Matthew Durdy is Chief Executive of the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult and was part of the founding team in 2012. Before 2020, he was Chief Business Officer and was responsible for strategy, communications, marketing, and business development. He is credited with leading the design and implementation of the commercial model for the highly successful Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult manufacturing centre and being a global champion for the early integration of healthcare economics and reimbursement expertise into decision-making and clinical product design.
He began his career in international investment banking and venture capital, and has successfully invested in and managed a number of biotechnology SMEs and regional operations of multinational organisations. He has an MA from the University of Oxford in Pure and Applied Biology, an MBA from the University of Chicago, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment. He is also vice-chair of the Board of Trustees of the charity Parkinson’s UK.

As CEO and executive member of the board, Martin leads the strategic direction of the Catapult, driving its approach to accelerate the UK industry’s ability to exploit advancements in compound semiconductor technologies. Previously, as the Catapult’s CTO, he led the strategic direction of its four key technology areas in power electronics, RF and microwave, photonics and advanced packaging. Martin’s wealth of global technology experience has been developed through a host of technical and commercial roles, with responsibilities covering the UK, Europe and North America. Prior to joining CSA Catapult, he led the business and technology development for Microchip’s (Microsemi Corporation) advanced packaging business where, during his 20-year tenure, he played a key role in transforming the company’s focus from analogue telecoms to wireless digital communications. Martin has been involved in collaborative research for nearly 20 years, holds several patents relating to microelectronic packaging and, since 2003, has been a member of the Industrial Advisory Board of the School of Engineering at Cardiff University. He is deeply passionate about building communities, particularly locally, where he has served as a community councillor. Martin plays a leading role in the world’s first compound semiconductor cluster which will help build a successful UK compound semiconductor community.

Erika Lewis joined the Catapult from the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) in March 2024 as Chief Executive Officer. In July 2023, Erika was appointed the CEO of the AI Safety Summit. This was a world first event and brought together international governments, leading AI companies, civil society groups and experts in research to consider the risks of AI, especially at the frontier of development, and discuss how they can be mitigated through internationally coordinated action. The Summit was the culmination of a busy 5 years in central government, Erika joined the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) in 2018 to deliver the National Data Strategy. In October 2019, she moved to the role of Director, Cyber Security and Digital Identity, where she led on the economic support for the cyber sector, the development of security approaches for consumer IoT, the government work on Secure Connected Places and Digital Identity in the economy. In 2020, she also led DCMS on the Covid-19 response package for the Voluntary Sector and in 2023, led the initial transition programme for the newly formed Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Before moving into central government in 2012, Erika became a Project Director at the Competition and Markets Authority, where she was responsible for both merger and market investigations. Most notably, she ran an Energy Market Investigation and a Private Motor Insurance Market Investigation. Erika was a part of the set-up team for the London Development Agency (LDA) in April 2000. Staying for 12 years at the LDA, she delivered regeneration programmes across London and was subsequently the Director of Strategy.

As CEO of Digital Catapult, Susan is focused on bringing together her 25+ years of experience in the technology sector to guiding and co-creating an ethical approach to advances in technology across multiple industries with an aim to effectively balance our Digital Catapult initiatives from Research and Development through to commercialisation. Starting her career as a coder, Susan stands out among senior executives due to her demonstrated expertise in successfully leading and expanding corporate and listed divisions, as well as mid-market and SMB private equity organisations. With a vast geographical scope encompassing the USA, Canada, Europe, and the UK, Susan possesses remarkable transformative abilities and extensive operational knowledge in mergers and acquisitions, making her a seasoned change catalyst dedicated to enhancing shareholder value, with an aptitude for creating innovative business models and fostering collaborations within complex organizations and diverse industries.

Guy was appointed Chief Executive Officer at Energy Systems Catapult, the innovation business, in June 2022. Guy joined the Catapult in 2018 as Director of Strategy after being an energy and political adviser to two UK Government Secretaries of State; Greg Clark and Amber Rudd.

In Government, he was involved in many key decisions, including closing the UK’s coal-fired power stations, greater independence for the electricity system operator, and as an architect of the Clean Growth Strategy.
Before joining Government, he was Head of Policy at the challenger energy supplier, OVO Energy and Head of Environment and Energy at the influential think tank, Policy Exchange. He was previously a journalist, including three years as a foreign correspondent in Hong Kong for the international newswire, AFP. He is a non-executive director with UK100, a charity campaigning for greater environmental action by local authorities. He lives in Enfield, with his wife and two children.

