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Hi, I'm Matthew West and I've created these pages to provide some information about myself for friends and colleagues who are interested in what I get up to both personally and professionally.

  • I didn't always look like this, so in case you have found this in a search for a particular Matthew West, I provide some information in "Do you know me?" about when I was where so you can see if there is a match.

  • The education and professional section just provides the sort of information you would find on a Curriculum Vitae, for those who are interested.

  • I have spent almost all my working life with Shell, until I took early retirement in 2008. I provide a brief potted history of my time at Shell and more stuff that you might find in an informal CV.

  • Since 1990 I have been involved in developing standards and guidelines for information management, and in particular for data models, initially for Shell, but by 1993 for the engineering industry in general, and the process industry in particular. A focus for this work has been ISO TC184/SC4 - Industrial Data where I have been a significant technical contributor to the data model in ISO 15926, as well as contributing to ISO 18876 and ISO 8000, and being a member of the Policy and Planning Committee. I have also taken an interest in ontology, a key organisation I participate in is ONTOLOG.

  • At the beginning of 2001 I had conferred on me the title of Visiting Professor to the Keyworth Institute at the University of Leeds. I talk here briefly about the Keyworth Institute, and the role I played there for several years.

  • I provide a list of publications. Some are not readily available elsewhere. Also I provide a list of references to other works, together with why I think they are worth reading.

  • I’m fond of aphorisms, and so I give a few of my favourites here.

  • I say something about my personal history, and about my church life. I have usually taken up interests that were available locally, so because I live near the Solent - one of the best sailing areas in the world, sailing is my current major sport/hobby. Specifically, I have sailed an open dinghy, a Wayfarer, round the Isle of Wight in both directions (at different times), and I talk about our experiences doing that. Since retiring from Shell I have bought a 30 foot trimaran, Wandering Glider. You will find pictures here.

  • My Grandfather did a lot of work looking into the West family history. I have made much of this work available including an extensive family tree, a written history of the family, the story of the school in Wrangle, and the Jottings of Isaac Elsom, who mentions many of the Wests.