He is also a scientist at Telecommunications Research Laboratories in Edmonton. His primary research interests are memory technology, digital logic testing, and voice-band signal processing. Previously, he designed automatic test equipment and fault detection software for Mitel Corporation, Kanata, Ontario. Cockburn graduated from the Queen's University at Kingston with a BSc in engineering physics. He received MMath and PhD degrees in computer science from the University of Waterloo. He is a member of the IEEE and the Computer Society.