Mastering Shipbuilding Management speakers
Tony Graham, MSc, CEng, MBA, FRINA, FICCPM, FREng, RCNC
Tony Graham sustained a highly successful track record in engineering and programme/project management inside the Ministry of Defence over a 34-year career. Tony trained as a Naval Constructor and achieved the rank of Constructor Rear Admiral alongside his appointment as Head of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors.
Whilst, he is well known for his leadership of the Battlefield Infrastructure Team during OP TELIC (Iraq War) and his turnaround of both the Landing Ship Dock (Auxiliary) project and the MARS Fleet Tanker project, it is his sustainment of the Queen Elizabeth Aircraft Carrier programme over a highly challenging seven-year period for which he is perhaps best known.
His final role in the UK Ministry of Defence was as Director Ships procuring and supporting all ships of the Royal Navy (2011-2015).
More recent private sector company roles have included Cammell Laird (Chief Operating Officer) and OCEA Shipbuilding UK Ltd (currently Chairman).
Dr Peter Ewen
Dr Peter Ewen is a Director of PHE Complexity Controls, a company that provides Consultancy Services for ‘Mega Projects’. He is the lead Consultant and specialises in identifying ways to remove complexity from Mega Projects in order to enable better decision-making and risk control. Peter is a Senior Advisor to Foresight Works.
Prior to this Peter was the Engineering Director and a Member of the Executive Directorate of the Mass Transit Rail Corporation of Hong Kong where his responsibilities included driving excellence into the engineering functions, strengthening controls and the check and balance processes, Corporate Safety, long-term asset replacement, and overseeing the procurement and contract administration function.
Peter started his career as an aero-systems engineer in the Royal Air Force attaining the rank of Air Vice-Marshal. He served in many different capacities ranging from Officer Commanding Engineering Wing of the Harrier Force to Chief of Staff Support, Executive Officer and Chief Engineer (Air).
In his last role as Director Air Support, Peter was responsible for the procurement, in-service support, and airworthiness of all large-aircraft fleets of the Royal Air Force, including Strategic and Tactical Airlift, Air-to-Air Refuelling, Maritime Patrol, and Air Intelligence Surveillance Target Acquisition and Reconnaissance capabilities. He was also responsible for all Air Safety Equipment, commodities and simulators.
Peter is a Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society, and holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree and a Bachelor of Science (First Class Honours) degree in Engineering. Peter was appointed Companion of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath in 2015.
Prof Jin Wang
Jin Wang is a Professor of Marine Technology, the Director of Liverpool Logistics, Offshore and Marine (LOOM) Research Institute, and Associate Dean (Research and Knowledge Exchange) for the Faculty of Health, Innovation, Technology and Science at LJMU.
Additionally, he is a Fellow of the Institute of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (FIMarEST), a Fellow of the UK Safety and Reliability Society (FSaRS), a Fellow of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (FRINA), and a Chartered Engineer. Jin is also the Chairman of the Marine Transportation Safety Committee of the European Safety and Reliability Society, and a member of the Formal Safety Assessment Experts Group at IMO.
Jin is a globally recognised civil engineer, maritime engineer, and naval architect; among top 60 world ranking scientists in civil engineering based on publications and citations annually since 2021. Jin is the Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Marine Science and Technology. He was the sole representative of the substantial maritime engineering community in the UK’s Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2014 and 2021, for assessing the quality of research in UK higher education institutions.
He has supervised or co-supervised about 100 doctoral or postdoctoral researchers. He is also Chair of the UK-Malaysia University Consortium (UK-MUC) of 16 UK and 20 public Malaysian Universities funded by British Council to expand international higher education in terms of teaching, research and knowledge exchange between the UK and Malaysia.
Kevin Daffey
Kevin Daffey is responsible for Rolls-Royce Solutions Governmental Engineering and NautIQ Solutions leading a global team of over 230 engineers to deliver Marine and Naval, Power, Propulsion, Automation, Electrical and Autonomous systems for both Commercial and Naval marine sectors.
Kevin is a seasoned leader with over two decades of experience in the marine industry, fostering innovation and efficiency. In 2020 he successfully oversaw the acquisition and integration of Servowatch Systems Ltd into RR Power Systems, strengthening Rolls-Royce’s marine automation capability. As a key member of Rolls-Royce Marine Executive Management team, Kevin, as Engineering and Technology Director at Royce-Royce Marine, also delivered £120 million in Product Development in power, propulsion, deck machinery, automation, electrical and autonomous technologies over three years, further solidifying his expertise in the sector.
