Dr Jo Smart qualified with an EngD with Rover Group at Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, researching thermoplastic processing, specifically an in-mould decoration technique and its application within the automotive industry. She completed a part-time MSc in Engineering Business Management concurrently with the first 2 years of her doctoral studies.
Jo went on to work at Pera: an engineering consultancy and new product development contractor. At Pera, she gradually moved from materials engineering technologist roles into management, initially as Project Manager for EC–funded SME consortium projects, then creating and leading the Nanotechnology team, before becoming responsible for technology delivery across the Advanced Materials and Processing group.
Jo joined the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø in 2015 as Project Manager for the Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Metrology. She became Programme Manager for the Quantum Technology Hub in Sensors and Timing in 2019 and is now Grant Manager for the UK Quantum Technology Research Hub in Sensing, Imaging and Timing ().
QuSIT (led by the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø) brings together experts from physics and engineering from the Universities of Birmingham, Glasgow, Bristol, Durham, Heriot Watt, Imperial College London, Nottingham, Southampton, Strathclyde and the British Geological Survey and over 40 industry and end-user partners. QuSIT is surrounded by over 100 projects, valued at over £100 million, and the consortium has a growing list of licensed patents and exploitation partners.
The QuSIT project is co-funded by Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). QuSIT is one of five QT Hubs within the .
The UKNQT Programme is delivered by UK Research and Innovation's EPSRC, Innovate UK (IUK) and Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology (DSIT), National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (dstl) and Ministry of Defence (MoD).