Dr Alice Bunn OBE (FIMechE FRAeS CEng) is the chief executive of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) and previously the international director of the UK Space Agency.
Alice Bunn | |
---|---|
Born | Alice M. Bunn |
Education | Shrewsbury High School Shrewsbury Sixth Form College |
Alma mater | University of Leeds University of Cambridge (PhD) |
Scientific career | |
Institutions | UK Space Agency |
Thesis | Grain refinement in aluminium alloys (1998) |
Website | imeche |
Bunn is from Beckenham.[1] She attended Shrewsbury High School, Shropshire.[2] She completed GCE Advanced Levels at Shrewsbury Sixth Form College in Maths, Physics and Chemistry[2] and studied metallurgy at the University of Leeds, graduating in 1995.[3] She spent a year in Tampere at the University of Finland.[2] She obtained her PhD in 1998 from the University of Cambridge, where she worked in Metallurgy under the supervision of Lindsay Greer.[4]
After completing her PhD, Bunn joined the Science Museum, London as a researcher and developer of exhibitions.[5] She joined the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as coordinator of Earth Observation Science in 2000.[5] She was made head of Earth Observation Future Missions in 2002.[5] She joined Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as location programme manager.
Bunn joined the UK Space Agency in 2011.[6] She led the International Charter for Space and Major Disasters from 2011 to 2012.[7] The charter forces the international community to provide satellite imagery immediately after a disaster.[7] She brokered the international agreement that ensured countries share satellite imagery after the MH370 disappearance.[8] She explored how satellite imagery can be used to save lives.[9] She formed a collaboration with the Italian Space Agency to share COSMO-SkyMed data.[10] In 2014 Bunn was appointed director of policy of the UK Space Agency.[5][11] She led the security, regulation, communications and international engagement.[12] In 2014 she was included in Marie Claire as one of their Top Women.[8][13] She was elected to the Space Foundation board of directors in 2015.[14] She led the space aspects of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security program.[7] She was appointed vice chair of the European Space Agency in 2017.[15] She signed a joint statement to increase cooperation with CNES in January 2018.[16][17] The collaboration will continue in spite of Brexit.[11][18] She oversaw the collaborative agreement between Surrey Satellite Technology, Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station and the European Space Agency for commercial lunar missions.[19][20]
Bunn has spoken at the World Economic Forum.[21] She delivered the Reinventing Space Conference keynote lecture in 2014.[22] She spoke at the National Space Symposium in 2018.[23] She spoke at the 2017 Global Space Congress[24] and TEDx London in 2018.[25]
Bunn has been part of programmes to encourage students to engage with space missions.[26] She collaborated with the WISE Campaign to create a set of classroom resources based on the space sector to encourage primary school children to study physics.[27][28] She developed a space badge for Girlguiding.[29][30] She has advised on civil space activities to the Minister for Universities, Science and Cities.[31]
In 1998 she won The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society Light Metals Division Light Metals Award for her paper Modelling of the Effectiveness of Al-Ti-B Refiners in Commercial Purity Aluminium.[3][32] She received The Minerals, Metals & Materials Society Smithells Memorial Prize.[3][when?]
Bunn was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2022 Birthday Honours for services to the UK space sector and charity.[33]