Centre Director, Professor David Lane appointed CBE in Queen's New Year's Honours 2016

Professor David Lane, Director of the Edinburgh Centre for Robotics and Professor of Autonomous Systems Engineering in Heriot-Watt’s School of Engineering and Physical Sciences, has been appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for services to Engineering in the 2016 New Year's Honours list.

He previously established Heriot Watt's Ocean Systems Laboratory, with an international reputation and funding in marine robotics, publishing nearly 200 cited publications. In 2001 he founded SeeByte Ltd, commercialising two decades of marine robotics research. As CEO until 2010, he led the company’s evolution from start-up to a multi-million dollar award-winning organisation located in Edinburgh and San Diego and oversaw the setup of SeeByte Inc in the US.

He also led the development of the UK’s National Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) innovation strategy for the Minister for Universities and Science, motivating and influencing over £200M of investment in Robotics and Autonomous Systems R&D by the UK government. As director of EURobotics AISBL, he helped shape the EU Horizon2020 Robotics public-private partnership and the direction of €700M in funding from the European Commission

Professor Lane has been elected to Fellowships of the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Society for Underwater Technology, the Institution of Engineering and Technology and the Royal Geographical Society.

Useful links:

Professor David Lane

Professor David Lane on LinkedIn

Oceans Systems Laboratory

SeeByte

Download the UK RAS strategy

Full 2016 Honours list