At the start of the Second World War Curran and Joan Strothers, who he subsequently married, went to work at the Telecommunications Research Establishment at Worth Matravers on the development of radar.
In 1944, he moved to the University of California, Berkeley to participate in the Manhattan Project, developing the atomic bomb.
After the war Curran worked at the University of Glasgow and at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston and invented the proportional counter[3] in 1948.
Curran was the recipient of the 1976 St Mungo Prize, awarded to the individual who has done most in the previous three years to improve and promote the city of Glasgow.
He was married to Joan Strothers, a scientist involved with the invention of anti-radar tactics such as Operation Window at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough.