Philipp recently joined Qdot as CEO after a career at McKinsey, EY-Parthenon and CVA, where he focused on venture building, go-to-market strategy and business model innovation. He has led the development and commercialisation of disruptive technology across the mobility, energy and financial services sectors, launching new businesses and entering new markets. With an Engineering Masters degree from the University of Oxford and as a commercial pilot’s licence holder, Philipp has a particular passion for Future Air Mobility. In his free time he pilots light aircraft from London Oxford airport.

Jack earned his Ph.D. at the University of Oxford developing heat transfer technology for nuclear fusion reactors. After completing his doctorate, he served as a research fellow at the University of Oxford where he led the design of a £1 million facility for testing next-generation gas turbine materials in collaboration with industry.

Motivated by the potential for transformative change in the realm of clean energy, Jack co-founded Qdot. By harnessing the collective thermal management intellectual property and expertise of the team, the company is committed to driving aggressive advancements in clean energy solutions. This includes pushing the boundaries in achieving zero-emissions flight.

Jack’s visionary leadership and dedication to tackling the challenges of clean flight make him a driving force behind Qdot’s mission to revolutionise the aerospace industry.

Holt conducted his doctoral studies at the Oxford Thermofluids Institute on aerospace thermal management. There he developed new intellectual property and experimental techniques that have been adopted in academia and industry.

Wishing to use his skills and knowledge to push forward the decarbonisation of aerospace, Holt co-founded Qdot. He is using his experience to develop novel thermal management systems that will allow a step change in zero-emissions flight capability for aircraft.

In addition to his R&D work, he also leads the operations and finance functions for Qdot.

Daniel joined Qdot in 2020, bringing with him a remarkable academic background and expertise in the field of heat transfer. Prior to joining the company, he successfully earned his doctorate from the prestigious Thermofluids Institute at the University of Oxford, where his research centred around heat transfer in gas turbines.

Daniel’s exceptional contributions in this area were recognized by the UK National Heat Transfer Committee, who awarded him the esteemed title of ‘Best Thesis in Heat Transfer.’ Furthermore, his outstanding capabilities and innovative mindset garnered him international recognition through notable accolades such as the Stratasys Design Challenge and the Airbus Challenge.

Tom is a strategic and commercially-focused business leader with a proven track record of delivering technical and commercial growth through innovation, collaboration, and dynamic leadership. He is passionate about the use of technology in accelerating sustainable growth in aerospace.

Previously at Reaction Engines, he established and led a new business division to commercialise innovative thermal management technology in the aerospace, defence, energy and motorsport markets.

Now at Qdot, Tom leads business development and marketing activities, cultivating strategic partnerships with customers in both established and new markets.

With a strong educational foundation in Chemistry and Nanomaterials, he pursued his doctoral studies at Imperial College London, winning the energy futures lab scholarship for his work in the field of Fuel Cells. During this time, Ehsan made significant contributions to the research and development of fuel cell technologies.

Prior to embarking on his current role at Qdot, he assumed leadership in pioneering the development of innovative corrosion prevention strategies for BP at the International Centre for Advanced Materials and explored the novel area of reversible fuel cells as part of his involvement with the Joint University Industry Consortium for Energy and Devices.

Soumik started his path with passion in Electronics and Software development from junior high. He did his bachelor’s in electrical and Electronics Engineering with a specialisation in Embedded electronics. Using his skills in Embedded electronics and Deep Learning he went on start his career in TATA Advanced Services Limited and Bosch Global Software Technologies. After 2 years, he moved to the UK and represented Warwick Racing in the Formula Student UK 2024 in the AI category while pursuing his master’s degree in Smart, Connected and Autonomous Vehicles. With all his skills and expertise, he is now contributing to clean and sustainable technology development at Qdot.

Vivek Katakam is a Senior Structural Engineer at Qdot Technology, with expertise spanning defence, aviation, and maritime sectors. A graduate of the Technical University of Munich and Nanyang Technological University, he began his career at Rolls-Royce, mastering manufacturing and repair technologies for composite and metallic structures and developing novel in-situ repair tools for aircraft engines. His multidisciplinary background covers system design, material selection, and experimental test systems, alongside a strong focus on product development and scalable engineering solutions. An entrepreneur at heart, Vivek applies frugal innovation, lean methodologies, and sustainability-driven design to create adaptable solutions – contributing to Qdot’s mission of advancing next-generation hydrogen-electric propulsion and other emerging technologies.

Wei is a Senior Controls Engineer at Qdot, specializing in the control and simulation of fuel cell and battery drones. He earned his PhD by developing a scaled fuel cell and supercapacitor hybrid system for bus applications, which continues to serve as a student demonstration tool in university labs.

