Better business for a better world
NOC Innovations exists to make cutting-edge marine research and bespoke autonomous technology available to organisations around the world.
But not at any cost.
It’s paramount to us that we pursue our purpose in ways that are socially and environmentally responsible. Otherwise, what sort of world would we be helping to create?
Our board of governors is responsible for ensuring we never deviate from our path, and that our operations always reflect our core values.
Huw’s in charge of NOC Innovations’ business development strategy and overall trajectory.
Throughout his career, he’s worked in a variety of commercial roles for a number of large engineering organisations – Rolls-Royce, Safran, and Praxair Surface Technologies, to name a few.
At the latter, he was responsible for the commercial strategy for the UK business across all markets, including aerospace, oil and gas, industrial gas turbines and general industry.
Julie studied for a BA in Commerce at Napier University in Edinburgh, and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).
She began her career in finance before moving into research over 25 years ago, initially working with the British Geological Survey to commercialise its portfolio.
One of her main areas of interest is the sustainability of publicly funded research establishments, having worked with the original Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) team on the reform of the dual support funding system. Her work there included the introduction of TRAC (Transparent Accounting) and its implementation into the RCUK Research Institutes.
Julie then went on to work at the NERC Research Ship Unit, heading the Finance and Operation team – and, following a period as Deputy Director Finance at NERC Head Office, Julie then joined NOC in a Director role in 2013.
In addition to her Director role, she’s worked as the NOC lead (chairing the board on behalf of NERC for a period) on the Governance, Responsibilities and Ownership Programme which looked at the future independence of the Research Centres.
Maaten joined NOC in 2005 as an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) development engineer, and has been involved in all aspects of AUV development and operation.
In 2013, he was promoted to the head of the Marine Autonomous and Robotics Systems facility, where he now oversees the operations and developments of the AUV, subsea glider, unmanned surface vehicle and tethered system fleet.
Doug joined the NOC executive team in July 2019 as Associate Director for Research.
Doug’s worked in Southampton for nineteen years, initially for the University of Southampton and for the NOC since 2010. He trained as a geochemist specialising in trace element cycling in marine systems, and has extensive experience in running collaborative research projects across Europe, having coordinated three large European funded projects alongside other NERC and commercially funded research.
Much of Doug’s work has been in the development of in-situ sensor technology development for marine applications, from hydrothermal vent research to offshore carbon capture and storage. Prior to starting work in Southampton, Doug spent a number of years as a research scientist at the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences. He’s worked with a range of academic and industrial partners over his time at the NOC, and is involved in a number of staff-focused groups at the NOC especially around staff development, equality and diversity.
John leads the development of our digital ocean portfolio.
He’s an Honorary Fellow of the Met Office, and a Senior Research Fellow of The Turing Institute. And, internationally, he’s a member of the GOOS Steering Committee, and has a leadership role on their Digital Twins of the Ocean programme.
Before joining us, John worked at the Met Office. He was Head of the Ocean Forecasting R&D Department (OFRD), and co-chair of the National Partnership for Ocean Prediction (NPOP). As Head of OFRD, he was responsible for developing models and satellite analyses for short-range ocean monitoring and forecasting.
He also led the Newton Programme’s India project, coordinating work in the Met Office and in UK academia with work conducted at the Ministry of Earth Science in India. He was also a Management Board Member of Mercator Ocean.
His background is in shelf seas monitoring, and his research has primarily focused on the development of ocean models. He led the ocean model developments based on NEMO for applications across the Met Office for a number of years before becoming Head of Ocean Forecasting in 2014.
Prior to his career at the Met Office, John worked for the Natural Environmental Research Council (NERC) at Plymouth Marine Laboratory as a mathematical modeller in a biogeochemistry modelling team, and was primarily responsible for implementing marine dynamical models.
David’s the former Chief Financial Officer for ICI, and currently Chair of Lockton LLP and the ICI Pension Fund.
He’s a strategically-minded business manager and finance professional who focuses on creating value. He has extraordinary financial knowledge and experience, and has spearheaded strategic and operational improvements across a range of businesses, locations and activities. He also has a clear understanding of and proven track record in HR-related policies and issues.
David has strong project (system, M&A) and process management skills and experience, and knows how to drive significant change.