Hi, I'm Martin Eyles. I'm 28 years old, and working at Bytronic Automation Ltd. Prior to this I studied for an MSc in Informatics and Control in the Control Theory and Applications Centre at Coventry University (which I achieved with Merit) and a BSc in Physics at the University Of Warwick, for which I got a 2(ii). You can find out more about this in the academic pages of this website.
I am from Leamington Spa, which is quite near to both universities, and I am living at home. (In the first year of the physics degree I stayed in halls, which was great, but home is cheap!).
I am a Christian, and worship at St. Paul's Church. I was baptised there in 2005, as a sign of belonging to Christ (see my blog and photos of the event). In the past I have also been involved with Radford Road Church, Coventry University Christian Union, Warwick University Christian Union , and Christian Focus .
One of my main interests outside work is music, liking many different types. I play the French Horn, and while at Warwick university, took the opportunity to play in some of it's fine musical ensembles. I still play in the University of Warwick Symphony Orchestra. As well as creating music I love listening to it, so I have a large collection of CD's and Records. More recently, I have started dancing to the music too. I started off by going to Ceroc in Leamington on a Monday and now got to ballroom classes at the Leamington Dance Centre on Sunday Evenings. I recently acheived the highly commended grade in my first bronze ballroom/latin award.
I also am interested in computers, enjoying the programming aspects of my work, generally tinkering around and also making this website.
Another interest of mine is Science Fiction and Fantasy. I'm a big fan of Star Trek, Star Wars and Babylon 5 (see also JMSNews) and now Heroes. I also quite like doctor who. I enjoy watching/reading this genre, but I'm not the type that dresses up as and learns to speak as a klingon to go to conferences - that's a tad too far!
The sports I am interested in are Formula 1, and Snooker. I have been supporting the driver Michael Shumacher in formula 1, one of the most gifted drivers of recent times, as he brought Ferrari back from nothing to champions. However, with his time now ended I am enjoying the battles between Hamilton, Massa and Raikonnen. I quite like playing snooker and pool, although don't end up playing snooker very often (in fact it may have been a couple of years now), and I'm awful at both, but never mind. I quite like ten pin bowling too. If I'm feeling energetic walking is good too. Going to the gym fizzled out a bit. Luckily I now have dancing as an allie against belly formation.
Another recently discovered hobby of mine is reading. I didn't really do much of this (except magazines and books on physics) till late on in my physics degree, but more recently have read quite a few books. Particularly good were "1984" by George Orwell, "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby and "The Lord of the Rings" by JRR Tolkien (The book is better than the film - The film is brilliant, but the book is better than brilliant). As I write this, I'm currently reading "His Dark Materials". Also, I am trying to dig a little deeper into my Bible, as until now I have really only scratched the surface. I still read magazines about my various interests, and now I even read the odd blog.