Phil is the Shell Professor of Offshore Engineering and Director of the ARC Industrial Transformation Research Hub on Transforming offshore Infrastructure through Digital Engineering (TIDE) at the University of Western Australia. He is a Fellow of The Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the Institution of Engineers Australia, and the current Chair of ISSMGE Technical Committee 209 ‘Offshore Geotechnics’. Phil is passionate about aligning industry and academia to solve challenges facing the offshore sector – and training tomorrows generation of geotechnical leaders.

Among the world's most eminent consultants on offshore geotechnics, Watson led Australian specialist consultancy Advanced Geomechanics for 6 years, growing turnover from $8M to $30M before negotiating its sale to international company Fugro. He then served as Global Director of GeoConsulting for Fugro, spanning onshore and offshore activities, with emphasis on integration, innovation and technology. He now holds the Shell Chair in Offshore Engineering and also OFFshore Hub Director, both at UWA, managing multidisciplinary research teams with key responsibility for industry engagement and delivery of practical high impact research outcomes.