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 revolutionize 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.

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.

With over 5 years of experience working as a Structural Analysis Engineer across commercial aviation and defence industries, Andrei has overseen the successful development of a wide range of aerospace related products going all the way from R&D to the production phase. In his current role as a Lead Structural Engineer at Qdot, he is ensuring that our products are robust enough to withstand the loads that they are expected to experience in a normal operational environment. In addition to his main responsibilities, he is delighted to share from his structural know-how with the rest of the team.

Tom joined Qdot as a Research Engineer in 2020 after finishing his undergraduate at the University of Oxford with an MEng degree. Currently he focuses on the manufacturing and procurement side to source and deliver business critical parts and services globally and has led purchases of capital laboratory equipment and major part subcontracting projects. In addition, he has participated in a broad range of projects since he joined Qdot with responsibilities from part design and simulation & experimental rig design and building. Before joining he has experiences from Rolls-Royce in both manufacturing management and shop floor operation teams . He has achieved a yellow belt certificate and participated in multiple projects on process improvement and cost reduction.

Vivek Katakam is a Senior Structural Engineer at Qdot Technology whose expertise spans across the realms of defence, aviation, and maritime industries and exemplifies unwavering commitment to excellence. Vivek’s remarkable professional career was built upon a solid foundation laid during his academic journey at the Technical University of Munich and Nanyang technological institute, where he earned his degree in Aerospace Engineering.

His professional journey commenced at Rolls-Royce, where he mastered the intricate art of manufacturing and repair technologies for composite and metallic aircraft and marine structures. Vivek’s innovative problem-solving abilities shone through his significant contributions to developing novel in-situ repair tools for aircraft engines.

Throughout his career, Vivek has gained profound understanding in system design, material selection, product design, and the implementation of experimental test systems. He harbors a passion for building adaptable, scalable designs from scratch, seamlessly applying frugal innovation techniques and lean methodologies.

With a multi-disciplinary background that encompasses entrepreneurial ventures focused on sustainability, Vivek brings a comprehensive skillset to Qdot Technology.

Dr Hunt is a mathematician with experience in a wide variety of fields. He has worked in the railway industry in performance modelling of the rail network and then for the Atomic Weapons Establishment, where he was working in fire dynamics and shock waves in elastoplasticity. He then went on to do a PhD in free surface flows in electrohydrodynamics, and still publishes in this field. He then went on to do postdocs in geometric algebra, evaporation of fuel droplets, and inverse problems in lithium-ion batteries when he joined Qdot as an applied mathematician working on sintering and battery modelling.

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.

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 Institute of Mechanical Engineering and the Royal Academy of Engineering.

Graham is an experienced 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.

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 £3.5bn pa technology portfolio. He is a Fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Robert Cashmore MBE is Octopus Investments’ Head of Middle East Sales, 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 as the UK Government’s Head of Investment for Saudi Arabia, based in Riyadh, and two years as the Director for Investment Middle East, based in the UAE, 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 for a number of investment banks, including UBS and Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Robert holds degrees from the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge and the London School of Economics.

Description