11, and I was lucky enough to be the dux of my primary school, also topping English and Maths. I was doing very well at North Sydney Boys’ High when my parents decided to return to England in 1958. Grammar School was followed by university and a distracting interest in girls and my little Austin 7 car, which I called ‘Tinkerbell’. I worked as a ‘roustabout’ at Butlins and sold ice creams from a Mr Softee van in and around Brighton during University vacations. I’d learnt to play the guitar and composed a large number of forgettable songs that I tried to get published in the West End of London when I should have been studying! It was in Brighton that I met my lovely wife, and my ‘real life’ started.
I worked on Flight Simulators and in other electronic companies that made use of my education; then, with a wife and small child in tow, we emigrated to Australia in 1969.
From Alan’s time working at Butlins Holiday Camp in Bognor Regis, Sussex. Image Credit: Member Alan G.
Thanks to Gough Whitlam’s abolition of tertiary education fees in 1974, while working as a technician at Channel 7 in Sydney, I was able to complete my Bachelor of Engineering degree and invented an ‘eye-blink’ device that allowed cerebral palsy patients to communicate. On the basis of that, after having perfected and miniaturised the electronics, I appeared on the Kerry Ann Kennerley show on Channel 10, took part in several radio interviews and was taken to lunch by the president of the Whistler Corporation in the US, who had seen the TV spot while on holiday in Hamilton Island. The reason for this was that I’d mentioned that the device could be adapted for long-distance truck drivers to help them stay awake. I signed a ‘Letter of Intent’, but the whole idea fell through when the company changed its focus on innovative ideas and the President left. I’d also been to an interview with James Hardy, but that also came to nothing.
I was the Education Manager of the Gravity Discovery Centre in WA for a few years – a venue brilliantly conceived by Professor David Blair (a leading figure in the discovery of Gravity Waves) – that focuses on Einsteinian rather than Newtonian Physics.
As well as the several talent competitions I took part in when I was younger (playing either Shadows music hits or singing my own songs), I also took a turn at acting in local dramatic society plays. I was ‘Norman’ in the Alan Bates play: ‘Round and Round the Garden’ and Austin Proctor – the lead – in ‘Cousin Vladimir’ at Castle Hill Theatre Company. Prompted by the experience of another actor, I appeared in a TV advert for the (then) R&I Bank.
I have been writing short stories for a local magazine:,The Gingin Buzz in WA, for about ten years, and a novel called The Magic Hourglass is a work in progress.
I was also lucky enough to be able to enrol at Curtin University as a part-time student, taking advantage of the ‘fee-free’ Doctorate offered by the Federal Government and obtaining a Doctor of Science Education degree in 2019.
What of the future? I really hope to become a published author – it’s on my ‘to do’ list – but if I do nothing else for the next twenty years (hopefully), I wouldn’t have changed a thing. We have a lovely life in Brisbane and regularly visit our two children in Sydney’s West.
From the Editor
Now you’ve officially met member Alan G, the SDC’s new ‘tech guru’! I hope you’re all as excited as I am for his upcoming articles covering topics from solar panels to smartwatches.
We were only able to create this content because of the financial support of SDC Rewards members. If you'd like to see more of this (and a lot fewer ads!), please consider supporting us and signing up for SDC Rewards today—it starts at just 14 cents per day.Tech Talk with Dr Al: Introducing Alan
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