From a strong family background, Vaughan, the second of three boys, emerged from Auckland University with a civil engineering degree. Working as Site Engineer on a large earth dam construction and Resident Engineer on a hydro-electric scheme offered a crash course in communication skills, never more needed than as Chief Engineer of housing and infrastructure projects in Papua New Guinea. Computer skills were honed writing software programs for a rainfall-runoff model in Swaziland. Settled in North Queensland now, and with spare time from running the squash centre, Vaughan brings to bear his experience of third world conditions, an understanding of people and sense of humour to writing science fiction. Major influences have been: Stable family background. Involvement in large-scale civil engineering projects; collapse of a hydro-electric earth canal was a major disaster resulting in a Commission of Enquiry (which exonerated the construction phase). Regular travel by light aircraft throughout PNG. Working, living and travelling in third world countries; PNG, SE Asia, southern and central Africa. Two wives (different eras).

BE Civil, 20 years experience.
Large earth dam and hydro-electric engineer, NZ.
Chief Engineer of National Housing Commission, PNG.
Writing software for Water Resources Dept, Swaziland.
Owner/Manager of squash centre, Mackay Queensland, 9 years.
First-time published, science fiction novel HUMAN STOCK about CLONING...A Scenario.

HUMAN STOCK is the culmination of Vaughan's concern for where cloning and genetic engineering could be heading, with development gathering ever faster pace since Dolly the sheep happened. The scenario presented is eye-opening, extrapolated also from world events to a World War 3. Could it happen?