Alex graduated in agricultural engineering from Newcastle University in 1973. As a student he developed an interest in environmental issues and in systems analysis and modelling. He completed an MPhil at Reading University in 1978, a systems analysis investigating nutrient recycling in an agricultural production system. 

Alex organized the 2003 ISTVS European conference held in the UK. He completed a PhD in off-road vehicle dynamics at Cranfield in 2005. After retiring in 2010, as a senior lecturer in engineering at Harper Adams University, he took some short-term teaching contracts, including at the Asian Institute of Technology and at Kaziranga University in Assam. More recently HE have helped develop the digital services of the ISTVS and considered the issue of climate change and off-road vehicles.