How we are governed

Alasdair Cairns has 20 years’ experience covering key aspects of light and heavy duty IC engine fuels, performance, fuel economy and emissions. His early career included ten years with the UK consultancy business Cosworth Technology/MAHLE Powertrain, where he led large collaborative R&D programmes on advanced fuels and IC Engine operation.

He joined academia in 2010, initially with Brunel University London before moving to Nottingham in 2016. His research covers land, stationary and marine powertrain applications.

Graduating in Mechanical Engineering in 1988, Steve started his career at Dowty Rotol/Aerospace designing propeller systems, hydraulic controls, gearboxes, and landing gear for commercial and military aircraft, moving to Lotus Engineering in 1994 to design and develop engine technologies and support production programmes. Over 20-years, Steve progressed to Chief Engineer Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Systems, developing hybrid and electric vehicle demonstrators for UK, European, Asian and USA clients. 

Joining Ricardo in 2014 as Product Group Head of Electrification and Electronics Steve won and delivered Power Electronics and Battery research, design, development and validation projects over 4-years. After a short period as CTO at Detroit Electric a UK/Chinese Electric vehicle start up, Steve moved to Sprint Power, a consultancy designing and manufacturing niche volume harnesses, electronics and battery systems, progressing from Chief Engineer Battery Systems to CTO, when the company was sold to TAE. 

In 2023 Steve returned to Lotus as Propulsion Systems Director to delivery client engine projects, complete validation of the Evija Electric driveline and release I4 and V6 engines into Emira for global markets. 

Currently Steve is Programmes Director at Lorillion a consultancy designing power electronics and battery systems for automotive, industrial and marine applications.

D&R supervisor, Engine Engineering, Ford Motor Company

After graduating in 1988, Sean worked for GEC Avionics specialising in gyroscopes that went in applications from Torpedoes, Harrier Jump jets, to active suspension on cars.

He moved to Ford, where he has developed engines, systems and component. He introduced Diesel Common Rail into Ford Engines: he was the technical manager for  the 2.2L diesel developed for Transit, PSA boxer and LR Defender.  He worked in Detroit on V8 gasoline systems: he ran an office embedded in PSA for joint venture work on Passenger car diesel development. More recently he was a technical leader in Ford Europe for engine air path development, and lately component development and delivery for key emission components including EGR.

Steve joined Ricardo in 1986 after graduating in mechanical engineering from Southampton University and worked initially in 1-D gas dynamics simulation and the application to exhaust and intake noise prediction using WAVE.  He formed the CFD applications group in 1993 working principally on coolant, in-cylinder and manifold flows.

In 2005, Steve went on to run Ricardo Software, supplying many OEMs and motorsport companies with analysis software to optimise engine performance and design. In 2007, he was promoted to Global Product Group Director for all gasoline engine business.

In 2010 he became the Global Market Sector Director for high performance vehicles, and in 2014 he became the Business Strategy Director for the Technical Consulting business.
Steve left Ricardo in September 2018 to set up his own consultancy with a focus on future propulsions systems, life-cycle analysis and the role for sustainable fuels in complementing electrification.

He is an Honorary Professor and Industrial Advisor for Transport at the University of Nottingham and a member of the Industrial Advisory Board (School of Engineering) at the University of Cardiff.  He recently co-chaired a UK Government Group regarding the application of hydrogen internal combustion engines to off-road machinery.

Dr James Turner is a Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST).  He has a M.Eng. degree from City University, London, and a Ph.D. from Loughborough University.  He had a 28-year career in industry, spending over 21 of them working at Lotus Engineering; he has also worked at Norton Motorcycles, Cosworth, and Jaguar Land Rover. After this, and before moving to KAUST, he was Professor of Engines and Energy Systems at the University of Bath in the UK.

He has 38 years of experience in the field of internal combustion engines and is a specialist in the field of spark-ignition combustion, pressure charging, alcohol fuels, and engine and powertrain concepts. He has published over 220 papers and book chapters in these areas.

In addition to his specializations, he is interested in renewable energy and its application to the transport sector, with particular emphasis on the use of and possibilities afforded by alcohol fuels and hydrogen.

Steve is an experienced technical and programme director who has spent over 36 years in propulsion R&D in the automotive industry.  From graduating at Imperial College London in 1988, he joined Ricardo Consulting Engineers in the UK, where he specialised in powertrain, fuels, combustion research and ICE calibration programmes.  As a Technical Director from 2005, he gained experience of managing a tech start-up company through an IPO onto the London AIM, and then on to serial production with a major global commercial vehicle OEM. 

In 2016 he joined Tata Technologies as Global Powertrain Director, responsible for powertrain systems, including electrification and alternative propulsion technology.  In 2018, Steve joined HORIBA, establishing, and leading a new Global Solution development centre for “Intelligent Lab”, based at HORIBA MIRA in the UK.  Here, he is responsible for delivering solutions that enable HORIBA customers to improve their propulsion system development processes to meet real-world efficiency, range, emissions and sustainability challenges of the future.

Professor Hua Zhao is  a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng). He was  the Chairman of the PSFG group  during 2014-2018.

Prof. Zhao has published 6 books on IC engines and over 350 papers. He was award of the higher doctoral degree of DSc in 2009 and  Fellowship of  SAE International (FSAE) in 2012 and FREng in 2015.