Dr Hamish Porter is currently Deputy Head of Physics at Edinburgh Cancer Centre. He graduated from the Universities of Edinburgh, Stirling, Oxford and London in both physics and chemistry. His Ph.D. was in experimental electron and x-ray physics. He has held lecturing and research posts at the Universities of Manchester, Pittsburgh and Oxford, mainly in radiation physics. He moved to Edinburgh in 1999. His main interests are in the physics of linear accelerators, particularly control systems, and in radiotherapy safety. He was the radiotherapy editor of the Medical & Dental Guidance Notes and has contributed to several IPEM reports.