Craig Underwood graduated from the University of York in 1982 with a BSc degree (II.1) in Physics with Computer Science. After gaining a Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) from York in 1983, he began a teaching career at Scarborough Sixth-Form College where he developed satellite activities.
In January 1986, Craig joined the University of Surrey as a Research Fellow responsible for the generation and maintenance of software for the UoSAT Satellite Control Ground-Station. He became Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society in 1987. In 1988, as a Senior Engineer with Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL), he became responsible for mission analysis and the thermal design of the UoSAT spacecraft, including: UoSAT-3, -4, and -5, KITSAT-1, S80/T, HealthSat-II, PoSAT-1 and FASat-A. From 1990 he has been the Principal Investigator of space radiation effects on the UoSAT satellites, and he is currently completing a PhD on this topic. In 1993, Craig became a Lecturer in Spacecraft Engineering, and is pursuing research interests in space radiation and satellite remote sensing.