Advisory Board

Paul joined ORE Catapult (formerly Narec) in August 2006 and holds the post of Head of Strategic Research responsible for research business development, external research collaborations and academic engagement. Previously, Paul occupied the role of Project Coordinator for the OPTIMUS FP7 project (prognostic condition monitoring) and prior to that, he occupied similar roles on the Snapper FP7 project and Aquamarine Power’s Oyster project (both wave energy converter projects). He is currently a Board member of the European Association of Renewable Energy Research Centres (EUREC), a Management Board member of the European Energy Research Alliance Joint Programme for Wind (EERA JPWind) and represents ORE Catapult on the SuperGen Wind Management Committee, the UKCMER Advisory Board and the Durham Energy Institute’s Industrial Advisory Board.

Ross founded Rayner Low Carbon Technologies in 2018 to accelerate the adoption of low carbon technologies, through research, innovation & engineering.

With a career spanning over 22 years, Ross previously was Renewables Director (Asset Performance) for LOC (London Offshore Consultants). Prior to this he joined Lloyd’s Register in 1997 during which time he founded, and was Head of the Renewable Energy business, growing it into a global enterprise with operating facilities across various renewables sectors. He was also a member of the Lloyd’s Register Energy Technology Board between 2011 and 2016. In 2018, Ross was appointed Co-Director and Lead Industrial Partner to the EPSRC Supergen ORE Programme.

Ross has a wealth of experience within the renewables industry and is an advisor to several boards, including Supergen ORE Hub, REMS CDT Programme, ESPRC review panel and was also a member of the IEC / BSI Wind & Marine Energy Standards Committees.

In 1984, Andrew co-founded Garrad Hassan (GH) in Bristol. It grew to become the world’s largest renewable energy consultancy, employing 1,000 people in 29 countries. He became President of GL Garrad Hassan after Germanischer Lloyd (GL) and Garrad Hassan merged in 2009. He ran the new company until 2012, when he became Chairman. After the merger of DNV and GL in 2013, Andrew became a member of the DNV GL Energy Supervisory Board.

Andrew has been professionally involved in wind, wave and tidal energy for over four decades. He built his first wind turbine in 1971. From 2013 to 2014 he was President of the European Wind Energy Association (EWEA) and he is a past-Chairman of the British Wind Energy Association. He chaired Bristol’s year as European Green Capital in 2015. In 2006, he became the first British recipient of EWEA’s Poul la Cour prize, and in 2015, he became the only non-Greek recipient of the Hellenic Wind Energy Association’s Aeolus prize. Under his leadership, GH twice won the Queen’s Award for International Enterprise. He is an Honorary Fellow of New College, Oxford.

Barnaby leads RenewableUK’s thinking on the future of the electricity system as renewables has become the mainstay of the UK’s generation. His work includes flexibility markets, energy storage, the role of EVs and the future of hydrogen. Prior to his current role, Barnaby was Head of Policy and Regulation where he led a team of policy managers to help create an environment for growth in the UK's renewables. Barnaby worked with onshore, offshore and marine sectors to secure long-term routes to market, in a flexible energy system to deliver low carbon growth.

With a background in Mechatronic Engineering (BEng) and Advanced Engineering (MEng), Elva has been involved in wave energy technology development since 2007, having worked on a number of different technology concepts both in Scotland and Ireland. Her main focus in these roles was on tank testing, data analysis and numerical model validation for scale model tests. She then spent some time as an engineering consultant developing a novel robotic system, leading the electrical integration team.

During her time at WES (started in early 2015), she has seen the company grow from 2 to 15 staff, with a significant annual budget and large number of projects. Elva has engaged with government officials, international funding agencies, technology developers and academics to help ensure the WES programme is targeting the right topic areas and meet the needs of the sector. Her role includes ensuring the results of the WES programme are disseminated through knowledge sharing and IP licencing (WES online Knowledge Library). Engaging with the wider community to ensure the very best technology transfer and collaborations are seen within the wave energy sector.

In addition to her core responsibilities within WES, Elva also sits on a Committee providing UK input to IEC/TC114 standards development, and advisory/ scientific committee role giving industry perspective to academic organisations including the EIMR conference series.

Gareth Stockman has over 12 years industrial experience, all of which has been in the environment of high-tech R&D and start up’s. He is a dynamic and driven business leader, with a passion for marine renewables. Gareth is a qualified mechanical engineer with a MEng in Marine Renewables and a PhD from Swansea University. He is a co-founder of Marine Power Systems and has achieved significant grant funding and private investment since its inception in order to deliver the company’s development pathway. As CEO, he has overseen MPS through the Feasibility, Proof of Concept and Scaled Testing stages prior to the current 1:4 scale prototype development phase. Gareth has overall responsibility for the management of MPS as well as Shareholder and Stakeholder engagement.