Kevin's extensive experience extends to the UK Ministry of Defence, where he served for three years as a Subject-Matter Expert for electrical and software systems and was a trusted advisor into UK Surface ship and submarine programs, with roles in the supply chain, MOD Naval Authority, and leading independent design and technical reviews.
In 2020, Kevin Daffey became the 118th President of the Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST), representing 19,000 Marine Engineers and Scientists. In 2022 Kevin became Chair of the IMarEST Board of Trustees, He has presented to the UN International Maritime Organization (IMO) and UK Parliamentary Committees on Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship, contributing significantly to discussions in the maritime and engineering spheres.
In 2022, Kevin was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering for his major contributions in electric propulsion, dynamic positioning, artificial intelligence and electrical safety.
Paul James
Paul started his career as a MoD Technician Apprentice from 1987 to 1991, in shipbuilding and draughting. He joined Lloyd’s Register in 1994 after graduating from Southampton University with a first-class degree in Naval Architecture. He spent several years in Bulgaria as part of the graduate training programme surveying tankers, bulk carriers and other cargo ships in repair and build. In 1998 Paul was seconded to the team which developed LR’s Naval Ship Rules, specialising in structural design and survey and for 20 years he has been involved in application of LR Naval Assurance and certification processes to a wide variety of UK and International projects. Paul project-managed the LR assurance of several major new construction naval ships, plus the development of supporting standards and rules. He helped to develop the Centre of research for Damaged ship structures at the University of Southampton.
In 2010 he helped to establish the International Naval Safety Association (INSA) which has developed goal-based safety assurance for Naval Ships submarines and boats used in the procurement of many Naval programmes. In addition to maintaining LRs Naval Rules, he has worked with his team to develop LR's Grey Boat Code, Unmanned systems Code, and Submarine Assurance framework. Paul is an expert in goal-based standards and maritime systems assurance.
He is currently Global Manager of LRs Fleet Services providing governance of classification and statutory certification to over 7000 vessels, ships, boats, submarines, offshore structures, and marine assets.
Donato Masi
Dr Donato Masi is a Professor of Supply Chain Management at the UK Supply Chain and Logistics Excellence (SCALE) Centre - a research institute that was founded in 2024 by Loughborough University in partnership with the MIT Centre for Transportation and Logistics. Donato holds a PhD degree in Management Engineering and an MSc in Mechanical Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, Italy.
He is a specialist in Supply Chain Management and he actively collaborates with industry through private and public funded research projects. He is currently focusing on how digitalisation and the emerging AI technologies can enhance the sustainability of Operations and Supply Chains.
Damien Bloor
Damien Bloor is a naval architect who is the Advisory Group Director of First Marine International (FMI) which is the shipyard technology and maritime market research advisory group within Royal Haskoning DHV. FMI is active around the world developing shipyards, improving shipyard performance and advising on the development of the shipyard industrial base in several countries.
These include Canada, Australia, the USA, and the UK. Following his graduation from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Damien began his 40-year career in British Shipbuilders and has since worked in shipyards in 35 countries. These include several start-ups. He is a specialist in shipyard competitiveness and a fellow of both the Royal Institution of Naval Architects and Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers.
Mark Spicknall
Mark Spicknall is a Principal Consultant with First Marine International and a Director of Haskoning DHV USA Inc. He holds a BSE degree in naval architecture and marine engineering and an MBA, both from the University of Michigan. Mark’s direct experience within the U.S. shipbuilding industry began in 1979 where he started out as a craftsperson and then held various positions in production management, industrial engineering, ship design, planning, production and material control, training, and finance.
Mark also has a substantial history of research and development, consulting, and teaching, working with the U.S. industry, Navy, and Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), as well as with international shipyards and governments, and the automobile industry.
This work has been primarily in the areas of planning, operations and program management, business and technology strategy development, ship design, shipyard facilities and process design and improvement, dimensional engineering and quality, and workforce and management development. He has been involved with programs ranging from simple pleasure boats and commercial craft to the most complex of combatants and submarines, and has in-depth understanding of the varying needs and challenges of low-volume short series and one-off production and high-volume series production, as well as sustainment and repair.
In addition to working with FMI, Mark is a regular guest lecturer in MIT’s Professional Summer program on ship design and production and remains an associate editor of the Society of Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering’s Journal of Ship Production and Design for which he served as Editor-In-Chief for five years.
Jess Green and Neil Lukins
Jess Green is a Director at Arke Limited, a member of the Royal Institute of Naval Architects (RINA) and Associate Fellow of the Operational Research (OR) Society.
