2022 Programme

Professor Avdelidis (Nico) is a Professor and Head of the Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) Centre at Cranfield University since July 2020. The Centre is funded by a number of industrial partners such as Boeing, BAE Systems, Thales, etc. Nico is also a Professeur Associe (Adjunct Professor) at Universite Laval, in Quebec, Canada, where he does a lot of his research activities there in collaboration also with other organizations in Canada including the National Research Council. Nico has contributed extensively to several research areas, such as non-destructive monitoring and diagnostics, robotic and autonomous systems in MRO, advanced sensing technologies, advanced IR imaging and image fusion using non-invasive techniques, and aircraft structures and/or systems monitoring.

Frédéric Laurin graduated (Engineering Diploma) from Ecole Centrale Marseille (ECM) in 2002 and received his PhD in mechanics from the University of Franche-Comté in 2005. He joined ONERA in 2005 and works as a research scientist in the Composite Materials and Structures Department. His research interest includes the development of damage and failure approaches for composite materials, strength predictions of composite structures through finite element modelling and experimental investigations on the damage and failure mechanisms encountered in such complex materials.

Florent Mathieu is a PhD from Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris-Saclay, specialized in experimental techniques in the field of structural mechanics. After developing simulation-oriented Digital Image Correlation methods during his research, he decided to create EikoSim together with his colleague Renaud Gras. EikoSim aims at bridging the gap between testing and simulation at the various scales of development in structural mechanics, based on a dedicated software platform called EikoTwin.

Andy was Lead Flight Test Engineer for Project ACCEL, responsible for flight clearance of the aircraft and flight test operations. 

Andy has over 25 years of experience as a Flight Test Engineer, the last 17 of those with Rolls-Royce.  Andy is a graduate of the Empire Test Pilot’s School and member of the Royal Aeronautical Society Flight Test Specialist Group Committee.

Martin is currently the head of battery systems engineering at WMG, University of Warwick, leading a team of academics and engineers  supporting industry focused research on battery technologies.

Previously he had over 37 years industrial experience managing both research and delivery teams.

For the past 20 years he has been at the forefront of the electrification revolution in the UK developing some of the first hybrid, plug-in hybrids and EVs. Including work on the Jaguar CX75 supercar and leading the initial propulsion system and vehicle programme definition for the Jaguar iPace EV.

For the past 3 years he has been using this knowledge to support the growth in electrification across sectors from mobility services through to aerospace.

He sits on a number of industry advisory groups, supporting the APC, ATI and Faraday battery challenge with battery strategy and targets to help shape the future UK research agenda.

As a Business Development Manager, Javier Gutierrez closes the gap between the customer needs and how those needs can be fulfilled with National instruments´ and partner’s products. He works with industry associations to identify industry trends and team up with Sales/SEs/Marketing teams and our partners to identify and close opportunities in the area of V&V in Aerospace. 

Gutierrez holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from University of Malaga, Spain.

John Allan is a twenty-five-year veteran of Bombardier Aviation and has been involved in the design and flight test of multiple Bombardier commercial, business, and missionized aircraft. In his current role he manages and is responsible for all systems & liaison engineering for Bombardier Flight Test and Bombardier Defense. He also acts as the Knowledge Owner for flight test within Bombardier defining processes, standards, and best practice across all programs.

Ben is one of the founders at Filton Systems Engineering. In addition to his role as Commercial Director, Ben supports technical areas including the development and certification of aircraft fuel systems, electrostatic discharge (ESD) & lightning, and alternative fuels including hydrogen.

Ben’s background is in Physics. He holds an BSc from the University of Southampton, UK

Nathan specialises in supporting aerospace and defence companies through test related digital transformation initiatives. He helps to identify solutions to complex challenges at A&D organisations which incorporates NI technology, best practise, and industry standards to improve and modernise test workflows, tools, and methodologies.

Nathan’s background is in Physics. He holds an PhD from Swansea University, UK with a specialism in nanotechnology.

Senior Industry Process Consultant for Dassault Systemes. More than 20 years industry experience including topics such as Test Data Management, Data Acquisition, Simulation Process Data Management, Signal Processing, Fatigue Analysis.

Hamdan is the Data Acquisition Software Product Manager at MDS. His diverse career spans industries from Financial Auditing to Facial Recognition Software, and now Aerospace Testing. He is currently managing nxDAS, a modern and modular approach to DAS software. His education is in Software Engineering, and he is based in Ottawa, Canada.

