Robert Courts MP

Minster for Aviation, Maritime and Security

Department for Transport

Robert Courts was first elected as the Member of Parliament for Witney and West Oxfordshire in October 2016. In September 2020, he was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State in the Department for Transport, with responsibility for aviation, maritime and security. 

He was previously Parliamentary Private Secretary (PPS) to the Secretary of State for Transport, having served as a PPS in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office from January to July 2018 and to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs from August 2019 until February 2020. 

Robert served on the International Trade Select Committee before becoming a Minister, having previously been a member of the Transport, Justice and Backbench Business Committees. 

A supporter of several groups in Parliament, Robert was Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Small and Micro-businesses and founded the APPG for Community Transport. He was also the Vice-Chair (RAF) of the APPG for the Armed Forces, the APPG for Aerospace, the APPG for Dementia, and the APPG for Cycling. 

Before his election to Parliament, Robert was a self-employed barrister for some twelve years. His practice focused primarily on personal injury and clinical negligence. He also served as a District Councillor and is a graduate of the Royal College of Defence Studies and a member of the Air League Council. Robert lives with his wife, Kathryn, and two young children, Henry and Isabella, in Bladon. 

Michael Cervenka

President

Vertical Aerospace

President and board director at one of the world’s leading eVTOL start-ups and a pioneer in sustainable aviation. Michael has overseen incredible growth over the past 2 years, with the company transitioning from a 40-person start-up to preparing for multibillion dollar listing on the NYSE with a record order book of 1350 aircraft. He played a pivotal role in shaping company strategy, securing funding and fostering strategic partnerships and investment with Rolls-Royce, Honeywell and Microsoft, American Airlines and Avolon. He leads all operational aspects of the business, including engineering, manufacturing and digitisation.

After graduating with a first class honours degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Bristol University, Michael spent 22 years at Rolls-Royce developing and supporting a wide range of civil and military gas turbines. Most recently, as Head of Future Technologies reporting to the group CTO, he co-wrote the group’s electrical strategy.

Nicola Yates OBE

CEO

Connected Places Catapult

Rachel Gardner-Poole

Chief Operating Officer

Connected Places Catapult

Rachel has a wealth of experience delivering complex programmes and improving operational effectiveness through people, process and technology. She has a strong background in the aviation, science and technology sectors and has worked in leadership roles in IBM, the UK Space Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority. As a Chartered Mathematician, Rachel is a keen advocate for the promotion of STEM and was awarded the AeroTime Aviation Achievement Award in recognition for her dedication and commitment to promoting diversity and inclusion.

Rachel has always had a keen interest in aviation, obtaining her Private Pilot Licence in 2000 and her Commercial Pilot Licence in 2009 and has flown privately in 4 continents. She has been actively involved in charity work for over 20 years, including fundraising for a flying charity which works in developing countries and she also co-founded a charity to deliver projects in South Sudan.

Prof Julia Sutcliffe

Chief Technologist

BAE Systems – Air

Julia is Chief Technologist for BAE Systems Air sector and has been at the forefront of research and development in autonomous systems and networked information systems in the defence sector throughout her career.

Following a PhD in Physics, she has spent her time between the UK and Australia and currently leads the technology strategy for BAE Systems Air sector where she is responsible for driving the transformational technology agenda required for the next generation of products and services and their delivery. Innovation, partnership and the application of diverse technologies from Artificial Intelligence to Human-Machine Teaming, Robotics and Quantum technology are high on her agenda.

Julia is an Honorary Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Manchester, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society. She sits on a number of Advisory Boards and is an advocate for STEM and for diversity and inclusion within her profession.

Rick Newson

Head of Rapid Capabilities Office

UK Civil Aviation Authority

Captain Rick Newson is Head of the UK Civil Aviation Authority ‘Rapid Capabilities Office (RCO)’ but was up until March 21 the Flight Operations Manager (Helicopters) for the UK CAA with responsibility for the global safety oversight of all UK helicopter commercial and public service air operations. Rick’s current role in the RCO looks for opportunities and solutions to expediently resolve complex aviation safety and regulatory issues, this seeing diverse activity ranging from personal jet packs to civil Red Air Aggressor training operations. The role includes ‘operationalising’ emergent technologies being dealt with by the CAAs Futures Unit through integration and implementation into mainstream delivery across CAAs outward facing oversight and rule making teams.