As Chief Executive of the HVM Catapult, Katherine Bennett is a proud ambassador for UK design, engineering and manufacturing. Katherine drives UK industrial transformation with industry, academia and government to commercialise cutting-edge research and advance national strategic priorities, including clean energy, health tech and key enablers skills, supply chain and sustainable R&D manufacturing. In her role, Katherine led the Task Force for Industry Resilience for Critical Minerals for battery manufacture and was a member of the Levelling Up Advisory Council. As part of the Tata Steel/Port Talbot Transition Board, Katherine supports national partners to implement skills and regeneration programmes for those impacted by the transition to low CO2 steelmaking. Prior to joining the HVM Catapult, Katherine spent 16 years at Airbus where she developed Airbus’ UK strategy and led the company’s corporate affairs activities. She also chaired Western Gateway for four years while in this role. Katherine’s significant contribution to the aerospace and aviation sector was recognised with a CBE in January 2019. She has honorary doctorates from Cranfield University and UWE Bristol. Katherine’s main passion is people and she has led multiple industry initiatives throughout her career to promote diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace.

Professor Chris Molloy has a 30-year international board and executive career across a unique range of life sciences R&D disciplines. His career began in preclinical research at Glaxo, where he was closely involved with the industrialisation of high throughput discovery. In 2004 he moved to Asia as COO of MerLion Pharmaceuticals, a Singaporean biotech that developed into an award-winning multinational anti-infectives R&D biotech. Chris then ran corporate development for the global informatics firm, idbs during which time it won a Queen’s Award for Enterprise, became a Fast-track 100 company, and the first UK firm to develop a stratified medicine software platform using real-world health data. Chris spent three years as CEO of the RSA Group, the global life science executive search specialist before in 2016 becoming the founding CEO of Medicines Discovery Catapult (MDC); the national centre for innovation in drug discovery. During its first five years, under Chris’ leadership MDC has leveraged its Innovate UK grant fourfold, worked with over 150 UK companies and assisted the discovery of UK drug assets worth over £1bn. During the pandemic, Chris was the founding Director of the UK Lighthouse Labs Network – the largest diagnostics project in UK history – and chaired the industry-governmental consortium that increased UK lateral flow manufacturing capacity by twenty-fold. Chris is the non-executive chairman of Exploristics and NorthWest EHealth: two UK tech companies using Real World healthcare data to improve clinical development. He chairs the IP Advisory Committee for the Association of Medical Research Charities and the Industry Advisory Board for Manchester’s Biomedical Research Centre & Health Innovation Manchester. Chris is a Member and Trustee of the Institute of Cancer Research and holds an honorary chair at the University of Manchester. Chris is responsible for leading an experienced Executive Team and a cohort of over 130 specialists that make up MDC to achieve our vision of reshaping drug discovery for patient benefit.

Steve is the CEO of the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, where he is focussed on advancing the UK’s renewable energy capabilities, particularly in offshore wind, to help the country achieve its net zero goals. Before joining ORE Catapult, Steve was the CEO at the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) a globally recognised hub for cutting edge manufacturing research and innovation. Prior to joining AMRC, Steve held senior positions within Siemens spanning operations in the UK, Europe and China leading manufacturing, smart building and large-scale infrastructure businesses. A mechanical engineer by background, he has been recognised for his ability to drive innovation and collaboration between academia and industry. He has a MEng from the University of Bristol, MBA from Cranfield University and is a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

John Abbott is the new CEO of the Satellite Applications Catapult. He joined the Catapult from the Real Estate Registry in Saudi Arabia, where he was Chief Digital Officer. John was instrumental in the delivery of the Kingdom’s first ever registry of land ownership as part of a public-private partnership supported by the Public Investment Fund. John was previously Director of Digital Data and Technology and a member of the Executive Board at HM Land Registry, where he led a successful £200m digital transformation programme and the organisation’s pioneering open innovation programme, Digital Street. Prior to this he was Head of Digital Products at Ordnance Survey where he was responsible for digitising and publishing the organisation’s geospatial data as well as the Innovations Lab and Geovation, a successful start-up incubator, which has supported more than 150 early-stage businesses which together have raised £130m. Earlier roles included Product Director at Mimecast, the UK tech company acquired by Permira for $5.8Bn. He has an MBA from Imperial College London and is married with three children.