Speakers

Alison Clark

Partner

EY Consulting

Alison is a Partner at EY, specialising in architecting business transformation for clients, connecting back and front office to identify new markets, revenue streams and cost saving through automation.

She has spent 25 years working in digital and data, helping clients leverage the power that modernisation can bring.

Her focus for most of her career has been within the manufacturing and automotive sector working with Volvo, VW Group, Rolls Royce, Johnson Matthey and many others both in the UK and globally.

Andy Street

Mayor of the West Midlands

Andy Street was elected as the first Mayor of the West Midlands in May 2017. Andy was re-elected to serve a second term as Mayor in May 2021. The primary function of the role is to chair the West Midlands Combined Authority and brings with it significant powers over transport, housing, skills and jobs.

Before becoming Mayor, Andy combined a career with John Lewis, Britain’s most successful workers’ co-operative, with a host of high-profile economic development roles, working with local and national government.

Brian Holliday

Managing Director

Siemens Digital Industries

Brian Holliday is Managing Director for Siemens Digital Industries, a technology company serving the manufacturing and industrial-infrastructure sectors.

He is co-chair of the Made Smarter Commission and chair of the CBI’s Manufacturing Council in addition to being a non-executive director at Make UK, The Manufacturers’ Organisation. 

He is a keen advocate for engineering, innovation, skills and advanced technology deployment, contributing regularly to media, policy forums and peer networks.

A 2022 Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Brian started his career as an apprentice with Texas Instruments and has degrees from Cardiff and Manchester Universities in addition to an honorary doctorate from Middlesex University. 

Charlie Nunn

Group Chief Executive

Lloyds Banking Group

Chris Courtney

Chief Executive Officer

National Manufacturing Institute Scotland

Chris Furber

Performance Director

British Canoeing

Chris Furber is a high-performance leader with over 20 years’ experience working with some of the most successful sporting teams in the World. 

Chris began his career as a coach for British Cycling and attended the Beijing and London Games as Head Coach. 

In 2013 Chris moved to the role of National Performance Director at Para-Swimming and led the team to success at the Rio and Tokyo Games. 

Most recently Chris works as Performance Director for British Canoeing leading the success Paracanoe programme and Olympic Sprint teams. 

In the last 20+ years Chris has built teams and process that have supported athletes to over 550 international senior medals including 115 Olympic/Paralympic medals.

Chris White

Director - Industrial Policy Research Centre

Manufacturing Technology Centre

Chris is the Director of the Industrial Policy Research Centre, based at Loughborough University - a collaboration between the MTC and the University, and was the Member of Parliament for Warwick and Leamington, 2010-2017.

As an MP, he was a member of both the International Development and Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Select Committees, and chaired the APPG on Manufacturing. Prior to joining the MTC, Chris was the Director of the Institute for Industrial Strategy at King’s College, London.

Amongst other roles, Chris is a Visiting Professor at City, University of London, a member of the Economic Policy Committee, Make UK, the Manufacturing Policy Panel at the IET and the Manufacturing Council, CBI.  He was also the author of the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

Daisy McAndrew

Event Compere

Daisy is a freelance radio and TV presenter, reporter and writer. She has 30 years’ experience reporting on UK politics, economics and business as well as the British Royal Family.

Daisy currently presents multiple shows on talktv including The Talk and 1st Edition. She helped launch talkTV in April 2022 by hosting her own prime time news and current affairs show at 10pm. Since September 2022 she has presented the Drive Time show and the 7-8pm show as well her regular shows. She is a well known face on American TV screens as NBC News’ Royal Commentator.

Before moving into broadcasting in 2001 she spent a decade working in Westminster, starting off as a 19-year-old MP’s researcher before writing for many newspapers from the Press Gallery, profiling MPs in The House Magazine – which she ultimately edited – as well as working for Lib Dem Leader Charles Kennedy as his Press Secretary. She was a consultant on the BBC’s A-Z of Politics and edited The Politics Companion, published by Chrysalis books.

Dermot Lynch

Head of Business Development & External Affairs

ABB

Dermot is the Head of Business Development & External Affairs for ABB in the UK. He leads ABB’s collaborative growth initiatives involving digital manufacturing, robotics, electrification & automation.

