Prof Mark Westwood, pictured, has been appointed the new Director of Theme for Defence and Security at Cranfield University. He will take up his post on March 1. He joined Cranfield in 2021 as Professor of Aeronautics and Head of the Centre for Aeronautics.
He began his career working for the UK Ministry of Defence, within the Defence and Evaluation Research Agency (DERA – later spun out as QinetiQ), where he worked on aerospace research and development across civil and military technology demonstrator programmes. In 2012, he moved into the private sector at the Aircraft Research Association.
He joined the Transport Systems Catapult in 2015 to lead research and development into automated and autonomous transport technologies – working alongside such industrial partners as Nissan on the HumanDrive project – then became Chief Technology Officer (CTO). He has also held external roles as a member of the Civil Aviation Authority’s Environmental Sustainability Panel, a specialist, non-statutory body providing technical advice, and provides advice to the Jet Zero Task Force Task and Finish Group on the commercialisation of hydrogen aviation.
Mark said: “I’m delighted to return to my defence roots in taking on this role. Cranfield University has a rich heritage in defence and plays an important role in supporting the Armed Forces with specialist education. Alongside this Cranfield helps the wider defence and security industry with valuable research and development through our unique knowledge and facilities including Cranfield Ordnance Test and Evaluation Centre (COTEC) and our Shrivenham campus based on a secure military site. This activity has never been more important and relevant in support of sovereign capability. I’m really excited at the prospect of working with our team to build on its world-class reputation and provide even greater impact in support of our partners.”
He takes over from Prof Mark Richardson who is retiring after a 37-year career at Cranfield.
About Cranfield
It’s a postgraduate academic provider to the UK’s Ministry of Defence. It recentlly revalidated its Gold Employer Recognition Scheme status, awarded by the Ministry of Defence to organisations that support the Armed Forces community and share the values in the Armed Forces Covenant.
