Here is your quarterly summary of some of the successes of Cranfield alumni:

  • Francisco Javier Sanchez Segura (MSc Aerospace Vehicle Design 2001) features in a profile on the Airbus website - he is Executive Vice-President Engineering, Airbus Defence and Space.
  • George Mavrocostas (BSc Aeronautical Engineering, MSc Aerodynamics 1978) has been appointed CEO of Cyprus Airways.
  • , Strategy Director at Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, features in an article explaining why the team’s car had a much larger rear wing than opponent Red Bull’s car at the last race.
  • features in an interview with Naira Metrics. He is raising capital to buy his father’s transportation empire, Chisco Group, so that he can position the company for its next growth phase, with a focus on digital.
  • is a member of the Government of Ireland’s Anti-Racism Committee.
  • StepEx, founded by Daniel George (MBA 2014), has secured £1.1 million funding to develop machine learning models, user platforms and expand its senior team. The company aims to remove barriers to graduate education by developing an alternative source of student finance using AI-generated future income estimates, rather than loans being based on past income.
  • , winner of the School of Management Entrepreneur Alumna of the Year Award in 2009, has written an article for Elite Business: ‘An open letter of appreciation to my team’ – including tips on being a better boss and how to deal with others.
  • Chris Day (MSc Logistics and Supply Chain Management 2017) is Chief Financial Officer at Lords Group Trading, who have announced in a press release today their intention to float shares on the AIM market.
  • has been appointed Sales and Marketing Director at Kuehne + Nagel France.
  • , Managing Director of Natural Resources for Costain, is a member of Business in the Community’s Climate Action Leadership Team.
  • has been appointed to the Board at Radcliffe Group Ltd as a Non-Executive Director.
  • Lieutenant General Sir Benjamin Bathurst KVCO, CBE (MA Military Studies 1996, Defence Strategic Leadership Programme 2007) features in a blog post discussing his military career and education.
  • has been promoted to Major-General – one of the highest ranks in the Ghana Army.
  • has been appointed as the first female Managing Director at GTBank in Nigeria.
  • has been appointed as the new President of Werq, an executive and team performance coaching firm based in Austin, Texas.
  • feature in an article on the four women leading Nigeria’s biggest banks.
  • Lord Karan Bilimoria (Business Growth Programme 1998) featured on BBC Radio 5 Live on Friday 16 July discussing the government’s plans to relax Covid-19 restrictions.
  • Steven Clapperton (Executive MBA 2023) has been appointed director of marine operations at the Port of London Authority.
  • Brigadier Phil Prosser (BEng Mechanical Engineering 1996), a British army officer, is leading the government’s efforts to deliver hundreds of thousands of coronavirus vaccines per day.
  • has been announced a new board member of Kelsey Homes, a premier housing developer in Sri Lanka.
  • General Manager of an agricultural estate in Marathon, Greece, is mentioned in an article about Saranti Group.
  • features in an article about the Cambridge University Careers service, saying they guided her towards her Master’s degree at Cranfield. She is now Head of Engineering at Animal Dynamics. 
  • ) a Statistics & Modeling manager, talks about his recent research on tobacco and its potential population impact.
  • now has concurrent positions as Director of PTDI (PT Dirgantara Indonesia) and Dean of the Defense University (IDU) in Indonesia.
  • Investor and entrepreneur will be speaking at Let’s Fund Femtech, an event series discussing female health.
  • has been appointed Executive Director of the California Strategic Growth Council by Governor Gavin Newsom. 
  • features in an article on prominent banking women in Nigeria.
  • CEO of Czech pharmaceutical company Zentiva, is number 3 on a list of the ‘top 25 healthcare technology CEOs of Europe’.
  • CEO of SAMAD Aerospace (based at Cranfield Technology Park) talks about their recently completed hover tests with the eStarling prototype aircraft, which will be the world’s fastest hybrid-electric aircraft.