Graham has over 20 years industrial experience, 15 of which has been spent leading high value & high tech R&D, and for the last 10 years he has been a founder / director of fast moving technology start-up companies. Graham is a qualified mechanical engineer and gained a PhD from Swansea University. He is a co-founder of Marine Power Systems and has a track record of financing high value start-up companies having raised multi-million grant and venture funding to date. Graham has a unique ability to create elegant solutions to highly challenging problems, creating sector leading IP in the process. Graham is the CTO of the company and has overall responsibility for the WaveSub product development strategy and managing IP.

Jan Matthiesen is passionate about wind energy. He started in the onshore sector but has got his feet wet managing all offshore wind activities at the Carbon Trust, such as the Offshore Wind Accelerator, UK’s leading RD&D programme for offshore wind. He combines a good awareness of management techniques and a high level of business comprehension with good understanding of engineering principles and the ability to grasp complex technical problems. He joined the Carbon Trust in 2010, to work on the Offshore Wind Accelerator, a ground-breaking collaborative RD&D project between the Carbon Trust and nine leading offshore wind developers. Prior to joining the Carbon Trust, Jan was Head of Onshore at RenewableUK, the wind energy industry association and accountable for all issues affecting the deployment of onshore wind energy development.

Dan Kyle Spearman is a Director in RCG’s London office, leading on floating wind. A background in naval architecture with 6 years of fixed and floating offshore wind experience brings a broad range of technical, operational and commercial expertise.

Mr Spearman is an expert in floating offshore wind and has worked with the leading developers to reduce the cost and risks to enable the future commercialisation of floating wind.

Dan Kyle Spearman has a wide range of offshore wind experience, having managed the Floating Wind Joint Industry Programme and the O&M workstream in the world-leading Offshore Wind Accelerator (OWA) research programme. In these collaborative programmes, he worked closely with fifteen of the leading international developers and Scottish Government to make both fixed and floating offshore wind into mainstream energy sources. In particular, Dan worked with developers to address the technical challenges for deployment of future large-scale floating farms, giving insight into the challenges and opportunities of floating wind and engaging with the floating wind supply chain to implement the results. He has also managed multiple projects relating to marine logistics which have reduced costs, improved offshore health and safety and reduced vessel emissions. He has supported innovators by demonstrating and commercialising their technologies.

Dan Kyle Spearman is a qualified Naval Architect with additional qualifications in project management. He also has STCW certification for going offshore.

Adam is the UK Country Manager for Ocean Winds. He has two decades of experience across the renewable energy industry, initially working in the wave and tidal sector before moving into developing large scale onshore and offshore wind projects. His previous roles include various project positions whilst at RES Offshore and EDP Renewables, then Project Director for Ocean Winds’ Moray West Offshore Wind Farm before moving into his current role.

Ian Masters is a Professor in Mechanical Engineering at Swansea University. He started marine energy research at Swansea in 2001 and is the author of many academic papers and patents. Professor Masters research areas include: Tidal current turbines, floating wind energy, tidal range technology, wave energy and multiple use of space. In particular, he specialises in the development of computational models to improve the performance of tidal turbines. He also has an interest in the link between design and cost of energy in order to develop cost effective ocean energy devices.

In 2001, Ian started ocean energy research at Swansea University which is part of the multidisciplinary Climate Action Research Institute. Current work is part of the Marine Energy Engineering Centre of Excellence (MEECE) which focuses on regional development and offshore renewables industry R&D. A recently completed project was the Interreg ERDF IrelandWales ‘SELKIE’ project, which developed a set of open source technology tools. Ian was a work package leader for MarIBE, a Horizon 2020 project evaluating business models for Blue Growth.

Si has been working in public sector energy policy since 2004 focusing on regulation, innovation and international negotiations. He’s pottered around the world dealing with international energy policy, covering a multitude of subjects, technologies and countries (….and the Moon). He has led on UK civil nuclear innovation policy for the last 6 years as a key player in re-invigorate the UK’s nuclear research landscape. Recently he has taken on responsibility for BEIS renewables innovation programme including leadership of the UK’s coordinating role in the European DemoWind and BESTF bioenergy Eranet programmes. By trade, he’s also a trained fishmonger.

