Innovation for Tomorrow's Railway: Young Engineers' Railway Seminar

Andrew Wolstenholme: CEO, Crossrail

Andrew Wolstenholme joined the airport operator BAA plc in 1997 as Construction Director for the Heathrow Express rail link. He went on to lead the delivery of the £4.3bn Terminal 5 programme and became BAA's Director of Capital Projects, running the £10bn development programme across seven UK airports. From there Andrew joined the Balfour Beatty Group in 2009 as Director of Innovation and Strategic Capability. Andrew joined Crossrail as its Chief Executive Officer in 2011. Andrew is Co-Chair of the Construction Leadership Council.

Graham Hopkins: Group Director of Safety, Technical & Engineering, Network Rail

Graham Hopkins joined Network Rail on 1 June 2015 as Group Director of Safety, Technical & Engineering. Graham previously worked as Executive Vice-President of Engineering & Technology Aerospace Component Engineering at Rolls-Royce.

He has notable experience of fostering industry-wide collaborations to deliver design-led engineering programmes and has a high profile within the engineering sector for encouraging new graduates into engineering. He is passionate about how we can encourage more women and under-represented groups into engineering.

Richard East: Chief Engineer, Atkins

Richard East works at Atkins and has spent several years working in Denmark on ERTMS and new vehicle projects. He has been part of the successful Inter City Express Programme resulting in orders for over 1100 new Inter City vehicles including both bi-mode and electric vehicles. Richard joined the rail industry in 1977 and was sponsored through university by British Rail. He gained experience in the regional maintenance organisation in Scotland after graduation as well as specialist engineering expertise in Derby. He also gained project management experience with new dual voltage electric multiple units and station refurbishment for London Underground. 

Kuldeep Gharatya: Head of Technical Strategy, System Performance & Innovation, London Underground

Kuldeep Gharatya joined London Underground in 1997, working with Train Systems Engineering. As well as leading the industry’s thinking on how to implement Systems Engineering he also helped initiate the current Reliability Programme and more recently its drive to create a more forward-thinking Technical Strategy. In the last few years he has set up the Innovation Team at London Underground and pushed its awareness up the agenda.

Mark Gaynor: ?Head of Sustainability, Skills, Supply Chain and Technical Strategy, Department for Transport (DfT)

Mark Gaynor works in the rail group at the Department for Transport where he leads on rail innovation, sustainability, supply chain and skills issues. He sponsors the rail industry’s FutureRailway innovation programme delivered by RSSB and has played a major role in developing and implementing the Rail Technical Strategy. Mark also set up the Rail Supply Group, a body that brings together government and industry to strengthen the competitiveness of the UK rail supply sector. He is working closely with industry stakeholders to implement the RSG’s recently published strategy ‘Fast Track to the Future.’

Simon Tonks: Head of IT, Porterbrook

Simon Tonks is a Chartered Engineer and a Chartered member of the British Computer Society, who joined the rail industry from University and never left. He is the Head of IT for Porterbrook, a rolling stock leasing company, and is also involved in industry activity to procure a secure implementation of ERTMS, apply cyber security techniques to rolling stock architectures, agree a framework for cross-industry remote condition monitoring, and deliver national implementations of vehicle asset management and defect recording and corrective action systems.

Francis Paonessa: Managing Director, Infrastructure Projects, Network Rail

Francis Paonessa started his career with the warship builder, Vosper Thornycroft, initially as a Mechanical Design Engineer and ultimately as Managing Director of the Portsmouth Shipbuilding Facility. He moved to Bombardier Transportation in 2010 where he led the combined new build and services business in the UK, manufacturing and maintaining mainline and underground trains for the UK and for export. Francis joined Network Rail in 2014 where he is responsible for the delivery of over £5bn per annum of renewal and enhancement projects. He studied Aeronautical Engineering at Manchester University, where he also completed his PhD in Fluid Mechanics. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Nathan Eldridge: London Underground, Obsolescence Manager

Nathan Eldridge moved to Obsolescence Management in the defence and aerospace industry after 12 years in communication engineering in various locales around the world. Joining Thales UK emerging ‘Obsolescence Group’ in 2008, he was at the forefront of developing and implementing obsolescence strategies to support the UK’s naval radar and communication systems. Working on projects that also covered In-Flight Entertainment (IFE) systems, simulators, Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs) and a variety of other command and control systems, he has built up a wide knowledge and skill in obsolescence principles that have been applied and shared across the industry. 

James  Bryant: Siemens, Maintainability Engineer

James Bryant is a Maintainability Engineer for the Siemens Thameslink rail project, currently managing the routine maintenance requirements for the Class 700 Desiro City Fleet in the UK. He has 13 years of rail engineering experience ranging from hands on engineering activities to technical advisory and fleet management roles. 

James has held roles in the industry ranging from an Apprentice Service Engineer, Team Technician, Assistant Fleet Engineer and Maintainability Engineer. Whilst working in these roles, James studied in fields to further his knowledge, achieving certificates in Mechanical and Electrical/Electronic Engineering.

Manuel Neves: Geotechnical Engineer Earth Engineering and Sciences (Europe), CH2M

Manuel Neves is a Geotechnical Engineer in Glasgow’s Earth Engineering and Sciences Department at CH2M, having recently completed his Ph.D. from UBI on slope stability in granitic residual soils. Manuel’s experience focuses on the design of earthworks and structures for railway and highway, having been involved in a variety of schemes that include the Queensferry Crossing Bridge, the EGIP and the A14, from preliminary to detailed design and construction.  

Ian Yarnold: Head, International Vehicle Standards Division, Department for Transport (DfT)

Ian Yarnold currently leads the International Vehicle Standards Division within the Department for Transport (DfT). He is a mechanical engineer with over 30 years’ experience across a varied career, encompassing heavy vehicle operation and maintenance, plus several years in the UK roadside enforcement agency, DVSA. He currently leads the development of policy on safer, cleaner and quieter road vehicles for the UK, and oversees Government involvement in the EU and the United Nations in Geneva. He chairs the UN-ECE Global Harmonisation Group; chaired the UN-ECE Expert Group on accident avoidance technologies until 2011, and is the co-Chair on Intelligent Transport Systems/Automated Driving.

Jerry England: Group Digital Railway Director, Network Rail

Jerry England joined Network Rail in October 2007 and has undertaken a number of engineering and asset management roles prior to assuming his current role in 2014. Before joining Network Rail, he was Major Projects Director with the Highways Agency, and Chief Operating Officer for Thames Water. Jerry has also spent 20 years in the oil and gas industry, project managing the design and construction of oil refineries, gas processing plants, and petrochemical plants for many of the major oil companies. He is a Chartered Chemical Engineer.

Felix Schmid: Education Director, Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education

Felix Schmid studied electrical engineering at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH). After graduating, he worked as a software analyst, then became a locomotive control engineer with GEC Traction in Manchester. In 1985, after having worked at UMIST, followed by the University of Salford, he took up a lectureship in control systems and computer integrated manufacturing at Brunel University. In 1993, he was seconded to the Swiss Federal Office of Transport as a railway inspector. He then moved to the Advanced Railway Research centre at the University of Sheffield, where he helped to create the MSc programme in Railway Systems Engineering. Today, Felix is the Education Director of the The Birmingham Centre for Railway Research and Education (BCRRE) and supervises research into railway capacity, systems engineering, human factors and railway control.