Rick represents CAAs interests on a number of cross governmental and industry fora including co-chairing the UKs new eVTOL Safety Leadership Group. Rick is a highly experienced rotorcraft pilot, instructor and senior examiner with a career initially beginning in the Royal Navy, has held senior management posts in Police Aviation, the UK HEMS industry and also experienced in offshore oil and gas operations. Rick is currently type rated on the Leonardo AW189.

Corinne Matthews

Aerospace/Aviation Sector Lead

Heart of the SouthWest

Corinne Matthews is the Aerospace/ Aviation Sector Lead for the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership which encompasses Somerset and Devon.

Corinne has worked in regional economic development for over 20 years and is currently supporting delivery of the LEPs Sustainable Aviation transformational programme. This aims to position the area to take advantage of the global ambition to decarbonise aircraft, ensuring that it exploits new markets in electrical and hydrogen propulsion and accelerates opportunities to become the centre for sustainable aviation for regional flights.

Corinne is working with key industry primes, regional airports, local authorities, academics and skills providers to achieve this. The LEP is also a member of the 2Zero (hybrid electric) Phase 2 Future Flight Consortium, which saw the first all-electric flight in England fly from Exeter airport last Summer.  

Brad Miller

Managing Director

UK & EMEA Ferrovial Vertiports

Brad is responsible for delivering Ferrovial’s vision to design, develop, build and operate a modern network of Vertiports in the UK and across Europe, providing much needed clean, quiet and seamless connectivity for a more sustainable society.​ Prior to joining Ferrovial Brad successfully delivered across a variety of senior, strategic roles at MAG (Manchester Airports Group).​

As Managing Director for MAGO (MAG’s e-commerce business) he was responsible for unlocking tech-enabled revenue streams and delivering innovative new products.​ Previously Brad has held the roles of Chief Operating Officer at MAN and STN where he improved customer service, increased colleague engagement and value engineered the cost base as well as having responsible for the safe day to day running of Manchester and London Stansted Airports.​ As MAG’s Chief of Staff Brad brought together the core support functions relating to people, assets, technology and MAG’s business partners to find the single best way of doing things consistently and more efficiently.​

As part of this remit Brad provided leadership for several transformational programmes to facilitate and support MAG’s ambitious growth aspirations. Brad was accountable for the successful leadership of Manchester Airport’s £1.2bn Transformation Programme (MAN-TP) to transform how customers (guests & airlines) and colleagues use and interact with Manchester Airport. Accountable for the business case of MAG’s largest investment in infrastructure he managed the risks, led the airline tariff consultations and established a collaborative programme environment. ​

Prior to leading MAN-TP Brad was responsible for developing new revenue streams for MAG, in particular he led the establishment of MAG USA through market research, strategic assessment and business development.​ An experienced aviation professional, he has been responsible for the integration of London Stansted Airport into MAG, Managing Director of East Midlands Airport and prior to that, led MAG’s project and procurement teams.​

Brad also Project Managed the ground-breaking T1 Security and Retail redevelopment.​ Before joining MAG he was instrumental in delivering several mixed-use property development schemes.​ He is a Chartered Surveyor, has an MBA from Manchester Business School and has held several Non-exec posts and is currently a NW Advisory Board Member for Teenage Cancer Trust.​

Brad is a proud vegan, a qualified FA Level 2 youth football coach.​Brad is also the creator and co-host of ‘the Culture Club’ podcast that explores organisational culture with a variety of leaders and elite sports people

Liam McKay

Director of Corporate Affairs

City London Airport

Liam oversees communications, policy, government relations and sustainability for the airport. 

Liam has over ten years’ experience in campaigning and communications, and has delivered significant city wide programmes in his career to date.  

He is a member of the Airports Council International Policy Committee as well as a number of other aviation, transport and regeneration bodies. 

A native of Edinburgh, Liam has an undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh and a post graduate degree from University College London.

