Music is one of my big pastimes - this is me playing a borrowed guitar during a physics conference.
Introduction
Hi! I'm Colin.
I've been tutoring maths on and off since I was in high school - originally family friends, then more formally at university and as a researcher. When I left academia in 2008, it was an obvious way to make ends meet while I looked for a 'proper job' - but I soon found that teaching maths was far more enjoyable than real work.
Maths background
I studied Maths with French at the University of St Andrews (I graduated with a 2:1 in 2000) and went on to do a PhD there, which I finished in 2003. I then spent four years as a physics researcher at Montana State University - I studied the structure of magnetic fields around the Sun and how they might store energy for release in solar flares. My main contribution to science was a simple equation that about six people worldwide will ever have a use for, but I can at least say I have an equation named after me.
That was one of the reasons I left - what I was doing wasn't really helping anyone apart from me and my boss. As a tutor, I feel like I'm making a genuine, positive difference to students' lives. There's nothing quite like a 'lightbulb moment' when a student suddenly says "Oh! That's easy!" and we both know they understand.
It's also nice to be my own boss.
Outside of maths
When I'm not teaching, I play a lot of music - I'm a keen singer/songwriter and am currently trying to learn to play the mandolin. I'm also supposed to be in training for a half-marathon, but I'm injured. And I mess about on the computer a lot, mainly programming and putting together websites like this one, although Stick Cricket does tend to distract me more than I'd like.