Governance

The governance and management structure of ORCA Hub comprises the following advisory groups:

  • Management Board (MB)
  • Independent Steering Committee (ISC)
  • Industrial Leadership & Opportunities Panel (ILOP)
  • International Scientific Advisory Panel (ISAP)

Management Board (MB)

Technical Chair: Prof. Yvan Petillot

Members:

Dr. Frederic Cegla (Imperial College London)

Dr. Maurice Fallon (University of Oxford)

Dr. Michael Jump (University of Liverpool)

Prof. David Flynn (Heriot-Watt University)

Prof. Helen Hastie (Heriot-Watt University)

Dr. Michael Mistry (University of Edinburgh)

Dr. Adam Stokes (University of Edinburgh)

Prof. Sethu Vijayakumar (University of Edinburgh)

David Wavell (ORCA Hub)

Dr. Lindsay Wilson (ORCA Hub)

Reporting directly to the Independent Steering Committee, the Board is responsible for putting in place the structures necessary to manage the project and deciding upon all operational matters. This includes progressing the project’s day to day research objectives and monitoring progress. The Management Board also nominates and appoints members of the Independent Steering Committee, International Scientific Advisory Panel and Industrial Leadership & Opportunities Panel.

The ISC is important in order to provide that balance between the academic interests and the industrial interests, and make sure it’s [the ORCA Hub] really fulfilling its mission in delivering the impact for a future autonomous offshore industry.

Simon Reeve - VP Technology & Innovation, Lloyds Register

Independent Steering Committee (ISC)

Chair: Simon Reeve, Lloyds Register

Members:
Dr. Anna Angus-Smyth (EPSRC)

Dr. Rob Buckingham (UK Atomic Energy Authority)

Anita Chandrakar (PA Consulting)

Mark Enzer (Mott MacDonald)

Professor Mark Girolami (Imperial College London)

Professor David Lane (Heriot-Watt University)

Melanie Nadeau (COVE)

Peter Reid (Reid Consulting)

Dr. Jennifer Schooling (Cambridge Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction)

Andrew Tyrer (Innovate UK)

Helen West (Thames Water)

Dr. Lindsay Wilson (ORCA Hub)

The purpose of the Committee is to guide the strategic direction of the Hub, to resolve any conflicts and to monitor progress against scientific, innovation and responsible research benchmarks. The Committee looks specifically at the Hub’s development and research strategy, as well as the commercial exploitation of the research conducted through the project.

The Independent Steering Committee receives regular reports from the Management Board, International Scientific Advisory Panel, and Industrial Leadership and Opportunities Panel.

Robotics plays a key part in the future of oil and gas, or energy in the UK…How do we really change the way we work for the future, and transform our energy industry forever?

Rebecca Allison - Formerly Manager of the Asset Integrity Solution Centre, The OGTC

Industrial Leadership & Opportunities Panel (ILOP)

Chair: Dave Mackinnon, Technology Leadership Board (TotalEnergies)

Members:

Russell Brown/Emma McLellan (Chevron)

Inês Cecilio (Schlumberger)

Prof. Yvan Petillot (Heriot-Watt University)

Ian MacLeod (Wood)

Andy Bell (NZTC)

Dan Sumner (ORE Catapult)

Kris Kydd (TotalEnergies)

Jim Jamieson (i-Tech7)

Danial Leybourne (SHELL)

Maxime Duchet (EDF)

Mark Tipping (Lloyd's Register EMEA)

Dr. Lindsay Wilson (ORCA Hub)

ILOP is responsible for providing guidance relating to the Hub’s test and demonstration activities in each capability challenge as well as leading road-mapping and organising annual open calls for new research and innovation elements for the Hub’s activities. It also looks to identify any non-relevant parts of the project from an industrial viewpoint.

The Panel’s primary function is to bring industrial representation to the core of the Hub management structure and to provide input to the translation of research outcomes into industrial applications and commercial opportunities.

Industry is actually engaged with the hub. So it’s not just waiting for its results, it's actually working to produce those results through the life of the hub.

Andrew Tyrer - Head of Enabling Technologies, Innovate UK

International Scientific Advisory Panel (ISAP)


Members:

Professor Christopher Bailey (University of Greenwich)

Professor Anthony (Tony) Cohn (The Alan Turing Institute)

Prof. Manuel Giuliani (University of Bristol)

Dr. Daniele (Dan) Magazzeni (King's College London)

Professor Gregory O’Hare (University College Dublin)

Prof. Rob Richardson (University of Leeds)

Dr. Mohan Sridharan (University of Birmingham)

Professor Lorenzo Strigini (City University of London)

Dr. Simon Watson (University of Manchester)

Professor Paul Wilcox (University of Bristol)

ISAP guides the scientific direction of the Hub, assures the quality of the project’s scientific outputs and makes recommendations on scientific areas of research of relevance to the Hub’s activities. It is also responsible for identifying underperforming or non-relevant parts of the project from a scientific viewpoint. ISAP’s primary objective is to bring scientific representation to the core of the Hub management structure and provide scientific input to the creation of research outcomes with potential for industrial applications and commercial opportunities.

The Panel takes into account guidance from the Independent Steering Committee to which it reports, as well as the strategic direction of the project and the strategic objectives of the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.

Our Vision:

ORCA Hub represents an unprecedented effort to use Robotics and AI to revolutionise Asset Integrity Management in the offshore energy sector to enable cheaper, safer and more efficient working practices and a move towards a fully autonomous offshore energy field, operated, inspected and maintained from the shore.

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