Institution of Mechanical Engineers, London
Free and open to all
Overview
Space starts just 60 miles above our heads but getting there presents humankind with some of the toughest engineering & material science challenges ever faced. Getting humans to the Moon and our nearest planet means the challenges become even greater. Without the protection of the Earth’s atmosphere, outer space presents a really tough environment: extremes of temperature, vacuum and cosmic radiation. Even zero gravity, which might seem a fun effect to enjoy, presents our bodies with significant life-threatening problems and unusual physiological effects. In this fast paced lecture Oxford Space Systems’ founder & CEO, Mike Lawton, will explore how the space industry is overcoming the challenges, when you’ll be able to buy your first space diamonds and when we’ll be able to go on a return trip to the Moon.”
Day 1
17:30 - Registration
18:00 - Lecture Begins
18:45 - Q&A Session
19:00 - Lecture Ends
Mike Lawton: CEO and Founder, Oxford Space Systems
Mike Lawton is founder-CEO of Oxford Space Systems (OSS), an award-winning, early stage space technology business. This is Mike’s third technology business, with previous ventures including a remote telemetry business built around an idea he had at university and a biofuel technology business that led to a joint-venture in India, which won Mike the title of Green Entrepreneur for India 2009.
OSS a private equity backed business based at the Harwell Space Cluster in Oxfordshire, is developing a new generation of deployable satellite antennas & structures that are lighter, less complex and lower cost than those in current demand. This is achieved by combining the company’s space-proven, proprietary materials with origami engineering techniques. As well as numerous international awards, OSS holds a space sector record for the fastest time from a new material concept to successful demonstration of the material in the form of a new product on orbit in less than 30 months.
Mike was awarded Barclays Bank Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year in Dec 2017 for the progress and ambition of Oxford Space Systems. He is keen supporter of STEM activities in schools and colleges across the UK and believes in the need to excite the UK’s future generation of engineers and scientists. Mike lives in Oxfordshire with his wife in a house he describes as a ‘overrun with adopted cats’.
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