It has been a great pleasure to host Prof. Paul Febvre at Heriot-Watt University. Prof. Febvre delivered the annual Christmas lecture of the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences titled: Satellite Communications – A 50 Year Perspective. Following the lecture, Prof. Febvre visited the newly established satellite ground station facility where its capabilities were demonstrated and technical discussions took place.
Date and Time: Wed, 03/12/2025, 14:00 to 16:30
Venue: GP G01
Abstract: Satellite communications systems have been in existence since the dawn of the space age, and for the last 25 years have delivered mission critical digital services relevant to all aspects of society, however we are on now seeing exponential growth driven by both incessant demand and technology revolution, causing massive disruption to existing supply chains – what might space look like in the next 25 years?
Biography: Paul Febvre is Professor of Space Systems Engineering and responsible for setting up the Space Systems Centre at Cranfield University. Prior to joining Cranfield University, Paul served as CTO at the Satellite Applications Catapult, responsible for leading the technical strategy and innovation programmes. Paul led several disruptive programmes while at the Catapult, including ground breaking work on synthetic aperture communication satellite systems, OneWeb based positioning and timing services, novel antenna subsystems, 5G trials and future of flight programmes, space energy initiatives. Paul was also responsible for establishing the high performance computing and wireless test infrastructure to support prototyping of new products and applications. Paul Febvre has four decades of experience in research and development in the field of satellite communications and positioning technologies, with a proven track record of delivering new technology into operational service. This included 19 years as Chief Architect and System Design Authority at Inmarsat, responsible for design and bringing into service satellite communications systems in multiple frequency bands and 12 years at BT research labs in East Anglia.