Our People

Caroline joined the APC from the Energy Technologies Institute where she was Director of Operations with responsibility for finance, HR, IT, governance and facilities. Caroline joined the ETI in March 2008, as Head of Finance, to set up the Accounting and Governance functions of the new ETI organisation.

Caroline has more than 20 years of experience in a variety of sectors in both operational and strategic roles, particularly in establishing and developing financial frameworks to support business growth and success. Caroline qualified is a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte and has a degree in Commerce from the University of Birmingham.

Caroline takes on the responsibility for all finance and operations functions at the APC.

Julian joins the APC after over 31 years in the automotive industry, initially at Ford then over twenty years at Jaguar Land Rover, most recently as Globalisation Programmes Director where he was responsible for overseas industrialisation programmes.

Julian has a grounding in production operations management following an early focus on industrial automation and controls before moving his focus upstream to senior roles in Advanced Manufacturing Engineering, Business Office, Portfolio Programme Management, Corporate Real Estate & Environmental Compliance and, more recently, an international expansion which involved overseas assignments in China and Brazil, and has been a passionate advocate for the UK automotive industry when dealing with overseas governments and agencies to promote bilateral investment and trade.

Having been through several complete economic cycles, managing change, business transformation and dealing with the uncertainties and volatility of government policy have been formative experiences and he has significant experience of leading and working within complex cross-functional team structures. He was heavily involved in the processes to manage the transition of JLR from Ford to Tata ownership and develop the organisation and its processes to manage growth in capability and scale in the UK and overseas.

Julian was previously Deputy Chair of JLR’s Pension Trustee and Chaired the Investment Strategy Committee.

Rik graduated Glasgow University with a degree in Electronics and Electrical Engineering with Music, and more recently graduated from Cranfield University with an MBA. Rik has held product development positions predominantly in automotive electronics, or closely related fields, working for Caterpillar, Pi, JLR, McLaren and Protean Electric. He has focused on customer centric roles, on both sides of the supply chain – OEM and Tier 1 or 2, in Systems and Applications Engineering, technically leading complex programmes, and running large product development teams, always driven by ensuring end users receive the product they need.

Philippa is a Chartered Engineer who thrives on working with a wide range of stakeholders from government, industry and academia to create visionary solutions, challenging existing silos between the sectors.

Previously Head of Transport and Manufacturing at the Institution of Mechanical Engineers for six years, Philippa has a great understanding of the challenges facing transport and manufacturing both domestically and internationally.

With experience from the automotive, aerospace and defence sectors Philippa believes the APC can drive investment that we need to equip the UK with the right capability and technology to be at the forefront of pulling innovative low carbon propulsion solutions through to fruition, accelerating economic return.

Through the APC’s stakeholder communities Philippa is looking forward to the opportunity to use her experience and knowledge of the UK’s transport modes and infrastructure to build on the strategy already in place, driving through and accelerating deliverables. This opportunity to incubate collaborations, honing solutions to drive UK leadership in terms of exportable products and services.

Dan Fung is a Mechanical Engineer turned Programme Manager.

Previously heading up the Programme Management teams at Eminox and UTC Aerospace Systems, he brings both automotive and aerospace experience to the APC. He has been accountable for a range of international projects including research and development, facility setup and new product introduction.

At the APC, Dan is responsible for supporting project consortia in completing their technical and commercial outcomes; the advancement of low carbon technology and creation of an enduring UK supply chain.

Kate Seddon joined the APC team with 20 years of global marketing, communications and operations experience across corporate, consumer and B2B environments; working with major brands in construction, manufacturing and higher education. Kate has also worked agency side in the creative and live events field.

Kate has held a number of management roles during her career with the University of Nottingham, Saint-Gobain and Caterpillar, specialising in marketing and communications strategy, campaign management, internal communications and engagement, project management, marketing operations and event management.

Kate has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the APC Marketing and Communications Team and leads the APC’s strategic communication projects.

