Since visiting the Science Museum at the old Swanston Street site as a child, David has been drawn towards a career combining his interests in history, technology and research. Starting as a voluntary curator at the Moorabbin Air Museum in the 1980s, David completed studies in history and museology before working at the Museum of Victoria on conservation projects associated with the opening of Scienceworks from 1990 to 1993.
With a special interest in aviation, David was fortunate to work for the Australian War Memorial in Canberra between 1994 and 2000 where he coordinated several project teams. These included restoration of the Memorial’s De Havilland Mk.41 Mosquito (A52-319), conservation of CAC Wirraway A20-103 and the relocation of Avro Lancaster ‘G for George’. To assist with disassembly and movement of the Lancaster, David received an ACT Churchill Fellowship to travel to the UK to obtain information from British Aerospace, the Royal Air Force and the Imperial War Museum. David also contributed object research and text to the 1995 Victory in Europe exhibition at the Memorial.
After returning to Melbourne in 2000, David worked for the University of Melbourne before joining the RAAF Museum at Point Cook. There he managed the refurbishment of the museum’s main exhibition galleries and coordinated six temporary exhibitions. Since joining Museum Victoria in 2006 as Curator, Engineering and Transport, David has enjoyed a wide variety of exhibition, research and project work including contributing to The Melbourne Story at Melbourne Museum, preparation of a temporary exhibition on the 50th anniversary of the Mini car and assisting in the operation of heritage machinery at Scienceworks.