Nathan specialises in supporting aerospace and defence companies through test related digital transformation initiatives. He helps to identify solutions to complex challenges at A&D organisations which incorporates NI technology, best practise, and industry standards to improve and modernise test workflows, tools, and methodologies.

Nathan’s background is in Physics. He holds an PhD from Swansea University, UK with a specialism in nanotechnology.

Stuart Driver is the Chief Environmental Test Engineer at Martin-Baker Aircraft Company (MBA), based in the UK. He has a B.Eng. (Hons) degree in Mechanical Engineering (Design) from Huddersfield University. He has been fully engaged in the product certification process since he first joined the Company nearly 25 years ago. Responsible for leading the technical delivery for the Environmental testing function, his experience encompasses the broad development and verification test activities demanded of the lifesaving products that MBA design, manufacture, and support.

Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Frank Heidemann is CEO and co-founder of SET GmbH based in Wangen im Allgäu, Germany. The engineer for communications technology worked as a developer at Telefunken Microelectronics and later as project manager at Liebherr Aerospace. Since 2001, Frank Heidemann has been founder and managing partner of SET GmbH. The innovative company is specialized in Semiconductor, HiL and Functional test systems, as well as in developing and manufacturing electronic systems for the Automotive, Aviation, and Semiconductor industries. SET is a strategic partner of National Instruments and a NI award-winning Gold Alliance Partner. About 120 employees work at three locations in Germany and the US.

I was first introduced to the concept of NDT whilst on industrial placement from university with what was then British Aerospace Ltd at the Military Air site, Warton, Lancashire, where I worked in the NDT R&D section looking at air coupled UT, shearography and automated DR. and was offered a scholarship for my final year at university with the promise of a job afterwards. Following my degree completion I returned to what had then become BAE Systems to continue my role as a developer of NDT technology.  In the following years I obtained level 2 approvals working on the production side of the business and slowly moved into the governance side of NDT conducting supplier approvals and bagging a few level 3s on way, eventually becoming the Responsible Level 3 for the Military Air business but always with one eye on the development of new technology.  Following a companywide shuffle and reinvigoration in the field of adopting new technology I was appointed as Lead Technologist for Product Verification developing the technology we will deploy on tomorrow’s platforms and inserting new technology into legacy programmes for improved effectiveness.  So nearly 24 yrs on I am still doing NDT today and should image I will be for a good few more!  I am also currently the Chair of the UK National Aerospace NDT Board, I serve on the Aerospace, Composites and Technical committees of the British Institute for NDT and hopefully will be returning to their council later this year.

James' 20+ year career combines strategy and engineering across multiple sectors, notably automotive and aerospace. Following his Masters Engineering degree, James joined engineering consultancy Ricardo as a drivetrain engineer and went on to manage R&D projects for automotive clients around the world. Following a dual degree MBA at the Kellogg School of Management, James moved sectors to join management consultancy Booz & Company where he worked on and led a variety of strategy and operations projects for clients across aviation, defence, pharmaceuticals, distribution and finance.  It was from Booz that James joined the Aerospace Technology Institute as Chief Strategy Officer and one of its founding executives to set up the organisation in 2014. In 2018 James' role expanded to include responsibility for all business operations.  As CSO, James oversaw development of several strategic initiatives including the world's first dedicated commercial aerospace startup accelerator and project FlyZero, a one year strategic research project to understand the technical and commercial potential of zero-carbon emissions technologies for aviation. In 2021 James was awarded a commendation by the Air League for his contributions to the UK aerospace industry.

Etienne Grondin is a graduate in Engineering Physics from Laval University. In 2005, he joined Olympus NDT, a leader in NDT equipment, where he worked as an NDT specialist, project manager and product line manager. Etienne Grondin is now the acting Business Development Director for the aerospace and defense industries at Evident Scientific.

Guillaume obtained his Master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering and Space Technologies from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL) in 2015. He is co-inventor and the principal designer of the windshaper technology which allows the testing of drones in real-flight conditions including real wind, turbulence, gusts of wind, and other adverse weather or climatic effects. In 2016, Guillaume cofounded WindShape, a Swiss startup company that develops and commercializes this technology. His visions and ambitions are to address major technical and regulatory challenges of the drone industry by providing the best sets of tools and equipment for testing and developing drones.

I am keen on technical solutions in the field of industrial computed tomography.
I support companies solving metrology applications for injection molding or automated inspection applications for die casting parts with X-ray technology. Parts can be visualized non-destructively and can be evaluated on a whole new level which is not possible with tactile or optical systems. This approach saves time, improves the quality of your parts and can save enviroment producing less waste in production.