Dr. Ruth Mallors-Ray OBE

Associate

Connected Places Catapult

Ruth is Director of RMR Consultants providing objective assistance to navigate the UK’s innovation landscape. Ruth has worked across multiple sectors to shape and frame proposals that seek to accelerate innovation through collaboration between industry, government and academia. 

Ruth has held positions as the Chief Operating Officer of the Aerospace Technology Institute and Director of the Aerospace, Aviation and Defence Knowledge Transfer Network to develop a deep understanding of how government and industry work together on innovation agendas. Before moving into aviation, Ruth worked across a range of sectors including professional services, retail, engineering and oil and gas with a focus on change and engagement programmes. 

Ruth is a Non-Executive Director of KTN, a Trustee of Brooklands Museum and a Associate Director of the Connected Places Catapult.  

Andrew Chadwick

Aviation Technology Innovation Lead

Connected Places Catapult

Andrew Chadwick is a Chartered Engineer and is the Connected Places Catapult Aviation Technology Innovation Lead. His current work includes the UK Government Drone Pathfinder Catalyst Programme, Solution Architect on a number of Future Flight Challenge projects, plus Solution Architect on the Zero Emission Flight Infrastructure project studying the introduction of hydrogen and electric aircraft and supporting infrastructure into airports. Andrew also leads on Future Air Transport, Advanced Air Mobility, and Aviation Sustainability innovation initiatives.

Andrew is currently Chair of the Royal Aeronautical Society UAS Specialist Group Committee, a Member of the Industry Advisory Board for the Autonomous Vehicle Systems and Dynamics MSc at Cranfield University, a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering Working Group on the Safety and Ethics of Autonomous Systems, and a member of the Drones Industry Action Group.

Andrew Rae

Professor of Engineering

University of the Highlands and Islands

Andrew is currently Professor of Engineering at the University of the Highlands and Islands responsible for the University’s engineering research, and one of the architects of the Future Flight Challenge ‘Sustainable Aviation Test Environment’ project which is examining the capabilities of various low-carbon platforms to deliver against real-world use-case challenges in Northern Scotland.  He was recently the Chief Engineer for Ampaire Ltd responsible for the certification of a hybrid-electric aircraft and its flight tests in the UK.  Previously he was Principal Scientist and a Technical Fellow in the Aerospace functions at QinetiQ and its predecessors (DERA, DRA, and RAE). 

Sunil Budhdeo

Transport Innovation Manager

Coventry City Council

Sunil has over 35 years’ experience in the Traffic, Transport and ITS Industry. His role as the Transport Innovation Manager at Coventry City has helped in development of new technology for transportation. Now venturing in to the latest mode of transportation of Electric-Vertical Take Of and Landing ( E-VTOL)

Joined Coventry City council in 2010 as UTMC Manager, responsible for the UTMC , Highway Network Development team and Managing the Response and Monitoring services .

Successfully implemented UK’S first 4G Mesh network in Coventry, introduced Pay On Display Machine, RTPI, CCTV, ANPR Cameras and Wireless Vehicle Detection that use the 4G Mash network for communication.

Successfully completed various innovation project, funded by the European Union FP7, H2020 programme Coventry and Warwickshire LEP. Exploited the technology to secure funding for other CAV projects funded by Innovate UK and the DfT such as UK Autodrive, UK Cite and Parking Platform with other key partners. Supporting Coventry University with their transport related R&D projects. Delivered the first demonstration of an Autonomous vehicle driven on the streets of Coventry, introduced Micro Mobility as part of MaaS. Micro Mobility, intelligent Controlled /uncontrolled Crossing, Electrification of transport modes which will be operational in a city environment.

Lead PM for Future Flights Projects such as Urban Airport (E-VTOL), delivering the world’s first in the City of Coventry.

A member of the UTMC Standard and specification development group, TDI & TTF group and Chair of Yunex Traffic User group and the Siemens user group, the desire to be innovative and set a high standard within the Transport Sector carries on.

Julia Jiggins

Head of Strategic Marketing – Aviation & Space

Thales UK

Julia is the Head of Strategic Marketing – Aviation and Space and is responsible for developing Thales UK’s market opportunities for future Aviation and Space products and services across the whole of the Aerospace and Space environment.

