Simon Watts was a deputy Scientific Director and Technical Fellow in Thales UK until 2013 and is a Visiting Professor in the department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at University College London. He graduated from the University of Oxford in 1971 with an MA in Engineering Science, obtained an MSc in Radiocommunication and Radar Technology from the University of Birmingham in 1972 and a PhD from the CNAA in 1987. In 2013 he was also awarded a DSc by the University of Birmingham, for research on sea clutter modelling. He joined Thales (then EMI Electronics) in 1967 and worked on a wide range of radar and EW projects, with a particular research interest in airborne maritime radar and sea clutter. He is author and co-author of over 80 journal and conference papers, a book on sea clutter (2 editions), various book chapters on clutter and several patents. He has also published two books on the history of airborne maritime surveillance radar. Simon Watts was chairman of the international radar conference RADAR-97 in Edinburgh UK and has served as a member of the IEEE AES Radar Panel and as an Associate Editor for Radar for the IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems. He received the IEE JJ Thomson Premium Award in 1987 and the IEE Mountbatten Premium Award in 1991. He was appointed MBE by HM the Queen in 1996 for services to the UK defence industry and is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Fellow of the IET, Fellow of the IMA and Fellow of the IEEE.