Aerospace Panel and Innovation Conference

Iain has worked in the Aerospace industry since graduation in engineering from Oxford University. During over 20 years at Safran Nacelles, Iain worked throughout the Engineering arena, working in Product Validation and Chief Engineer of Nacelles, before moving into management roles within the Technical Department. Later Iain moved to be responsible for the research performed across Safran Nacelles sites in UK and France for the nacelle Architecture and Systems. Latterly, Iain was responsible for the Technical team within Safran Nacelles Ltd, included Programme responsibility for Safran Nacelles research activities within Europe and the UK.

Since 2021 Iain leads BAE Systems Technology team, responsible for a wide range of technology programmes across the Air Sector that span the lifecycle of our current and future products.

An active STEM Ambassador, Iain chairs the Engineering Advisory Board of Burnley College, is a past Chairman of the Aerospace NorthWest Centre of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, a past Board Member of the North West Aerospace Alliance, and a Chartered Engineer.

Dr Norman joined the European Space Agency in The Netherlands as a materials and process engineer with responsibility for welding technology in the European Space Industry.  He is now part of the additive manufacturing team with special emphasis on alloy development.  Recently he has taken on the role of technology coordinator in the domain of materials, structures and mechanisms, which consists of a portfolio of research activities across Europe.

Joe completed his PhD in materials science from the University of Manchester in 2019 before joining the metals manufacturing team at Boeing Research and Technology, UK. In the last 4 years, Joe has led research projects focused on developing new materials and process improvements in large scale additive manufacturing of aerospace components, and is involved in a variety of R&D projects driven by future requirements in the aerospace industry. These include sustainability targets, increase demand from customers and safety requirements. 

Richard is the Global Process Lead for Welding and Joining in Rolls-Royce, with responsibilities in: aerospace, nuclear and energy sectors.  In addition, he is leading a programme to reduce the occurrence of manufacturing defects across Rolls-Royce’s supply chain.  Richard is a Chartered Engineer with the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Part of the Parker Hannifin group; Fixed Wing Senior product design engineer (APU Mounting Systems, Engine Attachment Systems & Equipment Isolation Systems).

Product design engineer, Technical Lead and Coordinator on the Clean Sky 1 - SAGE2 Open Rotor, and Clean Sky 2 - Ultra High Propulsive Efficiency, Engines Attachment Systems.

Have spent 15 years in the industry.

Peter is a highly experienced development engineer and an expert practitioner in strategic processes for the delivery of technical solutions for capability or requirements driven programmes.

Over the last 3 years Peter has been the technical expert for two Techno-Economic studies into Space Based Solar Power; one exploring the contribution that SBSP could make to the UK’s commitment to Net Zero, the other supporting ESA’s objective to pursue technology breakthroughs to support climate neutrality in Europe.

Part of the Parker Hannifin group; Fixed Wing Senior product design engineer (APU Mounting Systems, Engine Attachment Systems & Equipment Isolation Systems).

Product design engineer, Technical Lead and Coordinator on the Clean Sky 1 - SAGE2 Open Rotor, and Clean Sky 2 - Ultra High Propulsive Efficiency, Engines Attachment Systems.

Have spent 15 years in the industry.

Matthew Bailey is a Lead Technologist at the ATI in the Structures, Materials & Manufacturing team. Primarily focused on supporting metallic technologies including, but not limited to; castings, joining and subtractive processes. Before joining the ATI, Matthew worked at Airbus for nearly 10 years in various roles including Lead Engineer in R&T and latterly in Costing Engineering as Composite Manufacturing Cost Architect.

Helen Roberts is a career civil servant having worked in a variety of other government departments prior to joining the UK Space Agency 13 years ago. She is a qualified programme and project manager and has undertaken a variety of roles including co-lead and project manager for the highly acclaimed biennial UK Space Conference from its inception in 2011 until 2021, Regional Growth Manager and UKSA Business Incubation Manager. GSTP has evolved under her leadership, becoming an accessible route in supporting the development of new and innovative space technologies for many actors across the sector, including start ups and academia.  

