Dr Dolores Byrne OBE will step in as interim chief executive at Semta, the sector skills council for science, engineering and manufacturing technologies, following the retirement of Philip Whiteman on Friday 25 May.
Dr Byrne was managing director innovation at UK-based defence firm QinetiQ until 2010. She has been a member of Semta’s board since 2008, and was also a board member of the South East England Development Agency and chairman of its science, engineering and technology council.
A chartered engineer with over thirty five years experience in academia, Ministry of Defence and industry, Dr Byrne is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) where she has served as a trustee and vice president.
Semta chairman Allan Cook, chairman of WS Atkins and chairman of SELEX Galileo, said: “This is a critical time for the advanced manufacturing and engineering sector with opportunities for growth being determined by workforce skills. We are delighted that Dolores will be able to apply her extensive experience of the engineering and technology sector in this interim period.”
Dolores Byrne: “I am pleased to take this interim appointment at a critical stage in the development of Semta. We are in a changing skills landscape where employers have the opportunity to shape provision and co-invest in the design and delivery of vocational training.”
