A Chartered Engineer, Member of the Energy Institute and the Royal Society of Chemistry with 46 years Research & Development experience in combustion and Air Pollution Control, 17 years at the National Coal Board’s Coal Research Establishment, including 3 years training as a patent agent, and 29 years a director of Environmental Development Technology Ltd running R&D projects in combustion and flue gas cleaning/Air Pollution Control. As a Marfan Syndrome patient with aortic dilation, Tal was unimpressed with the options of a Total Root Replacement (TRR or Bentall) or Valve Sparing Root Replacement (VSRR) so set about engineering an alternative. 20 years after receiving the first personalised external aortic root support (PEARS) himself, he is now working to extend this surgical option to a wider group of patients with aortic dilation.