Sue has 18 years’ experience in the offshore wind, wave and tidal industries, including 11 years at OpenHydro, a tidal technology developer in senior management, project development, policy and developing marine energy markets. She supported the UK Government delivering the first offshore wind arrays including revision of primary legislation, administering regulatory controls and advised UK Ministers on the first marine energy projects. On the board of all three industry associations (RenewableUK, Scottish Renewables and Marine Energy Wales) and chair of the UK Marine Policy Forum & Council, Sue plays a key role in driving renewable industry policy in the marine area, in the UK and internationally.

Will joined The Crown Estate in 2009 in the lead up to the commencement of Round 3 and was appointed as the Head of Energy Development in 2017. Will leads the team that manages the front end of the offshore wind portfolio; the assessment of seabed resource and future opportunity for growth, the origination of rights and new leasing activity, and the management of lease options during the development phase of our customer’s projects.

Will is a Chartered Civil Engineer with over 20 years of experience of management of infrastructure projects and investment programmes in the water and power industries, both in the UK and oversees. His initial foray into offshore wind began in 2004 on the project now known as London Array. Will represents The Crown Estate on the Offshore Wind Programme Board and other Offshore Wind Industry Council related activity.

Yannis completed his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the Technological Educational Institute of Larissa in Greece, before going on to complete a Masters in Engineering Management at the Brunel University. Yannis Dragotis has been the Head of Renewable Energy Innovation Delivery at BEIS since May 2018. Prior to this he was a Project Management Engineer at Pharos Marine Automatic Power and has held various engineering positions in the UK and Greece.

David is Lead R&D Specialist for Ørsted Offshore where he is responsible for defining and executing a global strategy for collaboration with universities and research organisations. He has held positions in ORE Catapult, the University of Edinburgh and the Carbon Trust, specialising in offshore wind, wave and tidal energy, and energy systems. He also previously worked offshore as a Chief Field Geophysicist in the oil & gas seismic survey sector. He holds an MSc in Sustainable Energy Systems and a BSc in Computer Science and Management Science. Originally from Edinburgh, Scotland, he now lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Sam is part of Carbon Trust’s Policy and Innovation team where he heads up floating offshore wind activities, including managing the Floating Wind JIP programme and representing Carbon Trust on a number of international and R&D advisory boards. Sam comes from a maritime operations background with experience as Master of crew transfer vessels and vessel management for offshore windfarms around the UK.  Sam has an MSc in Marine Renewable Energy from the University of Plymouth where his research focus was on the installation phase of floating offshore wind turbine platforms. Sam also holds a BSc. (Hons) in Exploration and Resource Geology from the University of Cardiff, Wales.

Dr Inès Tunga’s role at Energy Systems Catapult is Practice Manager - Renewables, Infrastructure and Engineering. Dr Tunga provides technical leadership across a range of renewable energy-related challenges and projects in renewables, wind, marine and solar, and their impacts on the UK energy system.

Key to her work is the engagement with stakeholders and leading multidisciplinary teams to deliver transformational projects that create effective ways to decarbonise our energy system and deliver on the UK’s Net Zero commitment.

Tim Camp is Director at Turbine Engineering at Offshore Wind Capacity. His work ranges from wind turbine technical due diligence, through offshore wind O&M strategy development, wind farm concept design, floating wind turbine modelling & applied research. He was formerly with London Offshore Consultants prior to the creation of ABL Group.

Tim Camp enjoys working on a broad technical scope that includes hydrodynamics, structural dynamics, aerodynamics, control & power engineering. He has been involved in standards development and design method development since the early days of offshore wind and has enjoyed seeing the growth of the industry’s experience base.

As the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Lead Marine and Fisheries Scientist, David leads a team of multidisciplinary scientists and social researchers overseeing the interface of science into policy and the ongoing evaluation of policy outcomes. He is responsible for leading Defra’s investment into marine and fisheries science outcome and building relationships across the marine science community.

With over 25 years in the marine science sector in the UK, David brings a range of experiences from bench scientist to head of delegation roles in international fora and leadership roles from a range of science programmes directly linked to developing and evaluating government policy. He is a Fellow of both the Royal Geographical Society and Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology.

John Chapman is Chief Engineer at Marine Power Systems and has responsibility for technical system development. He brings over 17 years’ experience in marine renewables from both academia and industry and experience in several high-tech start-ups.

He has particular experience in the marine renewable energy sector and has worked on wave, tidal and offshore wind energy projects with broad experience of device development activities. He has experience as an engineering manager, research, simulation, design and development engineer.

