After an initial career working for the Ministry of Defence on armament research, Stuart joined KeyMed (later Olympus KeyMed); one of the companies pioneering the introduction of flexible endoscopy in the UK. Starting in a junior technical role designing and servicing ancillary products for use in endoscopy, over the next 32 years Stuart developed interests in many emerging device technologies including microsurgery, cryosurgery, ultrasound, angioplasty, fibreoptic and video endoscopy, training simulators, minimal access (keyhole) surgery, system/technology integration, procedural ergonomics, and the patient experience. Towards the end of his career Stuart ran the Industrial division of Olympus working with, for example, aerospace and power generation companies worldwide on endoscope (borescope) inspection technology and remote precision measurement. Stuart retired in 2004 to concentrate on his community and charitable commitments.