I manage the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero’s £33m Red Diesel Replacement (RDR) programme and £8m Industrial Energy Efficiency Accelerator (IEEA), which are funded through the £1bn Net Zero Innovation Portfolio (NZIP). The NZIP is delivered by the Science & Innovation for Climate & Energy Directorate (SICE), in which I have been working for the past 3 years.

The RDR programme supports the development and demonstration of mid-TRL low carbon fuel and system alternatives to using diesel in the construction, and mining and quarrying sectors. The IEEA programme aims to increase the technologies available to industry to reduce energy consumption, maximise resource efficiency, and cut carbon emissions.

My academic background is firstly in Physics & Astrophysics. Prior to joining DESNZ, I completed an Engineering Doctorate (EngD) sponsored by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), assessing the performance of creep strength enhanced ferritic steels designed for ultra-supercritical (USC) steam parameters, to improve thermal efficiencies and reduce carbon emissions in conventional power generation. I’ve also worked in the Senedd Cymru (Welsh Parliament) Research Service, and for a product development company in Zhuhai, China.

Robert Evans is CEO of Cenex, a not-for-profit research and consultancy organisation with a strategic focus on supporting supply chain and market development for Automated, Connected, Electric and Shared (ACES) mobility.  

During his 15+ years as CEO, Robert has overseen the development and delivery of a range of pathfinder low carbon vehicle and energy infrastructure projects for hydrogen, electric and gas vehicles, as well as shared mobility projects.  He has also established the Cenex Expo event as a major technology showcasing and networking event for the innovation community actively progressing low carbon vehicles and connected automated mobility. 

For hydrogen and fuel cell technology Cenex has supported research and consultancy projects to advance use of hydrogen in passenger cars and light commercial vehicle. The Cenex team are now focusing on hard to decarbonise applications including trucks, off-road equipment, light rail and small-scale marine. Cenex' consultancy on hydrogen matters includes techno-market research and strategy development for clients.

Robert holds a number of non-executive board positions including being a board member of Hydrogen Scotland.

Prior to joining Cenex, Robert developed international markets for energy, environmental and automotive technologies, including fuel cells and vehicle emissions control. 

Mr. Saket is a seasoned professional in automotive cybersecurity, boasting over 13 years of experience in connected cars and cybersecurity solutions. He has previously worked at Jaguar Land Rover (UK) , ClearMotion Inc, EDAG Engineering Limited (UK) and Transport Research laboratory (TRL) in areas of Telematics, Connected cars and Automotive Cybersecurity.

He holds a degree in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from Bangalore, India and a M.Sc. in Embedded and Wireless Systems from Coventry University, UK.

Meet Mr Saket Mohan, the Founder & CEO of Secure Elements Ltd, an Automotive Cybersecurity Software Company providing software solutions for cybersecurity assessments, vulnerability management and cybersecurity monitoring, helping accelerate UNR155 compliance.

Sanne van Breukelen joined the Cenex Nederland team almost two years ago; she has a strong drive (being her three children) to help regenerate the world. Having worked at the Public Transport Authority in Amsterdam, her contribution mostly focuses on creating (even) cleaner public transport. Sanne has worked on projects transition diesel bus fleets to zero emissions.

Santiago is the Business Development Leader for Nuvera Fuel Cells in Europe. He is a mechanical engineer with technical expertise in hydrogen systems and more than 10 years of experience in commercial roles for zero-emission technologies across various continents. Over his more than three years at Nuvera, he has been tasked with deploying FC technology in various applications, including marine, stationary, on-road, and off-road, through clients and partnerships all around the continent.

Professor Sarah Sharples is Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport. She is a Professor of Human Factors in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham and from 2018-2021 was Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion and People. She has led research in transport, manufacturing and healthcare, and has a particular interest in designing systems that successfully integrate novel technologies and people in complex systems in settings including rail, highways and aviation. She was President of the Chartered Institute of Ergonomics and Human Factors from 2015-16.   

Sarah Tennison is the Head of Clean Growth Strategy and Impact at Innovate UK.Sarah is responsible for developing Innovate UK’s Net Zero Strategy and maximising the impact from net zero innovation programmes.  

Sarah also leads on Innovate UK’s Financing Net Zero Programme – an ambitious initiative to significantly scale the level of private investment flowing into Net Zero.

Previously Sarah established and chaired Teesside Collective, a consortium of leading energy intensive industries which led to Teesside Net Zero, one of the UK’s more developed and deliverable carbon capture and storage projects led by a consortium of major oil and gas companies. She also headed up Teesside’s work on district heating, hydrogen and renewable energy, chaired the North East, Yorkshire and Humber Energy Hub, developed the Northern Powerhouse’s Net Zero proposition, and worked closely with industry and government to develop viable business models to unlock significant private investment in decarbonisation.

Sean Gilgunn joined UKBIC as Managing Director in October 2023.

He brings an impressive background in strategic and operational leadership including over 20 years of international commercial and management experience in the B2B battery systems, automotive and chemical sectors.

Sean joined UKBIC from Johnson Matthey where he worked across a variety of business areas, most recently as Global Procurement Director, Strategy & Operations.

Prior to this, he was based in Poland as General Manager and President of the Board of Directors for JM Battery Systems, a leading manufacturer of batteries across a wide range of applications. He has also spent a number of years leading global business units and key accounts focusing on critical markets including periods focused on South Korea, China and South East Asia more broadly.

As Managing Director of UKBIC, Sean is responsible for leadership of the UKBIC business and working closely with key stakeholders to ensure that UKBIC plays a valuable role for industry within the UK ecosystem.

Professor Siddartha Khastgir is the Head of Safe Autonomy at WMG, University of Warwick. He leads several collaborative R&D projects with industrial and academic partners nationally and internationally. His research focuses on generating safety evidence and arguments, test scenario generation, simulation-based testing, and safety of AI systems. Leveraging the cross-domain nature of safety, he is also involved in safety research in aviation, marine and healthcare. He has been appointed as a member of the UK Govt’s Department for Transport’s Science Advisory Council.  Siddartha is an active member of various national and international standardisation and regulatory groups, including ISO, SAE and ASAM. Currently, he represents the UK on several ISO technical committees and is the lead author for two new ISO standards for aspects of automated driving systems. He sits on the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) committees on safety of automated driving.  Prior to joining WMG, Siddartha was with FEV GmbH in Germany, leading automotive software development and testing for series production projects.  He has received numerous national and international awards for his research contributions, including the prestigious UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship in 2019 focused on safety evaluation of CAVs and a Forbes 30 Under 30

Sophie’s expertise is in materials science, characterisation, and processing. She specialised in polymer composites with a focus on their sustainability for the automotive sector (in terms of materials selection, manufacturing, and end-of-life). Throughout her career, she has established a network and built relationships with key stakeholders in the composite and transport industries.

Sophie joined the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK as a Senior Strategist in March 2024. Sophie obtained her French Engineering Degree in Materials in 2002 (ISITV engineering school), her MSc in Advanced Materials in 2002 at Cranfield University and her PhD in bio-medical composites in 2007 from the Polymer Composites Group at the University of Nottingham. After holding a Research Fellow position in the same group, she joined Syensqo/Solvay Composites (Derby) Ltd (formerly Umeco Composites Structural Materials/Advanced Composites Group Ltd) as a Collaborative Research & Technology Project Manager in December 2008. In November 2013, Sophie started at Far-UK Ltd as a Technical Programme Manager and managed research projects, which were part-funded by the UK and the European Commission. She became a Technical Manager in February 2018, led the R&D group, developed the company’s roadmap, and set new collaborative research projects up. Sophie joined SAMPE UK & Ireland Chapter as a committee member in October 2019. Additionally, she has been a committee member of the East Midlands Materials Society (EMMS), which is affiliated to The Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IoM3) since 2006; a board member of the Composites Leadership Team (Chair of the EDI Working Group) of the IoM3 since December 2014; a committee member of SAMPE UK & Ireland Chapter since October 2019; a member of Vehicular Composites Group (Composites Leadership Forum) since February 2023; and a member of the Skills Development Group (Composites Leadership Forum) since April 2023.