Cross‑Sector Technology Themes
Expanding to create community across automotive-adjacent sectors
AESIN’s technology themes give you a clear framework to engage with the challenges and opportunities shaping advanced electronics and software‑defined
systems across automotive, aerospace, space, energy, rail, and other adjacent sectors.
These themes help you focus your effort where it creates the greatest impact. They are your entry points into collaboration, insight, and leadership across the UK electronics and software systems technology landscape.
Within and across these themes, you can join focused, time‑bound projects that let you contribute where it matters and step out when you’ve delivered
or gained value. These projects are designed around your needs, your expertise, and your business priorities.
How You Engage
- Join only when it’s relevant to you: Take part in short, purposeful projects and exit when you’ve achieved what you need, no ongoing obligation.
- Shape projects with your ideas: Projects arise from member proposals as well as the Technology Leadership Group, giving you a direct role in steering activity.
- Work with peers across sectors: Collaborate with leaders from automotive, aerospace, energy, space, rail and beyond to solve shared challenges.
- Accelerate innovation in your domain: Contribute to practical advances in AI, software, power electronics, charging, systems engineering, cybersecurity, and connectivity.
- Strengthen your capability and influence: Every project helps you build expertise, expand your network, and deliver impact across the wider technology ecosystem.
Connectivity & PNT
Connectivity & PNT
Connectivity & PNT
This theme focuses on the hardware and system capabilities required for robust connectivity and precise positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT). It highlights connectivity and PNT hardware as critical enablers, recognises accurate positioning systems as a key foundation for emerging applications, and drives innovation aligned to future application requirements, including support for initiatives such as the QEPNT Hub.
Security & Resilience
Security and Resilience
Security and Resilience
This theme positions cybersecurity and resilience as strategic imperatives across organisations and supply chains. It includes thought leadership on cybersecurity and resilience, elevating system resilience and security to board-level priorities, addressing cybersecurity in the face of adversarial threats, and building trust in software and digital systems to ensure safe, secure, and dependable operation.
AI & Automation
AI & Automation
AI & Automation
This theme concentrates on creating trustworthy, capable automation by combining engineered AI with robust sensing for decision-making, integrating traditional control with AI-based systems, and exploring novel robotics applications. It also emphasises simulation to accelerate development and to support performance testing and safety assurance as AI-enabled functionality is introduced into real-world systems
Systems Engineering
Systems Engineering
Systems Engineering
This theme promotes a holistic, end-to-end approach to designing and assuring complex, connected systems. It covers vehicles operating in a cyber-physical world including V2I integration, core principles of systems engineering, and functional safety as a foundational discipline. It also explores AI and automation, engineered AI with robust sensing for decision-making, integration of traditional control with AI-based systems, novel robotics applications, and the use of simulation for development, performance testing, and safety assurance.
Smart Power & Charging
Smart Power & Charging
Smart Power & Charging
This theme addresses next-generation power electronics and energy systems needed for electrified platforms. It spans wide bandgap semiconductor architectures, innovative inverter designs with higher switching speeds and vehicle-to-grid capability, smaller magnetics and advanced thermal modelling for efficiency and compactness, and advanced packaging solutions for power electronics to improve performance, reliability, and manufacturability.
Software for Complex Systems
Software for Complex Systems
Software for Complex Systems
This theme focuses on enabling the development and delivery of advanced software for increasingly complex, software-defined systems. It includes software factory and design tools to improve productivity and quality, safety and high-integrity software to meet stringent assurance requirements, advanced E/E architectures and software systems to support scalable platforms, and the integration of AI with related hardware to create intelligent, adaptive system capabilities.
Thematic Projects – Turning Themes Into Real‑World Impact
Join only when it’s relevant to you
Take part in short, purposeful projects and exit when you’ve achieved what you need, no ongoing obligation.
Shape projects with your ideas
Projects arise from member proposals as well as the Technology Leadership Group, giving you a direct role in steering activity.
Work with peers across sectors
Collaborate with leaders from automotive, aerospace, energy, space, rail and beyond to solve shared challenges.