Neil Lukins is a Consultant at Arke Limited and a qualified Mechanical Engineer.
Together, Jess and Neil combine for almost 40 years’ experience providing maritime cost engineering and Business Case support to the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) and Industry.
During this time they have estimated Whole Life Costs (WLCs) for a number of high-profile shipbuilding programmes across a range of naval platform types, including Destroyers, Frigates, Amphibious Support and Survey Vessels.
Their experience covers the full life cycle of costing a shipbuilding programme, starting with down selection of concepts for further research, through detailed design and build activities, in-service support and finally disposal.
Jess and Neil’s systems-of-systems approach has enabled them to deliver bespoke, all-encompassing cost modelling tools and techniques to support these projects, including all technical areas of the shipbuild itself – Naval Architecture, Marine Engineering and Sense, Decide and Effect – and critical commercial aspects – including procurement strategy, shipyard integration and competition support.
Alan Williams
Alan began his maritime career as a marine engineering officer cadet with P&O, sailing worldwide on their passenger ships. He sandwiched a sea-going Marine Engineering Officer career with P&O/Princess Cruises, by gaining a degree in Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering from University College London, as well as an internship at Australian Defence Industries at their Garden Island Dockyard in Sydney.
Leaving the sea, Alan then joined Lloyd's Register, initially performing engineering systems plan approvals for new buildings and in service ships, and offshore fixed/floating assets. LR assignments then took Alan to surveying roles in Greece and South Korea for FPSO, drilling semi-subs, oil tankers, container, and LNG ship building projects, and contributed to the US government study on how to improve naval shipbuilding quality.
This was followed by roles in business development, and senior programme and operational leadership in Korea, China, and the UK across a thirty-year career with LR, gaining an MBA along the way.
Alan has since worked with Harland & Wolff on the RFA FSS programme, and is currently a Senior Consultant with Naval Solutions, working on concept designs for Royal Navy surface ship platforms. He is a STEM Ambassador, and contributes to the IMarEST 'Sea Your Future' initiative, supporting those thinking about and starting their own maritime careers.
Dr Paul Davies
With a degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in the assessment of munitions transport, Paul is a Chartered Engineer who has worked in the field of major accident hazards for almost four decades. This has covered qualitative and quantitative risk assessments, workshop facilitation, design reviews, research, public consultation, software development, accident investigation, and development and delivery of training.
For the last 15 years Paul has focused on risks from the introduction of alternative fuels in the shipping industry. This has included assessments, advice and training to governments and industry worldwide. It has also covered the development of processes to justify risk-based designs. This was undertaken at the classification society Lloyd’s Register, where he was the Global Head of Technology for Risk Management.
Alongside many publications on risk assessment, Paul has had the privilege of being a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor and an Adjunct Professor at Liverpool John Moores University. Currently, he is focused on mentoring early career engineers, training and advice on meeting rules and regulations for risk-based designs.
Rod Paterson
In May 2024, Rod Paterson was delighted to be appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the National Shipbuilding Office (NSO).
Prior to that he was the NSO’s Deputy Director since its creation working across Government and the entire shipbuilding enterprise to drive delivery of the refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy.
From 2015 to 2021 Rod held various Deputy Director roles in the Department for Transport’s (DfT) Maritime Directorate. Rod first joined the Civil Service in 1999 and has held wide-ranging roles, including leading EU negotiations on aviation security issues, working for HS2 Ltd and leading the Department for Transport’s Business Planning process.
Rod has also had spells in private office and on secondment at the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.'
Muir Macdonald FREng CDir RCNC
Muir is a professional naval architect, a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, and a Chartered Director. He spent over 30 years in the UK Ministry of Defence, principally designing, fixing or buying submarines (and sometimes ships and occasionally aircraft!). This included periods in policymaking in Whitehall and Bristol, and periods in uniform alongside the Royal Navy in front-line repair roles. He shifted to the private sector as Managing Director of BMT Defence Services. In his 9 years at this maritime design/consulting engineering company (an employee benefit trust, affectionately known as ‘the John Lewis of defence’) it organically more than doubled its size to £50mn, won a Queen's Award for Enterprise and a ‘Sunday Times Best Company to Work For’. Muir is now a freelance strategic advisor with a portfolio of paid and pro bono roles.
He has worked directly or indirectly with several shipyards in the UK, as well as in the Republic of Korea, Australia, Canada and Turkey.
He is an alumnus of UCL, Oxford University Business Summer School, MIT Submarine Design Summer School, and the Royal College of Defence Studies.