David Thompson graduated in Mathematics from the University of Cambridge. He worked for British Rail Research for nearly 10 years mainly in the acoustics team. At this time he obtained his PhD at the ISVR as an external student. The title of his thesis is "Wheel/rail noise - theoretical modelling of the generation of vibrations". He then spent over six years at the TNO Institute of Applied Physics at Delft in the Netherlands. He continued to work on railway noise and vibration, developing and validating the TWINS computer model for rolling noise generation on behalf of the European Rail Research Institute, and developing a prediction model of the noise reradiated by steel railway bridges. Both of these models have been used to design intrinsically quieter structures (wheels, tracks and bridges) a number of which have been implemented in practical tests. He also contributed to research into noise path quantification using advanced measurement methods for both airborne and structure-borne transmission paths. In 1996 he returned to the UK on taking up an appointment as Lecturer at the ISVR. He was appointed Reader in 2001 and Professor in 2004. His current research interests continue to be dominated by railway noise and vibration, including rolling noise reduction and the further development of theoretical models to achieve this. Other areas of interest include wheel/rail roughness growth, curve squeal, bridge noise, vehicle interior noise and ground vibration. He is Programme Organiser for the MSc in Sound and Vibration Studies. He also teaches on undergraduate and Masters courses at the ISVR and acts as a consultant to industry.