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I was born in Edinburgh, Scotland on December 1st 1981 and have lived there for most of my life.
My surname is pronounced Kek-ren (the Irish gaelic version) not Kee-rin (the Scots' gaelic version) which is what most people think at first.
I have recently returned to The University of Edinburgh to undertake a PhD in Informatics.
My research is a continuation of the work I did for my MSc thesis and involves the analysis of software and hardware designed to protect sensitive information.
I originally graduated from The University of Edinburgh in June 2003 with a joint Honours Degree in Artificial Intelligence and Computer Science.
I then spent nine months working at ITC-irst in Trento, Italy where I was part of the team responsible for the on-going development of NuSMV, an automated tool for systems verification.
I returned to Edinburgh and continued to work for the institute from home, until I went back to university to undertake an MSc in Artificial Intelligence.
I gained a pass with distinction, before working for the School of Informatics for two months where I continued with the research I had carried out for my thesis.
Before moving to Italy, I played golf regularly at Ratho Park Golf Club where I have been a member since 1997.
My current handicap is 12, although I haven't had the opportunity to play as much as I would like in recent years.
My other great sporting love is football, and I have been a fan of Hibernian FC all my life.
I used to play football for my school and local boys' club but had to give it up when I went to university as I did not have enough free time.
I am a huge fan of Calvin and Hobbes, a very intelligent cartoon strip written by Bill Watterson, which is sadly no longer continued.
A comprehensive introduction and overview of their world is given in this Wikipedia article which also discusses the influences and politics behind the strip.
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