Mastering Shipbuilding Management speakers
Tony Graham, MSc, CEng, MBA, FRINA, FICCPM, FREng, RCNC
Visiting Professor at LJMU
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).
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 Engineering and Technology 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.
David Tydeman
A degree in Naval Architecture led to a broad career in large capital and infrastructure businesses across Shipbuilding, Offshore North Sea Operations, UK Rail and Regulated Water companies. In later years, David led a team helping Railtrack become Network Rail, addressing post-Hatfield disaster aspects, worked on Anglian Water’s disposal of its non-regulatory businesses of Morrison Construction and Morrison Utilities and then Macquarie's acquisition of Thames Water. He led Skanska plc's £2.5bn portfolio of PFI projects - mainly hospitals and schools - and secured iconic contracts such as the Heron Tower in London.
A recent role as CEO of Ferguson Marine included solving the engineering and design challenges for Glen Sannox, a delayed and complex 100m Ro-Pax Ferry, setting out the plan for her sister ship, and setting out options for the Scottish Ministers on the future of the shipyard. Reporting regularly to the First Minister and his senior colleagues, this turnaround involved evidence in Scottish Parliament and significant media management issues.
NxD and charity work ran in parallel much of the past decade, combined David enjoying his passion for sailing through building luxury sailing vessels as CEO of Oyster Yachts up to 2018.
Ian Schumacker, MSc, CEng, CMarEng, FIMarEST, CMIOSH
Ian is a former Royal Fleet Auxiliary Commodore Engineer Officer serving until June 2019, following on as Marine Engineer Consultancy Associate with Global Reach Marine (Consultancy and Surveyors) UK Ltd, undertaking ship surveys, followed by, Principal Test and Commissioning Manager for Cammell Laird on the new build RSS Sir David Attenborough and Royal Navy T45 HMS Dauntless, supporting the new main power plant fit, until late 2021.
A highly competent Program and Project Manager with over 45 years’ experience of shipboard operations, maintenance and machinery, system fault or failure analysis, project management of environment health and safety systems, Engineering Support (new build, conversion and repair activity), Ship materiel inspections and Refit Tender and Specification preparation and cost evaluation. A qualified Lead Auditor ISO 9001:2000 and ISM Code and certified for Auditing High Level Integrated Management Systems with an MSc in Occupational Health and Safety Management.
Bob Laslett CEng, FEI, FIET, HonFAPM, FACostE, FICCPM
Bob is an international businessman who has worked with and advised many major companies around the world.
Founder and Global CEO of international management consultancy Chaucer Group (1987 to 2014) and Founder and Managing Director of global oil and gas services company Onstream Group (1978 to 1985).
A Chartered Engineer, Bob is a recognised expert in project management of capital projects for the Energy, Oil and Gas, Petrochemicals and Infrastructure Sectors, having been recognised as a major influencer and contributor to Project Management in the UK especially in the Offshore Oil and Gas Sector.
He has also been involved with many international Merger and Acquisition programmes including: the acquisition of Germany’s largest oil company Veba Oel (Aral) by BP; the merger of BP and Amoco; the acquisition and integration of Arco and Castrol into BP; and the transition of Fosroc into Dubai based JMH Group.
Bob has been instructed as an expert witness for disputes concerning offshore oil, gas and offshore wind and the associated new build, conversion and modification of vessels for the offshore sector.
During his career Bob has at various times been President of Columbus Oil and Gas, Executive Director of Premier League Football Club Wolverhampton Wanderers (Wolves), Director of Driver Group plc and Maxwell Stamp plc.
Bob is presently Managing Director of Laslett International Limited where he is involved in projects for renewable energy, sustainable technology, green hydrogen and e-fuels.
John Hudson CBE FREng FRINA
John has over 40 years’ experience of working in the UK’s shipbuilding industry. John graduated in Naval Architecture and Shipbuilding from Newcastle University before joining Clelands Shipbuilders as a trainee Naval Architect. He then joined Lloyd’s Register where he worked on rule development in then in the Technical Investigations Department. John joined Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering Ltd (VSEL) where he became Engineering Director and then Managing Director, before assuming the role of MD, BAE Systems Maritime.
Throughout his career, John has worked on a wide range of shipbuilding projects including: coastal tankers and bulk carriers, LPH (HMS Ocean), Auxiliary Oilers, LPDs (amphibious landing dock), T23 Frigates, T45 Destroyers, T26 Frigate, the Queen Elisabeth Class Carriers, Upholder class SSKs, Vanguard Class SSBNs, Astute Class SSNs and Dreadnought Class SSBNs.
John is an advisor to MarRI-UK and is a Non – Executive Director with NTS (Nuclear Transport Solutions).
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 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.
Dr Peter Ewen
Peter 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.
Professor Keith George
Keith is a Professor of Exercise and Cardiovascular Physiology and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Knowledge Exchange) at Liverpool John Moores University.
As a member of the University’s Executive Leadership Team and a range of central committees, the Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research and Enterprise) provides strategic leadership of the development and implementation of the University’s overall strategies for research and knowledge exchange.
Keith was educated at Liverpool Polytechnic (BSc), Queen’s University, Canada (MSc) and Manchester Metropolitan University (PhD). He worked as an L/SL in Sport and Exercise Science at MMU between 1990 and 2001. He has been a Reader, Professor, Head of Research institute, School Director and Associate Dean for Research (Science) at Liverpool John Moores at various times after appointment in 2002.