Prior to joining Thales UK in 2008, Julia worked for Boeing UK Ltd for 6 years and was with Royal Air Force for 13 years. She has worked in various logistics, after sales support, manufacturing, product development including the delivery of integrated communication packages to aircraft and product strategy throughout her career.

Julia has a longstanding career in the Aerospace and Avionics industry, and is a senior specialist within Thales UK business, with responsibility for civil aviation, drone, and Space-related activities. Julia maintains various board memberships including Digital Aviation Research and Technology Centre (DARTeC), and has deep insights across the wider aviation ecosystems and industries.

Julia is Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society (FRAeS) and an alumni of Warwick University having graduated in 1987 with BSc(Hons) in Management Science.

Robbie Bourke

Partner

Oliver Wyman

Robbie is a Partner at Oliver Wyman and leads the Oliver Wyman CAVOK division across EMEA. He has over 20 years experience as an Aviation professional and has held leadership positions at international airlines and OEM’s.

He specializes in aviation operational transformation and has led assignments with leading aircraft manufacturers, airlines and other transportation companies on topics including strategy development, cost transformation, operational improvement, safety management, certification, transactions, climate and sustainability, engineering and MRO.

He has extensive experience with Advanced Air Mobility including investment analysis, technical assessment, strategy development and advisory services to manufacturers, operators and regulators.

Prior to joining Oliver Wyman, Robbie spent 6 years at a global aerospace OEM in Design, Production, Engineering and Strategy roles. Over 10 years at a large EASA airline, Robbie delivered organizational transformation programs, led an aircraft acquisition and entry into service programme from a certification and engineering perspective, and led the Cabin design and maintenance functions.

Robbie earned a Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering from University of Limerick in Ireland and a Diploma in Lightweight Aircraft Structures from the University of West of England

Prof. Fern Elsdon-Baker

Research Director Social Sciences

UKRI

Professor Fern Elsdon-Baker is the UKRI Future Flight Challenge Social Science Research Director. She is based at the Univerity of Birmigham, where she directs the Research Institute for STEMM in Culture and Society (ISTEMMiCS). Professor Elsdon-Baker is a transdisciplinary researcher whose work draws on a number sociological, psychological and humanities approaches. Her primary research interests are:

– The perception of, and trust in, STEMM in diverse societies and across cultures
– Public space and cultural narratives surrounding STEMM
– National or international Science and Technology communication, public engagement, and dialogue
– Diversity in STEMM and Innovation

Hammad Jeilani

Director of Co-Founder

Apian

Hammad is a doctor and a NHS Clinical Entrepreneur. Together with Christopher and Alexander, he founded Apian, a medical drone logistics startup delivering faster, smarter and greener healthcare.

Dr. Yoge Patel

CEO

Blue Bear Systems Research

Yoge leads the Blue Bear Group, comprising Blue Bear Systems Research Ltd, a pioneering SME in Autonomy and Unmanned Systems, Cassima Ltd, a Live/Virtual Simulation company specialising in enhancing capability by joining the real and simulated worlds, and MRO Drone Ltd.   

Yoge is an authoritative and respected figure in the Industry; her drive to provide discriminatory solutions and Blue Bear’s agility and collaboration is recognised at international level.  Under her guidance, Blue Bear has grown and is positioned as a world leader renowned for its ecosystem of agility, innovation, collaboration and ‘big company’ Systems Integration capability. 

Yoge is a renowned innovator and visionary in the field of autonomous and AI enabled systems. A ‘techie’ at heart, she still enjoys the challenge of taking new technology to international markets but now balances this with providing input to UK strategy and policy for Defence and Civil with a firm eye on accelerating industry uptake of UK innovation.  

Yoge is also a personal tutor on the Oxford Strategic Leadership Programme at Said Business School (University of Oxford) and provides Connector & Interlocutor training.  She currently sits on the Steering Board for the Oxford-Cambridge Arc Virtual Institute for Aviation, Future Flight (Government Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund) Strategy Group, Defence Suppliers Forum Commercial Group (SME Representative); KTN Defence & Security Board, University of Bristol Computer Science Course Industry Steering Board, York University Computer Science Safety Critical Software Project Steering Board.   