  • Aspiring author and entrepreneur talks about his “dystopian sci-fi thrillers” on the Green Energy Futures podcast.  He is also the Managing Director of Abstract2Construct, a solar farm development business.
  • Article about Hawaiian Airlines by
  • will be a Liberal Party candidate in the next Esquimalt-Saanich-Sooke district election in British Columbia, Canada.  He has served as president, vice-president, and CEO at several major aeronautical engineering firms in Canada and the United States after retiring from the Canadian Air Force.
  • Tatiana Ostashchenko has become the first female Commander of the Armed Forces in the Ukraine. 
  • Julian Richardson (MBA 2001) CEO and founder of Parhelion (an energy and climate risk finance company) is going to focus on underwriting climate-related investments, and seeking to raise $500 million for his business, “the world’s first sustainable insurance company”.
  • founder of Skyfarer, a drone operator, has become Minerva Business Angels’ 100th investment. Skyfarer is conducting trials to deliver medical supplies between hospitals in the West Midlands, and initial flight trials will take place at Cranfield Airport.
  • Elite Business has an article about winner of the School of Management Entrepreneur Alumna of the Year Award in 2009, who talks about her daily routine and keeping a positive mindset.
  • Brigadier General with the Irish Defence Forces, has been appointed as Director of Communications, Information Systems and Cyber Defence of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS) within the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels.
  • Senior Technical Expert at Syngenta, an agricultural tech company, talks about his role.
  • Dean of ESCP Business School, London campus, discusses ‘Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times’
  • CEO Logistics District, Dubai South, features in Construction Business News’ ‘Power 25 2021’ list, at number 14.
  • has published a children’s book about space explorers and space exploration.
  • Director of Corporate Finance at Prism Corporate Broking and lecturer on the BGP course, has written a blog about the Olympic Games and how athletic performance relates to business, including the ‘marginal gains’ philosophy, similar to a concept he was introduced to at SOM by David Molian (Director of BGP).
  • Rebecca Stephen (MSc Environmental Risk Management 2018) Environmental Engineer and Mine Closure Manager at Barrick Gold Corporation in Tanzania, talks about the importance of environmental protection in her role. 
  • a historian and specialist in military affairs, discusses her career and transitioning from a male to a female.
  • Dr John Hallsworth (PhD in Institute of BioScience 1993) has recently done research on whether microbial life could thrive on Venus.
  • has written a book on burnout, which she believes started when she did her Cranfield MBA.
  • is Chief Revenue Officer at Forbury, an Auckland based software company that have recently established a London office. 
  • Leopoldo Rodriguez (MSc Aerospace Vehicle Design 2013) founder and CEO of Helgen Technologies, an industrial automation company, talks about his career and future plans.
  • Article about Flight Lieutenant
  • SAMAD Aerospace, co-founded by and based at Cranfield Technology Park, has strengthened its team with several new appointments.  They will shortly be moving to new larger headquarters, SAMAD House, also at CTP.
  • Eastspring Investments has appointed as Head of Equities, and he will commence the role on 6 September.
  • ) has been awarded the 2021 Daniel Guggenheim Medal for his innovation and design of the F-117, the first stealth fighter/bomber aircraft.
  • has been reappointed Managing Director of Eicher Motors for a further five years. 
  • CEO of Silicon Valley-based Yellowbrick Data, is number 33 on the Software Report’s top 50 SaaS (software as a service) CEOs.
  • CEO of BizNurture, is profiled in The Street Journal.
  • has joined Velo3D as Managing Director of European sales.
  • has been appointed by the UK Civil Aviation Authority as a Non-Executive Director.
  • Profile of and her career achievements.
  • has been appointed Global Head of Meetings & Events by CWT.
  • Chief Financial Officer of LCI Aviation, has been named as one of Airline Economics’ 40 under 40.
  • assumes office as the first female Chair of Guinness Nigeria, having been appointed in July.
