Date: Tuesday, June 25

Time: 11am – 12.30pm

Language: English

Room:  10East (School of Management Building) – Room 0.17

Description:

This session will explore how firms and industries can respond to new regulatory challenges and technological advances and the role of corporate leadership and government policy in driving the adoption of transformative solutions that allow businesses to become both more competitive and sustainable.

Sir Iain Gray, Professor and Director of Aerospace at Cranfield University (former CEO at Innovate UK and Managing Director at Airbus)

Professor Sir Iain Gray is the Director of Aerospace at Cranfield University. Sir Iain joined Cranfield University in March 2015, after 7 years as the Chief Executive of InnovateUK. In this role he is responsible for all aspects of learning, executive education and research in Aerospace for the University and for developing the Aerospace Strategy across the University Group.

Prior to this, Sir Iain was Managing Director and General Manager of Airbus UK, whose Bristol operation he joined when it was still part of British Aerospace.

Sir Iain Gray has an Engineering Science Honours degree from Aberdeen University and gained a Masters of Philosophy at Southampton University.  Since then, Sir Iain has received Honorary Doctorates from Aston, Bath, Bristol, Aberdeen, Cardiff, Exeter and the University of the West of England.  In 2014, he was awarded a CBE for services to innovation and in 2023 he was awarded the honour of Knight Batchelor for services to the aerospace industry.

Sir Iain is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering; a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and in 2007 was awarded the Royal Aeronautical Society Gold Medal.

In 2016 he was awarded the Baird of Bute Award for his contribution towards aviation in Scotland and in June 2023 he was appointed Companion of the Air League in recognition of his outstanding lifetime achievements in the aerospace industry.

Sir Iain is Chair of Aerospace Bristol Museum, a Non-Executive Director for Graphene based company Versarien and is Chairman of technology company CFMS UK Ltd.

David Brown OBE, CEO at The Bristol Port Company

David joined The Bristol Port Company in October 2008 as the Operations Director and was appointed as its Chief Executive Officer in 2016. Bristol Port remains the largest private and independently owned Port in the UK, employing over 600 personnel. It operates over a 2,600 acre estate with a hugely diverse portfolio of trades.

Prior to joining the Port David spent 24 years serving in the British Army during which time he was involved in numerous operational deployments culminating in Commanding his Battalion in Afghanistan in 2007.

David is Vice Chairman on the Board of the UK Major Ports Group and is also a Business Representative on the Main Board of the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP

Ifor Bielecki, SeaBot Maritime

Ifor is an operations and change management professional. He brings experience of developing Sea-Kit International – a ground breaking unmanned multi-purpose trans-ocean survey vessel, for ocean floor mapping.

His prior experience as programme portfolio manager for a major airline enables SeaBot Maritime to apply Aviation operation and safety learning to our work. He holds an MSc in Air Transport management. Ifor leads the development and design of our solutions.

In his spare time, Ifor enjoys sailing and dinghy racing with his family.

Michael Lewis, Professor at University of Bath School of Management

Michael is Professor of Operations and Supply Management at the University of Bath School of Management. He has held visiting appointments at Harvard Business School and Georgetown University and is currently a scholar in the Cornell Institute for Health Futures. An internationally recognized researcher, teacher and advisor his wide-ranging interests include advanced technology adoption and regulation, global production systems and efficient and effective supply chains. He has a long-standing interest in sustainability as a core member of the Institute for Sustainability and Climate Change at Bath.

Currently a member of the Cornell Institute for Health Futures, he is a Be The Business Fellow (supporting SME productivity) and a NED of First Impressions, a social enterprise focused on barriers to female employment. He was a long-standing Member of the Advisory Council to the Chartered Management Institute and was recently a member of a UK government expert group reporting on the measurement of UK industrial activity. He is currently PI for the GATES (governance and trust in emerging systems) project and Co-I for the UKRI Resilience Hub (SALIENT). The author of many articles and books, including a widely translated textbook on Operations Strategy now in its 7th edition.

Michael’s applied research and executive teaching/consultancy experience mean that he has worked with a very large number of UK and international organizations.