Dermot also leads ABB’s government engagement & policy strategy in addition to developing ABB’s Digital Factory go-to-market. Prior to joining ABB Dermot worked for 10 years in Energy markets holding leadership roles across Sales, Marketing, Business Development & Strategy.

He is currently focused on developing ABB’s core strategic pillars of Industrial Digitalisation & Net Zero.

Don Rashitha Jayasekara

Chief of Digital Manufacturing

Rolls-Royce

I am a visionary leader who transforms complex organisations to be more competitive and sustainable through technology. I lead global technology teams to bring business strategies, operational requirements, and innovative technologies together to create real business value and transformation.

As Chief of Digital Manufacturing for one of the leading companies in the world, I collaborate with functional leaders (Operations, Engineering, Quality, IT etc.), leading technology vendors and other global organisations (Regulators, Research Institutes, Universities etc.) to transform the industry with digital technologies (Industry 4.0 | Smart Manufacturing). I am a recognised ambassador for digital transformation within the industry. I speak at events and give guest lectures to inspire today's and tomorrow's digital disruptors. I contribute to digital platforms like LinkedIn to stay connected to live debates and learn continuously.

Through engaging people and developing skills, simplifying processes, and choosing the right technology strategy, I am empowering everyone within the organisation to be a digital pioneer. To scale digital transformation, levelling the playing field and making technology accessible to everyone matters.

Creating a better world with sustainability and opportunities for everyone is important to me. I am a passionate supporter of charities supporting children. I participate in STEM activities to get more children involved in engineering.

I live by the famous Churchillian quote, "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts".

Dr Egbert-Jan Sol

Program Director

Dutch Research and Technology Organisation

Egbert-Jan Sol was responsible for the High-Tech Systems and Materials division of TNO, the Dutch research and technology organisation, like UK’s Catapult. Currently he leading the Dutch Industrie 4.0 program, called Smart Industry of the ministry of economic affairs, the metal and electro organizations, the chamber of commerce and TNO and launching these months the 100 M Euro NXT GEN Smart Industry development program.

He is also a board member of EFFRA the European Factory of the Future Association, representing the private part in the Horizon Europe Made-in-Europa program of the EU.  

Dr Jillian MacBryde

Professor of Innovation and Operations Management

University of Strathclyde

Jill MacBryde is Professor of Innovation and Operations Management at Strathclyde University where she is also Director of the Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship. Jill is Co-Director of the ESRC Made Smarter “InterAct” network, which aims to bring insights from the social sciences to support the innovation and diffusion of digital technologies that will result in a stronger, more resilient, manufacturing base.

The theme throughout Jill’s work is operations management in changing environments and her current research projects include productivity in manufacturing, the impact of Covid on UK manufacturing, and the future of manufacturing work.

Jill also works with policy makers and the public sector. She is currently a member of the Innovate UK/ESRC Innovation Caucus and a member of the Innovate UK Future Flight Advisory Board.

Research areas:  Innovation Management, Competitiveness, Manufacturing, Performance.

Dr Peter Kinnell

Professor of Metrology

Loughborough University

Peter graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2001 with an MEng in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in Micro Electro Mechanical Systems (MEMS). After his PhD he then joined GE Sensing, where worked on new product introduction, and assisted with the development of the companies highest performance pressure sensors.

In 2007 Peter left GE Sensing to take a Lectureship in Manufacturing and Metrology at The University of Nottingham, where he investigated metrology systems for a wide range of high value manufacturing applications.

In 2014 he joined Loughborough University where his worked is focused on the creation and application of new sensors and measurement systems that support high-value manufacturing, and in particular the use of robotics and automation.

Hannah Melia

Senior Product Manager

FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics

Hannah is the Senior Product Manager at FourJaw, prioritising product developments to increase manufacturing productivity through the use of digital tools.

Hannah has worked in engineering software for 15 years and cemented her love for manufacturing during her post-graduate education at the Institute for Manufacturing at the University of Cambridge.

Ivan McKee MSP

Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise

Ivan McKee was appointed Minister for Business, Trade, Tourism and Enterprise in May 2021. He also has responsibility for Government Efficiency and Digital.