His specialties include: Tidal energy, Wave energy, floating offshore wind, mechanical engineering, computational modelling, design, research, development.

Ben Child is the Floating Wind Business Manager within the Offshore Technology Department at DNV Services Ltd. He connects customers with bespoke solutions to their challenges using the company’s expertise in all of the major components of a floating wind system.

A Principal Engineer with over 15 years’ experience in the offshore renewables sector, he initially explored numerical modelling through an MSc dissertation project and later a PhD, where he established novel hydrodynamic analysis and optimisation techniques.

After joining DNV (formerly Garrad Hassan), he applied his research to consultancy work as well as leading software development related to hydrodynamics and wave energy farms. Since then, he has had continued involvement in research and development, addressing some of the key challenges facing floating wind energy system design.

With a rapidly growing floating wind industry, his focus in recent years has primarily been on commercial projects, providing expert advice, analysis and design services to help get the first full-scale system concepts into the water and ensure that the next generation of concepts meets ambitious targets on performance and cost.

In his current role at the National Composites Centre (NCC), Peter defines technical strategy for the use of composite and non-metallics in enabling Net-Zero energy generation and distribution. He combines his 15 years of R&D experience with knowledge and collaborators across manufacturers, operators and regulators from across the sector to identify and enable the most impactful applications of new technologies in offshore wind, hydrogen, oil & gas and advanced nuclear systems.

Prior to this role he led a major programme to design and commission the world leading R&D facilities at the NCC. His earlier research underpins innovative products in aerospace, motorsport, energy and consumer goods applications with the United Technology Corporation and a range of consultancy clients.

An offshore renewable energy leader, Steve is: CEO at Celtic Sea Power; Non-Executive Director on the Cornwall & Isles of Scilly LEP; represents the Celtic Sea Cluster on the UK’s Offshore Wind Industry Cluster Group.

His offshore experience includes ships’ diving, fishery protection, offshore aviation, sea training and sea command. He has worked for Mojo Maritime Ltd and James Fisher Group plc, on the installation and operation of offshore wind, tidal and wave energy devices and led four major offshore renewables R&D projects. Between 2019 and 2021, he oversaw the conversion of a Cornish offshore test & demonstration zone to floating offshore wind, and its sale in 2021 to Hexicon for the installation of the first floating offshore wind project in the Celtic Sea. He now leads Celtic Sea Power, an arm’s length Cornwall Council owned company, with the mission of making floating offshore wind an economic development success for Cornwall and the Celtic Sea Region.

Steve has a BSc in Applied Maths and Physical Oceanography, a MPhil in International Relations with International Economics, is the author of Strategy for Action: Using Force Wisely in the 21^st Century, and is a Fellow of the Nautical Institute and the Institute of Marine Engineers, Scientists and Technologists.

Marie joined EDF 12 years ago. After a PhD in Economics about The Emergence of Carbon Capture and Storage Techniques in the Power Sector, Marie has held several positions as a research engineer (technico-economic evaluation of different business cases involving blockchain, cost-benefit analysis of a French smart grid demonstrator for the French DSO and Governmental Agency, etc). After 4 years of leading a project for the EDF Group’s Strategy Division on a wide range of topics – carbon neutrality, offshore wind etc.- Marie joined the UK R&D Centre in September 2022, where she is now the Head of Renewables. She also leads a €6.5 M research project on offshore wind for the EDF Group.

Emily is an award-winning Chartered Energy Engineer, and Fellow, and is currently a member of bp’s Offshore Wind Engineering Senior Leadership Team. She is responsible for building a team covering technology, innovation, R&D and engineering quality and methodology, whilst also overseeing technical certification and safe by design in this fast-growing part of bp’s low carbon business.

Prior to bp, Emily spent 10 years with Ørsted and held a number of leadership roles including Regional Director for QHSE UK, Head of PMO (Portfolio Management Office) – which involved overseeing the global portfolio of QHSE projects across offshore wind and renewables – and Asset Manager for several UK offshore windfarms. Prior to offshore wind, Emily worked as an environmental and engineering consultant and an engineer on onshore and offshore oil rigs.

Emily is passionate about modernising the workplace and fostering inclusivity and support for women at all stages of their education or career journeys. In her spare time, Emily is a Trustee of the Energy Institute (EI), Chair of the EI’s Professional Affairs Committee and a Director of the Women’s Engineering Society. Emily is an active mentor supporting engineers seeking Chartership.

