Athena Swan Lecture - The Tech Triangle: Academia, Industry and National Security

Lecture

The Tech Triangle: Academia, Industry and National Security

Exploring how changes in the innovation and research environment are driving changes within the National Security Enterprise. How does government respond?

Running order

13:30 - 14:45 – Arrival, registration and networking

14:45 - 14:55 – Introduction to the Speaker by the President, Professor Sir Anthony Finkelstein

14:55 - 15:45 – Lecture (B200)

15:45 - 16:00 – Q&A led by the Executive Dean (School of Science & Technology)

16:00 - 16:10 – Vote of thanks to the Speaker Professor Jessica Jones Neilson, Assistant Vice-President (EDI)

16:10 – event closes

Speaker bio

Professor Danielle George CBE FIET is a Professor of Radio Frequency Engineering and Associate Vice President at the University of Manchester. She was the 139th President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) between 2020-2021 and currently a Vice President of the British Computer Society (BCS).

After completing her PhD in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, Professor George worked at Jodrell Bank Observatory as a Senior Radio Frequency Engineer until 2006 when she took up a lectureship post in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University Manchester where she was awarded a Professorship at the age of 38.

Professor George is involved in the $1 billion astronomical instrument, the Square Kilometre Array, is the UK lead for amplifiers for the $1 billion Atacama Large Millimeter Array telescope and has worked with NASA and ESA to develop instrumentation for researchers exploring the Big Bang. She also worked with agriculturists to develop instrumentation to measure water usage, and completed projects with multinational companies, such as Rolls-Royce, where she worked on industrial gas turbine engines.

Professor George gave the prestigious Royal Institution Christmas Lecture in 2014 and the Cockcroft Rutherford Lecture at the University of Manchester in 2016. She received a number of awards, including the Rooke Award of the Royal Academy of Engineering for public promotion of engineering (2016), Harold Hartley Medal of the Institute of Measurement and Control (2017), and Michael Faraday Award of the Royal Society (2018).

Professor George was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2016 and  Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2024 for services to engineering through public engagement. Her passion for raising public awareness of the positive impact engineering and science on all aspects of our lives, as well as highlighting to young people the immense depth and breadth of opportunities a career in science and engineering can offer, has led to numerous current high-profile ambassadorial roles.