Nicos Ladommatos studied for his first degree in Mechanical Engineering at Queen Mary College, followed by an MSc and PhD from Imperial College. From Imperial, Nicos moved to work as a Project Engineer with Arup before moving to Brunel University to take on the post of Lecturer. He became Head of the Mechanical Engineering Department in 1994, Dean of the Faculty of Technology & Information Systems between 1998 and 2001 and then Pro-Vice Chancellor, Research & Enterprise between 2001 and 2003, all at Brunel University. At the beginning of 2004 Nicos moved to UCL where he held the Kennedy Chair and was the Head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering for 10 years until September 2013. Nicos continues to teach mechanical engineering and carry out research in combustion and fuels.