Carol Marsh (EngD 2005-09)

Carol Marsh’s EngD programme is funded by EPSRC and the FPGA High-Performance Computing Alliance (FHPCA), an alliance of high-tech organisations working to develop new computer solutions using FPGAs.

As part of the project, a new type of ‘supercomputer’ will be built. The project could revolutionise the development of applications to help with processing requirements in areas such as defence, medical imaging and mobile telecoms. Carol’s contribution to FHPCA, with her sponsoring company Algotronix, will be research into novel technologies for the protection of design information sold as ‘IP cores' for FPGA chips.

With over 20 years’ design experience under her belt, Carol enrolled on EngD in autumn 2005, via a route that was very different to many other students. She has demonstrated that with the right skills, experience and motivation, EngD is viable for many engineers, and is not the sole reserve of ‘traditionally-qualified’ younger graduates.

After completing an HND at Napier University in the early 1980s, Carol began her career with Marconi Instruments, Donibristle Industrial Estate. Following the completion a company sponsored MSc in Digital Techniques at Heriot-Watt University, and a career break to start a family, Carol returned to work full-time and was promoted to increasingly senior technical positions. In 1991, she started working as an FPGA engineer. Carol said “FPGA technology was very new at the time, and it was great to work in such a groundbreaking area. I found the work exciting and challenging; it sparked an interest and I knew it was an area I’d enjoy working in”.

Carol remained with the company, now Selex, as an FPGA engineer ‘troubleshooting’ on various projects until 2000, when she was headhunted by ECS Technology, South Queensferry to specialise in FPGA design. She also enrolled on ISLI’s MSc, gaining the postgraduate diploma with distinction-level grades while continuing to work full-time.

While investigating a project to complete the MSc, Carol heard about FHPCA, and the possibility of doing an EngD. Carol said “It made sense to do the EngD – it was industry-based and I had so much experience to offer. I had considered a part-time PhD once I’d finished the MSc, but this opportunity was really exciting, it just seemed like an ideal solution”.

“Initially, I didn’t think I could apply; because I don’t have an undergraduate degree, but then I discovered that EngD values industry experience as well as formal qualifications. I talked it through with my tutors, and they convinced me to apply”.

Senior staff who interviewed Carol for EngD could see that although she had not completed an undergraduate degree, her industry experience and MSc passes demonstrated that she had the right experiences for EngD research. She was then selected for sponsorship by Dr Tom Kean of Algotronix who holds over 20 US patents in FPGA architecture and has published many papers on the applications of FPGA chips to computing problems.

Of her EngD experience to date, Carol said “The research work is beginning to grow, and working with Tom and my academic supervisor, Prof John Soraghan at Strathclyde University has been very rewarding. I’ve attended two major conferences, and plan to return next year to present on my work. So far, EngD has proved to be everything I hoped it would be.”