Since 2021: Technical Account Manager at Volume Graphics, Heidelberg, Germany

o   member of the VG Consulting focusing on automated inspection solutions

o   managing partner relation to OEM CT Manufacturers

From 2008 – 2020: Business Development Manager X-Ray CT Products at Nikon Metrology Europe, Leuven, Belgium

o   developed industrial CT sales, support, application engineering, dealer network in Europe, later North America and Asia

o   special CT projects

From 2004 – 2008: Business Development Europe for industrial CT and security products at BIR / Varian SIP, Lincolnshire, Illinois, USA

o   developed industrial CT sales and support primarily in Germany

From 2001 – 2004: Application Engineer for Laser Scanning and Metrology at Metris, Leuven, Belgium

o   CT as a side business

·       from 1999 – 2001: Project Manager at Rautenbach AG, Wernigerode, Germany

o   developed CT based metrology procedure for automotive casting parts – saved 90% time to market time

o   foundation for VDI2630 CT metrology guidelines

Graduated 1998 as mechanical engineer for design and development at Fraunhofer IFF and University of Applied Sciences, Magdeburg, Germany

o   Thesis about additive manufacturing

Rahul is the President of VJ Technologies (VJT), a global leader in x-ray inspection solutions using DR and CT technology. Rahul has extensive knowledge of industrial x-ray having practically grown up with it, and he has given numerous talks around the world related to DR and CT technology, automation, Industry 4.0, etc. VJT has been providing x-ray solutions for over 35 years, ranging from small microfocus applications to 15MeV high energy inspection systems for rocket motors, munitions, and the like.

Rahul enjoys traveling, meeting new people, tennis and skiing, but his number one passion is spending time with his family and friends.

Carmine Salzano holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from University of Napoli (Italy). He was a professor at University of Salerno (Italy) in the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department (2003), teaching noise and vibration control. Carmine has worked for over 30 years in the market of sensors and instrumentation. Presently, his title is International Manager at PCB Piezotronics, Inc., Aerospace & Defense and Test Sector.

Malcolm joined QinetiQ’s predecessor (A&AEE) in 1988 as a Graduate Engineer. He conducted many flight and ground trials as a test Engineer on a range of both fixed and rotary wing platforms in support of Release to Service clearances, including air-to-air refuelling, helicopter Icing trials, hot & high clearances to name but a few. As his career developed, he became Chief Engineer for both Helicopters and then transport & ISTAR platforms, where he was instrumental in the bringing into service the Apache and Merlin helicopters, followed by the A400M and Airseeker platforms. Following a stint in International Business Development where he was looking at the wider Test & Evaluation market, Malcolm is now Chief Engineer for a business area that provides Test & Evaluation Capability.

Simon joined QinetiQ in 2010, having completed 25 years in the Royal Air Force where he gained significant operational experience from Gulf War 1 through continued operational deployments to the Middle East and other global operations. With a background in avionics engineering and flight engineering, Simon has supported safety and airworthiness across the air domain, as well as combat air support UK MOD Air Systems, ranging from Spitfire and Hurricane through to FCAS AP. This is in addition to RPAS platforms, with further international combat air systems programmes from the concept and in-service phases of life.

Steve Summers is a chief offering manager at NI focusing on mechanical systems and structural test for aerospace and defense customers. He earned a degree in Physics at Brigham Young University and has worked in roles as an application engineer, sales engineer, account owner, and product manager. He has worked in the test and measurement industry for more than 25 years and is passionate about providing a path to success for NI’s customers. Steve Summers lives in Austin, Texas.

Gethyn is a Technical Specialist for Experimental Systems in Rolls-Royce, focussing on Real-Time Data Acquisition and Control of Engines during Test, and champion for use and deployment of iDDS.  He has a Masters degree in Engineering from Birmingham University in the UK and has been in Rolls-Royce for about 8 years.  Gethyn lives near Derby in the UK and is a home brewer and maker, albeit with a smart data and control twist!

Patrice Collin is a graduate of École Polytechnique de Montréal and he obtained a master’s degree in engineering management from the University of Sherbrooke.  Over the last twenty-three years, he has been involved in outfitting with experimental installations multiple Bombardier amphibious, commercial, business, and missionized aircrafts for flight testing.  As a technical expert, he is responsible to oversee the preparation of the engineering and ensures the coordination between the stakeholders of the programs he is involved in.