Kent branch: Committee
Here are the members of the Kent branch committee.
Chair
Eur Ing Bob Eager CEng CITP FBCS MIET
Bob studied for a degree in Electronics at the University of Kent, and by the end of his first year had become deeply interested in computing; so much so that he spent most of his final year modifying a minicomputer CPU to ‘improve’ it.
This naturally led to a Master’s degree in Computing at the University of Essex, followed by an invitation to some further work back at Kent. This involved a lot of low level fiddling with PDP-11 systems (among others), which included operating system modification and development.
He became a Lecturer in Computer Science at Kent in 1978, and was heavily involved in rolling out the EMAS operating system on the University’s ICL 2900 mainframe a year later, as a replacement for the doomed VME/K system. This was the source of much fun, especially the installation of a second processor (and the related reverse engineering of the microcode to discover the programming interface to do this). Further amusement was caused by his discovery of a design flaw in the processor (never admitted by the manufacturer) and his engineering of a microcode fix for this.
Bob went on to manage the University's VAXCluster for six years, before moving sideways to spend ten years as Master of Darwin College at the University.
Through all this time, he continued to teach such diverse subjects as computer hardware, operating systems, compiler writing and a few other things.
Bob has been a consultant for numerous companies, including BT, Olivetti, Pfizer, RHM Foods, and several others; the most notable was probably McCormack and Dodge (later Dun and Bradstreet Software Services) where he implemented a core part of their Millennium system.
He is still an unreconstructed geek; he is a member of the Computer Conservation Society, and likes talking about, and playing with, seriously old, large and underpowered computers.
Secretary
Roger Burnett CITP MBCS
Roger is a chartered member of the BCS. He has over thirty years’ experience in the IT industry; for the last twenty, he has been working for a large corporation, responsible for the design, engineering and implementation of enterprise-wide infrastructure projects. This has included global deployment of managed Windows clients, in multiple languages, Office 365, System Center Configuration Manager and a solution to manage multiple web browsers via a combination of Microsoft’s Group Policy and third-party tools.
He is a firm believer in maintaining high standards of quality and professionalism in all aspects of IT project and service delivery.
Treasurer
Matthew Boakes MBCS
Matthew is relatively early in his computing career, and is currently a research associate at the Alan Turing Institute within the Trustworthy Digital Infrastructure for Identity Systems project.
He is studying Biometrics for National Identity Systems, focusing on voice. His primary interests are cyber security, biometrics, and artificial intelligence. He recently completed his PhD at the University of Kent on the 'A Performance Assessment Framework for Mobile Biometrics' project. In addition, he is a committee member for the development of BSI IST/44 and ISO SC 37 WG5 biometric standards.
Matthew is also passionate about cyber-related security and is Certified in Cybersecurity (CC) and an external supervisor for CIISec CyberEPQ projects.
He has also achieved awards for his higher education teaching at the University of Kent. He has assisted modules from the School of Computing and Engineering, ranging from foundational to Master's level. He has published work in IEEE Transactions journals and at ICPR conferences.
Inclusion Officer
David Clegg MEng, MBCS
David was inspired to study for an MEng in Electronics at the University of Liverpool by his father who is a university professor in the same subject.
After graduating he worked at a NAMAS accredited laboratory in Manchester, carrying out safety testing of consumer electrical devices to various British and European standards to demonstrate compliance with the low voltage directive. He then took up a role for a large electrical importer involving safety and performance testing for their product range.
He subsequently relocated to sunny Kent after securing a job as a registration engineer (active devices) at a large medical company. This involved preparing dossiers to enable the company to register/legally sell their products into countries across the globe.
He eventually worked for 20 years at Bradstow residential special school in Broadstairs as an IT Manager and latterly more focussed on data management/protection. Whilst at Bradstow he trained to be an EFQM Assessor for the European Excellence Award and was involved with a small team in assessing a large company for the UK Excellence award. David is passionate about the benefits of engaging with the European Excellence Model and continuous improvement in general.
Having recently being made redundant from Bradstow, David set up his own small consultancy advising and helping organisations implement effective information governance / data protection compliance.
Having been inspired by his own father to enjoy technology he is glad that his own son works for a large IT managed service provider in Kent, so they can bounce ideas off each other.
He is a multi-instrumentalist and singer at Canterbury Baptist Church and helps teach music to some of the young people. He spends far too much time reading the Financial Times and needs to spend more time joining his wife who has some fancy road bikes to keep fit instead.
David is passionate about inclusion and hopes to bring energy to the role as Inclusion Officer at BCS Kent branch!
Committee (Education)
Tina Eager CITP MBCS MIET FSET FHEA QTLS
Tina started in computing as a commercial COBOL programmer. She moved into designing, testing and implementing multi-user data processing systems, including database administration and the use of other programming languages.
Subsequently, she became a further education lecturer, course tutor and programme manager. This included setting up distance learning for overseas candidates in BCS examinations.
Further teaching was at a variety of schools, mainly teaching older students in ICT and computing. This included the development of links with local businesses, and in later posts being the head of the computing department.
More work followed in further education, including curriculum leadership and development on computing and engineering courses, culminating in appointment as Programme Area Manager in Engineering in a further education college.
She is currently a senior lecturer in computing at a university in Canterbury, and Programme Director for Software Engineering there.
Committee
Reece Downs MBCS
Reece Downs is a Software Delivery Specialist at CIS Security Limited,where he leads the end-to-end delivery of custom internal software solutions that enhance operational efficiency across the organisation.
His role focuses on project planning, stakeholder collaboration, and ensuring that the systems developed meet the strategic needs of the business.
Reece began his career as a Technical Support Apprentice at CIS Security, providing first- and second-line IT support while contributing to internal development initiatives. During this time, he gained hands-on experience in web development and IoT projects, supporting the transition of multiple manual processes into automated digital systems.
Across his professional journey, Reece has worked on a wide range of
full-stack development projects, applying his technical and analytical
skills to improve organisational workflows, modernise internal tools, and support data-driven operations.
He holds a Level 4 Apprenticeship in Software Development from BPP
University and a Level 3 Diploma in Information Technology from London South East Colleges. He is currently working toward a Bachelors degree in Digital Technology Solutions with a focus on Technical Consulting. With a creative background in Art & Design, Reece brings a problem-solving approach that blends technical understanding with thoughtful, user-centred design.
Committee
David Pearson MBCS
David is a chartered member of the BCS, and also a chartered engineer (CEng). He has over 30 years working in the software industry, and has significant client facing experience in IT consulting, solution architecture, software and sales engineering roles. He works at Red Hat <https://www.redhat.com/en> as a senior account solution architect, where he helps partner organisations leverage Red Hat?s portfolio and Open Source solutions at scale, to drive business value. He is active across many open source communities covering the Swift programming language, containerisation, virtualisation and developer portals. He is passionate about professional standards in the IT industry, and in addition to his role with BCS Kent, is also the treasurer for the BCS Open Source Specialist Group. He is a certified Open Group TOGAF Enterprise Architect, a technical author, a creative and critical thinker with a proven track record of innovation, including many patent disclosures and enjoys volunteering / mentoring / people and community development.
You can connect with David via his blog at davpears.blog
