Dr. James Irvine is a Reader in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, where he heads up the Mobile Communications Group. He is currently working on the UK Mobile VCE research programme, a consortium of cellular operations and manufacturers as Academic Co-ordinator of the Instant Knowledge work area on privacy and trust in new personal communication services. His research interests include security and resource management in wireless systems. He obtained his BEng and PhD from Strathclyde University in 1989 and 1994 respectively, and has worked in the EEE Department there since 1994. In addition to over 200 research papers, he is co-author of two text books and holds 4 patents with a further 3 being pursued.

Dr. Irvine is the immediate past President of IEEE VTS, serving as President from 2008-2009. Prior to that, he was the editor of the VTS Newsletter from 1999. He oversaw its transformation to the IEEE VT Magazine in 2006. One of his main interests is in conferences. TPC Chair of VTC2004-Spring conference in Milan, he has served on the VTS Conference Committee since 2003 and has advised on conference publications since then. Working closely with the IEEE, he was publications chair of the first conference to use IEEE PDF eXpress TM tool in 2004.

Outside of VTS, James chairs the IEEE Educational Activities Board's Engineering Technology & Computing Portals Committee which is responsible for TryEngineering.org, an outreach activity by IEEE to introduce pre-university students and the wider public to the excitement of engineering.

James hails from Troon in Scotland and when he finds the time (which is less often than he or his wife would like) he engages in one of the national sports, golf.