In the first instalment of our “5 Questions with..” series for 2026, we speak with Mathew Middleton, Product Manager at Gill.
Mathew has been at Gill for over 10 years and, if you attended the Meteorological Technology World Expo in Vienna last year, he was our expert for the newly launched MaxiMet GMX552, the first compact weather station with integrated heat stress measurement.
Q.1 – What excites you most about Gill and your role here?
To put it simply, I really enjoy that life at Gill is all about what we CAN do. We are a group of people who love to problem solve and I count myself amongst those. When I joined Gill it was in the capacity of a Research Engineer, so much of my time was spent at the early stages of product development, often scoping technologies and finding fundamental, science-based approaches to solve technological problems.
Now, as a Product Manager, I have the opportunity to have a greater influence on the types of products that we develop, getting involved in a more holistic view of customer problems and helping to propose exciting and creative solutions to meet these needs.
Q.2 – You’ve been in this industry for many years – what keeps it interesting for you?
I think what I find most interesting is the technology. There are so many different elements to our devices, and they pull on a range of fields from mechanical, electronic, software and all of the areas in between. I love how all of these elements work together to deliver really clever solutions. We are now in a world where our understanding of different technologies and the design tools we have available to us open up so many options for innovative, effective designs and I really enjoy the concept phase of product development where we are really thinking outside of the box for the best possible solution.
In the same way, there are now countless numbers of ways that people use anemometers and weather stations to explore our planet and that in itself is fascinating. The exciting part is bringing these elements together to identify the latest new use cases and find innovative and impactful solutions to meet these needs.
Q.3 – How do you see the industry changing in the next five years?
It is so simple now to be able to capture a lot of data from environmental sensors and I think that it goes without saying that there is an expectation that devices and the data they produce are robust and high-quality.
For me, I think the greatest power lies in how the data is used. I think that there will be a continued push towards networks of sensors that provide a high density of measurement and deliver total visibility of the environment. How this links with forecasting and AI will also be critical. No longer will a given sensor just be providing the user with the direct measurement where it is situated, but it will be a node in a larger mesh, giving a deeper understanding of what the current measurements mean and allowing the user to be proactive. This will maximise efficiency, minimise down-time and reduce error.
As part of this, it will be vital for our products to be simple and easy to setup and provide flexibility and compatibility with a wide variety of consumer ecosystems across the globe.
Q.4 – Who has inspired you the most in your career, and what did you learn from them?
This is tricky because you meet so many brilliant people and varied personalities over the course of a career that I think I often pull from many of them in how I approach my day to day.
However, perhaps the largest impact on me was from Carthiga Bell, my supervisor during my industrial placement year.
I strongly believe that undertaking a placement when you are a student is invaluable, and it can really set you up for both the wider world of work after University but also the pressures of tackling final year. Where Carthiga was great was allowing me the space to come up with ideas and approaches to work packages, steering me just enough that I could learn the right way to tackle problems without feeling micro-managed.
During my time at Gill I have championed student placements and really hope that I have managed to pass forward to the students that I have worked with the same quality of placement that I experienced all those years ago.
Q.5 – Tell us something about yourself that might surprise us.
I probably don’t have anything surprising as such but as recent homeowners, my other half and I spend most of our free time undertaking what has become a larger than expected renovation of our house.
I came into it expecting a simple coat of paint and now feel somewhat of an expert on rewiring, floor sanding and studwork building. The target for 2026 is to get the loft conversion complete!
Aside from this, I really enjoy cooking and baking and have always had a passion for good food and drink – I like to think I was making loaves of sourdough before it became trendy, and we have been known to plan holidays around good spots for a bite to eat or a destination with a good view for a drink.