With over 10 years of experience in Hydrogen Fuel Cell technology, Wei has a strong focus on hybrid system simulation and optimization. He has contributed to numerous automotive fuel cell integration projects, including prototypes for trucks, heavy machinery, and trains. His expertise also played a key role in the FlyZero project, one of the UK’s earliest major feasibility studies on zero-carbon aviation, where he helped bridge the gap between fuel cell technology and the aviation industry.

Mujan’s role at Qdot involves developing complex sintering models for heat exchanger components. She received her Ph.D. in Materials Science & Engineering from the University of Kentucky in 2022 and was a NASA Space Technology Graduate Research Fellow. Mujan was previously a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Oxford, where her doctoral research focused on designing materials with improved response to hypervelocity impacts as related to micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) protection. She also used quantum mechanical calculations to study the dynamic surfaces of scandate cathodes.

Tinashe has a background in heat transfer, propulsion, gas turbines and computational biomechanics. He is Rhodes scholar pursuing a DPhil from the Oxford Thermofluids Institute at the University of Oxford researching secondary combustion on turbine blade cooling. He is also collaborating with some academic research groups in modelling cerebral aneurysms and their treatment devices. Prior to joining Qdot he briefly served as an energy and fluids specialist at the Coca Cola and AB InBev plants in Botswana. In 2021, he worked with a team optimizing the CERN Large Hadron Collider’s cooling manifold.

Heshan brings a wealth of experience in project management and business development, honed through significant roles in dynamic environments across Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and the UK. As a Project Coordinator at Qdot Technology, he specializes in managing high-stakes projects, focusing on innovative solutions and meticulous execution. His track record includes pioneering IoT(Internet of Things) implementations and strategic international partnerships, significantly enhancing operational efficiencies and market reach. Heshan is passionate about leveraging technology to improve project outcomes, aligning closely with his professional endeavours at Qdot.

Vani is a Mechanical Engineer at Qdot. She holds a Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering from The University of Manchester, supported by the Global Futures Merit Scholarship. Her thesis, affiliated with the Space Systems Engineering Research Group, focused on the numerical analysis of air-breathing electric propulsion intake geometries. She also gained practical experience in model UAV building and performance testing through a group design project. During her Bachelor’s in Aeronautical Engineering, she earned a Gold Medal for academic excellence and interned at the Centre for Airborne Systems, Bangalore, where she worked on aircraft structures projects. Vani has published two research papers in Springer journals and had her work on monopole antennas approved by the Journal of the Aeronautical Society of India for publication.

Peter Ireland is a co-founder of Qdot and a professor at Oxford University where his research group has focussed on the technologies used to cool aero-engines and to decarbonise flight.

His career has been characterised by introducing innovative solutions to heat transfer measurement or cooling problems. His research pioneered the use of temperature sensitive liquid crystals in heat transfer experiments which is now used by most of the major aero-engine manufacturers in their research and/or evaluation of new turbine blade cooling systems.

He has published more than 265 refereed papers, supervised 30 D.Phil. doctoral graduates and is co-inventor for over 25 patents. He is a Fellow of St. Catherine’s College, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Peter provides expert heat transfer support, and embodies the strong and collaborative link between Qdot and world-leading academics.

Graham is a distinguished Group Technical Director with 20 years of senior leadership experience in global technology and engineering companies. He has a track record of successfully leading organisations during periods of change and delivering strong and profitable growth.

Graham provides technical review and advice in the aerospace sector.

Nigel has 30 years of experience in the automotive industry. He was a technical specialist in acoustics and spent the last half of his career leading low carbon vehicle, battery research and concept battery design. Nigel now works as a consultant on battery design for a wide range of applications. As well as this, he is the founder of BatteryDesign.net, a publicly available repository of battery knowledge that serves as a valuable resource for all engineers involved with batteries.

John is Executive Chair of SmartIR Limited, a space and defence-focused spinout from Manchester University’s Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre; and Non-Executive Chair of 2iC Limited, a UK SME which enables digital interoperability. His advisory board roles include the UK Innovation & Science Seed Fund and a range of young UK tech companies. In a former life John was an Army officer whose final appointment was as a board member and the executive director responsible for UK Strategic Command’s £3.5 bn p.a. technology portfolio. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

John supports business development and customer engagement.

Robert Cashmore MBE is the Abu Dhabi Economist at the British Embassy, UAE. Robert was formerly Octopus Investments’ Head of Middle East, leading Octopus’ relationships across all asset classes with Middle Eastern investors, including DeepTech ventures.

Prior to Octopus, Robert was a senior British diplomat specialising in Gulf investment into the UK. He spent four years heading UK government’s investment work in Saudi Arabia, based in Riyadh, and two years as the Director for Investment Middle East, based in Dubai, during which time he played a leading role in securing the £10bn UAE-UK Sovereign Investment Partnership. He received an MBE in the 2020 Queen’s Honours for services to UK Trade and Investment.

Prior to Government, Robert spent five years in the City of London working within the investment banking sector. Robert holds degrees from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

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