Daresbury, England, United Kingdom
Business Owner of Acorn2Oak Innovation Solutions Limited, trading as A|2|O Technology Group, focusing on Advanced Composites Manufacturing, Application and In-Service Use technologies. Pro-active globally experienced Director with a reputation for innovation, applied research, new product introduction and business development. Proven Leader of multi-faceted research and development activities engaging at all levels to ensure that deliverables are met, quality assured and cost-effectively manufactured. Chartered Engineer with a high level of academic qualifications and commercial acumen with a proven passion for simple solutions to secure business growth.
Limited Company developing Advanced Composite technology solutions focused on customer needs for cost-effective volume manufacture and structural performance insights, as well as preventative maintenance. Located at Sci-Tech Daresbury and engaged with a wide and highly capable network including STFC, CERN, RTO's, Academia, Composites Supply Chain and Commercial Adopters. • Participant in LCR4.0, see http://lcr4.uk for advanced composite manufacturing process development and simulation. • Participant in IoT UK Boost, see https://iotuk.org.uk/ with STFC Hartree Centre for AcornSense - Composite material (structural) health monitoring. • Programme Lead for NVN CHASM Project, see https://www.nichevehiclenetwork.co.uk/projects Acorn2Oak Innovation Solutions Ltd. is an SME benefiting from the expertise of its founding Director with extensive Academic and Industrial experience in Engineering. The company is focused on Advanced Composites Technologies with the aim of reducing the weight of transportation, often referred to as vehicle lightweighting. The benefit of lighter vehicles is that they require less energy thereby reducing direct and indirect carbon dioxide emissions. Contact us at [email protected] or Chris directly at [email protected]
Company set-up for the development of a leisure-based commercial product supported by Aylesbury Vale Enterprise Hub.
Strategic Programme Manager looking after and originating strategic programmes to secure future growth of the global business via innovation and technology leadership. I also headed up and lead the global R&D function from Sigmatex's headquarters located in Runcorn, United Kingdom. Extensive experience and influence in the Advanced Composites Industry leading significant R&D programmes, e.g. AMSCI-funded Lightweighting Excellence, £7.2m programme for the integrated supply of composites parts in medium to high volumes collaborating ten partners and three OEM's; ATI-funded Breakthrough Aerospace Materials, £3.6m programme developing the CAE tools for 3-D Composites utilisation with 11 collaborators including two Aerospace primes; also involved in EU-funded and supplier/customer collaborative research. Invited Speaker at CompositesUK 2015 (short slot in Scott Bader presentation), GoCarbon 2015, Advanced Engineering Show 2015, JEC-Paris CCF 2016, GALM 2016. Elected Tier2 Representative on National Composites Centre Operations and R&D Committee
• Restructured Engineering, managed change and developed team. • Implemented: DFM; Innovation function; Compliance Testing; Design Flexibility; Feed forward & feed back business-wide engineering strategy; Customer requirement compliance management. • Introduced cost reduction ethos; Developed Engineering processes; Accelerated Contract closure; Eliminated “comet’s tail”; Developed processes for bid winning engineering support. • Liaised with other Shepherd Group businesses to develop group-wide integrated engineering solutions. • Led Engineering function. Executive board member.
• Chief of Engineering; member of senior management team. • Improved Processes and Managed Change by developing; cost-conscious Engineering, team structure, skills, responsibilities and motivation. Pro-actively lead concurrent engineering and management. • Pro-actively liaised with other Hutchinson business units to promote integrated engineering solutions. • Innovated and designed cost effective solutions for new product lines. • Managed largest electronics ‘build to print’ contract in company history meeting, or exceeding, all budgets and requirements.