Lay member profile

James Roberts MBE is an award-winning designer, entrepreneur and Founder and CEO of mOm Incubators. While studying Product Design & Technology at Loughborough University, he came up with the original concept for the mOm Incubator,  an innovative neonatal incubator designed to improve access to life-saving care for vulnerable newborns worldwide.

Following this achievement, James has received widespread recognition for his contributions to engineering, innovation and entrepreneurship. His awards include winning the global James Dyson Award for innovation in 2014, being named a MedTech MD+DI Rising Star, receiving the Princess Royal Silver Medal for outstanding personal contribution to UK engineering, and being awarded an MBE for services to engineering and entrepreneurship.

James founded mOm Incubators to develop and commercialise the technology, growing the company from a university project into an internationally recognised medical device business. The company's neonatal incubation systems are now used across multiple countries and healthcare settings, including the NHS, low and middle-income countries, and humanitarian deployments in conflict-affected regions. The technology has received both MDR CE marking and FDA 510(k) clearance and has supported the care of multiple thousands of babies worldwide.

As CEO, James continues to lead the company's strategic growth while remaining focused on developing innovative technologies that address significant global healthcare challenges.