Ken Sorbie is a Professor in the Institute of GeoEnergy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University. He has a first degree in Chemistry from Strathclyde University and a DPhil in Theoretical Chemistry/Applied Mathematics from the University of Sussex. Following this, he did a postdoc at Cambridge University working on theoretical aspects of semi-classical molecular quantum theory. He has worked in oil related research for over 30 years, firstly with the Department of Energy laboratory at AEE Winfrith where he led a group working on improved oil recovery, flow through porous media and reservoir simulation and, since 1988, at Heriot-Watt U. His current research is in oilfield chemistry and he is PI (along with Professor Anne Neville and Professor Eric Mackay) of the Flow Assurance and Scale Team (FAST) joint industry project (JIP). This 3 year, £2million FAST project is sponsored by an industrial consortium of between 15 and 25 companies and was first launched as a JIP by Ken in 1989. Ken also has three other projects on multiphase flow in porous media and on near well water control treatments, funded by various industrial companies. He has published over 250 technical papers on his research (which are all downloadable in pdf format from www.pet.hw.ac.uk) and a book on polymer flooding. Ken has also consulted widely in the oil industry for over 30 industrial companies and is a regular visitor to Companies and Research Institutes in Brazil, Malaysia, Russia, Italy, Norway and the US. He has been invited to be a Visiting Professor at the University of Bergen. He was a Society of Petroleum Engineering (SPE) Distinguished Lecturer in 2000 – 2001 and is a member of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. Ken has been awarded the Society of Core Analysts (SCA) 2004 Technical Achievement award.