Karen joined JNCC in 2010 and was appointed co-team leader in 2016. JNCC are a public body that advises UK Government and devolved administrations on UK-wide and international conservation. Karen leads a team that provides environmental advice to the offshore wind sector, as well as other offshore industries, at both a project and strategic level. Working throughout the UK provides a unique insight into how sectors are operating in different regions, which enables JNCC to coordinate Statutory Nature Conservation Body (SNCB) advice on nature conservation issues relevant to the offshore wind sector, and other offshore industries.

Karen is a marine biologist with over 17 years’ experience of managing environmental advice in relation to offshore industries around the UK to Government, Regulators and industry stakeholders. Karen represents JNCC on a number of offshore wind fora around the UK and is managing the development of the UK wide Offshore Wind Environmental Evidence Register (OWEER) which is funded by both The Crowns Estates Offshore Wind Evidence and Change (OWEC) Programme and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Jonathan, previously the Managing Director at Wave Energy Scotland, has been at the helm of the company's strategic direction, overseeing business performance, driving innovation, and ensuring the organisation remains aligned with its mission to advance wave energy technology.

Beyond his leadership role, Jonathan is deeply engaged in fostering collaboration across the sector, working to drive effective research and innovation and nurture the many effective relationships that WES hold with operators across the marine renewable energy sectors. His involvement in the IEA-OES Evaluation and Guidance Framework plays a vital role in shaping international funding strategies for wave energy development.

Michael Blair is Principal Engineering Manager at The Crown Estate managing a multi-disciplinary technical team to cover a broad range of areas, including structural and electrical engineering, techno-economic analysis, energy system modelling, and technology appraisal. He oversees the development and implementation of internal digital tools and processes that support decision-making across the leasing programmes. He also leads the Technical Data and Evidence Programme, which funds original research and data creation aligned with The Crown Estate’s activities. 

Prior to joining The Crown Estate, Michael's expertise was focused on wind resource assessment and layout design and his professional credentials include Chartered Engineer status and membership in the Institute of Engineering and Technology.

Dai Lewis is the Senior Academic Engagement Programme Manager at the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult, where he leads collaborations with UK universities to drive research that supports the growth of offshore renewables. With a background in innovation and engineering, he works to strengthen the links between academia and industry, helping to accelerate technology development in the sector. 

Before joining ORE Catapult, Dai held roles in product development and academic research, including work on advanced aerospace materials for Rolls-Royce. He has a strong interest in skills development and is passionate about promoting innovation to support the future of the offshore renewable energy sector.

With over 14 years of experience in the energy sector, including a decade in offshore renewables and two years in oil and gas, Ajai has a background in managing large-scale projects and multidisciplinary teams.  Prior to his current role as Head of Supply Chain at RenewableUK, he led projects at Equinor for over 7 years as their Principal Strategy and Business Developer. His expertise spans commissioning, operations integrity, and strategic transformation, notably contributing to major projects such as the Dudgeon Offshore Wind Farm and Hywind Scotland. 

He is recognised for his advocacy in environmental and climate change initiatives and actively engages in public and industry discourse, serving as Vice Chair of the RenewableUK Shadow Board, Trustee for Greenpower Education Trust and Director for Lambeth Community Solar.

Oliver Wragg is the Commercial Director of Orbital Marine Power Ltd, a floating tidal stream turbine developer. Before joining Orbital Oliver was the Commercial Director at the European Marine Energy Centre (EMEC) Ltd for over six years where he oversaw the growth in activities and the delivery of industry initiatives and flagship projects. Oliver continues is an active board member of Ocean Energy Europe - a global network of ocean energy professionals - having joined the board in 2010. In 2012 he was awarded the Lennard Senior Prize for Outstanding Individual Achievement in the field of marine energy. This prize, awarded by the Society for Underwater Technology (SUT), recognises individuals who have made significant contributions to marine renewable energy.

Since 1999, Fraser has been actively engaged in the marine energy sector, witnessing and contributing to its evolution from an academic endeavour into a credible and emerging industrial field. His professional foundation was established through extensive hands-on experience as a Chief Officer in the Merchant Navy, which he subsequently complemented with advanced academic qualifications.

Each role in his career has been linked to the marine environment, encompassing its operation, engineering, and scientific study. This thematic focus has offered a diverse and dynamic context in which he has applied and developed his expertise as a senior manager, engineer, and scientist.

Fraser is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), a Chartered Engineer, and a Chartered Marine Scientist. 

Richard is EMEC’s metocean and oceanographic subject matter technical expert. Richard leads and manages the collection, analysis, quality control and dissemination of all metocean and oceanographic measurement programmes.