Scotland's top robotics chief quits after university walked away from £7.5M government funding
Stewart Miller says Heriot-Watt's decision not to apply for Robotic Adoption Hub grant funding was the final straw after six months of deteriorating relations with university senior leadership.
Stewart Miller, who resigned as Chief Executive of The National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University this week, citing the university's decision not to apply for £7.5 million in Innovate UK Robotic Adoption Hub funding as the direct cause of his departure.
Stewart Miller has resigned as Chief Executive of The National Robotarium at Heriot-Watt University, citing the university's decision not to apply for £7.5 million in Innovate UK grant funding for Robotic Adoption Hubs as the direct cause of his departure.
Miller, who founded and led the robotarium for nearly five years, announced his resignation on LinkedIn, saying Heriot-Watt's senior leadership had "turned their back" on an opportunity that would have brought significant investment into the Scottish robotics economy.
Posting on LinkedIn, Miller wrote: "I HAVE RESIGNED as CEO of The National Robotarium. This is as a direct consequence of Heriot Watt University senior leadership turning their back on an opportunity to bring £7.5M of investment into the Scottish robotic economy."
A bid abandoned at the eleventh hour
According to Miller's LinkedIn post, he had spent considerable time securing support from UK government for the robotics hub initiative and had positioned The National Robotarium to lead what he described as "an extremely strong bid on behalf of Scotland, with support from Scottish stakeholders and industry partners." The decision by Heriot-Watt's senior leadership not to proceed with the application came, he says, at the eleventh hour.
Miller wrote: "For this to be discarded at the eleventh hour was the final straw in a sequence of events over the past 6 months that have made it clear that HWU no longer respected or valued my contribution as CEO of The National Robotarium."
He added: "I want to apologise to everyone that will be impacted by this sudden departure, in particular the team at The National Robotarium and the many Scottish stakeholders that supported the proposal and have been a tremendous support for the past 5 years."
Five years of progress and a £22.4M facility now without its founding CEO
Miller, who held senior roles at Leonardo and General Dynamics before joining the robotarium in September 2021, said he hoped to continue working on robotics adoption and careers in the sector despite his departure. He wrote: "The need for adoption support for Scottish and wider UK industry has not gone away, nor the need to support new robotics developers and to encourage careers in robotics."
A Heriot-Watt University spokesperson responded to the resignation, saying: "We can confirm that Stewart Miller has submitted his resignation as Chief Executive Officer of the National Robotarium. The University recognises his contribution over the past five years in helping to establish and develop the centre. However, we do not agree with the characterisation of recent events.
“Decisions regarding funding applications and strategic priorities are taken following careful consideration to ensure alignment with requirements and compliance with funding regulations. As this and related matters are subject to an internal review, it would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.
“Heriot-Watt University remains fully committed to the continued success of the National Robotarium, and to advancing robotics innovation, industry collaboration and skills development across Scotland and the wider UK. We will continue to work closely with partners to build on the strong foundations already in place.”
