Invited Speakers

Confirmed Keynote speakers include:

James Black (UK Ministry of Defence)
Michael Curry (Los Alamos National Laboratory)
Marina Dawes (AWE)
Richard C Gostic, (National Nuclear Security Administration)
Jonathan Hyde (National Nuclear Laboratory)
DS Jason Keen (Metropolitan Police)
Rob Lock (AWE)
Klaus Mayer (European Commission Joint Research Centre)
Clive Nixon (Nuclear Decommissioning Authority)
Amanda Quadling (UK Atomic Energy Authority)
Kevin Swearingen (US Federal Bureau of Investigation)

James Black – UK Ministry of Defence

James studied Physics at University, and after industrial placements in optoelectronics and defence research, has spent most of his 30-year career in the National Security community. He was promoted to Deputy Director level in 2014, where his roles have included helping create and launch new programmes and supporting digital transformations. James has now held a Director position at the MOD as of 2023.

James is married with three school age children, and lives in Worcestershire. The family enjoy hiking, river sports and skiing.

Dr Marina Dawes – Director of Science, AWE

Marina studied chemistry at the University of Kent at Canterbury and joined AWE in 2003 onto the graduate scheme. She started out her working life in the fascinating area of plutonium science and has held a variety of roles during her 20+ years with AWE, including Group Leader Metals and Tritium and Head of Materials and Analytical Sciences. She has been Director of Science since June 2023; she and her team provide the strategic direction and empower people to innovate and deliver the science and technology capabilities required to underpin the UK’s nuclear deterrent and nuclear security, for today and the future. Much of her career at AWE has been in leadership roles where her primary aim has been to enable and empower great scientists to do great science in a highly regulated environment.

She has had two (separate) years of maternity leave, to take time out of her career to have her children, and has worked part-time for the past 14 years to manage her work-life balance as she is the primary carer. She is passionate about role modelling flexible working alongside career progression and supporting working parents to manage their work-life balance to achieve their version of the best of both worlds; being a parent and pursuing career goals.

As well as her two amazing daughters (now aged 12 and 13), she is step-mum to three wonderful kids (aged 9, 12 and 15) with her partner Lee.

Dr Richard C Gostic - NNSA

Rich Gostic is a senior program manager within the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). He has over 20 years’ experience working in R&D and technical operations within the United States Department of Energy (DOE), United States Department of Defense (DOD) and private industry. He holds a PhD in radiochemistry with research interests in actinide chemistry and data interpretation. In his current role he manages the Nuclear Forensics R&D portfolio within the NNSA Defense Nuclear Non-Proliferation Office of Research and Development. The main objective of this R&D portfolio is to fund science and technology that enhance the United States pre and post detonation nuclear forensics capability.

Jonathan Hyde - NNL

Following his PhD, Jon was awarded a Fellowship at Oxford before briefly working at Oak Ridge National Lab. On returning to the UK, Jon joined UKAEA and rapidly gained experience managing and delivering nuclear research for international customers. He led the ‘Materials and Chemistry’ team at Harwell that was then acquired by BNFL and later became the National Nuclear Laboratory (NNL). Within NNL he took on several roles combining scientific research and management, including Chief Technologist and Senior Fellow. In his current position as Head of R&D, Jon is responsible for NNL’s internal investment in R&D and engagement with academia. Internationally, Jon now has board positions representing the UK on several programmes including the Halden Reactor, the Jules Horowitz Reactor, and the NEA FIDES programme.

DS Jason Keen - Detective Sergeant, SO15 Counter Terrorism Command, Metropolitan Police

Jason has a BSc in Computing Mathematics and after graduating worked as a computer programmer. However he decided this wasn’t the career he wanted and joined the Metropolitan Police.

He has been a police officer for 27 years and worked in a variety of roles investigating serious and complex crime.

He is a qualified Scene Evidence Recovery Manager, Police Mortuary Operations Coordinator, Crime Scene Manager and Counter Terrorism Forensic Coordinator. He is also trained in Disaster Victim Identification and the recovery of CBRN contaminated fatalities.

Since joining the Counter Terrorism Command Jason has been the Forensic Coordinator for a number of high profile cases. In his current operational role he is the lead for CBRNe scene exploitation. He was the lead Forensic Coordinator for UK Counter Terrorism Police for the Five Eyes CBRNe Capability Exercise held at Salisbury in 2022 and will be an assessor at the 2024 exercise held at Virginia Beach in November.

