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Connect with our specialist team that are working hard to make our customer’s dreams a reality.

Leanne was appointed as the National Digital Exploitation Centre (NDEC) Business Manager in January 2019 and was the first local hire following a 26 year career in Local Government, predominantly in the field of Economic Development and Regeneration. Previous experience includes managing inward investment opportunities, supporting new and existing SME’s, managing a portfolio of business properties and a key part of team responsible for the redevelopment of the former steelworks site in Ebbw Vale, which is now the home of the growing Thales Ebbw Vale site.

Starting her career in Human Resources she gained a CIPD postgraduate qualification, followed by a course of study in Regional and Local Economic Development via Sheffield University.

The establishment and growth of Thales in Ebbw Vale has enabled Leanne to transfer her knowledge, skills and passion for regeneration and business development into an increasingly important and growth industry, whilst providing the opportunity for further personal development and growth.

Chris is the Portfolio Manager for Cyber Technology Services and the Site Director for Ebbw Vale. In this role he is responsible for all areas of delivery and governance. 

Chris Hilbourne is a chartered manager with extensive experience of project, service delivery and customer relationship management. He has a strong background in management of multi disciplined teams in multiple areas including, Defence, Cyber and Energy.

Craig works on the campus as the Head of Engineering and Research and is part of the Thales SIX Technical Directorate. In his role as Head of Engineering and Research Craig is responsible for the definition of engineering and research strategy as well as setting up the engineering process, controls and governance needed to deliver projects. Craig also works alongside clients delivering presentations, and developing proposals to help them achieve their goals.

Craig is a respected technical architect and consultant with a wealth of experience and proven track record within network solutions, PKI, key management, tactical data links, data management/control/protection, service provision and general cyber security with over 15 years’ extensive experience in both military and government systems and communications.  

Craig has full experience of the product lifecycle, comfortable taking systems from an initial concept through to defined requirements, high/low/sub-system designs followed by build, integration, testing and acceptance. This coupled with the ability to develop product roadmaps and business cases this makes Craig able to bridge the gap between the technical, practical and commercially viable.

Dave is the Managing Director and founding partner of EyzOn Energy.

Dave is a proven business leader having held leadership roles in a both the energy and aerospace sectors. An engineer by profession, his career began at Rolls-Royce in the UK serving an apprenticeship with the military engine business, followed by roles in product design and repair services. Dave has held technical, commercial and business leadership roles with GE Aircraft Engines, GE Energy, Areva Transmission and Distribution, EdF Energy and Siemens TurboCare. He has worked throughout the world and has a global network of contacts throughout the industry.

Pete is a widely known and recognised expert in data science and cyber security – developing cutting edge AI-driven approaches for the detection and automated response to cyber attacks. He is Director of the Cardiff Centre for Cyber Security Research – an NCSC recognised Centre of Excellence for Cyber Security Research. He also sits on the UK Government’s AI Council, providing advice to UK Government on the strategy for AI and the data economy. Pete is an expert in:

• AI-driven approaches to cyber attack detection
• Automated cyber defence
• Modelling structured, textual and multimedia data
• Machine learning

Pete brings these skills to the campus, and works with the local Ebbw Vale teams to steer research activities, scope projects and consult technically.  

More information on Pete can be found on the Cardiff University .

Omer is the Professor of Performance Engineering and previously led the Complex Systems research group. Currently he is the Dean of International for the Physical Sciences and Engineering College.

His research interests lie in the overlap between intelligent systems and high performance distributed computing. He is particularly interested in understanding how intelligent techniques could be used to support resource management in distributed systems and the use of these techniques in various application areas.

Omer provides technical expertise and support to the campus, as well as directing research activities and objectives. Omer also acts as a conduit between Cardiff University and the centre, helping to manage collaboration between the two.

More information on Omer can be found on the Cardiff University .