Professor Malcolm Macdonald

Electronic and Electrical Engineering

Personal statement

I am the Director of the Centre for Signal and Image Processing (CeSIP), and also the Director of the Applied Space Technology Laboratory (ApSTL) within CeSIP, which I founded and where I lead a team of staff and PGR students.

I am a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Space Research (C-Space), University College Dublin, Vice-Chair of the Space Technology Advisory Committee of the UK Space Agency, and an Associate Editor of the AIAA Journal of Guidance, Control and Dynamics. I am also a member of the Industry Advisory Board of Seraphim Space Investment Trust PLC, and a Non-Executive Director of Weather Stream Inc.

Previously I was the Founding Director of the Scottish Centre of Excellence in Satellite Applications, SoXSA (2014 - 2020), and a Non-Executive Board Member of UK Space Agency (2017 - 2020).

Supporting science and engineering communication to make it more easily accessible, especially to under-represented groups, I provide comment to national & international, specialist & mainstream media, across written word, audio, & visual.

Expertise

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Area of Expertise

Space Mission Analysis & Design
Space Technology
Astrodynamics
Swarm Engineering
Network Systems
Systems Engineering
Technology Roadmapping and Analysis
Technical Foresight & Horizon Scanning
Advanced Concepts
CubeSats
Modelling & Simulation

Prize And Awards

Galileo Masters EUSPA Space for FUN Challenge (2nd place): Recipient; 8/11/2021
2nd place in Copernicus Masters 2020: BMVI Transport Challenge: Recipient; 8/12/2020
Finalist in E&T Innovation Awards 2020: Recipient; 19/11/2020

More prizes and awards

Publications

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Publications

Characterising gameplay and autism spectrum disorder development with swipe pattern networks: Clark Ruaridh, Macdonald Malcolm, Lu Szu-Ching, Delafield-Butt Jonathan; CompleNet 2024 (2024)
Orbit determination for impulsively maneuvering spacecraft using a modified state transition tensor: Zhou Xingyu, Macdonald Malcolm, Qiao Dong; Journal of Guidance, Control, and Dynamics (2024); https://doi.org/10.2514/1.G007814
Finding navigable paths through tidal flats with Synthetic Aperture Radar: Clark Ruaridh A, McGrath Ciara N, Werkmeister Astrid A, Lowe Christopher J, Gibbons Gwilym, Macdonald Malcolm; Remote Sensing Vol 16 (2024); https://doi.org/10.3390/rs16061057
Multi-modal convolutional parameterisation network for guided image inverse problems: Czerkawski Mikolaj, Upadhyay Priti, Davison Christopher, Atkinson Robert, Michie Craig, Andonovic Ivan, Macdonald Malcolm, Cardona Javier, Tachtatzis Christos; Journal of Imaging Vol 10 (2024); https://doi.org/10.3390/jimaging10030069
Spacecraft and optics design considerations for a spaceborne lidar mission with spatially continuous global coverage: Lowe Christopher John, McGrath Ciara Norah, Hancock Steven, Davenport Ian, Todd Stephen, Hansen Johannes, Woodhouse Iain, Norrie Callum, Macdonald Malcolm; Acta Astronautica Vol 214, pp. 809-816 (2024); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.actaastro.2023.10.042
A delay-tolerant network approach to satellite pickup and delivery scheduling: Lowe Christopher John, Clark Ruaridh Alexander, McGrath Ciara Nora, Macdonald Malcolm; Ad Hoc Networks Vol 151 (2023); https://doi.org/10.1016/j.adhoc.2023.103289

More publications

Research

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Research Interests

The Applied Space Technology Laboratory is addressing global challenges by working at the boundaries between disciplines to deliver a step-change in the democratisation, exploration, and exploitation of space.

Developing new space and adjacent sector technologies in response to global challenges and anticipated demands, accelerating the democratisation of the use of space, and the data and services it provides.
Developing technologies and algorithms to process the exponentially increasing data available from space to help us better understand our Earth, and to make this knowledge available to all.
Developing insights to network systems across the natural sciences to engineer vastly more connected, efficient, and sustainable space systems.

My research has an end-to-end focus on the development and application of systems by ensuring an understanding of the end application. Challenging conventional ideas and working at the interface between disciplines I seek to advance new concepts in the exploration and exploitation of space, for which I was awarded the Royal Society of Edinburgh Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane Medal. Specifically, my research develops concepts in, and applications of space technology, including solar sailing, nanosatellites, and constellations, by developing research into astrodynamics, networked systems, swarming, and distributed and collaborative systems.

Professional Activities

Remote Sensing of the Ocean, Sea Ice, Coastal Waters, and Large Water Regions 2023: Participant; 4/9/2023
Climate Finance Innovation: Connecting Financial Technology, Space Data and Resilient Timing: Organiser; 9/5/2023
Space Meets FinTech (Joint FinTech Scotland / Space Scotland Event): Invited speaker; 11/1/2023
Alignments in functional connectivity networks: Contributor; 8/11/2022
Integration of an LED/SPAD Optical Wireless Transceiver with CubeSat On-board Systems: Contributor; 28/9/2020
The New Peers Review podcast episode 3: Speaker; 10/12/2019

More professional activities

Projects

Offshore Servicing Coordination & Assessment with Remote Sensing (OSCAR): Macdonald, Malcolm (Principal Investigator) Clemente, Carmine (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2023 - 15-Jan-2025
SAR consultancy to UCD: Clemente, Carmine (Principal Investigator) Macdonald, Malcolm (Co-investigator) Werkmeister, Astrid (Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2023 - 30-Jan-2025
EO4SECURITY-MicroDoppler: Clemente, Carmine (Principal Investigator) Macdonald, Malcolm (Co-investigator) Tubaldi, Enrico (Co-investigator); 07-Jan-2023 - 06-Jan-2024
SAfe Passage through Shifting Sands: Macdonald, Malcolm (Principal Investigator) Clemente, Carmine (Co-investigator) McKee, David (Co-investigator) Tachtatzis, Christos (Co-investigator) Clark, Ruaridh (Research Co-investigator); 01-Jan-2023 - 31-Jan-2024
An aUtonomous DistrIbuted Time signal in-Space: Macdonald, Malcolm (Principal Investigator) Clark, Ruaridh (Research Co-investigator) Lowe, Christopher (Research Co-investigator) BOUIS, Agathe (Researcher); 01-Jan-2022 - 30-Jan-2025
Matryoshka Orbital Networks: Macdonald, Malcolm (Principal Investigator) Clark, Ruaridh (Research Co-investigator) Lowe, Christopher (Research Co-investigator) Gribben, Joshua (Researcher); 01-Jan-2022 - 31-Jan-2025