THE University of Strathclyde’s Dr Malcolm Macdonald has been appointed as a non-executive member of the UK Space Agency’s steering board.
Macdonald is director of the university’s Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications (SoXSA), and will fill the role until June 2020.
The UK Space Agency is responsible for developing and delivering the government’s civil space policy, working with the European Space Agency and other international organisations and agreeing with UK industry how to maximise the benefits of space technologies.
As home to SoXSA – one of Europe’s largest space engineering research groups – Strathclyde has close ties with a growing number of internationally recognised space companies based in Scotland, with the sector supporting about 7000 jobs north of the Border.
Macdonald, who holds a degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a PhD, said: “Joining the Steering Board at this time is an exciting opportunity to help steer the UK through the challenges of the next few years.
“The UK faces a challenging period of transition in the coming years as we exit the European Union, yet at the same time there are exciting new opportunities within a rapidly changing global space sector.
“But the UK has a strong space sector, a sector that has shown itself robust to economic shocks and challenges, growing at eight per cent per year throughout the global financial crisis of the last decade.
“It continues to grow at similar rates, and, if I may say, higher in Scotland.The UK is home to world-leading universities and technology companies, employing highly skilled scientists, technologists and engineers across the country.
“I look forward to playing my part in guiding the UK space sector to an even more prosperous future.”
Macdonald led the development of The International Handbook of Space Technology, a comprehensive handbook providing a holistic understanding of modern spacecraft, and is the only European associate editor of the Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics, the top-ranked archival journal in Aerospace Engineering.
His work focuses on the development and application of space mission systems to challenge conventional ideas and advance new concepts in the exploration and exploitation of space for the betterment of life on Earth.
He is a registered European Engineer, a Chartered Engineer, a member of the Young Academy of Scotland, a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and an associate fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA).
Last year he was awarded the 2016 Royal Society of Edinburgh Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane Medal in recognition of his “outstanding research work in the development and application of space mission systems.”
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