Matt
A Former Driver
BSc, PGCE
BSc Applied Computing - First Class with Honours
An independent computer scientist who specialises in Open Source Intelligence (OSINT), Tutoring and Python programming. After 6 years of work and study I chose to create aformerdriver where I research and analyse publicly available data from the internet, social media and governmental records. To uncover critical intelligence on individuals, businesses or global conflicts, this data is analysed, cleaned, processed and then presented in a concise report. To view my most recent investigations please click here.
To specialise OSINT one must become a Data Analyst with Data Analysis, Management and Visualisation skills, to filter and manage large volumes of raw data, retain what is relevant, analyse it and then present it to the reader. An example of such was creating my own dedicated console App in Python to manage, plot, visualise and calculate distances based off latitude and longitude coordinates.
Formerly, a train driver for seventeen years, I worked for three Train Operating Companies (TOC's) and one Freight Operating Company (FOC). I estimate that I have around a thousand miles of route knowledge and completed around 500,000 route miles. I retired as a 'U' graded driver or uncategorised, the highest accolade one could achieve under the British Rail Standard for safety. I was trained in both electrical supply operating environments, the 750V DC third rail and the 25,000V AC overhead lines. Less common now since privatisation, I am dual qualified in both passenger and freight operations, including typical T3 engineering possessions.
As of October 2026 I am enrolled on a MSc at Lancaster University in Cyber Security. My immediate goal was to secure a place at Lancaster University, where I can develop my skills, in either Cyber Security or defence and security. Furthermore, I would love to grow into the specialist role of intelligence analysis with one of the prestigious intelligence agencies in the UK such as the National Crime Agency (NCA), Counter Terrorism, Force Critical Wanted Unit or Military Intelligence 5 (MI5). I am currently studying applied cryptography using Python.
Away from my laptop I am passionate about mechanical watches and would love to learn some watch repair or restoration skills. I am well travelled having travelled to thirty one countries over thirty years, racking up over 30,000 overland miles or 1.2 times the circumference of the globe. My exercise of choice is the rowERG and I am currently training to achieve a personal best of 07:00:00 mins for my 2KM sprint, the gold standard for amateur rowers.
To relax, I have followed international boxing for thirty six years, having started listening to fights on the radio at just ten years old. I was privileged to attend Joe Calzaghe vs Mikkel Kessler at the Millennium Stadium in Wales in 2007. My greatest boxing regret is never seeing the late Ricky Hatton fight in Manchester or Las Vegas.
"Getting up in the morning and enjoying your day is easy, when you know what stimulates you. "