I first met Shôn in October 1973. I had just started Part III of the Cambridge Mathematical Tripos – a post-graduate course that was retrospectively awarded a Masters’ Degree in Mathematics. After a summer job working with Ted Broadbent on aircraft noise at the Royal Aircraft Establishment in Farnborough, I had decided do a PhD in Aeroacoustics. I asked Sir James Lighthill for advice and he told me that he was now focused on biomechanics but a new professor had recently arrived in the Cambridge Department of Engineering and that I should ask him. I made contact with Shôn, saw him in his office that afternoon, and he agreed to supervise me for a PhD. As quickly and simply as that, I was on a path that for me was transformational, not only an exciting research future, but the start of my transition from mathematics into engineering. Throughout my career, Shôn continued to be a major influence on me as he has for many others.

我第一次见到 Shôn 是在 1973 年 10 月。我刚刚开始剑桥数学三项课程的第三部分——这是一门回顾性授予数学硕士学位的研究生课程。在范堡罗皇家飞机研究所与 Ted Broadbent 一起研究飞机噪声的暑期工作后，我决定攻读航空声学博士学位。我向詹姆斯·莱特希尔爵士寻求建议，他告诉我他现在专注于生物力学，但剑桥工程系最近来了一位新教授，我应该问他。我与 Shôn 取得了联系，那天下午在他的办公室见到了他，他同意指导我攻读博士学位。就这样快速而简单地，我走上了一条对我来说是变革性的道路，不仅是一个令人兴奋的研究未来，而且是我从数学过渡到工程学的开始。