Our activities are directed by a Board, who are elected by our members.


The Board meets regularly in a forum open to all Chief Executives and Managing Directors of member companies to consult on key topics for the UK’s Innovation, Research & Technology sector.

Board of directors

The AIRTO board of directors is responsible for the governance and strategy of AIRTO.

Professor Sudhesh Kumar OBE

President, AIRTO

Simon Andrews

Chair of AIRTO and Executive Director, Fraunhofer UK Research

Professor Richard Brook OBE FREng

Vice President, AIRTO

Gillian Charlesworth

Group Chief Executive, BRE Group

Dr James Claverley

Head of Government Relations, NPL

Hannah Wade

Managing Director, CPI Enterprises

Paul Hadley

Director of Economic and Social Impact at MTC

Neil Kermode FICE OBE

Managing Director, European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd

Erika Lewis

Chief Executive Officer, Connected Places Catapult

Heidi Bridger

Deputy Director of Innovation Infrastructure, Innovate UK

AIRTO Team

Dr Jane Gate

Executive Director

Maryam Shahid

Administrator

Peter Oakley

Government Affairs Lead

Steve Yianni FREng

Past President, AIRTO

Interest group leads

Professor Vicky Pope

National Laboratories Interest Group

Bruce Napier

Quality Management Interest Group (Research Scientist, NIAB)

Dan Poulter

Cyber Security Interest Group (Senior Customer Development Manager R&I, Jisc)

Dr Penny Owen

Sustainability Interest Group (ESG Director, NPL)

Kaie Small-Warner

Sustainability Interest Group (Head of Responsible Business, BRE)

Angela Cluley

Health and Safety Interest Group (HS&E Function Lead, HORIBA MIRA)

Robert Evans

Special Interest Group Net Zero (CEO, Cenex)

Sue Rogers

Interest Group Secretariat