Since 2018 Roger McKinlay has been leading the Quantum Technologies Challenge in UK Research and Innovation. The QT Challenge funds industry-led collaborative projects and has funded over 120 projects with more than £174m over the past five years.   The programme covers sensing, imaging and communications as well as quantum computing and has funded activities in many sectors including space.

Roger is a Chartered Engineer and a past president of the Royal Institute of Navigation.  He joined UKRI following a career in the defence and aerospace industries. In a varied career he has crossed paths with the space industry on many occasions, notably some early work on GPS receiver design and pioneering work on aeronautical satellite communication.