Vale, Dr Peter Woodgate

Inaugural Chair, SmartSat CRC

Dr Peter Woodgate was the inaugural Chair of SmartSat CRC, serving from August 2019 to December 2022. He played an integral role in leading the initial bid for the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) alongside Professor Andy Koronios. Following the establishment of SmartSat, Dr Woodgate was instrumental in setting up the organisations structure and governance framework. He was appointed the Chair of the SmartSat Board, bringing with him a wealth of experience and connections from the space and spatial industry, as well as from the broader CRC sector. 

Dr Woodgate was heavily involved with the space and spatial industries for over 30 years, helping to create several companies and managing an industry cluster of over 100 companies, translating applied research into commercial outcomes. He was an Honorary Fellow of the Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute, a life member of the International Society for Digital Earth and a graduate of the Institute of Company Directors. He held a Doctorate of Business Administration from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology in factors that drive innovation in the spatial industry, a Masters of Applied Science from the University of New South Wales focused on bushfire mapping using satellite remote sensing, and a Bachelor of Forest Science from the University of Melbourne.

Adjacent to his work with SmartSat, Dr Woodgate was also the Chair of the 2030 Space + Spatial Road Map Steering Committee, working to ensure Australia’s interlinked space and spatial industries maximise their growth potential and are best placed to deliver critical services to Australia’s governments, commercial and defence sectors, and the wider community. Dr Woodgate was also a member of the Australian Space Agency’s Space Industry Leaders Forum, a Board member of the Public Sector Mapping Agency, Chair of the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network and Chair of Canthera Discovery.
 
All those who worked with Dr Woodgate will remember how he treated each person he met with the utmost respect, his high level of ethics and the passion he put into everything that he did. His leadership, vision, compassion, ethics, and his tireless commitment to the advancement of the space and spatial industries will continue to guide SmartSat as we continue to work to advance Australia’s space innovation ecosystem.