Allan likes to claim to be a "spanner-wielding knuckle-dragger" given his Mechanical Engineering background (having lived in Clare Memorial Court twenty years ago) and has fifteen years in wound healing dealing with Chemical, Mechanical, Electrical, Software and Embedded Systems. At Smith & Nephew for the last six years, Allan manages the Engineering Research and Innovation team for Wound Management where his remit is to fail-fast and create the future.

Smith & Nephew is a portfolio medical technology business that exists to restore people's bodies, and their self-belief. Smith & Nephew has leadership positions in Orthopaedics, Advanced Wound Management and Sports Medicine, more than 16,000 employees and a presence in more than 100 countries. Annual sales in 2018 were $4.9 billion. Smith & Nephew is a member of the FTSE100 (LSE:SN, NYSE:SNN). For more information about Smith & Nephew, please visit our corporate website www.smith-nephew.com  and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.