Rebecca is the Director of Business Development & Partnerships at EngineeringUK. Having worked in national and global partnership development within the non-for-profit sector for 13 years, Rebecca joined EngineeringUK in February 2023 to lead growth of partnerships with the engineering and technology industry.

EngineeringUK has over 20 years’ experience working to increase both the number and diversity of engineers and technologists, to enable more young people from all backgrounds to be informed, inspired and progress into the sector. Rebecca’s department collaborates with more than 300 like-minded businesses to achieve this mission, and ensure that the UK has the diverse skilled workforce it needs to drive economic prosperity, improve sustainability, and achieve net zero.

Danielle George is a Professor Radio Frequency Engineering and Associate Vice President at the University of Manchester. She was President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) in 2020/21 and currently a Vice President of the British Computer Society, Chartered Institute for IT. She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Queen’s honours list for services to engineering through public engagement. In 2016 she received the Royal Academy of Engineering Rooke Medal for services to engineering and in 2017 received the Harold Hartley Medal for outstanding contribution to the field of Measurement and Control. She was appointed Commander of the British Empire, CBE, in the Kings 2024 new years honours list for services to engineering through public engagement.

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.

Gareth is the Group Engineering Director for BAE Systems, leading the engineering function across the UK & International scope of businesses, having joined BAES in September 2023. He is a graduate of Aeronautics from Imperial College, London and worked for 30 years at Rolls-Royce. During his time at Rolls-Royce (RR) he worked on a wide variety of propulsion programmes, including Chief Engineer roles in both the Defence and Civil Aerospace businesses. He was the Engineering & Technology Director for the RR Defence sector globally from 2017 to 2023. Gareth is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

Andy Lawrence is the Head of Engineering at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) as part of UKRI, and has been responsible for strategy and delivery of EPSRC’s investment in engineering research across UK academia since September 2016. The theme covers a diverse portfolio of civil, mechanical, chemical and materials engineering disciplines, in addition to enabling technologies and systems, such as robotics, and parts of biomedical and electrical engineering. He has led numerous impactful schemes such as the Engineering Engagement Champions and the National Fellowships in Fluid Dynamics, and most recently initiated the Tomorrow’s Engineering Research Challenges activity.

Andy joined EPSRC in 2007 and has held roles in EPSRC’s Strategy and Planning team providing support to the Executive Leadership team and in senior portfolio manager positions in the Manufacturing the Future and ICT themes. Prior to his career at EPSRC, Andy gained a PhD in atmospheric dynamics from the University of Cambridge and held academic research posts at the British Antarctic Survey, Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts.