Entrepreneur Jackson is new Digital Catapult chair

Jackson, who succeeds Juergen Maier to the role in May, chairs battery developer Ilika, co-founded engine control systems provider Pi Technology and designed a £10 million industry 4.0 digital manufacturing project for Meggitt.

At Meggitt, he developed the M4 digital manufacturing project, designed new thermal management systems for next generation aircraft engines and secured a patent for a noise-cancelling, 3D printed engine valve.

Jackson has also been involved in optical sensing and advanced composite manufacturing, was chief technology officer for Rolls-Royce Jackson and a Royal Society sponsored visiting professor of enterprise and entrepreneurship at the University of Sheffield’s Automated Controls and Systems Engineering department.

His Meggitt digital manufacturing project also involved collaboration with IBM and the Innovate UK Catapult Network’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre in Sheffield and the Manufacturing Technology Centre near Coventry.

Jackson commented: “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.”