Danny joined the APC from Williams F1, where she was Group Talent Acquisition and Development Manager.  Working as an integral part of the Williams Group Leadership team and Executive, she took a lead role in driving a direct model of recruitment across the group, introducing psychometrics, assessment centres, values based interviewing and redefining the competency framework across the group. 

Danny also managed all aspects of the Williams Group training and development embedding ongoing robust development strategies, introducing leadership coaching, insights discovery self-awareness training, 360 feedback and enhanced leadership programmes.

Danny is an experienced and certified leadership coach with Henley Business School and is currently completing her MSc Coaching and Behavioural Change. Danny is an accredited user of a number of psychometric tools including SHL, Insights Discovery and Thomas International.   She also has a degree in Business Studies from Kingston University

Josh is a Physics and Philosophy graduate and joins the team from ACAL Energy where he led technical projects developing large scale energy storage and fuel cell technologies.

As Heads of SME Programmes, Josh works closely with the successful TDAP consortia and is responsible for monitoring and assisting APC supported programmes that take low carbon advanced propulsion technologies through development towards product readiness.

Zoe has over 20 years proven commercial experience across industry sectors, in account and sales management. Zoe has built her experience within small SME start-ups and larger global organisations such as Virgin.

For the last 8 years Zoe was a co-founding Director of a Midlands-based company specialising in environmental product design solutions, primarily for the automotive sector. Here her project management skills resulted in a variety of successful projects many of which were grant funded. All focused on both the economic and most importantly the environmental challenges the industry faces.

Her position at the APC allows her the opportunity to bring this experience and understanding of the challenges of competitions with the ability to offer the guidance needed.

Dan is an Engineer with over 30 years of experience in the automotive and power generation industries.

Beginning his career in manufacturing at GE, Dan has also held senior positions in purchasing, supply chain and quality at companies including Delphi. Prior to joining the Advanced Propulsion Centre, Dan was a Global Purchasing Manager at Delphi Automotive. At the APC, Dan is responsible for leading the Business Development Team and industry engagement.

Mark Chylinski joined the APC from Npower, where he most recently led the management accounting function responsible for delivery of the financial result and associated internal reporting of a £6bn turnover business, having previously worked in various management and leadership roles across finance business partnering and operational finance teams.

Mark has a broad range of experience across financial disciplines, including within automotive manufacturing where he worked in financial reporting and commercial finance management roles at Unipart Manufacturing Group, a tier 1 supplier to OEMs. He became a qualified Chartered Accountant at Grant Thornton.

Dr Hadi Moztarzadeh is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (FIMechE) with over 20 years’ experience in both academia and industry. Having spent most of his career alongside industrial sectors, Hadi has been working with research and technology organisations, academia and industry, to drive collaboration, de-risk innovation, accelerate technology transfer, and drive growth in the UK manufacturing and transport ecosystem. He joined the APC as the Head of Technology Trends to lead the technology strategy and roadmaps.

Prior to joining the APC, Hadi was the Director (& Associate Dean) of Research, Innovation and Enterprise at the University of Salford, where he oversaw the restructuring of the research and innovation portfolio and developed the school’s research and innovation strategy. He also facilitated establishing of the industry advisory board for the North of England Robotics Innovation Centre (NERIC).

Before that, Hadi had a 9-year career with WMG, University of Warwick, most recently led the cross-Catapult portfolio at WMG High Value Manufacturing (HVM) Catapult, with a focus on Net Zero Transport strategy. Hadi was a core member of the UK Manufacturing Forum (UKMF), where he led academic engagement for digital technology roadmaps. He also led the industrial skill strategy at WMG HVM Catapult, where he convened the development of the National Electrification Skills Framework.

Hadi has a PhD in Engineering from the University of Warwick and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Management from the University of Sheffield. He has been a committee member and the honorary treasurer of the IMechE Birmingham Automotive Division for over a decade and has been elected the Vice-Chairman of the IMechE Midland region in 2022.

