Dr Katrina Thompson is the Director of the UK Digital Twin Centre, delivered by Digital Catapult. In this role, she leads the mission to make digital twins more accessible and impactful by accelerating the practical application of deep tech, fostering industry collaboration, and driving innovation through shared learning and knowledge exchange.
Katrina is a Chartered Engineer and a graduate in Aeronautical Engineering with over 30 years of industrial experience across the aerospace, telecommunications, and maritime sectors. Her primary technical expertise lies in numerical methods and modelling, with a particular focus on finite element analysis and the development of conceptual aircraft design tools. She holds a PhD in Computational Fluid Dynamics and an MSc in Finite Element Analysis.
Katrina is also an Honorary Professor of Practice in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Queen’s University Belfast and a member of the Matrix Panel, the Northern Ireland Science Industry Panel.