Ricky (A.C.) Metaxas was born in Cairo and attended secondary school in Alexandria’s Averofeio Gymnasium. He is an engineering graduate of London University, completing his doctorate at Imperial College, and holds a Life Fellowship at St John’s College, Cambridge. A lifetime in research and academe has resulted in two named awards, a lifetime achievement award, membership of Bologna’s Scientific Academy, two technical books on energy utilisation, the foundation of a European association and numerous peer-reviewed publications in his field of study. He became aware of the plight of the Palestinians as an adolescent in Alexandria during the years following the Suez War.