Matt has worked for Rolls-Royce for the past 6 years supporting manufacturing across multiple domains such as Civil and Defence Aerospace on the Trent XWB and F35 Liftfan Programmes. He transitioned across to the Submarines business in 2020 focusing on in reactor components, and more recently the Novel Nuclear function where the business is developing Novel Nuclear technologies such as the Micro-Reactor for deployable, safe, and reliable power, both on Earth and in Space. Matt is now supporting the latest development activities on the Micro-Reactor programme to enable an end of decade launchable space reactor. The Micro-Reactor programme is incredibly exciting not just for Rolls-Royce but for the whole of the UK and the technology challenges to overcome in the coming years will solved through a collaborative effort.

Sebastian Asprella, CEO and Co-founder of ThinkOrbital, is an aerospace visionary with over 25 years of experience in diverse industries. Trained at MIT, Sebastian leads a pioneering startup focused on developing innovative technologies for autonomously in-space assembled multi-mission platforms, directly addressing scalable space infrastructures for in-space manufacturing. His passion for innovation, sustainability, and entrepreneurship, combined with a deep understanding of aerospace and management, make him an ideal speaker for discussions on space colonization, large-scale space stations, and the future of in-space manufacturing.

Anna is a Principal Project Leader at TWI. She received her MSc Eng in Chemical Engineering with specialization in Fuel Technology from AGH University of Science and Technology, Poland, in 2010. After graduation, she worked at the SHR Research Timber Institute in Netherlands, where she gained experience in silicon chemistry and coating technology.

In 2013, she joined TWI Ltd and NSIRC, where she was involved in European and UK founded collaborative projects and was sponsored by TWI Ltd to undertaken a PhD degree in assessment of advanced coatings and surface treatments at Brunel University in London. Her research was focused on the development of novel assessment criteria for durability evaluation of highly repellent surfaces. Over the period of the PhD programme Anna published two peer review papers and several conference articles.

In 2016, she joined TWI Ltd staff as Project Leader in the Functional Coatings and Resins department, where she has major technical involvement in European and UK funded projects as well as Single Client.

Ian Froment is TWI's Section Manager for the Membership Development Section. as well as Industrial Membership Manager for the Power Generation and Medical Sectors.

Ian is responsible for interfacing with TWI Industrial Members in the nuclear, fossil and renewable energy sectors. Ian Froment can support direct technical enquiries as well as answer questions on TWI's membership services, ultimately maximising value for TWI.

Following a PhD in physics at Warwick University and post-doctoral work in chemistry at Brunel University. Alan joined the ceramics section of TWI in 1995 and is now a Technology Fellow specialising in the evaluation and characterisation of functional surfaces and coatings in the Novel Polymer Technologies section. He has been involved in over 120 Single Client Projects and more than 40 large public funded collaborative projects covering every industrial sector

Alan sits on the editorial boards of a number of coatings and surface engineering journals. He also sits on the board of the Surface Engineering Leadership Forum, is an expert reviewer for the ECs Marie Skłodowska–Curie doctoral network programme, the EPSRC Future leader Fellowship Scheme and has acted as a reviewer for the Royal Society.

He is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining. He has published over 50 articles and has mentored 12 PhD candidates.

Kate Franklin is the Team Manager of the Friction and Forge Processes team. Kate has a degree in Materials Science and a Ph.D. in Structural Metallic Systems for Gas Turbine Applications from the University of Birmingham. Kate’s research was undertaken in collaboration with Rolls-Royce Plc and focused on friction welding of nickel super alloys for aero engine applications.

Kate joined TWI as a Senior project Leader, in this role she was responsible for leading numerous friction welding projects employing a variety of materials for a range of industrial applications. Kate has been responsible for numerous projects in the aerospace and space industry, from Friction Stir Welding tanks for hydrogen storage to Linear Friction Welding aero and space structural components. As well as working with clients to research and develop friction welding processes for novel applications, she also considers design for manufacture and joint integrity. As the Team Manager Kate oversees Rotary, Linear, and Friction Stir Welding technologies at TWI as well as the revolutionary CoreFlow™ technology.