Having graduated from Loughborough University with a B.Sc. in Economics with Politics, Caroline joined the Cooperative movement and spent her early years building a career path in HR and training within a retail environment.    

She made the move to a  leading edge engineering environment in 1999 when recruited to Stewart Grand Prix as their first HR Manager.  Through a series of sales and re-brandings, Stewart became Jaguar Racing under Ford, then Red Bull Racing when acquired by Dietrich  Mateschitz.  

Caroline then joined the HR team at Williams Grand Prix Engineering in 2011, through to 2018, providing support as HR Manager for the F1 side of the business, working with a diverse team of HR professionals.  

Overall, some 35+ years generalist HR experience, 17 of which within the Formula One industry, supporting and empowering management and employees to deliver the core objectives of the business. 

Clara graduated from Loughborough University with a BA in Business Studies and Drama. She joined us at the APC to support the HR team as a HR and Recruitment Administrator. Clara now works as a Talent and Development Lead and plays a lead role in recruitment and learning and development delivery.

Rachael Thompson-Holmes has held positions within Research and Development for over 10 years and has 18 years in administrative positions in the automotive industry.

Her work has included delivering PA, invoicing, shipping, travel, reception, development test tracking and general administration to customers from director to engineer level.

Anita has over 25 years experience as a Personal Assistant working in a diverse range of industries including recruitment, trade show organisers, IT consultancy and legal expenses insurance.

At the APC Anita supports Ian Constance, the Chief Executive and the senior leadership team, in addition to her role as Office Manager for the Hub at the University of Warwick in Coventry.

Helena joins the APC from a leadership role within Procter & Gamble’s product supply manufacturing unit.

She was involved in guiding projects from R&D, through their innovation structure and on to the launch phase ensuring delivery on-time and on-budget.

Helena is a key part of the Automotive Transformation Fund, helping the UK transition to an electrified future.

Chris has over 15 years experience in the automotive industry working Johnson Controls Batteries, most recently as Senior Customer Manager responsible for business with two Japanese OEMs in EMEA region.

Chris has seen his job role evolve throughout his career, giving him the chance to gain experience of working with vast array of customers, trade sectors and tasks.

At the APC, Chris has taken on the role of Business Development Lead.

Tony is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer and MBA with over 35 years’ Automotive New Product Development and Business Development experience.

He began his career with TI Group and worked on development of new components for automotive exhaust systems incorporating Catalytic Converters. Tony then progressed to help start-up a new business unit in Italy to manufacture and further develop these components for supplies to Ford, FIAT, Volkswagen, General Motors and their Tier 1 suppliers.

Previously, he has also worked with Delphi Automotive Systems representing them for Powertrain systems business development with FIAT Group and for NPD and New Business Development of Engine Management Systems for motorcycle OEM, such as Piaggio, Ducati and Triumph.

Tony has acted as the British Trade Representative Turin, on behalf of the British Consul-General Milan, to advocate for and help UK companies start up and develop business in Italy, and help Italian companies invest within the UK.

Since returning to the UK, he has worked for two Japanese automotive companies on powertrain business development assignments aimed at Ford and the UK motorcycle OEMs.

After a varied career in both the public and private sectors, Laurah joined the APC team with over 20 years of communications and public relations experience across corporate, consumer, not-for-profit, and B2B environments. Working within the energy and utilities sector immediately prior. Laurah has also worked agency side and brings skills in creative design, and concept marketing.

Laurah has held a number of management and communication roles during her career with Her Majesty’s Prison Service, Coventry City Council, and the Energy and Utilities Alliance. Effective and impactful communication is her specialism.

Laurah has responsibility for the day-to-day running of the APC Public Relations Team.

Clem is a communications professional with experience of roles in public relations and international development policy in the UK and abroad. Clem joined the APC from an advocacy comms agency, working with a range of clients from European trade associations to corporate brands.

A storyteller at heart, he previously trained as a broadcast journalist and continues to enjoy integrating multimedia and creativity into his work. 