His career has involved a number of senior roles in manufacturing and business, managing companies in the UK as well as Poland, Finland, Croatia and Bosnia.

Early in his career, Ivan spent two years with VSO in Bangladesh.

Ivan has been MSP for Glasgow Provan since May 2016. He was brought up in Glasgow where he studied at the University of Strathclyde. He also studied at the University of Newcastle.

He was previously the Minister for Trade, Investment and Innovation and Minister for Trade, Innovation and Public Finance.

Joe Darlington

Technology Director

Manufacturing Technology Centre

Katherine Bennett CBE

Chief Executive Officer

High Value Manufacturing Catapult

Katherine Bennett CBE is a proud ambassador of British industry and is passionate about people. She has led multiple industry initiatives aimed at ensuring diversity, equality and inclusion in the workplace, and is a member of numerous country-wide and government-led partnerships.

Katherine, who is the current chair of the Catapult Network, joined the HVM Catapult as CEO in June 2021 after 16 years at Airbus where she was a Senior Vice President. Since joining HVM Catapult, Katherine has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of the manufacturing industry and the opportunities which exist to unleash its potential

Kish Chandarana

Group Head, Product Assurance Systems & Tools

MBDA Missile Systems

Kish Chandarana has over 25 years' experience in delivering engineering design, development, support and continual improvement activities with world class engineering organisations including MBDA, Honeywell, Schneider Electric and Thales. Current role includes driving advanced data analytics capability to rapidly analyse product & process failures to identify disruptive patterns. A capability that is applicable transversally across the entire product life cycle with rapid drill down to target areas of concerns. 

Lina Huertas

Manufacturing Industry Advisor

Microsoft UK

Lina is currently the Manufacturing Industrial Advisor in Microsoft UK, helping UK manufacturers drive their digital transformation and driving value by adopting the breadth of technology solutions available from Microsoft and its partner ecosystem. Her focus is primarily on smart factories, accelerated product development and agile supply chains, and underpinned by sustainability, security and a human-driven approach.

She has spent 15 years working in digital manufacturing innovation, including roles in national strategy, technology strategy, team leadership, programme management and digital manufacturing tool development. She is a Mechanical Engineer by training, completed her PhD on digital manufacturing from Loughborough University and is a Fellow of the IMechE.

Marie Wells

Head of Sustainability

Manufacturing Technology Centre

Martin Dury

Head of Future Skills

Manufacturing Technology Centre

Michael Luck

Director of the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence and Professor of Computer Science

UKRI Centre for Doctoral Training in Safe and Trusted Artificial Intelligence

Michael Luck is Professor of Computer Science at King's College London, where he undertakes research on artificial intelligence. He has published over 300 articles and twelve books. Michael is Director of the King's Institute for Artificial Intelligence and is Technical Advisor for C the Signs, Scientific Advisor for Aerogility and on the AI Board for ContactEngine. He is a Fellow of the European Association for Artificial Intelligence and the British Computer Society.

Nandini Chakravorti

Associate Director - Technology Strategy

Manufacturing Technology Centre

Paul Brooks

Digital Transformation Lead

PTC

Paul Brooks is the lead for Digital Transformation at PTC engaging with companies across the European, emerging and South Asian region. In his current role, Paul has been working with the industrial organisations to recommend digital transformation solutions based on the business challenges, audit current business systems and build performance oriented technology adoption road map for the customers. 

Paul has over 20 years of experience with companies with companies such as Atos, Schneider Electric, GE Digital, Tyco electronics, Alstom and currently with PTC

Paul is an alumnus of The University of Sheffield, where he studied computer systems engineering and control systems

Paul Gordon

Managing Director, Relationship Management, Business & Commercial Banking

Lloyds Banking Group

Paul Scully MP

Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy

UK Government

Paul Scully was appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Minister for Tech and the Digital Economy) at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology on 7 February 2023. He is also Minister for London, having been appointed on 13 February 2020.

He was previously:

Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport from 27 October 2022 to 7 February 2023
Minister of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities between 7 July 2022 and 27 October 2022
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy from 13 February 2020 to July 2022.
He was elected the Conservative MP for Sutton and Cheam on 7 May 2015.

