Members
Members of the Board are business people joined by representatives of the CBI, EEF and academia. The Board is supported by officials from UKTI and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR).
Katherine Bennett OBE
AIRBUS UK, Director of Communications and Government Affairs
Katherine joined Airbus in 2004 and became Director of Communications and Government Affairs in April 2007. Her role encompasses managing relationships between Airbus and all parts of government.
Martin Blain
Rolls-Royce plc, Vice President, Marketing, Sales & Leasing
Martin Blain joined Rolls-Royce plc in Sept 1980 as an apprentice draftsman. He completed his apprenticeship in 1984 and moved into a customer support role.
Martin Kinsella
Comau Estil, Engineering Manager
Martin Kinsella is the Engineering Manager for Comau Estil UK. Martin has over 25 years experience in automation engineering.
Chris Melrose
Daher Aerospace Ltd, Chairman
Chris has a BSc (Hons) in Aeronautical Engineering from Southampton University and is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.
Vincent Mifsud
Cobham Plc, Head of Technology
Dr Vincent Mifsud, joined Cobham as Head of Technology reporting to the Chief Executive in 2006. He holds first-class honours and PhD degrees from Cambridge University in Electrical Sciences, and has more than 25 years international experience working in the medical, aerospace and defence industries on research, the development of high technology products and systems engineering.
Rhydian Pountney
Renishaw Plc, General Manager
Rhydian Pountney is the General Manager for Rest of World sales at Renishaw plc and is responsible for business development in 10 of Renishaw’s overseas subsidiary operations.
Mark Ridgway
Joseph Rhodes Ltd, Managing Director
Mark Ridgway is Managing Director of Group Rhodes, a SME group of four engineering companies serving the metalforming, clayworking, aerospace and oil and gas markets respectively.
John Roberts
Messier-Dowty Ltd, Vice President Engineering
John is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society and a Chartered Engineer. He also has an honours degree in mechanical engineering from Brunel University.
Paul Ross
Ricardo plc, Director
Paul was born and educated in the UK and is a qualified mechanical engineer having an extensive background in the construction equipment sector.
Robert Townshend
Prodrive Ltd, Business Development Manager
Robert has worked in the Automotive Industry for 15 years, gaining experience in design, development and manufacturing with OEM, Tier One and Consultancies.
Lee Hopley
Representing the EEF, Chief Economist
Lee Hopley has worked as an Economist at EEF for the past eight years. As Chief Economist she leads EEF’s work on the economy and industrial policy.
Chris Cassley
Representing the CBI, Policy Adviser, Manufacturing & Enterprise
Chris has been responsible for the formulation and development of manufacturing and research & development policy across the CBI since July 2009.
Diane Mynors
University of Wolverhampton, Head of Engineering & Technology
Diane Mynors was originally educated as a Physicist with a BSc in Physical Electronics, an MSc in the Science and Application of Electric Plasmas and a DPhil in the Modelling of Volume Ion Sources.