Diane is our Senior Marketing Communications Manager and heads up our marketing communications function. She is primarily responsible for shaping and delivering our marketing communications strategy, including campaign management.

Diane has over 30 years of marketing and communications experience, including 17 years working for Trelleborg Automotive as the VP of Marketing and Communications and 5 years working for Meggitt aerospace and defence as a Marketing Business Partner.

Natalie joined the APC with over 10 years of marketing and communications experience across mostly B2B environments and has worked in a variety of sectors including education, property, publishing and construction. 

Specialising in marketing and communication planning and campaign management, she really enjoys getting to grips with a brand and exploring how to develop, build and fine-tune communications.

Natalie has responsibility for leading communications activity on strategic projects including the Automotive Transformation Fund. 

Having graduated in 2021 with a BA in Marketing from Coventry University, Evie has worked in international exporting, helping SMEs in the South West export their products and services with research, export documentation and marketing.

Evie has also worked with the Department of International Trade and the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, supporting a wide range of companies plan and execute their export journeys as well as providing voluntary marketing support for Bristol based charities and agencies. 

Ellen Attwood is a Digital Marketing Consultant working with the APC on all digital channels including social media, email marketing and the website.

Since completing her degree in Advertising & Marketing, she has worked as a marketing freelancer, specialising in digital marketing with expertise across social, content and web. Ellen has worked in all sizes of businesses and a range of industries including the automotive, banking, branding, construction, events and education sectors.

Catherine started her career at the APC in 2017 as a marketing intern. Since then, she has graduated with a BSc in Business Management. After graduating her BSc, she has now re-joined the APC in the Marketing and Communications Coordinator role.

In the marketing and communications team, Catherine is responsible for managing the International events programme, UK events programme and events held in the National Propulsion.

Kamilia joined the APC as an Events Coordinator. While completing her doctoral research degree, she has coordinated and organised multiple conferences and events at the University of Glasgow, where she has taken on a wide array of tasks ranging from administrative support and project management to marketing and communications.

Throughout her career, Kamilia has held several other events coordination roles, in addition to language teaching and administrative roles, in various countries. She has now completed her PhD in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Glasgow.

Before joining us as a Content Manager, Luke worked as a PR writer for various brands, including a distillery and a sports equipment manufacturer, and was the editor of a number of online and print publications, writing about topics ranging from farming and construction to entrepreneurialism.

Alex is a Chartered Engineer and Prince 2 accredited Project Manager working for over 10 years in automotive OEMs. Prior to the APC, he spent 6 years leading the integration of software and calibration for Aston Martin’s engine supply cooperation with AMG Daimler. 

Additionally managing large tier one suppliers and in house calibration teams to deliver Emissions, OBD and Driveability targets. He joined Aston Martin in 2009 after graduating from Loughborough University where he also spent time at Vauxhall Motors manufacturing plant as a Body in White Process Engineer building the 5 door Astra.

Sunil Maher joined the Competitions & Projects team at the APC in May 2018.

Previously, Sunil was Project Manager at the University of Warwick where he was responsible for managing and coordinating an academic research project involving 18 universities. Prior to this, Sunil worked at Coventry University Enterprises Ltd where he managed, coordinated and delivered a range of EU funded collaborative research projects with particular emphasis on SME support, transport, digital media, research and VET projects gathering delivery experience and knowledge of EU funded programmes such as FP7, H2020, LLP, ERASMUS+ and ERDF.

Sunil’s career started in the telecommunications industry where he was responsible for developing global support plans for newly developed products at Marconi Services UK. Sunil has a degree in Electronic Engineering.

Matt is a degree qualified Mechanical Engineer, and Project Manager; and has worked in a variety of sectors within the engineering industry since graduating in 2006, including Structural (steel framed buildings – Metsec), Nuclear (Rolls-Royce defence) and Automotive (Prodrive, JLR & Nippon Seiki).ive OEMs. Prior to the APC, he spent 6 years leading the integration of software and calibration for Aston Martin’s engine supply cooperation with AMG Daimler. 

