MAA Annual Conference keynote speakers 2015

Tony Wood, President – Aerospace, Rolls-Royce plc 

Tony Wood joined Rolls-Royce in 2001 and was appointed President – Aerospace in May 2013.His first role with the company was as Director of Operations - Defence Aerospace, following a 17-year career with Dowty and Messier-Dowty. He was subsequently appointed Managing Director - Defence Aerospace in January 2004. He became Chief Operating Officer - Civil Aerospace in January 2006. In 2008 he was appointed President - Gas Turbine Services with responsibility for Services across the Group. Tony was appointed President – Marine in January 2012.He first joined the Dowty Group in 1984 as a sponsored undergraduate and held a variety of engineering, production, purchasing and programme management roles before becoming Vice-President Manufacturing for Messier-Dowty Inc in Toronto, Canada in 1995. In 1998 he was appointed Vice-President Operations, also based in Canada.Tony is a former board member of Rolls-Royce Engine Services joint ventures in Hong Kong, Singapore, Germany and the USA, and is a fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the Association of Project Management.Born in Leicestershire, England, Tony undertook an apprenticeship programme with Dowty, which led to an Open University degree in Engineering. He also holds an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

Geoff Hunt, Vice President – Engineering, UTC Aerospace Systems

Geoff Hunt is Vice President, Engineering at UTC Aerospace Systems, where he is responsible for engineering and technology in the Engine & Environmental Control Systems division.
Hunt began his career as an engineer at Rolls-Royce, where he spent 13 years working on large commercial engine development programs before joining United Technologies. His past 17 years of experience include roles of increasing responsibility in engineering and program management at both Pratt & Whitney and UTC Aerospace System before his most recent position providing leadership to the Boeing 787 Platform program. Earlier this year, Hunt was named to his current position as the engineering leader of UTC Aerospace Systems’ largest business division, which has 17 locations around the world including HS Marston in Wolverhampton and one in Widnes, UK.
Hunt holds a master’s degree in business administration from Boston University and a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from Sheffield University, England.

Clive Lewis, Managing Partner, Achieving the Difference LLP

Clive’s career includes the development and implementation of a best-practice marketing strategy process across a $1bn revenue business with 5 major product groups; with strategic plans developed for double-digit growth … and the integration of a $30m German acquisition into a $1bn organisation over a six month period. He also led the forecasting team for the same organisation.
Clive holds a Distinction grade MA in Marketing from a top university, is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and Chartered Marketer, a qualified Six Sigma practitioner and facilitator - and is trained as a Fitness Review Assessor to European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) and British Quality Foundation standards.

Neil McManus, Senior Vice President Asia, GKN Aerospace

Neil joined GKN Aerospace in 2013 as Executive Vice President, Business Development and Strategy, Europe & Special Products, joining the Executive Committee in January 2014 as CEO GKN Aerospace Europe & Special Products.  In January 2015 he assumed the role of Senior Vice President Asia.  Prior to joining GKN Aerospace, he was Vice President & Managing Director of Spirit AeroSystems (Europe) for six years and previously held senior roles within BAE Systems. Neil holds a BSc in Design and Manufacture from Loughborough University.

Andy Moran, Head of Supplier Development, Airbus UK

Born in Lancashire, in 1987 Andy moved with his family to France, where at seventeen he passed the French Baccalaureate, before attending Loughborough University where he was awarded an Honours Degree in Manufacturing Engineering and Management. He then returned to France to run a small aerospace manufacturing business. This demanding experience opened the doors to Andy's return to the UK, first in the automotive industry then as production manager for an aerospace supplier in the Midlands where he gained experience working in project management and high-end manufacturing‎ roles. Following two years back in France as Manufacturing Engineering Manager for an international automotive supplier, in 2010 Andy decided to follow in his father’s and brother’s footsteps and returned to the aerospace industry, joining Airbus, as a Supplier Development Manager. Four years later, having obtained his APICS CPIM (American Production and Inventory Control Society Certified in Production and Inventory Management programme) and with the reorganisation of Airbus Procurement, he was given the responsibility of consolidating and managing Airbus’s UK Supplier Development Team. In addition he became world-wide focal point for Airbus’s Equipment and Systems Supply Chain Development Activities. Andy now lives in Bristol with his wife and three children.