INVITATION ONLY
Join us at the Royal Academy of Engineering for a one-day showcase highlighting the research of current and former awardees of the UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Programme.
This event brings together some of the UK’s most promising early-career researchers who are advancing cutting-edge science and technology in areas that align with government and national security priorities. From artificial intelligence and quantum sensing to biotechnology and advanced materials, these researchers are tackling complex challenges.
Through poster presentations and exhibits, you’ll discover how academic research is being translated into practical applications that support government security policy and practice. It’s also a chance to engage directly with emerging research leaders and explore how science can inform and influence real-world outcomes.
The showcase will also provide an opportunity for government attendees to network with colleagues from other departments engaging in science and technology research, enabling collaboration on topics of common interest.
Attendees will include government stakeholders, Academy Fellows, and representatives from national bodies with an interest in research and broader innovation. Together, attendees will gain insight into the outcomes of this unique programme and the future scientists and engineers it supports at the intersection of science, security and society.
The event is organised in partnership with the Government Office for Science, which supports the scheme.
Programme*
| Time | Action |
| 1.00pm | Registration opens Refreshments served |
| 1.30pm |
Welcome and introductions Dr Christina Guindy - Associate Director, Research Programmes & Awards, Royal Academy of Engineering |
| 1.40pm |
Keynote talk followed by Q&A - Engineering Better Lives – the Academy’s 2030 strategy and National Security Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE - Chief Executive Officer, Royal Academy of Engineering |
| 2.00pm |
Keynote talk followed by Q&A - Understanding the Differences between Threats and Opportunities to National Security Professor Chris Johnson - Chief Scientific Adviser in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) |
| 2.20pm |
Lightning talks by current UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows Introduced by Dr Andrew Powell OBE - Office of the Chief Scientific Adviser for National Security |
| 3.00 pm | Refreshment break |
| 3.00pm | Exhibition opens |
| 4.10pm |
Lighting talks with Q&A – by UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows former awardees Dr Andrew Lamb - Chief Technology Officer & Co-Founder, Delta g Limited |
| 4.25pm | Exhibition continues |
| 4.55pm |
Lighting talk with Q&A – by UK IC Postdoctoral Research Fellows former awardee Dr Edmund Hunt - Senior Lecturer in Robotics, Royal Academy of Engineering Research Fellow |
| 5.10pm |
Closing remarks Paul Taylor CBE FREng - Director of Morgan Stanley and the Lead Trustee for National Security |
| 5.15pm | Networking reception |
| 7.00pm | Event ends |
* Programme is subject to change
Venue and accessibility
It is very important to the Royal Academy of Engineering that our events are accessible to all. If you have any accessibility requirements, please contact the Events team more than one week in advance of this event so that necessary arrangements can be made. Contact details: [email protected].
Further information about accessibility at Prince Philip House can be found at: https://raeng.org.uk/about-us/accessibility.
Diversity monitoring form
The Academy is committed to building an inclusive economy that works for everyone. To help us achieve this, we would like to collect some basic anonymous data about the event attendees. If you would like to help, please complete the diversity monitoring form by logging into your user account on our website and completing ‘Update my D&I data’
Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE
Hayaatun is CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering and Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation. She co-chairs with the Science Minister the government’s Business Innovation Forum and co-chaired with Sir Lewis Hamilton his Commission on improving Black representation in motorsport. She is a trustee of various charities, member of the government’s Levelling Up Advisory Council and Digital Skills Council and NXD at construction company Laing O’Rourke. She has been named as one of the ‘Inspiring 50’ women in tech in Europe and one of the most influential women in both UK engineering and UK tech. She has a Masters in Biochemistry (MBiochem) from Oxford and a PhD from Cancer Research UK/UCL. She is a Fellow of the IET, Honorary Professor at UCL and Honorary Fellow at The Queen’s College, Oxford. She has received honorary doctorates from UCL, Imperial College London, Newcastle, Brunel, Huddersfield and Southampton, as well as a Science Suffrage Award and the Engineering Professor’s Council President’s Medal. She was a finalist for the Veuve Clicquot Bold Woman Award and was made a CBE for services to International Engineering in 2019. Prior to her current roles, she was Deputy CEO at the Academy and served as Committee Specialist and later Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Science & Technology Committee.
Paul Taylor CBE FREng
Paul Taylor CBE FREng has led the delivery of some of the most demanding and highly technical national security programmes in the UK, operating at the very highest levels of government. He is highly qualified to understand the evolving threat environment, as well as having an exceptional track record of driving and delivering technology change in complex organisations. His contribution to the engineering profession was recognised by his election as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering in 2013, where he is a Trustee and chairs the Enterprise Committee. Paul was awarded a CBE in 2023 and was appointed to the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology in January 2025.
Dr Christina Guindy
Dr Christina Guindy is Associate Director, Research Programmes and Awards, at the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK’s national academy for engineering and technology. She oversees its activities awarding prizes and research grants to support talent and innovation for societal benefit. She has led on efforts to improve diversity and inclusion. Prior to the Academy, she was a founding staff member at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), developing its portfolio of research, innovation and education partnerships with institutions worldwide. She was also Assistant Dean, overseeing the growth and operations of KAUST’s Physical Science and Engineering Division. She also held a role at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), supporting approaches to increase mobility between industry and academia.
Professor Chris Johnson
Professor Chris Johnson is Chief Scientific Adviser in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), a role he has held since July 2024. Previously, he served as Pro Vice Chancellor for Engineering and Physical Sciences at Queen’s University, Belfast, and Head of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow. His research focuses on cybersecurity and safety-critical systems. Chris has contributed to the National Cybersecurity Strategy for Aviation and set up cybersecurity labs for the UK Civil Nuclear Industry. He is also a member of the National Cyber Advisory Board.
Dr Andrew Lamb
Dr Andrew Lamb is the CTO and Co-Founder of Delta.g, and inventor of its technology. A physicist by training, Andrew has been key to the development of quantum gravity gradiometers, from world first demonstrations at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 5 to delivering the first industry developed device under contract to the UK Department for Transport. He leads Delta.g’s technical vision, transforming the technology from research prototypes into field-ready products. He has expertise in precision metrology, cold atoms and quantum technologies, and is an alumnus of the Royal Academy of Engineering’s UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research programme. In his spare time, you’ll find him working backstage working for theatres on the design and build of sets.
Dr Edmund Hunt
Dr Edmund Hunt is a Senior Lecturer in Robotics at the University of Bristol, UK, where he also received his PhD in 2016. He is a Research Fellow with the Royal Academy of Engineering (2021 to 2026). His fellowship focuses on the use of multi-robot systems (swarms) for securing infrastructure. During his UK Intelligence Community (IC) Postdoctoral Research Fellowship (2019 to 2021) he developed a working relationship with Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, thinking about the use of robot swarms for securing environments against technical attacks (counter-eavesdropping). Working with another UK IC postdoc alumnus, Timothy Pelham, he is developing technology toward monitoring the electromagnetic environment with swarms and actively exploring opportunities for its commercialisation.
Awardees exhibiting
We are proud to feature a selection of UK Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Research Fellows and alumni at the 2025 Showcase. These researchers are developing innovative, unclassified work that supports national security and intelligence priorities across a broad range of disciplines – including data science, cyber resilience, behavioural analysis, and advanced engineering.
Each presenter will exhibit their research and present a lightning talk. Their projects highlight the power of academic insight applied to real-world challenges and showcase the ongoing impact of collaboration between academia and the UK Intelligence Community. Profiles and research highlights are available below.
