Sustainable Space, Sovereign Tech – Energy, Orbits and Agency with Angela Mathis of Think Tank Maths

In this episode of Scale HER Up – The Female Entrepreneur Show, I’m joined by Angela Mathis, co-founder and Managing Director of Think Tank Maths, a specialist mathematical-modelling company working at the sharp end of energy transition and sustainable space.

Angela explains, in wonderfully human terms, what her team actually does: building advanced models that help maximise every gust of wind in places like Shetland for hydrogen production, and creating space situational awareness tools that track thousands of satellites zooming around Earth at eight kilometres per second so they don’t smash into each other.

We talk about why she cares so deeply about sovereign capability – developing critical technology here rather than simply importing it – and how that led her from a global corporate career commercialising the internet to founding Think Tank Maths in Edinburgh, with a subsidiary in Norway and strong Franco-German partnerships.

Angela shares stories from across her career: working on CFC-free insulation materials long before “sustainability” was a buzzword, commercialising early data-storage tech, helping roll out the commercial internet in Europe, and now sitting on the Norwegian Space Cluster board while serving as President of the Scottish Energy Forum. Through it all runs a consistent thread: curiosity, courage and a refusal to accept “that’s just how it’s done”.

We also dive into Angela’s personal journey as a woman in high-tech industries. She talks about being nicknamed “Little Miss Trouble”, why that’s become a compliment in hindsight, how she deals with people who don’t trust or value women in leadership, and why she believes this is the moment for all of us to “act with agency” and create the world we want rather than waiting for others to fix it.

This is a fascinating, big-picture conversation about science, space, energy, diplomacy and entrepreneurship – grounded in very practical lessons about resilience, relationships and purpose-led leadership.

In this episode, we cover

1. What Think Tank Maths does in practice:
2. Advanced modelling for energy transition projects, including using intermittent wind optimally for hydrogen production
3. Space situational awareness algorithms for tracking satellites in low Earth orbit and supporting sustainable, safe use of space
4. Why accurate modelling matters for both climate goals and national security
5. Angela’s international career journey:
6. Studying French and German and deliberately building a cross-border career
7. Early work at ICI on polyurethane foams and the transition away from CFCs
8. Commercialising the zip drive and data-storage tech across Europe
9. Helping roll out commercial internet services with PSI Net
10. The origin story of Think Tank Maths: a “Dragons’ Den”-style university spin-out panel that led her to co-found the company
11. Sovereign capability and why she chose to stop building value solely for US corporations and instead develop technology in the UK and Europe
12. Working across borders today: Norwegian subsidiary, Norwegian Space Cluster, Franco-German collaborations and space/energy diplomacy
13. Being a woman in high-tech sectors over several decades – what has changed and what still hasn’t
14. The nickname “Little Miss Trouble”, thinking beyond convention and why that mindset is a superpower in innovation and entrepreneurship
15. Choosing your battles, knowing when to walk away from cultures that don’t trust you, and preserving your energy for places where you can have impact
16. The importance of languages, curiosity and staying close to science even if you’re not the mathematician yourself
17. Angela’s call to other women: surround yourself with energising peers, move on from roles that drain you and act with purpose and agency in 2026 and beyond