David (Dave) is the Director of the North-East Space Skills and Technology Centre at Northumbria University, a £50m academic, industry and government investment that is set to transform the regional and wider UK Space economy.

Previously, in his military career, David quickly understood the military and civil need for Space and over the last 10 years of his military career he worked with the Space sector full time.

Establishing a Ministry of Defence Space Capability team in 2015, he drove much of the SKYNET satellite communications programme and contributed to the Defence & National Space Strategies and to the Space Industrial Plan.

David also Chaired the NATO Satellite Communications Capability Team. His final military post was as Head of Space Capability at UK Space Command as one of the key leaders to form UK Space Command and deliver their first Earth Observation Satellite and significant improvements to the National Space Operations centre.

Throughout his Space journey, David has been striving to drive UK Space Sector success and increase the number of Space professionals as a key component of sector success, at the Regional, National, Industrial and International levels.