Most recently, Matt worked as a Project Manager for a Japanese company called Nippon Seiki (Tier 1 supplier of clusters and Head Up Displays) managing a Mercedes-Benz project (E Class head up display). Matt has a keen interest in the environment and green technology, and also in the strategy and policies required to push us closer to net zero.

Matt Shillito is a Senior Project Delivery Lead and a Chartered Engineer with a background in automotive engineering and process improvement.

Prior to joining the APC, Matt was a consultant within the McKinsey Operations Practice, supporting global clients on a range of projects including manufacturing optimisation, design for value, and procurement. Matt started his career at Jaguar Land Rover, where he worked in a number of roles within Chassis Engineering focussing on active suspension systems, and holds a MEng in Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering from the University of Warwick.

Ben has over 25 years’ experience working in Engineering Delivery and Project Delivery in automotive, off-highway and marine industries. He started his career as a graduate at Rover Group and subsequently had roles at Land Rover, Visteon, Caterpillar, Perkins Engines, Nissan, and Fairline Yachts. His time at Caterpillar included a 2-year assignment in Qingdao, China.

Ben joins us from Tata Technologies Limited, a Global Engineering Service Provider, where in his most recent role he was leading the domain teams of 250 people within the Centre Of Excellence for the Engineering, Research and Development line of service. During his time at TTL, customer projects Ben supported included at JLR, McLaren, Vinfast, Caterpillar, and Tata Hitachi.

Bradley Dodic joined the APC as a Project Delivery Lead.

He has a background in the automotive industry, working within project related roles for various tier-one suppliers and manufacturers. Bradley originally began his career as an apprentice and has since completed a BSc in Engineering (part-time) at Coventry University.

Emily joined as a Project Planner. She studied International Management at Warwick Business School and went on to work as a Business Operations Specialist in EV Engineering at Potenza Technology.

Joe Dobson has previously worked as a Project Manager and Technical Lead for a range of grant-funded and commercial projects in collaboration with OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, RTO’s, universities and SMEs.

He has led technical developments in the area of multi-material bodies, for both electric vehicle battery cooling and structural crash applications, as well as design, development and manufacture of products according to customer specifications.

Joe graduated from the University of Hull with a BSc in Physics with Astrophysics in 2014, going on to complete a MSc at the University of Warwick in Advanced Mechanical Engineering in 2016.

Nikhil joined the APC as a Competitions Planner. He graduated from Kingston University and began his first job in General Electric Aviation, after which Nikhil transitioned into the healthcare industry working in various supply chain management roles.

Naim has graduated with a Master’s in automotive engineering from Loughborough University. Before joining us, he worked within programme management for a variety of OEMs, ranging from mass produced cars, bespoke luxury sports cars, and commercial vehicles. His responsibilities included project planning, data analysis and reporting through the development lifecycle of the products.

Tafadzwa Motsi is a chartered Chemical Engineer with more than a decade of successful experience in innovation and developing new products within both large and small organisations.

His focus and main interests are in areas and on projects which have a positive environmental impact. He has worked on Carbon Capture technologies, developed low cost materials for cleaning waste water during his doctorate studies, and more recently he has been working on biodegradable light-weight-high strength Nano-materials which can be used in a variety of applications. Prior to joining APC, Taf led and managed several projects scaling-up and commercialising the production of nano and micro-materials. 

Gemma has worked in education for 7 years working as a Data Manager, SENCo and most recently as a Learning Support Assistant supporting children with special educational needs. 

Prior to working in education, she worked as a Performance Analyst for Kier at Severn Trent Water. Gemma studied at Nottingham Trent University and has a degree in Psychology and Educational development and a Post Graduate National Award for Special Educational Needs Coordination from The University of Wolverhampton.

Jeremy studied Law at university and then went on to work in a variety of specialist areas of the law including criminal, mental health and business & commercial law.