Recent accolades include Winner of the Asian Women of Achievements/Women of the Future Entrepreneur Award (2019), Women in Defence UK Innovation Award Nominee (2019), & Top 100 Asian Stars in Tech List (2018, 2019). 

Her career started with a Research Fellowship at Shrivenham College (Cranfield University), a PhD in Flight Control from York and a healthy appetite to change the ‘Technology’ status quo. She spent 10 years at the former Government Laboratory, QinetiQ, leaving as a Fellow in Flight Systems with a track record in delivering innovations with multi-disciplinary teams.  Down-select of strategic UK assets, international collaboration and liaison with academia were key roles during this time.  

Andy Clarke

Director for Integrated Transport

Costain

Andy is a highly capable and collaborative director with experience in infrastructure projects and maintenance programmes with a record of ensuring client outcomes are delivered efficiently and safely through the promotion of collaborative behaviours. Andy has extensive experience of partnering with client organisations throughout the project lifecycle. 

Andy is passionate about leaving a positive legacy for future generations and playing his part in shaping the future of our industry as we enter the 4th Industrial revolution. To achieve this, he firmly believes in breaking down existing silos and barriers to accelerate the delivery of sustainable, efficient and effective infrastructure, which improves lives. As Director for Integrated Transport, Andy is leading the industry in developing collaborative, trusted relationships, bringing client organisations together to tackle the most difficult challenges of our time, such as decarbonising aviation. 

Andy and his team have been working with Connected Places Catapult and ATI on the future infrastructure requirements needed at airports to facilitate the turnaround of a Hydrogen aircraft.

David Hyde

Aerospace and Drones

World Economic Forum

Darrell Swanson

Director

Swanson Aviation Consultancy Ltd

Darrell Swanson of Swanson Aviation Consultancy Ltd. focuses on mode choice demand modelling for Advanced Air Mobility (AAM) and infrastructure requirements of electric aviation. 

Darrell has established himself as a subject matter expert regarding electric aviation and how it will lead to a future of distributed aviation.  His knowledge encompasses electric aircraft infrastructure requirements as well as defining market opportunities for emerging electric Low Cost Carriers (eLCCs). 

He is an advisor to NASA’s Transformative Vertical Flight programme groups 2 & 3, The North Texas Council of Governments NASA AAM programme, the AAM panel at ADS Group, the Community Air Mobility Initiative and is a board member of the British Aviation Group. 

Darrell has over 20 years’ experience as an aviation consultant on airport masterplanning projects thru to airport acquisition advisory services.   

Kata Cserep

Managing Director, Aviation, Travel and Tourism

ICF

Kata Cserep leads ICF’s global aviation team of close to 100 expert consultants, serving clients in government, private sector, the investment community and industry associations. The team includes specialists in airline strategy, fleet and network planning; airline, airport and MRO operations; business planning, M&A and investment advisory for any aviation-related assets (from aircraft to airports to route rights and carbon offsets) as well as an in-house data-science team adept at interrogating large and complex data sets to reveal insights on truly complex challenges.

In her advisory work, Ms Cserep focuses on the linkages within the aviation ecosystem and their implications for business strategy. She has been involved in a wide variety of aviation projects over the last 15+ years, including airline diagnostics and business planning; policy and sustainability, including airport and airline decarbonization; and due diligence of airline and airport transactions.

Ms Cserep is an experienced project manager and a qualified Prince2 Practitioner. She is also an experienced keynote speaker and moderator and is regularly asked to participate in industry events focusing on policy, investment or strategic aviation issues.

Ms Cserep has both a master’s degree and a bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Cambridge, Trinity College in the United Kingdom. In 2019 she was recognised by Airline Economics as one of the ‘Top 40 Under 40” aviation professionals globally.

Max Fenkell

Policy and Government Affairs Lead

Joby Aviation

Gary Cutts

Director

Future Flight Challenge

Gary has 30 years’ experience in the Aviation industry having held global engineering executive positions at Rolls-Royce and with experience in business development and services.  Gary is now leading the UK government’s Future Flight innovation programme working across government and industry to create innovative new aviation systems. 

