Jo Smart qualified with an BEng (Hons) in Materials Engineering from the University of Wales, Swansea in 1997. She went on to study for an EngD with Rover Group at Warwick Manufacturing Group, University of Warwick, researching thermoplastic processing, specifically an in-mould decoration technique using simultaneous dual injection moulding, 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 spend 13 years at Pera: an engineering consultancy and new product development contractor in Melton Mowbray. She gradually moved from her materials engineering technologist role into management, initially as Project Manager for EC –funded SME consortium projects, then creating and leading the Nanotechnology team, before becoming Competency Leader responsible for all technology delivery across the Advanced Materials and Processing group.
Jo joined the University of Birmingham in June 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. The UK Quantum Technology Hub Sensors and Timing (led by the University of Birmingham) is one of four Hubs within the UK National Quantum Technologies Programme.
The Hub brings together experts from physics and engineering from the Universities of Birmingham, Glasgow, Imperial, Nottingham, Southampton, Strathclyde and Sussex, NPL, the British Geological Survey and over 70 industry partners. The Hub has over 100 projects, valued at over £100 million, and has a growing list of patents and patent applications. The UK National Quantum Technologies Programme is delivered by UK Research and Innovation, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), National Physical Laboratory (NPL), Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).