Mike Pointer

Senior Programme Manager, Qinetiq

Mike is a Senior Programme Manager with over 21 years of experience in strategic planning, complex problem solving and delivery of projects. An effective leader who leverages a background in programme management, business development and engineering to support delivery of strategic objectives. Accomplished, through taking responsibility for coaching and mentoring a team of project managers to deliver high quality bids and safe, successful projects. The team deliver laser research and DEW projects. The latest being a complex six year project delivering a novel laser source as part of an industry team delivering a capability demonstrator.

Mike has successfully led a number of other research, retail, change management and major capital investment projects for QinetiQ.

Session: An introduction to the DragonFire Laser

The DragonFire Capability Demonstration Programme conducted a significant milestone in 2023, seeing the first UK high power firing of a laser against aerial targets, during a trial at the Ministry of Defence (MOD) Hebrides Range. The current DragonFire programme is a collaboration between Defence Science Technology Laboratory (Dstl), MBDA, QinetiQ and Leonardo, which started in 2017. However, the collaboration journey started many years before.

The presentation will examine how the collaboration between the various parties changed and developed throughout the journey. Highlighting skills and tools, which facilitated the collaboration successfully delivering that significant milestone.