Biographies in order of appearance

Welcome & Organising Committee 

J. Michael Barton, Ph.D. 

Dr. J. Michael Barton, Parsons Fellow, ITEA Fellow, and Chairman of the International Test and Evaluation Association, has worked on the Aberdeen Proving Ground since 2001, spending the first 10 years supporting the US Army Developmental Test Command and later the Army Test and Evaluation Command. He joined the Army Research Laboratory in April 2015, working in large-scale data analytics, high-performance computing, and outreach to test and evaluation and other ARL stakeholders. Dr. Barton’s entire career is in physics-based modeling and simulation. He spent 6 years as a consultant in the aerospace industry; 12 years as a contractor supporting the Air Force at the Arnold Engineering Developmental Center in Tennessee and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Glenn Research Center in Ohio; and the first 4 years of his career with The Boeing Company in Seattle. He has worked for Parsons Corporation for the past 10 years. He received Bachelor of Science and Ph.D. degrees in engineering science and mechanics from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville and a Master of Engineering degree in aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington.

Andrew Cunningham

Andy is the Capability Development lead for the Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) between the UK MOD and QinetiQ for the delivery of Test and Evaluation services. His focus is on the future of Test & Evaluation and how the LTPA can evolve to meet the opportunities future technologies bring.

His previous role was as the Executive Director- Innovation within the UK Defence Solutions Centre (UKDSC), where he led a number of cross government initiatives on innovative future technologies.

Educated at the University of Hertfordshire, a graduate in Aeronautical Engineering, a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the current President of the European Chapter of ITEA.  Andrew spent his early career in the electrical industry in Product Design and Development, specialising in smart materials.

He has spent the past 25 years in the Defence Industry, principally in the area of military aircraft test and evaluation and has been involved in numerous military aircraft programmes including Typhoon, A400M, C130J, Lynx Wildcat, and Merlin MCSP. Andy is the President of the Western European Chapter of ITEA.

Cathy O’Carroll MSc, BSc, MRAeS, Global Campaign Director – Integrated Test & Evaluation, QinetiQ

Cathy O’Carroll was born in Surrey, UK and studied at Leeds University.

Working for QinetiQ and its predecessors since 1985, Cathy’s technical career started in the air weapons domain within the Royal Aircraft Establishment undertaking research into the design of warheads to defeat hard target structures. On the formation of QinetiQ in 2001, Cathy became a Business Group manager with operational responsibility and in 2004 Business Development Manager for the Weapons Division.

From 2014, Cathy managed the 25 year, £5.6billion, Long Term Partnering Agreement (LTPA) contract to deliver Test & Evaluation (T&E) and Training Support Services capability to the UK MOD. During this time Cathy led the securing of two amendments to the contract. The first for £1bn in December 2016 for Air Range Modernisation and Test Aircrew Training and the second for £1.3bn in April 2019 for a Reinvigorated LTPA through to 2028.

Since 2019 Cathy has acted as Global Campaign Director for Integrated Test & Evaluation, with responsibility for defining, shaping and delivering QinetiQ’s global strategy including designing and enabling digitally integrated environments for complex experimentation, T&E, training and tactical development.

Cathy is Secretary for the International T&E Association (ITEA) and certified by them as a Test & Evaluation Professional.

 

Distinguished Guest Speakers

Air Commodore Patrick J Shea-Simonds OBE MA FRAeS FIKE RAF

Air Commodore Patrick Shea-Simonds was initially commissioned into the Royal Anglian Regiment (1st and 3rd Battalion) following graduation from the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. After regimental duty and operational tours in the Army in Germany, UK, Northern Ireland and Bosnia he transferred to the Royal Air Force, joining the RAF Regiment in 1997. He subsequently served in the UK, NATO AWACS HQ in SHAPE, Iraq, Kuwait, Sierra Leone, and Afghanistan. From 2010 to 2011 he commanded No7 RAF Force Protection Wing in Kandahar and in 2013 he was Deputy Commander Bastion-Leatherneck in Regional Command South-West working with the US Marine Corps.

In addition to serving as the Personal Staff Officer to the Assistant Chief of the Air Staff, he has completed two staff tours in the Directorate of Air Resources and Plans in the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), and tours at HQ AIR Command as DACOS Strategy and DACOS Force Protection Commitments. As Assistant Head of Capability Strategy in the Finance, Military Capability area of MOD during the Strategic Defence & Security Review of 2015 he examined the wider Defence capability portfolio. Thereafter he attended the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) after which he returned to HQ AIR Command to become DACOS Capability Plans looking across the RAF equipment plan during the Integrated Review before completing a tour as Deputy Head of the RAF Rapid Capabilities Office exploring areas of innovation and future technology.

Promoted to Air Commodore he assumed the role of Head of Capability Futures and was awarded the OBE in the 2024 New Year’s Honours list. He is a Fellow of the Royal Aeronautical Society.

