President’s Conference – Digital Technologies

Dave Cliff is a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Bristol. He has previously held professorial posts at the University of Southampton, and at the MIT Artificial Intelligence Lab. He also spent seven years of his career working in industrial R&D, for Hewlett-Packard and for Deutsche Bank.

He has a long history of working in artificial intelligence, machine learning, complex systems, and “big data” research for application in a range of engineering domains.

Joined Airbus in 2001 in the loads and aerolastics department with specialism in dynamics. 

10 years experience of the aircraft design process  on aircraft loads and sizing aspects but covering the full multi disciplinary design process.

Currently Airbus expert in uncertainty quantification and management with 10+ years experience of practical implementation of academic research methods into the industrial design process.

Multiple research projects for  for uq&m and surrogate based mdo topics with numerous academic partners across Europe and the world.

Technical lead on the implementation of surrogate modeling and uncertainty management techniques for the setting of the design margins on the a350 and a330 neo aircraft.

Jonathan Cooper is the Sir George White Professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bristol. He has researched in the areas of aeroelasticity, loads and structural dynamics for over 30
years, working closely with the world-wide aerospace industry.

He is currently the President of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Peter Hendrickx has been working in Maastricht UAC since 2000, holding different positions in both the Engineering and Operational Departments. Currently, he is leading the ATM Development Unit, covering both Systems and Airspace. With his Unit, he develops the Concept of Operations of the future. Focus is on both ATFCM and ATC, and Automation has recently been added as a transversal topic. The Teams within the Unit set the User requirements in close cooperation with the ATCO-s and OPS Room supervisory Staff. User requirements are translated in system requirements which are the input to the engineering department or industry for implementation. Airspace and Network Planning requirements are translated into applicable standards and procedures. The Teams follow up the development, leading to validation prior implementation.

Peter graduated from the Royal Military Academy with a degree in Telecommunications and served as an officer in the Belgian Air Force prior joining Eurocontrol Maastricht.

Tom Hodgson is the Theme Lead for Inspection & Artificial Intelligence for Factory 2050. Prior to joining the AMRC in 2013, Tom was awarded a Masters in Physics from the University of Birmingham. During his time at the AMRC, Tom’s research has focussed on developing metrology technology for in-process inspection and verification. Tom is now responsible for a multidisciplinary team of engineers who deliver research and development projects for High Value Manufacturing applications.

His team’s research focuses on Large Volume Metrology, Automated Visual Inspection and Artificial Intelligence.

Roy Kalawsky has spent over 4 decades in the aerospace engineering sector initially working for BAE Systems, responsible for Cockpit Research and Development across the Military Aircraft Division. He received the RAeS Medal for developing the UK’s first virtual cockpit. He took up a Research Chair at Loughborough University and established the Advanced VR Research Centre supported by industry and Research Council funding, focussing on modelling, simulation and visual analytics with a strong emphasis on underpinning human factors.

In 2018 he was awarded a prestigious 5-year Royal Academy of Engineering/Airbus Research Chair in Digital and Data Engineering Information Systems.

M M Hassan Mahmud is a senior AI and Machine Learning Technologist at Digital Catapult, where he leads AI/ML CR&D and commercial projects within the manufacturing and creative sectors. Previously, he was data scientist, building and deploying machine learning models and software for supply chain optimisation and behaviour analytics for financial crime detection.

Prior to entering industry, he obtained a PhD in AI from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and was a research fellow at the Australian National University and University of Edinburgh. His research covered a broad spectrum, from abstract ML theory to robotics.

Honor has worked in the Aviation Industry for more than 25 years and is renowned for her expertise in Machinery Health Monitoring and Management. Honor leads GE Aviation’s only UK-based Data Science group, delivering innovative AI/ML based solutions for managing Aviation assets. Honor is also Visiting Professor in Data and Analytics, Asset Condition Monitoring and Management at the University of Southampton. 

Kate Robson Brown is Professor of Biological Anthropology and Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bristol, a Fellow of the Alan Turing Institute for Data Science and AI, and Chair of UK Space Life and Biomedical Sciences Association. She is Director of the Jean Golding Institute for Data Science and Data Intensive Research, a lay chair for Health Education Southwest (Severn Deanery), and Chair of Bristol Synthetic Biology Scientific Advisory Board.

Her research explores the microstructure of living tissues and their response to changing and extreme environments including micro and hyper gravity; innovating methodologies for the capture, computational modelling, analysis and interpretation of data describing complex material and structural characterisation. Applications of these methods include the development of digital twins, physiological response to extreme environments, forensic science, the regulation of hard tissue growth and development, programmed transformation in 4D materials, and biomimetics in engineering design.

She recently led a Royal Society APEX funded project exploring the ontogeny of bone microstructure as a model of programmed transformation in 4D materials in collaboration with NASA Ames Research Center, she is the current lead on a UKSA funded project to develop a zebrafish model and life support system for research in space, and she is part of a team developing a ISS flight experiment under the ESA Euro Material Aging Programme scheduled for a mission in 2022.

Shahrokh is a Rolls-Royce Fellow in Aerothermal Design Systems. Recently moved to the Innovation Hub-Future Methods, where he focuses on development and application of Adjoint based MDO technique for turbo-machinery components. He has a national and international reputation in the field of CFD meshing and automatic aerothermal design optimisation of turbomachinery components and systems, publishing more than 120 internal and external technical papers and hold eight patents.  His current research is on uncertainty quantification and robust design.

He is a Fellow of the RAeS (Royal Aeronautical Society), Associate Fellow of AIAA. Appointed Visiting Professor at Imperial College Aerospace Engineering department.

In July 2020, Nick was appointed Chair of UKspace, the trade association representing the UK space industry. In this role, he engages across government, industry, academia, and with other international space agencies to represent and promote the UK space sector. He is a member of the global government business leadership team at Inmarsat, the global satellite operator based in London and the largest UK headquartered space company. Inmarsat provides market-leading satellite services to the maritime, aviation, and government markets worldwide.

Nick has followed a successful career in the space sector spanning 25 years. He has held a number of government and industry positions including as a Senior Scientific Officer with the Ministry of Defence (Defence Research Agency), with leading space companies such as Logica (now CGI), and with satellite prime contractors such as Airbus and Thales Alenia Space in both the UK and France.hj 

Nick holds an MBA from the Open University, an MSc in Satellite Engineering from University College London, and a BSc in Physics from Kings College London. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society where is also in a Council Member.

Simon Weeks is Chief Technology Officer for the Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI), accountable for technical direction of the UK’s national aerospace technology programme. Previously, Simon worked for Rolls-Royce, most recently as Global Head of Aerospace Research & Technology. Before this Simon held other senior technical leadership roles in Rolls-Royce including Technical Director for Eurojet in Munich, leading the development of the EJ200 engine for the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft.

Simon is a chartered engineer and a Fellow of the RAeS and Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership.