Transport Energy Network

Bob Dover, FREng, FlMechE, FRSA, FLED, is a former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Jaguar Cars and Land Rover, and a former Vice-President of the Ford Motor Company. Prior to this he held the position of Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Aston Martin. Bob has spent over 30 years in the Automotive Industry and has a wealth of knowledge.

Bob also serves as an Industrial Professor of Industrial Manufacturing at Warwick University and as a Visiting Professor of Engineering at Coventry University.

Bob will take on the role of Chairman of the Advanced Propulsion Centre.

Ian Constance joined the Advanced Propulsion Centre as CEO in September 2015. Prior to this Ian worked with Ford Motor Company in Detroit where he was most recently Global Chief Engineer for Large Cars.

In that position he led the product development activities for the Ford Mondeo/Fusion and Ford Taurus. The role involved all elements of the product engineering, design, manufacturing readiness and business case development with a very keen focus on future customer needs. Working on these product lines gave Ian wide experience of developing and integrating HEV, PHEV and high tech Gasoline and Diesel internal combustion engines into global platforms.

Ian has held positions globally in the automotive industry with over 25 years’ experience. Prior to his time working in the US, he spent six years at Ford’s Asia Pacific HQ, first in Bangkok and then in Shanghai. During an unprecedented period of growth and change in that part of the world in the role of Director of Product Programs he was responsible for delivering many well-known Ford products into manufacturing plants, joint ventures and markets throughout the region.

Ian’s early career saw leadership roles developing the Ford Focus in-vehicle platform engineering, powertrain planning and manufacturing engineering roles, as well as an assignment in production management. He gained an engineering degree from Aston University, an MSc in Advanced Automotive Engineering from Loughborough University and is a chartered engineer.

Professor Neville Jackson is currently Chief Technology and Innovation Officer at Ricardo plc. He is responsible for the future vision for transport & energy technologies at Ricardo and the associated research agenda and strategy to deliver this vision.

He has also been responsible for a wide range of future vehicle demonstrators featuring advanced electrified powertrain concepts with cost effective improvements in fuel economy and emissions.

A visiting Professor at the University of Brighton since 2007, Neville Jackson also serves as Deputy chair for the UK Auto Council Technology Group, Vice Chair of the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC) and a member of the Advisory Board for the European Green Vehicles Initiative (EGVI).

Geoffrey Bicknell is a Senior Professional Advisor to DBAY Advisors Ltd., an asset manager advisory firm. He is a Non Executive Director of Eddie Stobart Logistics Ltd, and CFO of Alphapoint Technology, a provider of IT and data centre asset  management software. He has mentored technology start ups in the USA, and was Chief Financial Officer of DouglasBay Plc from February 2009 to September 2011.

Prior to joining DouglasBay, Mr. Bicknell was interim Finance Director of Ricardo Plc, an engineering consulting firm, and Anite Plc, a supplier of software for mobile device and network testing.

He was also Non Executive Director and Chairman of Audit Committees of Brady Plc, Trafficmaster Plc and Acta Spa. He brings 40 years of broad based financial, commercial and operational management expertise from international remits throughout Europe and North America.

Geoffrey Bicknell has held executive directorships in companies including Rockwell International, TI Group Plc, Lucas Industries, Maxima Holdings Plc and Northgate Information Solutions Plc. He is a Chartered Accountant in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Simon Edmonds is the Director of Catapults for Innovate UK overseeing nine technology and innovation centres across the UK.  He joined Innovate from the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills where he was Director of Innovation which included sponsorship of the Technology Strategy Board (now called Innovate UK) as well as other bodies within the UK innovation ecosystem; The Design Council, Nesta, National Measurement System, BSI, UKAS.

Simon has held responsibility for Business Sectors within DTI, BERR and BIS covering all industrial sectors. He was responsible for many innovation and growth reviews and manufacturing strategies in 2004 and 2008. As Director of Innovation he initiated the Hauser Review and worked closely with Hermann Hauser to deliver the review and subsequent funding by Ministers.

Simon joined the civil service in 2002. Prior to that he was Chief Executive and Divisional Managing Director of a number of SME businesses and had a 16-year career with Raychem Corporation. At Raychem he was Managing Director of Sigmaform following its acquisition by Raychem and Head of New Product Development for Raychem’s Electrical Products Division.

Simon graduated with a Business Degree from Aston University and has an MBA from Henley Management College. He is also a Non Executive Director of The Aerospace Technology Institute (ATI) and The Energy Technologies Institute (ETI).

Charles’s first career was with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, culminating as Director of Trade and Investment for China, based in the Embassy in Beijing, responsible also for Commercial Offices in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chongqing.  He undertook a two year secondment from the FCO to BI (British Invisibles), a predecessor to The CityUK, where he was an Executive Director and Director of Communications and Public Affairs, and also a Board member.

From 2004-2008 he was with the Group Strategy function of Royal Bank of Scotland, responsible for the China projects arising from the RBS investment in Bank of China, but with a portfolio that included oversight of the Group’s responses to Competition Inquiries and the publication of major corporate communication documents, including  the Group Corporate Responsibility Report and the Annual Review.   In 2008 he joined the Group Strategy function of HSBC, where he set up the Financial Sector Policy Unit, reporting to the Group Chairman, to coordinate the Group’s response to regulatory change after the financial crisis.  The wider role of the function was to manage externalities impacting HSBC, including HSBC’s external public sector and academic relationships, and to develop a forward-looking agenda for infrastructure finance, sustainable finance, and SME finance.  His team set up the Business Growth Fund (BGF) and drove the initiation of London as an international hub for the RMB.

Professor Colin Garner, PhD, CEng, FIMechE, FREng, is the Perkins/Royal Academy of Engineering Professor of Applied Thermodynamics in the Wolfson School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Loughborough University, UK.

His research interests include IC engine emissions control, engine in-cylinder flow and combustion diagnostics, fuel injection and heat transfer. He has had research funded by a range of organisations including DTI/DBERR, EPSRC, Caterpillar, Ford, Jaguar, Lotus, Perkins, Siemens VDO and Shell Global Solutions.

Colin is widely published and has had work featured in New Scientist and presented research work on national BBC TV and radio and in USA, Europe and the Far East.

He is a consultant to a range of clients, mainly in the automotive and power industries.

Hannah is a Deputy Director in Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. As Head of the Automotive Unit, she is responsible for the Government’s relationship with the Automotive sector.

She has been with BEIS since 2018, prior to which she worked with Accenture’s Technology Strategy Practice and joined Accenture in 2015 after an earlier career in the Civil Service within Cabinet Office amongst other Government Departments.

She is a graduate of Oxford University where she studied modern history.