Emma Gilthorpe

CEO

JetZero

Emma was appointed CEO of the UK’s Jet Zero Council in March 2021, by the Secretaries of State for Transport and Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy.

The Jet Zero Council is the only forum in the UK that brings together all aspects of the aviation value chain and Government. The Council, made up of over 50 leaders across aviation, aerospace, Government and academia, has an absolute focus on decarbonising aviation in line with the UK’s commitment to Net Zero carbon emissions by 2050. The council aims to achieve transatlantic flight within a generation, without harm to the environment. It will look to do this through two primary strategies – zero emission flight in the longer term and Sustainable Aviation Fuel production and use in the shorter term – both underpinned by a 2-year roadmap.

Emma also has an executive role as Chief Operating Officer for Heathrow, where she has worked since 2009, leading a variety of teams across Strategy, Regulation, Planning, Sustainability and Capital Project delivery. Amongst other things, she led the strategy that underpinned Heathrow 2.0: a plan for sustainable growth, which fundamentally repositioned the airport’s environmental and sustainability ambition.

Dr. Andy Jefferson

Programme Director, Sustainable Aviation

A&G Jefferson Ltd

Andy is an independent consultant and a Director of A&G Jefferson Limited, the consultancy he jointly set up in 2012. He works with Sustainable Aviation to drive and deliver the work programme, giving them their independent voice. As well as playing a key role in the development of Sustainable Aviation’s Reports and Road Maps, on the key sustainability issues; he is often called upon to give evidence to Select Committees; and champion sustainability at a range of events and meetings with stakeholders. Andy has over twenty years’ experience working for both the Airport and Airline sectors, giving him great breadth in understanding the complexities of the industry. His roles concluded with him heading up the sustainability and planning team at Stansted Airport, having previously had a range of roles in airline operations, commercial development, and fleet planning.

Gary Elliott

Chief Executive Officer

Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI)

Gary Elliott was appointed Chief Executive of the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) in April 2014, assuming responsibility for the strategic direction of the Institute and its operational performance. Prior to this, Gary was the Chief Executive of Hybrid Air Vehicles Ltd, a private equity backed aerospace OEM. During his tenure Gary led the business from its start-up phase into a mature business, winning and delivering a $600m contract for the US Army.

Previously, Gary held a number of senior level positions within BAE Systems, NG Bailey and HBOS, working across a number of international markets. Gary holds a first-class honours in Aeronautical Engineering from the Queens University of Belfast and an MBA from the Cranfield School of Management.

Matthew Gorman MBE

Director of Sustainability

Heathrow Airport

Matthew is Carbon Strategy Director for Heathrow in the newly formed Carbon, Communications and Communities department. He has been Sustainability Director at the airport for the last decade, leading the team that developed “Heathrow 2.0”, the airport’s leadership plan for sustainable growth launched in 2017. He played a key role in developing the new approach which put local communities and the environment at the heart of the airport’s plans for a new runway and was backed by a strong majority in Parliament in 2018. Heathrow won the Edie “Sustainable Business of the Year” award in 2019, and the airport’s new net zero plan, launched at the start of 2022, has been shortlisted as “plan of the year” in the Business Green Leaders Awards.

Matthew chairs “Sustainable Aviation”, the coalition of UK airlines, airports and manufacturers that sets industry-wide sustainability goals and drives progress towards them. In early 2020, Sustainable Aviation became the first national aviation group in the world to commit to net zero 2050.

He has represented the global airports sector in the International Civil Aviation Organisation’s working group on climate change, and Heathrow on the Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change. He has been a trustee of the Hilllingdon Community Trust and the Heathrow Community Fund, Vice-Chair of SERA (the Labour Environment Campaign) and a trustee of Tourism Concern, which campaigns for ethical tourism.

He was awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2021 for services to the decarbonisation of aviation.