Jason has been deployed operationally overseas working with foreign law enforcement agencies in counter terrorism investigations.

Robert Lock – AWE Chief Scientist, AWE

Dr Robert Lock – AWE Chief Scientist Rob joined AWE, in the Design Mathematics Department, in 1995 after studying Physics at Imperial College London.

Having arrived shortly after the UK ended nuclear testing in 1992, the focus of Rob’s research and career at AWE has been in the field of Comprehensive Testing Ban Treaty (CTBT) compliant science-based stockpile stewardship. In particular, the application of multi-physics computational fluid dynamics (CFD) algorithms and software to study extreme plasma conditions and high-pressure hydrodynamic phenomena. Whilst at AWE Rob studied, part-time, for a PhD in Applied Mathematics, again at Imperial College (2007).

Since 2011 Rob has held various senior positions within the Physics area at AWE and in 2020 he was appointed to the role of Head of Physics at AWE; being responsible for some of the key capabilities AWE needs to achieve its core missions, realised through the diverse range of physicists, mathematicians, computer scientists and other technical specialists that the UK relies on to provide those capabilities.

Rob has been a formally recognised Technical Authority in the Physics area for over a decade and since 2021 has been AWE’s Principal Technical Authority for Physics. In his role as Capability Sponsor for Physics he has been a key voice and leader in evolving and governing the programmes of research in key parts of the AWE’s technical programme.

Rob has strong relationships with our partners in the United States, particularly with workers at the Los Alamos and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. He has been a JOWOG co-chair for over a decade and became JOWOG32 co-chair in 2020. Rob is also currently the Predictive Capability Strategic Collaboration (PCSC) physics lead for AWE, which provides strategic technical steering of the US/UK collaboration with AWE.

Since June 2023 Rob has been AWE’s Chief Scientist

Clive Nixon – Group Chief Nuclear Strategy Officer, Nuclear Decommissioning Authority

Clive joined the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) in April 2005, after 15 years with British Nuclear Fuels, where he undertook a number of roles across research and development, technical and commercial areas. Through this he covered the full range of activities and facilities at Sellafield, including reprocessing, waste management and decommissioning, He also spent time in the US and overseas.

Roles undertaken within NDA, culminating in the role of Group Chief Nuclear Strategy Officer, have allowed Clive to gain a comprehensive understanding of the NDA’s estate, the strategy and policy landscape, and provide leadership on strategy development and implementation for the group, and with DESNZ, through strong collaborative relationships.

Clive has a BSC and MSC in Engineering and Applied Mathematics, is a graduate of the Cabinet Office Project Leadership Programme and was part of the first NDA Leadership Academy cohort.

Dr Amanda Quadling – Director of Materials, UKAEA

Amanda is an Executive Director at UKAEA responsible for the Materials Division. She co-manages the UKAEA’s £77m EPSRC-funded UK Fusion Programme and is also Senior Responsible Officer for LIBRTI, the new £200m programme to build a UK Fusion Fuel Capability.

Amanda is a mineralogist with a PhD in Materials Science and Engineering. She has spent the last twenty years creating and managing laboratories, incubators, commercial service divisions and Centres of Excellence focused on products and services in the energy sector and other industries. She was previously on the Technology Advisory Board of global corporate Morgan Advanced Materials and Technical Director for UK manufacturer M&I Materials (tungsten, dielectrics, electroceramics). In 2021, Amanda published the UK Fusion Materials Roadmap.

Dr Kevin Swearingen - US Federal Bureau of Investigation

Dr. Kevin Swearingen is a Radiological and Nuclear Chemist Forensic Examiner at the Federal Bureau of Investigation Laboratory. In support of the radiological and nuclear mission, Dr. Swearingen works with a broad range of partners throughout the government and across the Department of Energy National Laboratory system. Since 2022, Dr. Swearingen has been dual qualified as examiner in both radiological/nuclear and Chemical Warfare Agent analysis. Prior to joining the FBI, Dr. Swearingen was a chemistry instructor at Washington State University, where he also earned his PhD. Before that, Dr. Swearingen was a research associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He received his undergraduate degree from Western Oregon University.

Environmental Statement Modern Slavery Act Accessibility Disclaimer Terms & Conditions Privacy Policy Code of Conduct About IOP