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Robin Hart

Robin Hart

Obituary

Held in high regard both at NPL and within the wider scientific community, Dr Robin Hart led a distinguished and hugely impactful career. He played a leading role in setting the strategy and direction at NPL, aligning the organisation’s scientific and engineering capability with the national challenges facing the UK.

Robin joined NPL in 2004 as Team Manager of the Photonics and Time team. He went on to lead both the Electromagnetic and Materials Divisions before being appointed Director of Programmes in 2011 and Strategy Director in 2017. As Strategy Director, Robin had responsibility for NPL's four focus areas aligned to the UK Government’s Industrial Strategy: Advanced Manufacturing; Digital; Energy and Environment; and Life Sciences and Health. In January 2022 Robin was appointed Deputy CEO of NPL.

Robin dedicated his life to science, graduating from Imperial College with a degree in physics and subsequently joining BP where he worked for five years as part of a team developing a new generation of thin film solar cells. During this period he split his time between Sunbury and Madrid and was responsible for measuring the degradation of the new devices.

Following his time at BP Robin continued his education, returning to the University at Bristol and undertaking a Masters degree in advanced Electronic Materials, followed by a PhD researching novel Giant Magnetoresistive films.

On completion of his studies, he moved to Cambridge to work in R&D for Oxford Instruments, first on the fabrication of superconducting devices as part of a collaboration with the European Space Agency, and then managing a business stream building advanced instrumentation for the NMI community in partnership with NPL. In 2004, he completed an MBA at Imperial College, where he specialised in identifying the critical success factors in new corporate ventures.

Robin was a devoted family man and, when not at work, enjoyed outdoor sports such as walking and skiing. A recent purchase of a camper van meant that they could venture further afield and spend weekends together, enjoying these pursuits as a family.  

Robin will be sorely missed by those at NPL and colleagues in the metrology community.