As an aerospace graduate with three years mechanical engineering experience at MBDA UK, Laura Parkes has routinely been a part of sustainability projects within the defence industry. Since completing her dissertation concerning hydrogen storage systems and its logistics within commercial aviation, her career has allowed her to have a direct effect on the impact of sustainability on MBDA’s future products.
Laura is excited to talk about the importance of sustainable design in the circular economy and the supply chain, and methods of assurance. Additionally, with experience in recycled materials analysis and manufacturing processes, she continues to look at how the defence industry will grow to meet the challenges of sustainability.
Christopher is a strategic leader with a passion for developing organisational capability through it’s people. He has an active role in developing STEM and early engagement activity within QinetiQ and the wider sector and as a Fellow of the 5% Club am proactive in supporting earn as you learn programmes to help close the UK Skills gap.
Janine Hornsby MBA is CEO of The Air League and a passionate advocate for bridging the gap between education and careers. With a background in both secondary education and industry, she is committed to strengthening collaboration across sectors to address critical skills shortages. At Marshall, she launched the Skills Summit to unite industry, government, and education in creating a sustainable pipeline from early education to careers in aviation, aerospace, and space.
Ian is a Product Manager at NATS with more than 3 decades of experience in Aviation.
With a passion for enabling better collaboration between stakeholders, Ian started his career in Air Traffic Control with the Royal Air Force before joining SITA to specialise in weather and aeronautical data. At SITA, he managed Flight Planning and Dispatch solutions and Air Traffic Control Applications and was a also a key contributor to innovation growth areas in their ATM Aircraft Applications portfolio including flight trajectory optimisation.
Ian joined NATS in April 2025 as Product Manager, with responsibility for developing and supporting implementation of Sustainability Technology Solutions.
Agnieszka Kwolek is a Business Development & Intelligence / Sales / Marketing & Events professional with over 20 years in the aviation industry bringing a combination of experience from: aviation consultancies, airports (LHR, WAW), airlines, ground handling companies, GSA and travel industry. She also has over 5 years experience in sustainability, most recently working with Aviation and Shipping industries on their environmental targets and supporting their climate action; involved in Sustainable Aviation Fuel partnerships.
Laurent Müller, Director Corporate Partnerships, is leading Climeworks’ commercial activities with the Aviation, Shipping and Logistics industries. Climeworks is one of the leading Direct Air Capture company worldwide, capturing CO2 directly from the air and storing it permanently in the underground. Climeworks has more than 15 years of experience in Carbon Dioxide Removal. Laurent holds a Master in Mechanical Engineering from the Federal Engineering School of Lausanne, as well as a Master in Aerospace Engineering from Supaéro (Toulouse). Prior to joining Climeworks, Laurent has been working at aircraft manufacturers (Airbus) and within the railway industry (Alstom), in commercial and project management positions.
Fiona Messent was appointed Qantas Group Chief Sustainability Officer in January 2025 and is responsible for the Group’s sustainability strategy and targets, and the Qantas Climate Fund. She first joined the Group in 2019 and prior to her appointment as CSO was the Executive Manager for Climate Change. Fiona has two decades’ experience working in the sustainability sector, including roles at the United Nations and World Bank, advising corporates, government and non-government organisations on strategy, policies and climate financing.
She holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor Economics with Honors in Climate Economics from La Trobe University, and a Master of Public Policy from Columbia University.
Olan Ryan is VP Sustainable Aviation Fuel UK & Ireland at International Airlines Group (IAG), responsible for securing prompt and term sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) supply to help meet the Group’s decarbonization targets. Prior to joining IAG in Jan 2025, he established the SAF function at Q8Aviation, developing origination capabilities, voluntary sustainability certification processes, mandate compliance and commercialisation strategies. Olan’s extensive background in aviation fuel includes roles at Total and Kuwait Petroleum International, where he worked in a technical capacity as a Joint Inspection Group (JIG) inspector responsible for the quality assurance of international aviation fuel supply chains.
