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Andy Sellars
Strategic Development Director of CSA CatapultAndy joined the Compound Semiconductor Applications Catapult in February 2017, and was appointed Strategic Development Director in September 2018. Andy developed the Catapult’s business case and strategy, submitting it to HM Treasury in 2015 following a 2-year consultation with industry, government and academia.
Andy joined the Catapult from Innovate UK, where he delivered £15m of strategic investments in electronics, smart materials and compound semiconductors. His early career was spent leading R&D teams with Rolls Royce, Spirent PLC and Abbott Diagnostics, and he was prime consultant on film and TV lighting for James Bond and Sky News. Andy holds an Executive MBA from Glasgow University and a Doctorate from Strathclyde University.
Andy recently represented the Catapult during round table discussions with the Prime Minister, and joined the Secretary of State during the GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong.
Martin McHugh
Acting CEO and CTO of CSA CatapultMartin leads the strategic direction of the Catapult, driving its approach to accelerate UK industry’s ability to exploit advancements in compound semiconductor technologies. He also leads the strategic direction of the Catapult’s four key technology areas of power electronics, RF & microwave, photonics and advanced packaging. Martin’s wealth of technology experience has been developed through a host of technical and commercial roles with responsibilities covering the UK, Europe and North America. Prior to joining the CSA Catapult, he headed up business and technology development for Microchip’s (Microsemi Corporation) advanced packaging business where, during his 20 year tenure, he played a key role in transforming the company’s focus from analogue telecoms to wireless digital communications. Martin has also worked on over 30 Innovate UK and EU-funded collaborations worth a total of £50m over a period of 15 years and sits on the Industrial Advisory Board of the School of Engineering at Cardiff University.
Michael Curtis Rouse
Head of Manufacturing for Space at Satellite Applications CatapultMike is the Head of Manufacturing for Space within the Satellite Applications Catapult, he leads on commercial development and evolution of upstream space, focusing specifically on launch vehicles, spacecraft and in-orbit services. He an evangelist for the utilisation of new and disruptive technologies and is the technical architect for the Catapult’s Disruptive Innovation for Space Centre; a holistic strategic capability designed to increase the UK’s manufacturing base for upstream space. Mike has a special interest in net shape manufacturing, with a focus on refractory metals for use in extreme environments e.g. launch propulsion systems.
Prior to joining the Catapult, Mike held a variety of positions manufacturing positions at the Science and Technologies Facilities Council and was the Program Manager for the Harwell Robotics and Autonomy Facility, he was the EMEA Director for 3DSIM LLC an additive manufacturing simulation company (acquired by Ansys in Nov 2017) , and additionally is the Chief Experience Officer for Space Store, a new experiential store dedicated to bringing space to everyone. Mike read Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology.
Dr Chris Brunskill
Head of UK Space Programmes at D-OrbitDr Chris Brunskill is an electronics engineer specialising in small satellite systems and mission design. He obtained a Masters of Engineering degree in electronics and satellite engineering from the University of Surrey and a PhD in space robotics from the Surrey Space Centre. He has been responsible for the development and delivery of a multitude of CubeSat missions, focused in the creation of new satellite applications that utilise state of the art flight, ground and launch technologies for demonstration of new mission concepts. He is now responsible for creating missions that enable new capabilities for space logistics and services at D-Orbit UK. Chris is passionate about open, innovative technology development in the space sector.
Rajan Bedi
CEO of SpacechipsDr. Rajan Bedi is the CEO and founder of Spacechips, a UK SME disrupting the global space industry with its award-winning, Satellite-Communication Products, Design-Consultancy, Technical-Marketing, Business-Intelligence and Training Services. Spacechips successfully showcases and exports British engineering excellence by selling its products and services to over 25 countries. Spacechips won New Company of 2017 and Rajan's inventions won High-Reliability Product of 2016, 2017 and 2017.
Rajan is also the author of Out-of-this-World Design, the popular blog dedicated to Space Electronics. This free education resource is currently being read by 17,000 people each month and has been viewed over 3 million times.
Rajan has previously taught at Oxford University, featured in Who's Who in the World, is a winner of a Royal Society Fellowship and a highly-sought public speaker.
Rajan also helps other entrepreneurs and start-ups to develop and scale their businesses advising on global leadership and how to create and implement strategy.
Lucy Edge
COO at Satellite Applications CatapultAs Chief Operating Officer of the Satellite Applications Catapult Lucy is responsible for supporting enterprises across the UK in understanding and exploiting the potential of space and satellites to create opportunities and transform businesses.
With a background in Physics and Engineering, Lucy’s career to date has involved the launch for satellites that provide communications for much of Europe, the Middle East and Africa and building a satellite operations centre in West Cornwall that operated a fleet of communications satellites.
Lucy serves as a trustee on the board of The Royal Mencap Society and a non-executive director on the board of the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Local Enterprise Partnership.
She is an ardent believer in the Catapult vision “To innovate for a better world, empowered by satellites”. Many see the growing space industry as a potential source of economic growth; Lucy also sees it as a way of improving the future for everyone, and of building connections between people and communities that will transform the way we relate to each other.
