About Mark Bell
Mark in Hawaii
Hi, I’m Mark Bell, and welcome to my website – my online CV.
I’m from Northern Ireland, and I am currently employed as a Research Fellow at the Queen’s University of Belfast (which is part of the Russell Group University) in the field of aero-acoustics. I recently completed my PhD, and have passed my Viva (pending corrections)!
That’s what I’m up to at the minute. Before that, I had a pretty normal life for a kid in the UK. Seven years at primary school, then 7 more years at a secondary school. I passed out with a handful of GCSE’s and A-Levels. After that I went to university, eventually earning my Master of Engineering (Aeronautical Engineering) in 2006.
Outside of academic life, I taught myself how to develop websites. I started out with HTML, then worked through CSS and some Javascript. PHP was next, and it’s really gone from there. I run wordpress because I haven’t the time at the moment to finish the content management system I had planned. As such, I generally try and teach myself anything I can, both out of career development and personal interest. When I have spare time, I enjoy numerous sports. I’ve even tried playing ice-hockey!
I have a personal website for two reasons. The initial reason was because I had taught myself all of my web development knowledge from books and research – no official training. Obviously when applying for jobs, without the paperwork to show I can do it, it’s having to trust my word. I started my website as a way to show off that I can actually do what I say I can do. A portfolio, if you wish.
The second reason – which is more to do with why this is more of a blog than website – is because I have found myself being a bit of a go-to guy with friends and family. People come to me for advice, like studying for their PhD, or wanting websites done or fixing their computers. I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to share my knowledge with others. Part of my job as well means I have to teach undergraduates aerodynamics. I really enjoy teaching people – especially those who want to learn!
I aim to share anything I can and be as transparent as I can through this website. I want to provide you with something of value, something that has helped you. Whether thats learning how to blog, or reading up on some of my travel stories, or my ramblings about studying, or whatever I write about. I hope you can take something from this to help you on whatever adventure your life brings.