  • has been appointed interim CEO at MJardin Group, a Canadian cannabis cultivation company.
  • is the new junior professor at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at the Technical University of Ilmenau and head of the new department of nanofabrication and nanomeasurement technology.
  • Career profile of , Industrial Transfer Project Manager at Safran. Her interest in aeronautics started when she visited the Safran Aircraft Engines site in Paris, towards the end of her degree course.
  • Nikhil Shahane (MSc International Human Resource Management 2013) Vice President Global Talent and Engagement at TechnipFMC, will be the session moderator for an upcoming discussion titled ‘Making diversity intentional using technology in the workplace.’
  • Hania Mohiuddin (MSc Autonomous Vehicle Dynamics and Control 2015), a Systems Engineer, is currently working on a project which will see a combat aircraft designed and built faster and at lower cost than previous generation fighters.
  • an innovation and corporate venturing consultant, has written an article about his field of work, partly drawing on his research at Cranfield. 
  • More news about company Samad Aerospace, who recently completed a successful conventional take-off and landing flight test of the company’s electric aircraft, the Starling.
  • Interview with , Chief Technology Officer at ERMA FIRST, a manufacturer of ballast water treatment systems.
  • has been appointed company Chairman and a Non-Independent, Non-Executive Director at HNB Finance (HNBF).
  • Giuseppe Dell’Anno (PhD in the School of Applied Sciences 2007), a Visiting Lecturer at Cranfield, is a contestant on the Great British Bake Off 2021.
  • Aquis Exchange has re-appointed to its Board.
  • is CEO and Chairman of the Board at Nemaura Medical, who design glucose monitoring systems for people with Diabetes.  The company has been named by NetworkNewsWire as ‘one to watch’.  
  • Profile of Dr Obafemi Hamzat (PhD in Agricultural Engineering 1991), Deputy Governor of Lagos State in Nigeria.
  • Lotwina Farodoye (BSc Marketing and Food Management 1994) is a newly ordained Priest at the Oxted Team Ministry.
  • Janet Manning (MSc Water Pollution Control Technology 1995) features in an article after developing a garden for this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, which encourages gardeners to make better use of rainwater. Janet was appointed the UK’s first garden water scientist by Cranfield and the Royal Horticultural Society in 2018.
  • has been appointed Global Industrial Practice Leader at Kingsley Gate Partners, a global executive search consulting firm.
  • Ian Rydin (General Management Programme 2001) has been named General Manager at Mövenpick Hotel Ibn Battuta Gate Dubai.
  • Senior Spacecraft Systems Engineer at SITAEL Australia, will be speaking at a ‘Women in Space’ panel session as part of World Space Week.
  • Silly Goose Coffee, founded by has secured investment from Dragons’ Den entrepreneur Touker Suleyman. During his MBA, Patrick tested and refined his business plan with the help of resources within the Bettany Centre.
  • has been hired as Chief Communications and Marketing Officer at Feaurespace, a crime prevention software company.
  • , a corporate lawyer at IBM in India, took part in a 10-week programme on cybersecurity at 麻豆社 (Shrivenham Campus) in 2019.
  • has been named one of the top 100 Chief Information Officers working in Ireland today.
  • has stood down as Chief Executive of Rasmala Group, and become Chairman.
  • Three Cranfield alumni have been included in a list of leading exceptional real estate CEOs in Nigeria: Hakeem Ogunniran (Strategic Leadership Programme 2005), Jide Odusolu (Business Leaders Programme 2007), Umar Abdullahi (Cranfield Directors Programme 2016).
  • Aglow Aviation, a Nigerian aviation company, has joined the air cargo organisation Cargo iQ. Aglow Aviation’s Managing Director is .

If you've been featured in the media, don't forget to share your successes with us so we can include them in our quarterly roundup. Email our Alumni Communications team including a link to the web site or press release.

Check out last quarter's summary (April - June 2021) here.