Dr Carl Hauser joined TWI Ltd in June 2010 and holds the position of section manager and technology consultant within the Laser Additive Manufacturing (LAM) section. Carl has been involved in additive manufacturing for nearly 30 years. Carl steers technical strategy for both PBF and DED-LB and still conducts experimental research on large scale AM, metallic coatings and component repair. Carl has published over 30 scientific conference and journal papers, has given many keynote presentations on Additive Manufacturing, and is an expert reviewer for several international additive manufacturing journals. Carl has also written, coordinated and participated in many national and international funded R&D projects. Carl is a chartered engineering and has attained Fellow status with the Welding Institute. 

Dr Khan has a background in metallurgy, materials science and manufacturing with 27 years research & development experience by working in various industries and R&D organisations. He is working as Technology Consultant in the Thermal Processing Technologies (TPT) section at TWI Cambridge since 2014. His research work is mainly focused on advanced manufacturing (additive manufacturing, near net shape powder metallurgy hot isostatic pressing), materials joining technologies, powder characterisation, post thermal processing, and coatings technologies. He is also a member of ASME Standards AMS additive manufacturing metal committee.

An automotive engineer by degree, which developed into a specialism into adhesives and joining through post-grad work at both Oxford Brookes and Cranfield Universities. Armed with an MPhil from Oxford Brookes, Stuart joined GKN Aerospace and used these skills to solve adhesion problems and develop new product solutions for aircraft ice protection systems. The last five years of his time were spent preparing a new thermoplastic system for flight test.

Prof Cooper is a Chartered Engineer and Technology Fellow with over 34 years’ experience in Non-destructive testing (NDT). On joining TWI in 2005 at the Advanced NDT Centre in Port Talbot, he specialised in NDT of composites. More recently, his work has concentrated on advanced NDT methods and automated robotic inspection systems. He leads the highly successful IntACOM programme developing rapid automated inspection systems for complex geometries, and is the NDE Group Technology Strategy Manager. In 2016 he and co-authors were awarded the John Grimwade Medal for a paper on this work and he was made an Honorary Professor of Practice at the University of Wales, Trinity St David. In 2019, he received the Anne Birt award for technology innovation and strategy. With effect from 1st January 2023 he is President of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing and is active and influential on a number of other committees that guide the development, application, training and certification of NDT. 

Dr Chris Allen is a Consultant in the Laser and Sheet Processes Section at TWI Ltd, and has over twenty years' experience as a welding engineer. He has an MA from Cambridge in Materials, and a PhD from Oxford, carried out in conjunction with Alcan. Following a short stint in academia, Chris has been in a technical project role since 2000, firstly at Corus, and then at TWI. Chris has developed, managed and delivered R&D projects, principally in laser processing, for clients in the aerospace, road transport, powergen, defence and shipbuilding industries, with clients including Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Saab Aerospace, Leonardo MW, ESA, Honda, Honeywell, JCB, Nippon Sharyo, UKAEA, Lockheed Martin, MBDA, Technip, Saipem, and the MoD/DSTL, as well as the European Commission and InnovateUK. 

Dr Melissa Riley has a B.Med.Sc degree in Biomaterials, and PhD in Metallurgy and Materials from the University of Birmingham, in magnetic materials for medical and dental applications. Melissa is a Consultant within TWI’s Surfacing, Corrosion and Interface Engineering team. She has worked at TWI for 20 years on a wide range of projects for TWI’s Industrial Members relating to the development and application of thermal spray coatings, including HVOF spraying.

Her work has included application and performance evaluation of wear and corrosion resistant coatings (including for biomass and waste to energy plants), ceramic coatings, bearing materials and more novel coatings and applications, including leading TWI’s work on the development of coatings on composites. She has also been instrumental in setting up a number of new facilities to assess coating performance and to support TWI Members in the upscaling and manufacturing development of surface engineering technologies for industrial applications.

Melissa is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining.’