Accelerate innovation in your domain
Contribute to practical advances in AI, software, power electronics, charging, systems engineering, cybersecurity, and connectivity.
Strengthen your capability and influence
Every project helps you build expertise, expand your network, and deliver impact across the wider technology ecosystem.
Technology Leadership Group
Andrew Ashby
Ex. BAE Systems
Andrew Ashby
Ex. BAE Systems
Andrew is a retired BAE Systems professional with deep experience in business strategy, development and sales, backed by a strong technical background spanning OEMs, design services and start‑ups. Well‑connected across the automotive and transport sectors, he continues to influence areas such as hybrid/electric and connected/autonomous vehicles while supporting AESIN’s initiation and growth through long‑standing industry leadership.
Andrew Patterson
Director | Silvaco
Andrew Patterson
Ex. BAE Systems
Andrew is a retired BAE Systems professional with deep experience in business strategy, development and sales, backed by a strong technical background spanning OEMs, design services and start‑ups. Well‑connected across the automotive and transport sectors, he continues to influence areas such as hybrid/electric and connected/autonomous vehicles while supporting AESIN’s initiation and growth through long‑standing industry leadership.
Valentina Donzella
Professor in Sensors and Perception | Queen Mary University of London
Valentina Donzella
Professor in Sensors and Perception | Queen Mary University of London
Valentina is a full Professor in Sensors and Perception for Intelligent Systems at Queen Mary University of London, specialising in silicon photonics, optical sensing and perception technologies for intelligent and automated systems. Her career spans leading research roles in the UK, Canada and Italy, including heading the Intelligent Vehicles Sensors Group at WMG and contributing to major international programmes such as the EU ROADVIEW project.
Yike Fang
Founder | X-Seed Technology
Yike Fang
Professor in Sensors and Perception | Queen Mary University of London
Yike is a mobility and technology specialist with over a decade of experience spanning automotive systems engineering, vehicle cybersecurity leadership and the founding of X‑Seed Technology to advise on emerging challenges in cybersecurity, digitalisation and AI. She works closely with industry, start‑ups and academia, and is committed to driving innovation while actively championing women in engineering and inspiring future talent.
Brendan Morris
Senior Technical Marketing Engineer | Siemens Digital Industries Software
Brendan Morris
Senior Technical Marketing Engineer | Siemens Digital Industries Software
Brendan is an automotive engineer with experience spanning Tier 1 suppliers, major OEMs and start‑ups, contributing to embedded powertrain software, full vehicle development and low‑volume vehicle launches for companies including Jaguar Land Rover, McLaren Automotive and Rivian. He holds an M.Eng in Automotive Engineering from Loughborough University and has led research, engineering and launch programmes across a wide range of vehicle technologies.
Richard Schofield
Strategic Leader | Banktop Consulting
Richard Schofield
Strategic Leader | Banktop Consulting
Richard is a strategic leader with over 25 years of experience in intelligent transport systems, smart mobility and highway infrastructure, spanning senior technical and programme roles in major engineering consultancies. He has overseen the development and deployment of large‑scale, high‑impact transport technology programmes, ensuring successful delivery of complex, multidisciplinary innovation.
Siraj Shaikh
Professor in Systems Security | Swansea University
Siraj Shaikh
Professor in Systems Security | Swansea University
Siraj is a cybersecurity and systems engineering specialist focused on securing cyber‑physical systems in automotive and transport, with experience spanning the Alan Turing Institute, Imperial College London and HORIBA MIRA. His work has been supported by major UK research funders, reflecting a strong track record of advancing safety and resilience in next‑generation mobility systems.
Paul Wooderson
Chief Engineer | HORIBA MIRA
Paul Wooderson
Chief Engineer | HORIBA MIRA
Paul is Chief Engineer for cybersecurity at HORIBA MIRA, a Chartered Engineer with over 20 years of experience securing embedded and cyber‑physical systems across automotive and smartcard domains. He contributes to international automotive cybersecurity standards, leads major engineering and assurance programmes, and serves as a UK Department for Transport expert and Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at Swansea University.
