Paul Featonby

Dynamo’s mission is to make the North East tech economy the best that can be. This combines two of the things that I’m passionate about: the North East, where I was born and brought up, and tech, which I’ve loved form an early age. As an advisory board member, I’m excited to be working with a diverse team to drive this mission forwards.

I’m Technology Director at Tharsus, a robotics company in Northumberland. We are developing revolutionary products to transform industries, applying AI and engineering to real world problems.

I’ve been privileged to have the opportunity to do many great things during my career – here are three of them:

• Having done maths and science at school, I decided that I’d love to learn another language. So at 24 years old, I went to live and work in France. I stayed for over 7 years, working first at a University and then in a large French company where I had no choice but to speak French.
• At Tracerco we build the world’s first subsea CT scanner. This was a great project, combining numerous aspects of science and engineering. We had an awesome team that worked together to successfully deliver in a timescale that customers’ didn’t believe was possible.
• I’m passionate about building great teams and developing great people. We built a brilliant R&D team at Tracerco and am on a similar journey now at Tharsus.

I’m am privileged to work and interact with other likeminded people who are at the forefront of technology. Working on new tech products, I have the opportunity to use industry trends and to apply the latest tech advancements almost every day.

Living in Northumberland, surrounded by amazing countryside, means I’m fortunate to be able to enjoy the outdoors. I’m curious by nature and as well as travelling locally, it’s fascinating to immerse myself in other cultures, exploring new and different places.

Dynamo is about doing great things in the North East with tech. If you’re passionate about the region and technology, then there are opportunities to meet and learn, as well as to share your experiences to help others. We work together as a community to influence policy, drive growth and to champion the North East.