Digital Catapult’s Board of Directors has appointed Professor Keith Jackson (pictured) as its new Chair. Professor Jackson will succeed Juergen Maier CBE from May 2025.
A successful entrepreneur and engineering leader, Jackson brings wide ranging experience from industry and academia to Digital Catapult.
He co-founded the successful startup business Pi Technology, which grew to provide engine control systems used in millions of vehicles around the world and designed a £10 million industry 4.0 digital manufacturing project for Meggitt, working with IBM and the Innovate UK Catapult Network’s AMRC in Sheffield and MTC in Ansty.
At Meggitt, Jackson developed a digital manufacturing project called M4 that optimised the manufacturing life cycle across supply, outsource, assembly and in service operation. He also conceived a project designing new thermal management systems for next generation aircraft engines and secured a patent for a noise-cancelling, 3D printed engine valve. Other projects included optical sensing and advanced composite manufacturing.
Professor Keith Jackson comments: “It’s an exciting time to join Digital Catapult and I’m looking forward to working with the Board and management team as we drive the practical adoption of deep tech. My range of experiences – as a startup founder and in multinational companies – has given me a distinctive perspective about how best Digital Catapult can support businesses, academia and the UK’s innovation community to drive economic growth and deploy deep tech into the fabric of critical UK industries. I can’t wait to get started!”
Jackson is Chairman of Ilika, an AIM listed solid state battery development and manufacturing company. Until recently, he was a Royal Society sponsored Visiting Professor of Enterprise and Entrepreneurship at The University of Sheffield’s Automated Controls and Systems Engineering department, helping students to turn engineering technology into business ideas.
He is an active guest lecturer and mentors leaders at both startups and large industry players. Previous roles also include Chief Technology Officer at Rolls-Royce, where he transformed processes and principles to deliver technically and commercially game changing products and services.
Susan Bowen, CEO of Digital Catapult says, “Keith’s experience driving real-world impact of game changing solutions aligns perfectly with Digital Catapult’s direction of growth. We are looking forward to shaping the future of deep tech together. On behalf of the Board and the entire Digital Catapult team, I would like to thank Juergen for the generosity of his time, experience and energy over the past six years, steering us to this point. We look forward to working closely with Keith to drive Digital Catapult’s ambition to lead the practical adoption of deep tech to stimulate growth for UK PLC.”
Gary Cutts, Interim Executive Director for Digital and Technologies at Innovate UK, comments, "Keith's experience crosses multiple engineering disciplines and a computer science background that he has applied in his own startup, in academia and in large industry. His work at the forefront of digital twins and complex systems will be an asset to Digital Catapult as it further deploys deep tech for impact across the Industrial Strategy and growth sectors. Scaling innovation from the lab into commercial success is critical for UK growth and productivity and we welcome Keith's contribution."
