Rachel Dalton - Smith Institute

Rachel Dalton

Chief Financial Officer

Rachel Dalton joined Smith Institute in January 2021 as CFO.  Rachel qualified as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte & Touche in 2000.  She has spent her career working in both the not-for-profit and commercial sectors.  Rachel holds a BSc in Mathematics & Psychology from Royal Holloway, University of London and an MSc in Development Finance from the University of Reading.  In her spare time Rachel enjoys running and travelling.

Prof. Mike Giles

Non-exec Director

Prof Mike Giles was appointed to the Smith Institute Board in 2019 as a non-executive director. He is head of the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford for the period 2018-2022 where he works in computational finance. Mike’s research focus is on improving the accuracy, efficiency and analysis of Monte Carlo methods for a variety of applications.

Mike is also interested in various aspects of scientific computing, including high performance parallel computing, and he has worked extensively on the exploitation of many-core GPUs for a variety of applications. This led to Mike’s establishment of JADE, the first national GPU computing facility for Machine Learning.

After a BA in Mathematics at Cambridge, Mike’s MSc and PhD were in Aeronautical Engineering at MIT, addressing challenges in computational fluid dynamics (CFD).

Mike collaborated with Rolls-Royce for more than 20 years, first at MIT and later in the Oxford University Computing Laboratory, developing CFD methods for the analysis and design of gas turbines, culminating in HYDRA which is now Rolls-Royce’s primary CFD code.

Graeme Hobbs

Graeme Hobbs

Chair of the Board

Graeme Hobbs was appointed Chair of the Board of the Smith Institute in May 2018, having served as Non-Executive Director since February 2016. Until July 2015, Graeme was the Chairman of Motorola Solutions UK Ltd, the Country Manager for Motorola Solutions UK, and the Government Affairs lead and regional director for Europe and Africa.

He is a Fellow of both the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Graeme is also the non executive Chairman of Bristol is Open Ltd, a joint venture between University of Bristol and Bristol City Council focused on smart city applications. Graeme has a number of pro bono roles including Chair of the Audit Committee and Lay member of Council for Southampton University, a Trustee of the Institution of Engineering and Technology and Chair of the Blue Lamp Trust.

Dr Robert Leese

Chief Technical Officer

Dr Robert Leese was appointed as Chief Technical Officer in May 2017, and was previously Chief Executive of the Smith Institute and a member of its Board of Directors since 1999.

He previously held Research Fellowships at the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and a visiting position at Brown University.

Robert holds a PhD in mathematical physics from the University of Durham and has been a Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford, since 1993. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and a member of the Peer Review College of the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

Robert and and colleagues have published a paper on the use of mathematical optimisation tools in spectrum management to quantitatively evaluate the consequences of spectrum policies through scenario analysis: Unlocking the value of spectrum using optimization tools.

Terri Lucas

Non-exec Director

Terri Lucas joined the Smith Institute board in 2019 as an independent non-executive director. She is an experienced executive director, Board advisor and non-executive director, with deep commercial expertise in the private and not-for-profit sectors. Terri joins from global consulting firm Mercer where she led the Growth Leadership Team, and sat on the UK Leadership Board and the Diversity and Inclusion Council from 2015 until 2019. Prior to that, she spent 13 years with pensions and benefits consulting businesses, Hymans Robertson and Aon Consulting in senior sales and marketing roles, with a seat at the management committee table of Hymans Robertson.

Terri previously served a three year term on the Council of the Confederation of British Industry, the advisory panel of Winmark’s marketing director network and was a founder of Aspire Circle, Bristol, a group to help women and girls fulfil their full potential. Terri has a number of pro bono roles, including being a mentor for The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and is an ambassador for Women on Boards, a network supporting women into non-executive director, trustee or executive leadership roles.

In her spare time, Terri enjoys adventurous travel, photography, food, health and wellbeing, fund raising and working through her bucket list. She received a degree in English Literature from The Open University.

Dr Ruth Voisey

Chief Executive Officer

Dr Ruth Voisey joined the Smith Institute in November 2021. She was appointed Chief Executive Officer in 2023 and sits on the Board of Directors. Prior to her current role, Ruth was Technical Director and Head of Innovation Strategy from 2021-2023. This has positioned her perfectly to realise her clear vision and deep understanding of where we need to take our services to meet the needs of the future.

Before joining Smith Institute, Ruth spent seven years in the Research department at Dyson. She led global multidisciplinary teams, in acoustics and machine learning, to explore new markets and guide technologies from low to high technology readiness level for maximum impact.

Ruth has a PhD in Applied Mathematics from the University of Manchester, where she modelled acoustic wave propagation in periodic and quasiperiodic media. Ruth is a Fellow of the Institute of Mathematics and its Applications and sits on their Professional Affairs Committee. In her research leadership positions, Ruth also has extensive experience in Project Management, including a DSDM Agile Practitioner qualification.

Outside of work, Ruth spends lots of her time outside with her daughter or practicing yoga and exploring local independent coffee shops and restaurants. Music and festivals have always played a big part in her life. She used to work in festival production, but now just gets to enjoy them. Glastonbury is a firm favourite.

Ruth Voisey | LinkedIn

Dr Lincoln Wallen

Dr Lincoln Wallen

Non-exec Director

Dr Lincoln Wallen is Chief Technology Officer at British technology company, Improbable.

After joining DreamWorks Animation in 2008 as Head of Research and Development, he was promoted to CTO in 2012, a position he held for the next 5 years. Lincoln was formerly CTO of Electronic Arts Mobile where he was instrumental in shaping EA’s approach to the mobile business, which saw EA deliver a strong portfolio of mass market mobile games, as well as games delivering a next-generation consumer experience. Prior to joining EA, Lincoln was with Criterion Software and MathEngine.

His early career involved 20 years of professional IT and mathematics research, including two years as BP Venture Research Fellow at the University of Texas at Austin, and latterly as a Reader in Computer Science at the University of Oxford. In 2012 Lincoln was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Edinburgh.


Presidents

Dr Bruce Smith

Dr Bruce Smith

President & Founder

Dr Bruce Smith is President and Founder of the Smith Institute.

Until 1997 he was the Chairman and majority shareholder of Smith System Engineering Limited. Before founding that company in 1971, he worked in design engineering for Decca Radar Limited after a period in the United States with Bellcomm Inc in the US Space programme. Bruce was Chairman of the Council of the Smith Institute until May 2018.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Institute of Physics. Bruce is a director of a number of private companies, and a Domus Fellow of St Catherine’s College, Oxford.

Prof Frank Kelly

Prof Frank Kelly

Vice President and Chair of the Scientific Board

Frank Kelly is Professor of the Mathematics of Systems at the University of Cambridge.

His main research interests are in random processes, networks and optimization. He is especially interested in applications to the design and control of networks and to the understanding of self-regulation in large-scale systems.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, a Foreign Member of the National Academy of Engineering, and in 2013 he was awarded a CBE for services to mathematical sciences.

Frank was appointed as Vice President to the Smith Institute in 2015.

Julian Hunt

Lord Julian Hunt

Vice President

Julian Hunt FRS is a British meteorologist who was Director General and Chief Executive of the British Meteorological Office from 1992 to 1997.

He was made a Life Peer in 2000.

He is Professor of Climate modelling in the Department of Space & Climate Physics and Department of Earth Sciences at University College London.

Julian was appointed as Vice President of the Smith Institute in 2015.