I had a father who from an early age instilled into his children that they can do anything, be anything as long as they always try hard and be the best. Plain good was never good enough - you had to be the best - top of the class or else... He had a passion for storytelling at bedtime, of epic adventures, of history and pre-history, of heros and mathematicians, of scientists and engineers... he could tell such great stories, be it of Napoleon or Archimedes or Edison or Marie Curie and turn them all into breathtaking adventures... he always said that real engineers could take a scientists theory and turn it into reality, that engineers were people to look up to, that it's engineers that build civilisations...

In that vain, my earliest recollection was probably at the age of around eight, milling about an old secondhand bookstore with my father, and out of boredom I picked up a very old copy of 'Practical Wireless' which was much thumbed and tatty lying in a pile of old magazines in the corner. It made a change from Superman and DC Marvel comics and my father mistakenly thought I was interested in it and bought it. I suppose I felt guilty that my father had spent what little money he had on it, so it at least deserved to be looked through... and with a little help from my father and an old tramp that lived in the neighbourhood who always turned up on a Saturday afternoon (in the knowledge that Mom had a heart of gold and would feed anyone who knocked on her door) with a seemingly endless supply of ancient junk Radio's, TV's and all kinds of peculiar machines from which I could canibalise parts, I built the valve radio set from that magazine and the rest I suppose is history...

I ended up with a passion for starting with a blank piece of paper, and creating something new... it's a great feeling when something rolls out the door that came straight from your imagination...

And yes, it IS for the money too... very much so... my parents never had any, and what little they did have they invested it into putting food on the table and for their children. I'm sad that my parents will never see what happened to their little girl, but I owe my success, drive and determination to them. I miss you Mom & Dad.