About UKNEST
Formed in 2005 to promote engineering, science and technology on behalf of the naval sector, UKNEST has steadily grown to become established as a successful not-for profit organisation working on behalf of the naval enterprise. A member organisation, comprising both the public and private sector, UKNEST uniquely provides a safe environment for industry, government, professional institutions and academia to explore the issues of the day and provide thought leadership, advocacy and influence.
UKNEST promotes careers in the naval sector through STEM engagement, scholarships and publications. It encourages early career professionals, known as “FutureNEST”, to develop their knowledge and understanding of the sector through networking, site visits and “visioneering” concept work. Two Working Groups focus on People and Skills and Science & Technology and generate White Papers, surveys and conferences. Members themselves comprise a flourishing network that shares experience and guides the organisation.
Meet the Team...
Ian Grant
Chair
Ian's career in the Maritime industry has spanned over 40 years and encompassed a wealth of technical areas from gas turbines and stealth materials to distributed synthetic learning. Latterly the Continuous improvement Director at QinetiQ he is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects.
[email protected]
Neve Parker
FutureNEST Chair
Neve is a Graduate Mechanical Engineer with a focus on Naval Architecture. She thrives with hands-on projects driven by her enthusiasm for design, emerging technologies, and making a positive difference. She divides her time between various technical pursuits as well as project management and business development. In November 2024, she assumed the role of Chair for FutureNEST after serving as the business manager for two years. Her enthusiasm for FutureNEST is immense, and she is incredibly grateful for her wonderful team.
Matt Bolton
Chief Executive Officer
Matt has over 40 years’ experience in the naval sector underpinned by a long career in the Royal Navy and most recently as an independent consultant. He is a Chartered Engineer, inaugural Chair of the IMarEST's Naval Engineering Special Interest Group and during his naval career he co-chaired the UKNEST People & Skills WG. Matt was appointed Chief Executive in June 2022.
[email protected]
Tony Tite
People & Skills WG Co-Chair
Tony is the Strategy and Business Development lead for Lockheed Martin UK with responsibility across the Maritime and Air ISTAR SECTORS. Tony enjoyed 25 years with the Royal Navy as aircrew including exchanges with the United States Navy at the Naval Strike Air Warfare Centre and the UK Test and Evaluation Centre at Boscombe Down following a Masters in Aerosystems Engineering. Tony has been with LM since leaving the service in 2013 and has been an active member of the People & Skills Working Group since 2019.
Nick Boyd
People & Skills WG Co-Chair
Nicholas Boyd is a Team Leader and Principal Engineer in the Defence Science and Engineering Laboratory (DSTL). He is also the Senior Mentor for the Institution of Mechanical Engineers in DSTL, as well as a mentor for the IET and CMI and is a Fellow of all 3 institutions. As well a being co-chair of the UKNEST people and skills working group he is the Platform Authority for the various maritime craft that DSTL responsible for them being safe to operate and their licensing with the Regulator and certification by the Naval Authority. Prior to this second career he served for over 33 years as a Marine Engineer Office in the Royal Navy.
Stephanie Miller
Science & Technology Co-Chair
Steph is a Science Advisor for the MOD championing innovative thinking and collaborative working across the S&T community. Steph started her career as an ocean scientist in academia specialising in global modelling and remote sensing, working on UK, US and European projects. 5 years ago Steph joined the defence sector and now supports the submarine enterprise across a variety of S&T topics, however, uses her background to support Big Data, AI and combat system developments in detail. She also currently leads projects on quantum technologies, environmental exploitation and human machine teaming.
Jake Rigby
Science & Technology Co-Chair
Passionate about Innovation and technological development, Jake has led a range of cross-business research programmes and is currently the Global Head of Innovation and Research at BMT. He is a member of the World Futures Society and has created an innovative horizon scanning framework to track and categorise emergent technologies. He has also been named an honorary professor at the University of Exeter in recognition for his work in leading industry-academic collaboration.
Our Partners
In support of our drive to attract and retain the best talent to UK Naval engineering, science and technology, UKNEST has formed strong relationships with 3 prominent organisations. By actively supporting one another’s initiatives we can help to break down the barriers to fulfilling careers, strengthening the UK’s Naval capability and enabling all individuals to flourish.
STEM Returners
Many skilled individuals step away from their careers due to life circumstances, but returning can be a challenge without the right support.
STEM Returners works with STEM employers to remove these barriers, offering a structured, supported return-to-work pathway. By embracing returners, organisations can tap into experienced talent, improve workforce resilience, and create more diverse, inclusive and innovative teams.
Since launching in 2017, STEM Returners have supported more than 600 returners back into STEM roles.
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
Women’s Engineering Society
Aligned with our mission to foster innovation and resilience in the naval sector by developing diverse talent pipelines and amplifying underrepresented voices, UKNEST is proud to highlight the work of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES), which a national organisation championing gender equity, professional excellence, and sectoral legacy across engineering and technology.
WES offers support for women to gain equal access to and have fulfilling careers in engineering and support organisations looking to attract and retain diverse talent in order to meet their growth and innovation goals:
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE -UK)
We are proud of our partnership with the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers (AFBE-UK) who are working with us to build on our attraction and engagement proposition with industry partners and academia.
AFBE-UK provides support and promotes higher achievements in education and engineering particularly among students and professionals from ethnic minority backgrounds.
The UK as a whole has a long standing history of engineering achievement, however, the UK engineering sector is currently experiencing a shortage of skilled professionals. Only 9% of UK engineers are from Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) backgrounds although an average of 29.9% of engineering university graduates are from BME backgrounds. The proportion of UK citizens from ethnic minority communities is projected to reach between 20 and 30 percent by 2050.
AFBE-UK works to increase the number of ethnic minority people who pursue a career and have successful careers within the engineering industry. They promote diversity in engineering and technology through programmes and activities which are led by exceptional professionals and leaders in the engineering industry and are designed to bring about meaningful change, sustainable growth and development and a lasting positive impact to the UK.