In 2015, he made the switch to project management, working for Axillium Research. At Axillium he supported the bid, set-up and delivery of collaborative R&D programmes across industry and academia with a particular focus on the automotive sector. This included two successful APC bids. Before joining the APC, Jeremy worked at Jaguar Land Rover, working as a project manager on collaborative APC funded projects. There he coordinated bids, helped on the set-up and close down, and ran a live project.

Before joining the APC as a TDAP Project Delivery Lead, Gökhan worked with founders and CEOs of tech companies from various industries for almost a decade, helping them to accelerate their new product/service development and commercialise it. 

Previously at Connected Places Catapult, he focused on investment readiness and funding support; designed and led an investment support programme that enabled tech companies to raise millions of pounds of investment for their innovation and help investors to find and close impactful deals. 

Before joining us, Silpa worked in startups for over 5 years and was the Head Product Manager and on the board of directors for a startup that was building an autonomous cleaning bot for B2B sales.  She was also the Head of Project Operations for another startup that was developing a consumer internet platform. Silpa achieved her master’s degree in engineering business management from the University of Warwick and a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering.

Hollie is a Chartered Management Accountant, who came to the APC from Innovate UK KTN, where she worked as a Finance Project Analyst and monitored several grant funded and commercial projects.

Prior to this, she spent three years on the Civil Service Fast Stream, undertaking placements in Prisons, Defence and Parks. Hollie has a BEng in General Engineering from Durham University. During her time at university she completed work experience placements at MG Motors and Rolls Royce, leading to an interest in vehicle electrification.

Caroline Woodbridge joined the APC following 17 years working at npower, with responsibility for gross margin accounting for the electricity business and cash and debt reporting. 

Prior to this, she worked in various finance roles across the utilities and construction industries. Caroline qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG and has a degree in Business and Management from Aston University.

Ellie Aldridge joined the APC as an Assistant Accountant.

She had previously been working in a similar role at Yazaki Europe. Ellie is currently studying to become a qualified accountant in her spare time.

Helena has worked as a market and competitive intelligence analyst since 2007, both in agencies and as internal market analyst, with the majority of her time as an automotive analyst.

Chris joined the APC as Strategic Trends Manager, having spent the last ten years at Malvern Panalytical in a variety of roles.

During his time there, he worked in both sales and scientific roles, leading teams to deliver a number of projects, products and research, as well as developing imaging products and algorithms. He also previously worked at a small company designing x-ray beamlines for synchrotrons.

Chris studied Physics at the University of Birmingham and has a PhD in Nanoscale Physics.

Ben Hall is a Business Analyst at the APC, having joined as an Operations Administrator. His previous roles, at an online training company, saw him take on a variety of tasks including sales, online course creation and administration.

He graduated from the University of Leeds with a BSc in Chemistry and studied abroad in New Zealand.

Daniel joined the APC as IT Support Lead and is responsible for our IT infrastructure, systems and services.

He has spent several years of his IT career working in the automotive sector, including four years spent as an Onsite Technical Engineer at Draexlmaier and six years spent as an IT Relocation Engineer, primarily working for Jaguar Land Rover.  

Following a successful career at Ford Motor Company, Ben joined JATO Dynamics as Research Director with responsibility for all aspects of the global research activity, he later joined International Ambulance as CEO working with company founders to establish the brand in the market securing its strong market position. Ben started his own consultancy, Nith Services, in December 2016 to provide strategic and management support.

An experienced leader Ben possesses a strong track record for strategic global delivery. Passionate about innovative and efficient product lifecycle Ben has a strong background in mechanical engineering from design, manufacture to launch.

Working with Entrepreneurs/Founders, Board level roles to operational, business planning and project delivery Ben has helped to lead global growth programs, including two foreign assignments Japan and USA, and specialises in strategy development and vehicle product planning.

Angad has joined us as a graduate from the University of Warwick. He has completed a Master’s degree in Engineering Business Management, and before this he completed a Bachelor’s degree in International Business Management at Coventry University. He has researched electrification in the automotive industry as part of his two thesis’ and previously worked in the aviation industry.