Space specialist Robert Hill is the new chair of the Matrix panel in the north.
Matrix is an industry-led panel set up to advise government and inform academia and industry on the commercial exploitation of research and development, and science and technology in Northern Ireland.
The panel he’ll chair (www.matrixni.org) is a collaborative endeavour which brings together key stakeholders from industry, academia and government, with the aim to champion the role of science and technology as one of the key drivers of economic growth locally.
Hill is the current chair of the Northern Ireland Space Leadership Council and the NI Space Special Interest Group (NISSIG) and also holds the position of NI Space Cluster Manager, supported by the UK Space Agency.
He is Space advisor to FD Technologies plc, leading on the Kx for Space program and Trade Advisory Services Space lead for Invest NI, helping companies to navigate the space ecosystem.
He has also acted as regional lead on behalf of the UK Space Agency to develop the Space for Smarter Government Program (SSGP) and is a Regional Fellow with the UK Satellite Applications Catapult at Harwell.
As an ambassador for Visit Belfast, he also helped to bring the UK Space Conference to Northern Ireland for the first time in November 2023.
The Matrix chair appointment, which was made by the Department for the Economy, is for an initial term of five years but can be extended for up to 10 years.