Humans of Warwick - Mark Williams

Professor Mark Williams

WMG

“Using the technology we have here, I've helped on over 400 police investigations."

“I never expected to be at the forefront of X-ray CT or 3D scanning. In fact, I remember saying when the first CAD machines came out that it wouldn’t take off. How wrong was I?

I wasn’t the most academic at school, and didn’t do my A-levels. I went down a different path and straight into an apprenticeship as an engineering technician. I was a draughtsman, in a room with about a hundred others, working on these big draught boards and paper. So maybe it was inevitable that I moved from 2D to 3D!

I’ve been at Warwick for 22 years and with the capabilities we have here, we really do get involved with everything and anything. The bulk of what we do at WMG is automotive and aerospace, but we’ve also diversified into health care, looking at surgical implants and scanning human movements. We work with museums as well, creating replicas of rare artefacts so they can be handled. That can be the skull of a dodo or the death mask of the last woman hung in Coventry!

I suppose what most people are interested in is the police work though. I can’t really go into too much detail on those for obvious reasons. What I can say is that the work is incredibly challenging and high pressured but also very rewarding. I was really pleased to receive the Chief Constable award from West Midlands Police for the groundbreaking work we’d done with them with our 3D printing and scanning technology. It was confirmation that we’re making a difference and justified all the hard work that we do to establish the truth.

I used to be a big fan of the real crime programmes on TV but now working so closely in the field I don’t tend to watch them as much. Ironically you can find me on them now, I’ve been on both Expert Witness and Forensics: The Real CSI, they’re oniPlayer and they’ll give you an insight into the forensics that we do here. Give them a watch and if you want to know anymore, please ask.

I’m lucky, I work with a great team and have some amazing colleagues from across the University. I know it’s a bit of a cliché, but no two days are the same. You can be working on the next generation of cars and aircraft or visiting a museum to look at a rare exhibit one day and giving evidence in a murder trial the next! It really is as diverse as that.

Outside of the University I like to switch off with a good book on military history. I know that doesn’t sound very relaxing but it’s something I’ve always had an interest in. I also really enjoy classic cinema and settling down in front of a black and white movie.”