David graduated from the University of Sussex with a BSc in Polymer Science. He stayed on to do a PhD sponsored by ICI Plastics, spending the summers working in their laboratories at Welwyn Garden City. As a result of this experience, he joined the British Petroleum Research Centre at Sunbury-on-Thames where he ended up leading a team working on electrically conductive polymers, polymer batteries and non-linear optics.

After 8 years he joined Courtaulds to set up and run their Strategic Research Group. In addition he spent separate years responsible for Carbon Fibre Research (1989) and Performance Films (1992)(in America). After another 8 years he left to join ICI Acrylics as Research Director. That lasted until ICI sold Acrylics when he joined National Starch. He was responsible for research in their Specialty Synthetic Resins Division for 2 years and then became a Director of Group Technology for ICI.

Throughout this time, in addition to his day job he has sat on the UK Governments Technology Foresight Panel for Materials, was President of the Industrial Affairs Division of the Royal Society of Chemistry 2002-2004) and the Co-Chairman of the Strategy and Implementation Board of the Crystal Faraday Partnership on Green Chemistry.

He retired from corporate life in 2004 to develop his growing interest in small, high technology companies. This led to him becoming the Chairman of Oxford Biomaterials and a Director of Apaclara and Spineless Design. He is also an advisor to FirstVentures, a Venture Capital Fund focusing on advanced materials and nanotechnology. In 2006 he was also appointed part time CEO of Materials UK, a organisation set up to implement and develop the work of the Materials Innovation and Growth team. Meanwhile, in 2004, a chance meeting with an uncharacteristically interesting civil servant led to some involvement with the Innovation Group of the DTI. This, in turn, led to his appointment in July 2007 as the Director of Innovation Platforms for the new Technology Strategy Board. He occasionally sees his wife and 3 children!