Dr Iain Roche joins Prodrive having previously spent the majority of his career in innovation management and most recently held roles as Head of Innovation at HS2 and Rolls-Royce plc. Iain has worked extensively in both public & private sector arenas, across Europe and Middle East, supporting a wide range of organisations from start-ups to advising governments.
On arrival Iain says “I’m delighted to have joined Prodrive, a company I have admired for many years for their many accomplishments and remarkable ability to innovate so quickly within the automotive, aerospace, defence and marine markets.
It’s an amazing time to join the Prodrive’s Advanced Technology division as we witness one of the most significant inflection points in technology development in generations as our key sectors decarbonise and well-established technologies are being replaced by new low carbon alternatives.
Whilst electric and hydrogen continue to grab the headlines, there is also a plethora of enabling capabilities required to integrate these solutions and produce viable products. We are seeing established organisations challenged by start-up technology companies who are disrupting the market, using a combination of new tech and their inherent agility to win. Prodrive Advanced Technology is at the heart of this transformation and is already supporting many customers in integrating, developing, and optimising these new technologies.
So I’m very excited to be working alongside the diverse group of thinkers that form our Engineering Team and harnessing our pace and agility honed from decades in motorsport to bring these solutions to market in record times.”
Iain has worked across a number of vertical markets, from fast moving consumer goods to safety critical industries such as Nuclear and Aerospace. Iain now leads a multi-disciplinary team including mechanical, electrical & electronic, control systems, and simulation among others to deliver value to Prodrive’s clients.
Iain has an Engineering Degree and a PhD, both from Loughborough University. He is currently a Non-Executive Director of KTN (an Innovate UK company). He is a fellow of the institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (FIKE) and formally sat on the NEF innovation council, was chair of the Rail Industry Innovation Leadership Group, and sat on the Rail Industry Technology Leadership Group.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
ABOUT PRODRIVE
Prodrive is one of the world’s largest and most successful motorsport and technology businesses. Over 500 staff are employed across its Banbury headquarters and composites manufacturing facility in Milton Keynes. While the company is perhaps best known for motorsport, today it is just one part of an organisation that in the last decade has diversified to become a technology business working in a range of sectors and providing a range of services. Within the Prodrive Group, there are four distinct but interconnected business areas: Motorsport, operating race and rally programmes for vehicle manufacturers and global brands; Advanced Technology, providing innovative technology for the automotive, aerospace, defence and marine sectors; Composites, developing lightweight composite components for the automotive, aerospace and marine sectors; and Brand& developing bespoke clothing and accessories for leading brands.
CONTACT:
Ben Sayer
PR Manager, Prodrive
e: bsayer@prodrive.com