James is a mechatronic engineer who studied both undergraduate and masters degrees with the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UCT. During this time he focused on control systems, and embedded hardware and software development. Following his masters he spent two years independently contracting on various embedded systems, software, research and education projects before joining the Department as mechatronics lecturer in 2020.

Whilst James’ primary research takes place within the MechatronicSystems.Group, he is currently affiliated with CME with regard to developing instrumentation capabilities on the Jominy End Quench and the Scanning Electron Microscope in partnership with Sarah George.