[1] He studied mechanical sciences under Sir Alfred Ewing, graduating with honours in 1904.
In 1905, he travelled to Egypt to work with the Cairo-based Government Irrigation Service as Surveyor of Contracts in Gharbia.
He later became involved in using water for hydroelectric power generation, taking charge of the first heightening of the Aswan Low Dam.
He was also resident engineer on the Gezira irrigation scheme, which included the Sennar Dam on the Blue Nile (he was awarded the Telford Medal by the Institution of Civil Engineers in 1927 for his paper on this project).
[1] He died in a London nursing home on Saturday 5 November 1949,[1] and was buried in St Mary Magdalene's churchyard in Faceby, a few miles from his Yorkshire birthplace.