Sector Lead - Automotive & Motorsport
Aerothermal Engineer
Apprentice Mechanical Engineer
High-speed innovation, diversity of ideas and unparalleled expertise – find out what life is really like at Reaction Engines.
We develop pioneering technology to elevate life on Earth. Innovating in pursuit of the world's net zero goals. We deliver thermal management solutions to create a better, more sustainable future.
Everything Michelle does is designed to make Reaction Engines a great place to work. And create an environment where we can make going beyond possible. She believes an engaged, happy, diverse team is a successful team. Thanks to her tireless efforts, that’s exactly what we are.
Michelle has worked in HR since 2013 and joined us in 2019. Her role at Reaction Engines involves all areas of HR, including deputising for our Head of HR. Equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) is a big focus of hers. Despite our employees believing we’re already a diverse and inclusive employer, Michelle is always looking for further improvements.
She helped form an employee engagement group to create and implement an EDI roadmap. Michelle’s proud of the work this group has done so far. Sharing their own stories to raise awareness and understand EDI challenges and opportunities for positive change. Our 2019 annual employee engagement survey also helped identify some improvement areas. Michelle believes we now provide employees with a structure that helps broaden their experience and progress their careers.
No day is the same. It’s a constant challenge to think differently to make the right decisions for employees’ wellbeing, engagement and development. She knows no challenge is too big for our people, and is inspired by the positivity, teamwork and commitment from every single person.
Barry was one of our earliest employees. And for good reason. A Mechanical Engineer by training, he was drawn to the company for the chance to work on something new that could change the face of Hypersonic propulsion. He’s been an integral part of Reaction Engines since 2011 — when he developed the assembly function, delivered the VIPER project and helped with the test campaign.
Barry’s role is to ensure his team deliver the best possible service within precise deliverables. His team is vital to the success of the business, having the responsibility of turning designs into hardware ready for test campaigns with every aspect checked to comply to exacting demands.
Barry enjoys the buzz of working with, and developing, a highly skilled team. One of the key challenges is to make sure we have the right skills and abilities for our cutting-edge projects and a constant flow of new ideas. This is partly why he’s also responsible for starting our highly successful apprenticeship programme.
He achieved a major career highlight with us, in 2019, when he was part of the team that won the prestigious Colin Campbell Mitchell Award from the Royal Academy of Engineering, in recognition of our HTX programme, which saw us test our heat exchanger at temperatures representative of Mach 5.
Barry has also recently been awarded the Chartered Manager qualification based on his work within Reaction Engines.
After studying physics and mechanical engineering at The University of Melbourne in Australia, Carrie joined Rolls-Royce on their graduate programme. She worked at Rolls-Royce for 11 years in a variety of roles with a focus on ground-based sustainable technology development and aerospace demonstrator programmes.
Joining Reaction Engines in 2017 as Chief Project Engineer, Carrie helped to progress the SABRE air breathing core demonstrator programme through its preliminary design phase and in developing the next generation technologies for space access.
In 2022, she transitioned to the role of Head of Sustainability, responsible for accelerating Reaction Engines’ products and operations towards net zero. Specific accomplishments in this role include developing the company’s environmental strategy and targets, holding one-to-one discussions with multiple MP’s around the challenges and merits of various sustainable aviation fuels, developing a novel intercooled hydrogen compression system, attending COP28 alongside Reactions’ technology which was showcased with the DBT, and helping to create the company’s first product carbon foot printing model.
When Claire had the chance to join Reaction Engines in 2020, she saw a unique opportunity to shape the future direction of an exciting business while working alongside talented people on seriously fascinating projects. She’s not been disappointed.
Claire’s responsible for securing revenue for the business through sales, licence agreements, partnerships, and strategic alliances. So, she looks after customers in a wide variety of industries, including the automotive, motorsport, electric vehicles, aerospace, and energy sectors. No two days or two customers are ever the same and her degree in Psychology & Physiology really comes in handy when understanding what the customer wants and needs.
Reaction Engines’ focus on being environmentally friendly and advancing the use of our technology in zero emissions applications is also very important to her.
Having studied Aeronautical Engineering at Imperial College London, Yashi joined us as a graduate engineer in 2017 – one of our first ever graduate intakes. Now she’s realising her childhood dream of working in space science, and helping us push the boundaries of spaceflight.
Heat exchanger design. Ensuring adequate cooling of high temperature exhaust passages. Conducting aerodynamic and thermodynamic design. Analysing engineering components to ensure they achieve the required performance. Creating computational models and analysing the results. Yashi’s far-reaching role covers many vital areas. She loves working for a company that’s disrupting the space and high-speed flight market. And we love having her with us. She’s proved to be a huge asset.
One major speciality that benefits our work considerably is using her coding knowledge to develop tools to automate component model creation. This allows the team to trial a broader range of concepts to greater accuracy – and provide faster answers. Yashi’s work also involves working with the project team to decide the best designs to present to customers.
As a developing engineer, she’s really thriving in the friendly, supportive, and creative atmosphere of the Applied Technologies division. Her problem-solving skills and how she combines her own ideas with the expertise of her colleagues, is contributing massively to our cutting-edge engineering cause.
It was while working in telecommunications that Joshua realised his true passion was mechanical engineering. He began seeking a new career in the aerospace industry. This led him to us. Now he’s studying to acquire the skills and knowledge to make a difference in the ever-evolving world of space and hypersonic travel.
As a first-year mechanical apprentice he’s most interested in working in design or being a technician.
He joined Reaction Engines as he wanted to learn the mechanical engineering skills needed for a career in a forward-thinking and ambitious company working at the cutting edge of aerospace technology. After looking around at what aerospace apprenticeships were available during his search, the work we were doing really stood out to him.
He’s ambitious to have a genuine impact in the world and contribute to science and innovation. With the current technologies we’re developing and the breakthroughs we’re already achieving, he believes Reaction Engines is the perfect place for him to achieve his goals. He loves the feeling of being able to channel his interests and natural skillset into a career he loves so much. We look forward to the positive contribution we know he’ll make to the company.
