Roger gained an MBA with the OU and has a wealth of technical knowledge and commercial and management experience. Alongside his work at Qi3, he recently formed his own company, High Q Systems Ltd, working on space technology development. He has been Sales & Marketing Manager at ABSL Space Products, a market-leading supplier of battery and instrumentation technology to the space sector.
Roger has a BSc in Electrical Engineering Science from the University of Salford, plus an MSc in Microwave Engineering & Modern Optics with Post graduate Diploma from University College London.
Can you tell us about Qi3 and what your new role involves?
Qi3 has been in existence since 1999. I have become an associate of the company to enhance its presence in the space sector - which has been showing continued growth in recent years. We have set up my role of Business Development Associate (so I’m not employed by Qi3) in order to enable me to take advantage of Qi3’s existing position in the space market and to bring my network and skills to Qi3 to expand our network of space contacts and opportunities.
How did you make the transition to where you are now?
I left full-time employment because it wasn’t giving me the opportunities I needed. I created my own company, as I have done several times in the past, to give me the freedom to pursue what I feel are the best opportunities in the space field. Establishing and managing my own company I feel is a creative leap of faith in my own abilities and one that I feel to be fulfilling.
How does your core training in electronics and microwave engineering help you in your current role?
My early engineering education and experience is still very useful to me. Although by no means now a technical specialist, I do need to understand the engineering principles involved in electronics or other engineering areas so that I can quickly understand what those specialists are telling me.
Qi3 has been involved in the planning and prioritisation of technologies required for the Aurora Mars Exploration programme. We’ve identified the ‘sweet spot’ where technology developments for Aurora should be supported in the UK. In particular, we identified robotics and key instrumentation technologies, power generators together with entry, descent and landing modelling and simulation software as key foci. This work for the forerunner of the UK Space Agency led to the prioritisation of funding in these areas, and the subsequent strong UK position in the Aurora programme.
Qi3 has previously been associated with some of the OU space missions. A number of the spin-offs from our space missions have been to improve practical earthly needs – such as air testing kits for nuclear submarines.
Do you think the compact, light and robust batteries used in space technology will ever be developed sufficiently to make electrical cars common-place?
This could be the case, although core battery technology is mainly developed for terrestrial rather than space applications, so the space sector benefits from general advances in battery technology. Nevertheless, the reliability and power management requirements imposed on batteries used in space applications has led to ‘spin-back’ benefits, whereby modifications of batteries for space applications have then been reapplied in terrestrial applications.
Similar to the urban myth of Teflon translating from NASA to the home, have you heard of, or is Qi3 involved in such translation projects? If so can you tell us about one briefly?
Qi3 have been involved in several hundred translation projects from physics and engineering research into industry. Of particular current interest is Geomerics in Cambridge. This company has used geometric algebra techniques developed for analysing astrophysical data and applied it to improved rendition of people’s skin and clothes in computer games. This business has now attracted millions of pounds of venture finance, it employs dozens of people and its first games are on the market.
Often fairly conventional engineering principles can have novel and exciting applications. Have you come across any in the space technology industry?
One of the most interesting of these I’ve come across is a company called Zeeko, which realised that it could manufacture lenses and mirrors with aspheric / conformal surfaces, rather than the spherical or flat surfaces commonly available. The outcome of this is improved optical performance, lower numbers of components required within an optical assembly, lower weight and cost. This has considerable benefits in industrial, defence and healthcare applications, as well as being the basis for novel approaches to telescope design.
Within our curriculum we encourage students to look at the framework of ‘rules’ within which engineers work. These include such things as engineering standards, patent law, environmental legislation and the fundamental laws of physics. How important are each of these laws to the work of Qi3?
Qi3’s work focuses primarily on finding out who wants to buy a technology and why. As a result the focus is on what the technology does, rather than how it does it. The issues above are hygiene factors, i.e. if they are not right, then they will prevent the marketing of the technology, but they don’t provide a driver for people to buy.
Space instruments need to be light, small and robust (able to withstand large variations in temperature) and in most cases durable. How does this affect your material and manufacturing options?
You are right about the need for these parameters to be borne in mind. The space environment is often very harsh and materials need to be able to withstand a range of conditions during the life of the spacecraft, such as thermal, mechanical, radiation, electrical interference and so on.
The launch environment is usually the most stressful period of the mission and materials are used and supported where possible to enable them to withstand the calculated mechanical stresses that will be imposed. During the mission, operating temperatures will follow diurnal cycling, often for many years. This will stress units, where any inadequate assembly processes or design principles could cause units to fail. This is why simulated space conditions are imposed during all levels of pre-launch testing to ensure that designs are rigorous and have margins built in.
Materials also have to be ‘space qualified’ to make sure that they do not out-gas or in any other way impact on their own or other unit operation by releasing volatile materials or failing catastrophically. At the end of the day, experienced space suppliers will start by trying to reduce mass in their early designs and optimise performance, using space qualified materials and components, and then apply space industry standard processes for screening; assembly; test; inspection; performance trending; quality assurance, and so on. This ensures that, as far as is humanly possible, errors and oversights are removed from the design and are not then introduced during the manufacture, assembly and test periods. These requirements are significant barriers to entry for new suppliers to overcome, and something which does not encourage many to enter the space field lightly. It requires experienced space personnel who have been involved in the space industry for many years and applying established principles that have been developed over many previous space missions and seen to work (part of the qualification process, in any case).
And finally, working within such a high-tech arena, what did an MBA do for you?
I started my MBA course with the OU in 1997. For the previous 10 years I had been running a small engineering business, providing satellite systems consultancy services. After many years in the space industry working in technical or management roles, what experience and knowledge I had gained in running a business had been picked up 'on the job' and wasn't necessarily the best way of continuing. I felt that more formal training would be best - both for my career and for the business. So I decided upon an OU Business School MBA.
There were many facets of the OU MBA course that benefited me. More effective time management, as I think many students find, is valuable training in itself. Having to work in small teams of two or three on a case study or other task was good practice - not having time to react to any of the other team members, just getting on and getting the job done together. The courses were excellent, especially the tutorials. Absorbing the written material in my own time then being able to come together to discuss the concepts was a good way of working, especially having to keep down a full-time job and see our daughter arrive as well (she was born 2 days after my first exam). Life is hectic sometimes and education often has to be formed around it to be feasible.
Years afterwards, the same MBA concepts come to mind when facing business challenges, and I'm sure I will continue to benefit from the OU experience in business for many years to come.
Find out more
