Meet the team
Bringing together expertise from aerospace, telecoms and hydrogen industries, read on to find out more about more about the talented team that drives SPL.
Richard Deakin
CEO
- Three decades of civil and defence aerospace experience at BAE Systems, Thales Air Systems Division and GKN working extensively on civil drones and unmanned systems
- Member of the UK government’s Drone Industry Action Group, previously CEO of NATS, a company providing air traffic management and airport operations around the world and Global Head of Aerospace for PA Consulting
Mark Busby
Chief Financial Officer
- Seasoned finance professional, experienced in complex manufacturing, engineering businesses within aerospace, defence, cyber security and telecoms sectors
- Previously Finance Director of Thales Aerospace Division (UK) responsible for Watchkeeper UAV system integration programme
Kevin Bean
Chief Technical Officer
- Experienced technical lead of large software and systems engineering programs within aerospace and defence, UK and EMEA
- Previously program design authority for Thales Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems
Kieren Paterson
VP Operations
- Over 25 years’ experience in the Aerospace, Defence and Technology Innovation sectors, developing and certifying special mission aircraft, complex modifications, integrated systems and uncrewed systems in the UK, EMEA and North America
- Previously Business Unit Director and Accountable Manager for UAS operations at Marshall of Cambridge Aerospace Ltd
Gregory Ewert
Chief Commercial Officer & Managing Director, North America
Board Advisor for the HAPS Alliance
- Decades of experience in mobility, satellite, and traditional telecom applications
- Responsible for orchestrating global strategic partnerships and distribution across enterprises, military/government, and MNOs
- Prior executive experience spans international, MNOs and mobile satellites, with positions at Sprint, GlobalOne, BCE (Bell Canada), Iridium, Inmarsat, and Intelsat, most recently as Vice President of Strategy and Business Development
Liz Newman
Head of Human Resources
- Over 20 years HR leadership roles within Aerospace & Defence organisations, UK, EMEA, USA
- Design and delivery of major organisational change and restructure programmes
David Boorman
Commercial Contract Manager
- 20 years contract and strategic relationship management mainly within the digital telco market
- Experience ranging from commercialising IP at chip designer ARM Holdings, off-shore contract manufacture of smartphones, operation of shared mobile infrastructure towers (relationship account management of Vodafone) to digital broadcast and distribution for the BBC.
Michael Lee Miller
Legal and Regulatory Manager
- Aspiring barrister with world-class academic credentials and strong working knowledge of core areas of law
- Previous roles include Disputes and Investigations Paralegal at Slaughter and May LLP, and Legal Assistant to General Counsel at Sporting Group Ltd
Sarah Maciocci
Office and HSE Manager
- 20+ years’ experience of administration, office and project management within a wide range of commercial organisations and sectors
- Implementation of HSE management systems and processes
Mariska Pronk
Head of Programme Management
- A senior Programme Manager with proven track record of successful trans-national, multi-disciplinary project delivery within commercial aerospace
- Experienced in delivery of concept, development certification of wing structures engineering Airbus commercial aircraft
Kuveshni Govender
Project Manager
- Chartered engineer with over 15 years’ experience managing multidisciplinary engineering projects.
- Technical background in structural integrity, materials performance and degradation of engineering materials, including high-pressure hydrogen
Neil Taylor
Business Systems Analyst
- Experienced in design and manufacturing engineering in the UK, China and South Africa
- 10 years in financial services portfolio management and developing investment strategies
Dr Hatice Olmez
Quality Assurance Manager
- 20 years of industrial experience in Quality Management and Assurance Systems, Operational Excellence and Engineering System Design
- Success in developing Quality Management Systems, processes and procedures and achieving ISO9001/AS9100 certification.
Andrew Jude
Aircraft Engineer
- 30 years experience in Defence and Aerospace engineering, MRAeS and commercial pilot with over 7000 flights across a wide range of aircraft types.
- Project lead, design authority and test pilot for multiple unmanned platforms and compliance engineer providing regulatory consultancy through certification and operating safety case solutions.
Dr Martin Chan
Lead Engineer – Tank
- Specialist in reaction engineering and heterogenous stalysis, earning an IChemE Andrew Fellowship
- Leading the development of the HAP liquid hydrogen fuel storage system
Tham Evans
Lead Engineer Power Systems
- Broad experience of technology projects within telecoms and automotive sector
- Expertise in power electronics modelling, power supply systems and green technology in aviation
Bennard Madrilejo
Telecoms Systems Engineer (RF)
- Over 20 years of experience in the field of Radio Engineering involving different telecommunication and infrastructure projects.
- Developed and improved upon radio systems of various network technologies.
Henry Clarke
Aerospace System Subject Matter Expert
- 20 years in aerospace engineering – Smiths Aerospace, Eaton Aerospace and Cobham
- Delivered rapid development of innovative technology in power/fuel systems
Dr Hilary Costello
High Altitude Platform Subject Matter Expert
- Specialising in long endurance aerospace technology designed to operate in the stratosphere, avionics and flight control systems
- Engineering, design, testing of high-altitude aerospace technology – balloon and fixed wing unmanned aerial systems
David Carter
IT Manager
- Extensive experience of digital transformation, delivery of scalable effective IT solutions
- International experience of B2B, B2C within commercial organisations from large corporates to SME’s