Steve Gibson
Senior Business Development Manager at Civil and Military SpaceSteve Gibson is responsible for all Civil and Military Space Business Development at Lockheed Martin (Ampthill), where he manages the strategic and tactical aspects of Business Development of the space activities within the Special Programmes business area. Programmes include RE-entry Descent and landing capabilities, WAAM for Space developments and Skynet 6. As a Business Development Manager, he led a number international space programme pursuits from the UK, as well as developing the relationship with Lockheed Martin Space in the UK and US.
Steve is also a current member of the UK Space Agency Space Science Programme Advisory Committee and the Vice chairman for the UK Space Trade association Space Science and Exploration Committee.
Steve joined Lockheed Martin in 2012 after working for the Space division of the Airbus Group for 9 years including roles in Germany (Munich) and France (Toulouse) and SSTL in Guildford. During his time with SSTL Steve was awarded the inaugural business excellence award for his innovative commercial work on the Chinese DMC3 programme.
Steve has held previous senior Commercial and supply chain roles with BAE Systems (Astute Programme) and GEC Marconi and earlier positions with Pilkington Optronics and Rolls Royce Nuclear Engineering.
Paul Gillespie
Managing Director of Deep Tech PracticeGillamor Stephens is a global executive search company with offices in the Los Angeles, Singapore and London. We build the Boards and Exec Teams for start-up and scale-up companies across the technology spectrum. Our clients can be University or Research Institution spin-outs through to Public Companies. Paul Gillespie leads the global Deep Tech practice and his team are presently building teams in photonics, 5G, EV, flexible displays, AI, IOT and space tech. We are working upstream and downstream with clients including ICEYE, Orbex, Planet Watchers etc hiring key executives into their teams. Paul has a BSc Electronic Engineering and has worked in oil & gas and telecoms as an engineer before founding, building and selling two executive search companies.
Dr Ole Kock
Technical Authority at Teledyne e2vDr Ole Kock is the Technical Authority for Quantum Systems at Teledyne e2v. He has built up the Quantum Technology Team at Teledyne e2v and is responsible for the technical oversight of all Quantum related developments. Projects range from gravity sensors over compact atomic clocks to satellite payloads. He has over 14 years of experience in the field of quantum systems and has specialised early in developing application driven sensors and systems. Previous roles were in the Ultra Cold Atoms Group at the University of Birmingham where he has developed mobile atomic optical clocks with strontium during his PhD and as a Research Fellow.
Advenit Makaya,
Advanced Manufacturing Engineer, at ESAAdvenit Makaya is an Advanced Manufacturing Engineer at the European Space Research and Technology Centre of the European Space Agency. He supports the development of promising advanced materials and processes for space applications in various fields, which include surface treatments, joining technologies, additive manufacturing of metals, advanced polymers and ceramics, in-space manufacturing and in-situ resource utilisation. Advenit previously worked in the aeronautical industry in the UK, performing structural analysis and lifing assessments of critical parts for large civil aircraft engines. Prior to this industrial experience, Advenit was a postdoctoral researcher in Japan, working on the development of processes for bulk metallic glass matrix composites. Advenit received a PhD in Materials Processing from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm Sweden, an MSc in Materials Processing from the Royal Institute of Technology and an Engineering degree from Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France.
Will Richardson
Co-Founder and CEO of Wayland AdditiveWith a background in scientific instrumentation and medical devices, Will has a demonstrable track record in taking new technologies from concept to market. His experience spans the broad range of disciplines required to achieve this: establishing market needs, conceptual development, IP management, building collaborative teams, supply chain development and route to market; while working with a range of clients from small start-ups to global OEMs
Elizabeth Seward
Senior Space Strategist at Airbus Defence and SpaceElizabeth Seward is a Senior Space Strategist at Airbus Defence and Space, responsible for strategic topics across all areas of satellite manufacturing. Previous roles include leading the Earth Observation, Navigation and Science marketing team, thermal engineering and mission systems engineering for future programmes.
Elizabeth is on the executive board of Women in Aerospace Europe and the chair of the UK local group. She is also active in the International Astronautical Federation, sitting on the several committees, including the Entrepreneurship and Investment committee. Elizabeth is the Airbus representative on the Seraphim Advisory Board.
Josh Western
Co-founder of Space ForgeJosh co-founded Space Forge back in 2018 with the sole ambition of harnessing the space environment to drive a new generation of sustainability back on Earth. Space Forge are developing the world's first fully reusable platform to unlock the benefits of space for manufacturing and experimentation at scale. By producing next generation materials on orbit and returning to Earth, a stepchange in humanity's progress is possible which will lead to the clean industrial revolution. Prior to co-founding Space Forge, Josh worked for Thales Alenia Space across marketing and sales and was also seconded to the UK Space Agency where he worked on everything from Critical National Infrastructure to technology harmonisation with European Space Agency member states. Josh has so far managed to meet 8 astronauts