I come from a large family - I have six brothers and sisters! This is us gathered for Christmas 1998. I'm the one at the bottom next to the dog.

I was born in a little country town by the name of Kaeo in the far north of New Zealand, and raised on a large drystock farm just north of the Bay of Islands. It was there that I learnt about gunpowder and its many uses.

But sadly this had to come to an end as I packed up my bags for the Big Smoke (Auckland) at the tender age of 17. Mechanical Engineering was the call. I did my bachelor's degree and then straight on to a master's degree with my research thesis entitled "The Economic Optimisation of Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine Design Parameters", which I completed in 1994.

However, an academic degree is only half of a qualification. Feeling the need to work in a mechanical engineering type job for a few years I started with Fisher & Paykel straight after submitting my thesis. I worked in their Laundry Products division for nearly 4 years, and was primarily focused on vibration issues and future product ideas. I found this work very fulfilling, but eventually the call of further research became too strong to ignore.

In high school my real passion had always been physics, but being an idealistic teenager I felt I would be more able to change the world if I studied engineering. I do not regret doing the engineering (perhaps I will even be a better physicist for it), but the time was now ripe to broaden my horizons and start my PhD in physics.

Not wanting to stay at Auckland University for fear of appearing to have lived an academically sheltered life, I began considering options for overseas study. Following the advice of a former Univeristy of Queensland physics student I enquired here about possible research options - and here I am. My first year of research got off to a slow start (quantum field theory can be a bit daunting to a injunear) but I am now making good progress in my field of research (which forunately involves classical equations).

But the above isn't really the whole truth. Personally I believe that the universe didn't just happen - but that someone invented the rules, and that this same someone designed me personally and has put me here for a reason. Call this person God if you will. All of us have free will to do what we want with our lives, but I choose to honour my creator through giving myself back to him; I try to follow God's leading in my life. Ultimately this is why I am here. I have much more to say on this topic, but it is better said one on one. Please feel free to talk with me about what I believe, either in person or by email collecug@physics.uq.edu.au