Matthew is a fluent French and Spanish speaker and has co-authored a book on corporate responsibility: “Big Business, Big Responsibilities. From villains to visionaries – how companies are tackling the world’s greatest challenges”. He is currently writing a book on how we can take the carbon out of flying and protect the benefits of air travel for the future. He is married with two children

Rachael Everard

Head of Sustainability

Rolls-Royce

Rachael leads sustainability and ESG-related strategy for the Rolls-Royce Group and has been described as the driving force for the company’s action on climate change and decarbonisation. A chartered environmentalist, Rachael is a fellow of IEMA, and sits on the advisory board for We Mean Business.

Simon Earles

Sustainability and Corporate Affairs Director

Bristol Airport

Simon previously worked at Heathrow, where he was most recently Planning and Policy Director. Prior to this, he was responsible for surface access to the Airport, leading on projects such as Crossrail, Western Rail Access and HS2. Simon brings over 16 years of experience in the aviation sector, having also worked for Luton Airport, and is a qualified transport planner. 

As Planning and Sustainability Director, Simon will be considering how Bristol Airport can meet the challenge of serving the South West region’s demand for international connectivity in a way that is sensitive to the local community and environment. 

Captain David Morgan

Operations Flight Director

Easyjet

Captain David Morgan is the Director of Flight Operations for easyJet. An operating pilot with over 35 years in aviation, he and his team are responsible for the safe, efficient and sustainable operation of the airline’s flights across Europe, North Africa and the Middle East with a fleet of more than 300 aircraft. Captain Morgan is also leading easyJet’s work on innovation with a focus on supporting the development of new technologies, such as hydrogen, to decarbonise aviation. This includes partnerships with a variety of companies, including Airbus, Rolls Royce and Cranfield Aerospace Solutions.

Ricky Sandhu

CEO

Urban Air Port

Ricky founded Urban-Air Port^© Ltd (UAP) after a distinguished twenty-year career in architecture, including sixteen years as equity Partner with award-winning architecture and design practice Foster + Partners.

Role: Ricky sets out the vision, supports his management team, works closely with UAP’s major corporate, governmental and technology partners, and liaises with investors

Hazel Dempsey

Innovation Programme Manager

NHS Grampian

Hazel Dempsey has a background in both adult nursing and public health programmes and joined NHS Grampian in 2003. Hazel brings expertise in programme management and enthusiasm for delivering supporting creative, technological solutions to healthcare challenges.

The role of Innovation Programme Manager is multi-faceted which contributes to the delivery of innovation programmes and projects in the Grampian Region, and beyond where we are engaged in cross-region collaboration. Day to day, Hazel liaises and collaborates with a wide range of clinical and management staff in our organisation and other NHS regions, academics, industry representatives, and innovation bodies. 

Andy Smith

Head of Sustainability Strategy

Logan Air

With more than 20 years of experience in Aviation, Andy specialises in airline network planning, fleet evaluations and revenue management. Andy is currently the Head of Sustainability Strategy at Loganair Limited – the largest regional airline in the UK.

Andy leads Loganair’s numerous industry projects developing zero carbon solutions for next generation commercial aircraft. Before joining Loganair, Andy held leading positions in companies such British Airways, Starbow, Cardiff Aviation and worked both with aviation start-ups and corporates. 

Matthew Sattler

Infrastructure and Ecosystems Partnerships

Supernal

Matthew Sattler is a transportation and startup problem solver focused on fixing hard tech problems. Matthew currently leads Infrastructure & Ecosystem Partnerships for Supernal and is responsible for creating partnerships that will enable a future mobility ecosystem. Prior to joining Supernal, Matthew helped commercialize autonomous aircraft at Reliable Robotics and led business development for Boom Supersonic, a startup building a next generation Supersonic airliner.

Jenny Ward

Deputy Director Aviation Strategy

Department of Transport

Jenny Ward is the Deputy Director of Aviation Strategy, Consumers and Innovation in the Department of Transport. This is forward looking and includes leading on Future of Flight such as drones and evTOL and commercial spaceflight policies for the Department.  She has a decade of experience in the civil service working with industry and other Governments to develop and deliver complex policies across energy, environment and transport. Prior to joining the civil service Jenny worked in technical consultancy and the private commercial sector.

Jason Fowler

Chair

British Aviation Group

Jason is the Chair of the British Aviation Group and has 33 years’ experience in the development and construction industry with a particular focus on the aviation sector. He specialises in the procurement, design management, capital planning and construction delivery of complex environments such as airports, ensuring that capital budgets are put to best effect for business objectives.

