BARA Committee

George was elected to the BARA Council in 2020. He is an experienced account manager and sales engineer with a background in mechanical and industrial engineering, specialising in robotics and automation. George is also skilled in electrical wiring, troubleshooting and repair of electronic circuits, continuous improvement programmes and manufacturing engineering.

Mark was elected onto the BARA Council in 2020 and has been the Managing Director of Schubert UK since 2009. The company produces digital, robot-based packaging machines, with a focus on the interplay between simple mechanics, intelligent control technology and scalable modularity. They supply their packaging machines into the food, beverage, healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors.

Mike is the Chief Automation Officer at the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry. He has over 35 years’ experience in Robotics and Automation gained across a broad range of manufacturing sectors throughout Europe, North America and Asia. He is widely recognised as one of the leading authorities on the application of industrial robot systems in the UK. Mike has been Chairman of the International Federation of Robotics. His book “Implementation of Robot Systems” was published in 2014.

Steve joined the BARA council in October 2021. Steve’s current position outside the council is Channel Partner Manager for ABB Robotics in the UK and Ireland. Steve brings with him numerous years of Robotics & Automation knowledge coupled with many years of strategic business development in the Automation industry. Steve’s passion is promoting Robotics technology to businesses of all sizes and he firmly believes in trying to promote a message to the wider manufacturing industry about the benefits that automation can offer. Being on the BARA council allows Steve to convey messages from both robotics manufacturers and systems integrators to the association with the hope of making sure that members' voices are heard and recognised.

Rosie was elected to the BARA council in 2021 as Robotic System Integrator Representative. She has been working with System integrator RM Group for over 10 years delivering Robotics and packaging systems to customers in the General Industry, Food & Beverage, Energy/Fuels and Construction sectors. Rosie is an enthusiastic proponent of BARA initiatives such as the Certified System Integrator scheme. RM Group was successfully certified following an audit in 2021.

Jeremy has been developing automation systems across a range of industries since leaving university working with manufacturing and automation companies such as Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Rolls-Royce, Airbus, Kuka, ABB and Siemens. In more recent years, Jeremy's focus has been around applying concepts used in these companies to small and medium enterprises to boost their productivity. He chairs the Institution of Engineering & Technology’s Design & Production Committee and has represented the High Value Manufacturing Catapult on both the BARA Council and KTN Robotics & Autonomous Systems Special Interest Group.

Andrew was elected to the BARA Council in 2013. With a background in Mechanical and Production Engineering, Andrew currently holds the position of Sales Manager at RARUK Automation – a specialist supplier of innovative automation products, from industrial robots, linear axis systems and feeding solutions. He is also a member of The Institute of Engineering Technology (IET).

Oliver joined the BARA council in 2021 as the General Member Representative. Oliver brings to the council a long history of working within automation and robotics in both the UK and Europe. Oliver has spent much of his career at FANUC in many different roles from product and technical management through to service manager and now responsible for sales of robots and full turnkey robot systems at FANUC UK. “I have a passion for ensuring the uptake and adoption of robotics is done in the right way with the biggest value being derived from the solutions offered. The flexibility that automation and robotics brings to an ever adapting manufacturing strategy in our diverse manufacturing landscape is key to the way I see the UK improving on its relatively low share of automation globally”

Gilbert was elected to the BARA Council in 2021. He is the Robotics MSc Course Director at Cranfield University and he is the Robotics Course Development Lead at MK:U. He has been conducting robotics research for over 10 years and he has worked with companies including manufacturers and users of industrial robots. Gilbert is a Chartered Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. He is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Martin was elected to the BARA Council at the end of 2022 as a General Member Representative. He is an experienced engineer with a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and Electronics, is a Functional Safety Engineer (TUV Rheinland) and qualified to deliver the TUV (Saar) Engineers course. Martin has 20+ years’ experience in Industrial Engineering specialising in Functional Safety and is a recognised Functional Safety expert for Robotics and AGV/AMR applications at SICK and the BSI (Standards Committee member). As UK Product Manager for all SICK safety products, systems and services Martin has a deep passion for Safety and Automation.