He is married with 2 adult children, is an accident-prone road cyclist and enjoys flying, motorcycling, hill-walking, and history. He has motorcycled the Ho Chi Minh trail and completed the Deloitte Lands End to John O’Groats Ride Across Britain cycle event in 2022.

Paul Holligan, Vice President, First Light Fusion

Paul Holligan is the Vice President of Commercial and Partnerships at First Light Fusion. He brings over two decades of experience from his tenure at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory’s Central Laser Facility, where he served as Head of Electrical Engineering, Pulsed Power, and Control during his final five years. In this role, Paul oversaw the operation and maintenance of high-power laser facilities and led the development of cutting-edge technologies and laser systems.

At First Light Fusion, Paul has applied his extensive expertise in large-scale scientific facilities to the development and construction of advanced pulsed power drivers, including Machine 3, which are integral to the company’s fusion experiments. His current focus is on driving the commercialisation of First Light Fusion’s products and services, while forging strategic partnerships to advance technological innovation.

Stewart Woods, Cyber CTO for Thales UK

Stewart Woods, MPhil MSc MSc MA BEng CEng CITP FBCS MIET is the Cyber CTO for Thales UK. His role encompasses technical leadership of Thales UK cyber offers as well as oversight of cybersecurity and resilience within Thales UK products and solution.

With a rich view of cybersecurity and resilience best practice across numerous verticals and technologies, Stewart also directly supports MOD’s development of its Secure by Design approach and was a key contributor to the recently released Defence Standard for cybersecurity and resilience in products solutions and services; DefStan 05-139.

Previously Stewart filled the role of Chief Product Security Officer (CPSO) and before that he was employed within the Cyber Competency Centre as the Cyber Design Authority. Here he was responsible was for the oversight and provision of guidance and specialist input to the embedding of Cyber Security and Resilience into Thales Products, Solutions and Services.

Prior to joining Thales, Stewart had a rich career in the Royal Air Force. His career as both an Aircraft and Communications and Cyber Engineer placed him in key technical, operational and strategic roles. Throughout his career he has applied, with great effect, his unusual combination of deep technical and strong strategic and business skills. Stewart has succeeded in numerous leadership roles focused upon Air-Cyber Capability Development and Delivery. During his time at Aircraft Test and Evaluation Boscombe Down, he oversaw the assurance of integrating safety critical, smart weapons and Combat Aircraft digital system upgrades.

Whilst supporting Joint Forces Command, he led the conceptual and practical development of Offensive and Defensive Cyber Operations within the UK, focusing upon the full breadth of Information Systems, Industrial Control Systems, Platforms and Weapons. Responsible for delivering the MOD and wider government Cyber Programme, Stewart received an award from the MOD Permanent Secretary for his contribution to pioneering cyber policy and would be regularly required to brief Defence board members.

During his final years in the MOD, he delivered the MOD Cyber Programme and was the 1-Star MOD lead for the development of the UK Cyber Force.

Alec Banks, Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl)

Dr Alec Banks works as a Senior Principal Scientist for the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl).  In 2026 he is celebrating working in defence engineering for 40 years including serving 23 years in the Royal Air Force and 17 years at Dstl. This latter role has focused on the safety of software systems, including working as a software regulator for the UKs air platforms. In his regulatory capacity he has provided software certification assurance for platforms such as Scan Eagle, Watchkeeper and F-35 Lightning II.  Recent research activity has focused on the verification and validation of autonomous systems where Alec is the MOD technical lead.

He is lead technical author of JSP 936 “Dependable Artificial Intelligence in Defence” the MOD policy for responsible AI and has co-authored the current versions of Defence Standard 00-056 “Safety Management Requirements for Defence Systems” and Defence Standard 00-055 “Requirements for Safety of Programmable Elements (PE) in Defence Systems”.

Alongside a BSc (Hons) in Computing and MSc in Advanced Computing, his PhD (awarded 2009) centred around natural search strategies for autonomous vehicles.

Alec also works extensively within the UK and International software and safety communities – academic and industrial.  Alec is a Chartered Engineer and is a Fellow of the IET.

Andy Caldwell, MOD, Head, Research and Development, Test and Evaluation

Andy Caldwell took up the appointment of Head Research and Development, Test and Evaluation in MOD’s Strategic Programmes Directorate in September 2021. This post includes being the senior responsible owner for Test and Evaluation (T&E), including the Test, Trials, Training and Evaluation (T3E) run by QinetiQ on behalf of MOD and the T&E Transformation Programme run by MOD.  On the R&D side of the role responsibilities include the deployment of MOD’s R&D database (project ORCHARD). In conjunction with Defence Science & Technology and Defence Innovation Directorate Andy co-leads the Department’s request for future R&D uplift funding to bolster existing MOD Head Office and Command budgets.

Prior to this role Andy was the Head of MOD’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA).  In 2020 Andy completed the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) and associated King’s College London MA in International Security and Strategy.  Prior to RCDS Andy worked for the Government Chief Scientific Advisor as Deputy Director Science Policy and during the Covid-19 emergency Andy worked in Cabinet Office’s Civil Contingencies Secretariat. Before these roles Andy spent three years as Head Scientific Advice, in MOD’s Defence Science and Technology directorate.