Philippa Glover

Industry Sales Manager (UK & Ireland)

Omron

Philippa has recently joined OMRON's senior leadership team in the UK and Ireland responsible for strategically driving Omron’s Industry Sales Teams.  Before this, she was the Managing Director of a small robotic integration business based in the Northwest.

Philippa is passionate about working closely with the broader manufacturing community to address critical challenges that will shape our future. She is a Made Smarter Commissioner and a passionate advocate for the sector sitting on several regional and national industry boards including Liverpool City Regions Innovation Board, Make UK and Innovate UK.

Sam Turner

Chief Executive Officer

Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre

Professor Sam Turner is the CEO of the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Centre (AMIC), a £98m industry led innovation centre funded through the Belfast Regional City Deal at Queens University Belfast. Sam brings over 15 years leadership experience in industry led manufacturing innovation centres from his time at HVM Catapult and AMRC. On secondment from the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, he retains one day a week as the HVM Catapult Net Zero Champion, working across UK stakeholders to develop the HVMC strategy for net zero and support UK industry sectors in their transition to Net Zero.

Prior to starting this role in November 2022, Sam spent nearly 6 years as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult. Sam worked across the HVM Catapult centres and industry and government stakeholders to develop manufacturing capability strategy for the UK.

Sam has worked on the Made Smarter strategy implementation group, chaired the cross Catapult Research and Technology Group, chaired the D4I digital industry group, the Through Life Engineering Services (TES) Council and the IMechE Manufacturing Industries Division and The TRIB Infrastructure working group. Sam led the cross HVM Catapult Digital and Net Zero teams and strategy development. He joined the HVM Catapult team in 2017 from his role as CTO of the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, where he had been part of the original start up team and led the formation and growth of the AMRC machining group. Sam has over 25 years’ experience in manufacturing innovation working across the aerospace, steel, defence and automotive sectors.

Sudheer Parwana

Director

PwC

Tim Minshall

Dr John C Taylor Professor of Innovation and Head of the Institute for Manufacturing

University of Cambridge

Tim is the inaugural Dr John C Taylor Professor of Innovation at the University of Cambridge, Head of the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), Head of the IfM’s Centre for Technology Management (CTM), and a Fellow of Churchill College. His research, teaching and engagement activities are focused on the links between manufacturing, innovation, and skills.

Tim is a member of the board of directors for IfM Engage Ltd, St John’s Innovation Centre Ltd, and the Møller Institute Ltd, and is Chair of Trustees of the Foundation for Young People’s Mental Health (YPMH) (https://www.ypmh.org/). He has B.Eng. from Aston University and a PhD from Cambridge University Engineering Department.

Tony Harper

The Challenge Director for the Faraday Battery Challenge

UKRI

Tony Harper is The Challenge Director for the Faraday Battery Challenge at UKRI (UK Research and Innovation). In this capacity, he is responsible for the UK Government’s £541m investment in Scientific Research, Business-led Innovation and national scale-up infrastructure for Battery Technology.

Tony was previously Director of Engineering Research for Jaguar Land Rover.

Tony joined Jaguar as a Graduate Engineer in 1986 with an honours degree in Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College London. He spent his early career developing the first Airbag-based passive safety systems and developing a number of sports car concepts including the first and second generation Jaguar XK8. In the early 1990's, Tony led Jaguar’s development and use of pioneering Knowledge Based Engineering systems automating sophisticated rule-based Design tasks, something that today is referred to as Artificial Intelligence. In 1999, Tony was appointed as head of Jaguar’s Vehicle Engineering team responsible for Vehicle Concept Design, Aerodynamics and Computer Aided Engineering in particular overseeing the early development of the first all-aluminium Jaguar XJ. After a period of secondment to Ford’s International Operations, Tony joined Jaguar Land Rover’s combined Product Development Operations in 2006 to head up the Research and Advanced Engineering group. In this capacity, Tony was responsible for the identification, development and de-risking of all new technology into JLR products for over 10 years.

Tony is a Fellow of The Royal Academy of Engineering, Chartered Engineer, fellow of the IMechE