He currently leads G&T’s Independent Fund Surveyor services at Heathrow airport which involve review of activity on all key capital investment projects at the airport.

Jason is also a member of the Aviation Export Board, bringing industry and government together on development matters and is also an Expert Advisor to the Transport Services Trade Advisory Group for the Department for International Trade.

Fiona Smith

Group Head of Aerodrome Strategy

AGS

Fiona Smith is Group Head of Aerodrome Strategy for AGS Airports Ltd. She is an experienced senior leader with expertise and strategy specialism gained across 7 airports internationally and also for the UK CAA. She is a founding member of the Industry Steering Committees on Airspace Change and passionately supports initiatives driving more sustainable aviation, social inclusion, sustainability and diversity. She is Project Director for Future Flight project CAELUS, a UK Gov funded initiative working in partnership with NHS to demonstrate the viability of a drone enabled national network in Scotland. 

Tom Grundy

Chief Executive Officer

Hybrid Air Vehicles

Tom holds degrees in Aerospace Engineering and Advanced Systems Engineering, holds a MBA, is a Chartered Engineer, and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Tom joined HAV in 2013 from BAE Systems, where his experience covered a range of senior engineering and programme leadership roles in the development and delivery of new products and services.

Tom was the Head of Business Management for BAE Systems’ Tornado Availability Support Service, was Assistant Chief Engineer in BAE Systems’ unmanned aircraft development business, and prior to that led programmes developing new UAV mission system capabilities in BAE Systems Australia.

He also worked on the Airbus A380 and Eurofighter Typhoon programmes. 

Prof. Mark Westwood

Head of Centre and Professor of Aeronautics

Cranfield University

The Centre for Aeronautics at Cranfield University is one of the world’s largest centres for postgraduate education and research in aircraft design, aerodynamics, advanced modelling and simulation tools and methods.  Cranfield University has developed a wide range of research facilities under its “Global Research Airport” initiative, including a drone BVLOS experimentation corridor, on-site hydrogen production, storage and refuelling for aviation and a digitally instrumented departure lounge of the future. 

Mark spent his early career at QinetiQ, working primarily in aerospace research and development across a range of civil and military technology demonstrator programmes covering navigation, guidance and control with extensive experience of simulation and flight test. In 2010, Mark was appointed as Head of Systems Engineering for Air Division within QinetiQ, a new professional function established to improve quality and consistency of research and development projects across the division. 

In 2012, Mark took the position of Head of Computational Aerodynamics at Aircraft Research Association, leading a sustained growth in industrial R&D activity partnered with a range of international aerospace OEMs and UK MoD/dstl. 

Mark joined the Transport Systems Catapult in 2015 to lead R&D projects developing automated and autonomous vehicle technologies, with highlights including the HumanDrive connected and autonomous road vehicle project with Nissan as the lead OEM, and Cranfield University as test and evaluation partner using the MUEAVI test environment.  In 2017 he moved to the position of CTO, and in 2019 as CTO of the newly formed Connected Places Catapult, led on the Catapults technology strategy and industrial research and development, resulting in the development of the Catapult’s activities in drones, Advanced Air Mobility and sustainable aviation. 

Henry Tse

Director New Mobility Technologies

Connected Places Catapult

He has over 15 years’ experience in the industry with extensive project portfolios at different stages of the lifecycle as well as experience managing complex collaboration and innovation projects. As Director of New Mobility Technologies in Connected Places Catapult, Henry leads the team of multi-disciplinary specialist to focus on growing businesses with innovations in mobility services that enable new levels of physical, digital and social connectedness through intersection between public and private sectors and  between local government and transport authorities. 

Henry began he career as a Systems Engineer working on the first of class T45 Destroyer and quickly worked his way into engineering project management delivering different engineering projects including delivering unmanned air system, autonomous vehicle, strategy for secure network & information systems, co-ordinate cross industry to develop future navy technology and complex system evaluation experiments.  

Henry is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering & Technology, a Chartered Engineer and a member of International Council on Systems Engineering.