Andy has a background in materials engineering and operational analysis having started his career at British Steel.  Andy moved to the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) in 1997. Andy’s career has included secondments to the Pentagon 2007-2010 and a tour as Deputy Scientific Adviser to Task Force Helmand Afghanistan in 2011.  Andy was Scientific Adviser to MOD’s Security, Policy and Operations directorate 2011-2013.  In his early career Andy led Force Structure and Stability Operations analysis at Dstl, co-leading Dstl’s input into Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.

Andy is a Fellow of the Operations Research Society and has an MSc in Peace Operations from George Mason University’s School of Public Policy. He was awarded the Office of the Secretary of Defense medal for exceptional public service in 2010.

Andrew is married to Claire and they have two grown up children.  Andy’s hobbies include playing board games, running and listening to the radio on Saturdays, hoping that the various football clubs that he and his family support stave off relegation for another year.

Dr. Mark Stevenson – FCAS/GCAP Test and Evaluation Technical Lead, DSTL

Born and raised in Staffordshire, Mark received a Master of Science degree in Physics with Astronomy from the University of Sheffield and gained his Ph.D. at Sheffield in Astrophysics working on optical high sensitivity fast imaging detectors. From there he joined the UK Ministry of Defence Engineering and Science graduate training scheme in November 2003.

He spent his early career in Test and Evaluation at the Air and Space Warfare Centre evaluating airborne electrical surveillance systems and then as the Senior Operational Analyst on the Fast Jet Test unit, 41(R) Test and Evaluation Squadron. Mark then moved to the British Defence Staff (US) based at the British Embassy in Washington DC to be the UK MOD lead for UK and US Air research collaboration. From there he took up a posting on promotion at RAF Air Command as the Weapons and Effects Scientific Advisor, then was promoted again moving to the role of Combat Air Scientific Advisor and finally taking up the role of Senior Scientific Advisor to RAF Air Command, providing advice to support capability planning and strategy. Mark then moved to be the Private Secretary for Strategy to the MOD Chief Scientific Advisor during the Strategic Defence Review (25) and initiation of Defence Reform, until recently where he now works for DSTL on the FCAS programme as a technical lead specifically for test and evaluation.

Ryan Norman, US Department of War, Test Resource Management Center

Ryan Norman serves as the Test Resource Management Center’s (TRMC) Chief Data Officer (CDO), where he is responsible for developing and overseeing execution of the strategic plan, underlying architecture, and related investments necessary to help improve T&E Knowledge Management and analysis capabilities across the DoD. Mr. Norman also serves as the TRMC’s Executive Manager for Joint Mission Environments, where he is responsible for leading the Joint Mission Environment Test Capability (JMETC) team that provides distributed Test & Evaluation (T&E) infrastructure, enterprise services, and technical expertise to facilities across the Department of Defense (DoD). This role includes leading the Test & Training Enabling Architecture (TENA) Software Development Activity (SDA), which maintains and evolves an integration architecture that ensures live-virtual-constructive interoperability within and between test and training ranges. Since joining the TRMC in 2008, Mr. Norman has held several additional positions including: Product Manager for Universal Command & Control (UC2), Project Manager for the Cyber Operations Research and Network Analysis (CORONA) project; TRMC’s Senior Engineer for Cyberspace Test Capabilities; Chief Engineer of the JMETC program; and TRMC Lead for Army Range Oversight. Mr. Norman previously served at U.S. Army Redstone Test Center (RTC) as Software Architect. Mr. Norman holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science from the Georgia Institute of Technology and is a DoD certified acquisition professional in the T&E, Information Technology, and Program Management career fields.

Dominic Leeds, Military Platforms Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in the UK National Armaments Director Group (NAD Group), having transitioned from the CTO role in Defence Equipment & Support on that organisation being subsumed into the new NAD Group. His mandate is to enable better digital interoperability & integration of military equipment capabilities. He is leading the establishment of a new Military Platforms Chief Information Officer business unit which will provide the Digital & Data functional leadership for military platform integration within the NAD Group, working closely with teams in the former Defence Digital, the Engineering & Safety functions, Cyber & Special Operations Command and other Front Line Commands.

Dom joined DE&S in 2015 working in Special Projects, where his last role was as lead architect of the Information Systems & Networks portfolio, leading technical strategy, architecture, design and system integration. Dom was an Army Reserve officer for 20 years and spent 6 years in full-time service on ops, ops support, & capability development roles. He has worked in the Defence & tech industry in technical project delivery & security roles. He is a Chartered Engineer, and was awarded an OBE in 2022 for services to Defence.

Dom believes passionately in fostering a generative culture to solve complex problems, embracing diversity of thought & experience. He is an ardent Agile & Lean Startup advocate, and he coaches his teams to operate with a collective learning mindset. His keenest interests are group psychology, neurodiversity, and the socio-cultural aspects of technological progress. He lives in Bristol with his partner and two young children.