Experts

Qualified in Mechanical Engineering, Ilse has extensive experience as a Product Manager and Technical Project Manager for Ricardo's testing services. Her strong analytical capabilities and exceptional bilingual ability in both Dutch and English, enable her to analyse and report test results back to our clients in a clear and concise format, accompanied by expert observations and recommendations.

An experienced consultant with over 23 years' experience within the rail industry. Edward's focus lies with the train-track interaction, including areas such as running behaviour, derailment safety, wheel-rail contact, riding comfort, safety and infrastructure monitoring systems. Strong focus on the acquisition process for bringing new or existing products and services on train track interaction to customers. Project experience extends across certification (NoBo, DeBo, AsBo), independent assessment (ISA), rolling stock and infrastructure maintenance, development and implementation of track-based and on-board monitoring and measuring equipment for train-track interactions, operational safety and risk analyses.

Alice is a Chartered Resource and Waste Manager with experience across air emissions and waste management activities. Alice has supported many clients to secure environmental and emissions trading scheme (ETS) permits, including applications for bespoke permits relating to a wide range of installations and waste activities, such as energy from waste (EfW), metal recycling, household waste recycling, carbon capture and utilisation (CCU), data centre back up generation, peaking plant, food and drink, and manufacturing. She also worked on the permitting of the UK’s first industrial-scale CCU plant, which is Tata Chemicals Europe’s Winnington CCU plant in Cheshire.

Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IET with extensive experience in safety engineering activities and assessment across a range of industries, including rail, for over 25 years. Carolyn is a signatory and decision maker for the independent assurance services performed by Ricardo Certification and attends the UK AsBo and ERA AsBo forums on behalf of Ricardo Certification. She also offers both internal and external training on the CSM RA Regulation and its application.

Specialist in EU railway legislation with previous experience working for the UK Office of Rail and Road and the European Railway Agency (ERA) as a national expert. Expertise in Interoperability and the authorisation process, as well as EU and domestic railway legislation and government policy.

Dave has over 30 years of experience in the industry. He specialises in design, analysis and performance simulation, and the development of future vehicle powertrains.

David has over 20 years' experience in air pollution science having previously worked at the Environmental Research Group at King's College London and the Institute for Transport Studies at the University of Leeds. He leads the open source 'openair' project that has developed and made available many innovative data analysis techniques. The openair software is used extensively throughout the world and continues to evolve. Recently, David led two Defra projects using vehicle emission remote sensing to better understand vehicle emissions in urban areas. This work led to the first comprehensive primary NO2 emission measurements in Europe using a remote sensing technique. He has been a member of AQEG (Air Quality Expert Group) since 2002. 

Dominic is a Consultant in the Climate Action Planning and Transparency (CAPT) team focusing on the development of NDCs and long-term strategies and transparency for mitigation and adaptation.

Graeme has over 20 years’ experience delivering technology solutions and strategies for decarbonisation, especially hydrogen, for transport. Graeme has trained at the European Energy Centre’s Renewable Energy Institute and develops new offerings in life cycle assessment, transport decarbonisation and hydrogen and associated e-fuels. He has provided technical leadership for an International Maritime Organisation project quantifying well-to-wake emissions for current fossil and future hydrogen-based maritime fuels, and a Department for Transport project linking maritime decarbonisation with renewable hydrogen generation potential for the Shetland Islands. He has undertaken numerous life cycle assessment projects for transport customers. Graeme is a Chartered Engineer with IMechE.

Jake oversees Ricardo's transport strategy and planning service, supporting national, regional and local government, as well as transport and planning organisations, in strategy development, planning, scheme optioneering, economic appraisal and business case development. Jake has previously worked for Transport Scotland, whom he joined immediately following the devolution of powers for rail through the Railways Act 2005, and for the UK’s Department for Transport where he served in various policy roles, including as Head of Analysis for HS2.

Jess is an Associate Director with over 20 years' experience of directing circular economy and resource efficiency programmes. She has worked with cities and regions to develop practical strategies for transitioning to a circular economy including work in the UK, Europe, Middle East and Australia. She has supported over 100 businesses with the development of new circular products and services, from SMEs to multi-national companies across a range of sectors including construction, textiles, food and drink, retail, manufacturing and healthcare.

John has over two decades of experience in environmental consultancy. John led the team that produced the UK’s greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories for submission under the Kyoto Protocol from 2002 to 2006 and has implemented a number of substantial programmes of development and improvement on inventory approaches. John and his team have assessed, designed and delivered numerous national and international inventory projects; represented the UK at European GHG inventory working groups; worked with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) to develop international methodologies for the estimation of GHG emissions; and developed GHG reporting software.

Karen is a Fellow and Chartered member of the Institute of Human Factors and Ergonomics and is also a Chartered member of the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health.

Karen has a wide range of experience delivering human factors, safety management and safety culture consultancy and training projects in Asia. These have been delivered to Government bodies, railway operators, rolling stock manufacturers and project contractors throughout Asia. Karen also undertakes a lot of work to support clients to firstly understand what human factors can offer and secondly how to successfully integrate human factors into their operations and projects.

Maarten Zanen is Team Manager for Ricardo's Rail IT and Data Consultancy and has more than 15 years of experience in railway asset management and data analytics, with a focus on infrastructure and rolling stock. He is an expert in enabling the integration of IT in OT for rolling stock and implementing digital asset monitoring for railway infrastructure managers and operators. His specialist areas of expertise include Asset Management, Data Analytics, Digital Transformation, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Information Management, Building Information Model (BIM) and Rail Infrastructure.

Maya is an experienced consultant, specialising in international climate change mitigation.

Since joining Ricardo, Maya has supported climate action planning for a wide range of countries and cities, spanning the globe. She has led the modelling of GHG emissions scenarios/pathways (including for a suite of NDCs/LT-LEDS) and supported the compilation of official GHG emissions inventories for numerous countries/cities, and also supported adaptation planning in several geographies.

Maya is an international expert in these areas, having been appointed to the UNFCCC Roster of Experts for the United Kingdom in 2023, and previously supporting UK Government in the review and agreement of the IPCC’s Sixth Assessment Report.

Michael Newman is Ricardo’s Global Managing Director, Rail, overseeing the company's worldwide rail business unit. With a career spanning Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Michael has lived and worked in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Australia, and the United Kingdom, gaining a wealth of international expertise. His experience includes leading high-profile rail projects, from bidding on behalf of major rail consortiums to deliver entire railway lines to managing complex global rail consultancy and assurance projects. Michael's expertise covers a broad spectrum of railway systems, including light rail, high-speed, and conventional lines, encompassing civil structures, signaling, infrastructure, and rolling stock.

Leveraging his deep commercial acumen, Michael drives transformative initiatives that enhance operational performance and deliver sustainable value for Ricardo’s clients worldwide.