Space West Spotlight - Matthew Wills
Welcome to Space West Spotlight, a series celebrating the people, research and businesses that make up the Space West community.
Through this series we'll profile the individuals driving innovation, the pioneering research shaping the future and the local businesses powering growth across our region.
This edition, we're shining the spotlight on Matt Wills, Space West's new Cluster Manager.
What excites you most about Space West's mission?
For me the most exciting part is the potential for growth in new areas. The west has a strong history in defence and aerospace and really drawing out the link between the two for the space sector should produce a lot of opportunity for growth. Other areas in robotics and manufacturing can lend themselves to the International Standard Asset Management (ISAM) markets in space.
We have new space businesses moving into the area and looking to grow their roots. There is a lot going on and being able to help shape where this leads is going to be a fantastic journey. I also really enjoy the community aspect. Everyone is incredibly friendly and supportive within the region so that obviously makes for a great working environment and some very interesting conversations around the art of the possible.
What motivated you to join the Space West steering board, and what unique perspective do you bring to the group?
Becky Huffee, the previous Space West Cluster Manager has built such a strong foundation here and the opportunity to be become a part of this amazing community was a real motivator.
My background is defence and aerospace, but I have spent a lot of time working on space sustainability so I would like to try and keep a string of sustainability linking all things I do. I have had a variety of engineering experiences from across sectors, which has made me a jack of all trades, and I hope that will help me engage with all businesses in the region at a technical level, which should help me get a strong understanding of their needs and how Space West can help them.
What's one challenge in the space sector that you are the most passionate about helping Space West tackle?
Personally, space sustainability is a huge driver for me. It’s a known problem for the industry and there is a lot more that can be done to try to protect the orbital environment in the long run. We can be the generation that saw the problem coming and acted early enough to stop it.
More business focused though, I believe facilities and access to secure facilities for building and testing capability is a huge area of opportunity. There are so many bright ideas out there and new companies popping up all the time, which means finding the right facility, with the right availability, is only going to get harder. We need to make sure businesses are supported in getting their capability to market and having areas to collaborate with other businesses and this could be a great point to start on in making sure they have their needs catered to in future.