Eddie completed his undergraduate studies at the Queens University of Belfast. He obtained a BSc in Pure & Applied Physics in 1984 and an MSc in Opto-Electronics in 1985. He joined Unilever Research in Colworth House in 1985, where he worked on the Corporate Research Program, and gained his PhD at Leeds (1994) on a part-time basis.
In 1996, Eddie moved to Unilever Research Vlaardingen in the Netherlands were he spend time in various roles in different foods categories, including a six month secondment to the biggest margarine factory in the world at the time, Nassaukade, Rotterdam.
In 2002, Eddie became the department Director of the Product Structuring Group. The group had 50 scientists who were responsible for creating the innovations for future products. Eddie was also on the Vlaardingen Laboratory management team which set strategy, and ran the lab operationally for 400+ scientists.
In 2008, Eddie moved out of a food based research role to cover the research of home and personal care, and became the Global Strategic Science Director for structuring across all of Unilever R&D. This role was one of interacting with external experts, such as academia and new start-ups. He fulfilled this role until 2017 when he left the company.