Robert is currently the Director of the Materials KTN. He was previously an industrial secondee to the DTI as Chief Analytical Advisor in the Materials and Manufacturing Policy Unit, during which time he was responsible for the Materials Technology area. Robert has over twenty years of industry experience working in Polymers, Steel and Aluminium. He has held a number of senior management posts in product and market strategy, product and applications development, manufacturing process development and customer technical services. He was awarded the British Technology Group Prize in 1985 for his PhD research in high energy density batteries. Robert was a key member of the Materials Innovation and Growth Team (Mat IGT) that developed the UK Strategy for Materials in 2006.