Tom's research focuses on belonging and mattering in STEM education, inclusive pedagogical innovation, AI integration in chemistry education, design thinking methodologies, and the student experience. His work employs Mode 3 knowledge production principles, emphasising transdisciplinary collaboration between academia, industry, government, and civil society.

His PhD - Object Identity: Deconstructing the 'Hartree Differential Analyser' and Reconstructing a Meccano Analogue Computer - explored the materiality of Meccano as both toy and scientific instrument, using oral history and museum studies approaches to challenge conventional histories and co-curate new public narratives with the Meccanomen community and global audiences.