During World War II, Rowe worked for the RAF, and did a part time HNC in mechanical engineering with Liverpool Technical College.
[2][3] After being demobbed from the RAF, Rowe joined Manchester College of Technology as an undergraduate in chemical engineering, graduating in 1949.
Rowe continued his education, joining Imperial College London to complete a PhD under the tutorage of Dudley Newitt.
[3][5][6] In 1958, Rowe was made the principal scientific officer at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment at Harwell, Oxfordshire.
While at the establishment, Rowe worked on the ideas of fluidisation that had been promoted by John Davidson, proving some of the theories using innovative experiments.