First of all, let me take this opportunity to welcome you to my website. I thought it about time to test my toe in the surf, so while it has taken me a long time to get around to setting one up, at long last here it is!
For those of you who really don't know much about me, JWB stands for Justin W. Buchanan. I'm Northern Irish, hailing from Cookstown, a small market town in the very heart of Ulster. Cookstown's a fairly quiet rural town, apart from Saturday 9 to 5 when travelling market stalls extend commerce onto the main thoroughfare street, grid locking through traffic; which rapidly comes to resemble the M25 on a bad day!
I was born and grew up in the area, schooling at the local Primary and Secondary schools on the Coolnafranky Estate. A fortunate academic I gained entry to Jesus College, Cambridge University after secondary school, but before that I took a gap year working for IBM in Hursley Park, near Winchester in England. Without a doubt, the year as a Pre-University Employee was the most fun year I've ever had, and I will remain indebted to IBM for the professional opportunity, and my PUE peers for a truly unforgettable set of memories.
My time at Cambridge proved to be an education second to none that I could have hoped for; teaching not only academia, but also providing invaluable experience of a wide range of societal stereotypes, both closed and open minded personalities, conventional points of view, and some certainly much less conventional! Nonetheless, I was very keen to break out of the academic fold and enter the big-bad business world by graduation.
I moved to London and spent a rather enlightening year in London working my way through a number of Corporate cultures, but eventually returned to work for a smaller Financial Services software house near Cambridge. In 2000, I moved back to Northern Ireland with a good grounding in database and Visual Basic application development to take up a Business Analyst/Technology Transfer position with Queens University Belfast. See my Curriculum Vitae for further details.
Having missed the academic side of things since leaving tertiary education, I took advantage of the position with Queens University Belfast to re-engage in part-time studies and academically grounded Operations Research. I would be keen to pursue a PhD or Research Associate-ship, but a mortgage and car loan precludes any immediate hope of pursuing this aspiration!
Whilst working with QUB, I also took advantage of the opportunity to play catch-up on a rekindled faith, a path from which I had wandered for a long time, by studying for a Bachelor of Theology degree with Union Theological College. However, subsequent to some git stealing my car while I was in class, I've retreated to teaching Sunday School, and helping out around my local church, Derryloran Parish. I've recently been honoured by election to be the Peoples Church Warden for the year 2003-4, and thus serve ex-officio on the Select Vestry.
Subsequent to working for QUB I moved full time back to the family firm to continue on with the work that had begun with QUB, and also continued to push freelance consultancy services in the field whenever possible. Approaching the end of 2003 the consultancy work was becoming ever more regular, and I decided the time was right to form PrimS Limited to formalise the situation. In March 2004 I moved into PrimS full time; wish me luck!
Once again, welcome to the site. I hope you find lots of interest in it. Please don't hesitate to contact me about anything that you would like to pursue or discuss. I'd love to hear from you.
Peace be with you!
Justin Buchanan, 1st April 2004.