Mike Simpson

Research Software Engineer Newcastle University

Hi there! My name is Mike. I’m a 2025 SSI Fellow, and have been part of the RSE Community since I attended my first RSE Conference in 2017.

I am also someone who understands the importance of looking after your mental health, and what can happen when things go wrong. In 2011, my life was turned upside down in the space of a few short weeks, triggering a prolonged period of depression, anxiety and insomnia, and it took years of hard work and therapy to recover and turn my life around. Then, in 2020, I became a father, just a few weeks into the first of the UK’s national lockdowns during the COVID-19 Pandemic. You can read more about my experience in this blog post, but it led to burnout and an anxiety attack.

I have spoken openly about my mental health, including writing about it in blog posts, short stories and other resources, many of which are linked to in the posts below. I believe it is important to smash the stigma around mental health in general, and men’s mental health in particular.

Because of my experiences, I know first hand the challenges faced by RSEs, how they can impact our mental health, and what can happen when it all becomes too much. That is why I applied for the SSI Fellowship, so we can learn from my experiences and the experiences of others, and help make sure that no one else has to go through what I did.