2027 James Mckenzie

James is the Chief Executive Officer at Hirst Magnetic Instruments Ltd, joining the business in April 2022. James has been involved in bringing new technology and products to market over the last 25 years, and has held senior management and leadership roles in deep tech organisations from start-ups to multinationals.

James is a Member of the Institute of Directors, a Fellow of the Institute of Physics, a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered Physicist. He was elected Vice President of Business for the Institute of Physics (IOP) and was a trustee of the IOP from 2016 to 2020. James is Chair of the IOP Magnetism Group, elected in 2023, and Vice Chair of the Magnetics Society (www.magsoc.org), elected in 2024. He also contributes to international standards groups including ISO TC-298 on rare earths and IEC TC-68 WG5 on the characterisation of hard magnetic materials.