Professor John Dear FREng has been an academic for 35 years in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, at Imperial College London. Prior to joining Imperial in 1988, John was an SERC Research Fellow at the Cavendish Laboratory, Cambridge University where he did his first degree and PhD research with Professor John E. Field OBE FRS. John did his undergraduate and PhD study at St John's College, followed by the Hertha Ayrton Research Fellowship at Girton College, Cambridge. John has been successful in obtaining research grants from the UK and US Government (EPSRC, ONR, MRC & DTI/TSB), European Commission, UK and overseas companies. His research expertise is structural integrity of materials including manufacturing and micro-structural effects. He is Associate Editor of the International Journal of Lightweight Materials and Manufacture. He has published over 400 journal and conference papers (5,725 citations, H-index: 40); contributed to 18 books, supervised 68 PhDs and 22 RAs. Examples include: impact performance of aerospace and automotive components, blast performance of laminated glass facades and composite structures, creep life of materials in power-station plant, water distribution plant and high-strain rate properties of polymers, composites and a wide range of other materials for defence applications and also for medical research.