January - April 1990
I went over to Essen, in Germany, for a research position at the Institut fuer Experimental Mathematik. My project here was to use the meat-axe to attempt a particular problem (the 2-modular characters of the Suzuki group) to see how the methods would perform when new and bigger computers were used for new and bigger problems.
Many hours of fairly routine work conviced me that the method (later called the peak-word method) would work, but that significantly more automation would be needed first! I spent some time in Aachen explaining all this - to Klaus Lux, in particular - and I was hoping to spend a year later on in Aachen building it.
May - July 1990
After a few weeks at home in Cambridge, I decided to take the Humboldt research position in Aachen. At this time, as I soon found to my cost, the wohnungsnot - a critical shortage of living accommodation throughout Western Germany - was in progress, and my task of finding accommodation suitable for a family of six, which was likely to be a nightmare at the best of times, proved hopeless. The problem was caused by the dissolution of the frontier between East and West Germany, and the resulting flood of people to the West. On one occasion when I looked round a flat that was to let, there were 5000 people staying in the local School, and I was told that my priority was not high enough! I therefore abandoned my research position after 2 months, and returned to England.
July - December 1990
My mathematical and PAW (1987) work in parallel processing had led me to apply to Tim King previously for contract work. This time, I applied and was immediately taken on, initally as project manager, on a contract basis, of a project to read utility meters by radio. This was the very beginning of the project, and the early investigative work started in libraries to get on top of packet radio, coding, encryption, routing, urban radio reception, safety, and a myriad of other issues of obvious relevance to the project. I soon put together a list of 45 major issues to be addressed, which made rather depressing reading! Work continued in 1991.