Attendees · 20 July 2026

Who was at the Frank Whittle Summit

The people and organisations present at the inaugural Frank Whittle Summit and the official opening of the New Whittle Laboratory by His Majesty King Charles III, University of Cambridge, 20 July 2026. Every name below is supported by a named public source.

COMPILED 26 JULY 2026 · COMPILED FROM PUBLIC SOURCES · NOT THE OFFICIAL DELEGATE LIST

Read this first

This list is compiled independently from publicly available sources. It has no connection to, and no endorsement from, the University of Cambridge, the Whittle Laboratory, the Bennett Innovation Lab, the Sustainable Markets Initiative or any organisation listed.

It is incomplete. Organisers state that around 80 CEOs and CTOs attended the Summit, 90 leaders joined the roundtables, and over 160 people attended the opening ceremony. This page names 37 people with a supporting public source. Nothing here should be read as a claim that someone attended unless their section says so.

Corrections and removals are welcomed and acted on quickly, without needing a reason.

37
Confirmed by a named public source
11
Reported, not independently confirmed
31
Organisations represented
8
Organisations, representative unidentified
Tier one

Confirmed by a named public source

Each entry is supported by at least one of: a first-person published account; an employer or institutional statement; an organiser-produced video caption; national press naming them in the King’s receiving line; legible credential text in official photography; or another confirmed attendee placing them at the event.

HM King Charles IIIPatron, Whittle Laboratory · founder, SMI
Prof. Rob MillerDirector, Whittle Laboratory · convenor
Dr Elliott GrantCo-head, Bennett Innovation Lab
Jennifer Jordan-Saifi MVOChief Executive, Sustainable Markets Initiative
Gary ElliottChief Executive, Aerospace Technology Institute
Lane BallardChief Technology Officer, Boeing
Frank HaselbachSVP, Head of Propulsion Engineering, Airbus
Karim AminExecutive Board Member, Siemens Energy
Darren DavidsonVP UK & Ireland, Siemens Energy
Ghenadie BulatSiemens Energy
Alan NewbyGroup Director R&T, Rolls-Royce
Simon BurrGroup Director Engineering & Technology, Rolls-Royce
Axel KreinExecutive Director, Clean Aviation
Dr Graham Hoare OBEChief Executive, Manufacturing Technology Centre
Prof. David Knowles CBE FREngChief Executive, Henry Royce Institute
Warrick MatthewsChief Executive, Tokamak Energy
Sir Warren EastBoard member, Tokamak Energy
John Holland-KayeChair, Sizewell C
Reza ZadehFounder & CEO, Matroid
Nigel StewardDirector, Centre for Sectoral Economic Performance
Pierre CottenceauEVP Engineering R&T, Safran Aircraft Engines
David Edwards FRAeSChief Executive, Royal Aeronautical Society
Jeff DoddsChief Executive, Formula E · UN Envoy
Cllr Paul BristowMayor, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Combined Authority
Prof. Deborah PrenticeVice-Chancellor, University of Cambridge
Lord Smith of FinsburyChancellor, University of Cambridge
Lord Vallance of BalhamMinister for Science, DSIT — resigned that day
Daniel Zeichner MPMember of Parliament for Cambridge
George Freeman MPFormer Minister for Science
Baroness Morgan of HuytonMaster, Fitzwilliam College
Ian WhittleSon of Sir Frank Whittle
Dr Katharina TegethoffWhittle Laboratory · contrail demonstration
Dr Christopher ClarkQueens’ College · turbine demonstration
Prof. Graham PullanCo-Director, Whittle Laboratory
Dr Nathan ClarkWhittle Laboratory
Dr Julia MassabuauWhittle Laboratory
Katharine BrindleyEvents Unlimited · event delivery
Tier two

Reported, not independently confirmed

Named in circulating accounts of the day, or strongly indicated by role and organisation, but with no public source placing them at the event. Listed for completeness and kept deliberately separate. These are not asserted as attendees.

Mark BentallAirbus · organisation confirmed present
Hervé MorvanRolls-Royce · stated intent to attend
Patrick RooneySustainable Markets Initiative
Sir Pascal SoriotAstraZeneca · company confirmed present
Michael CervenkaVertical Aerospace
Chris DungeyCTO, High Value Manufacturing Catapult
Ben MorganAMRC · see note below
Prof. Julia SutcliffeChief Scientific Adviser — DBT on the day, now DBIST
ACM Sir Richard KnightonChief of the Defence Staff
Peter BennettDonor, Bennett Innovation Lab
Lord Sainsbury of TurvilleDonor

Two notes on this section

AMRC. AMRC is confirmed as a participating organisation by the Henry Royce Institute. However, AMRC’s own newsroom places its senior leadership at the Farnborough International Airshow on 21 July — a different event on a different day. No source places a named AMRC individual at the Summit.

AstraZeneca. The company states “yesterday we joined His Majesty King Charles III… for the official opening,” which confirms the organisation. No public source names which executive attended.

A note on departmental names

The Summit fell on the last day of the Department for Business and Trade under that name. From 21 July 2026 the Burnham government abolished the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology and renamed DBT the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (DBIST), moving science and innovation policy into it. Organisations are listed under the names in use on 20 July, with current names noted. The same change explains Lord Vallance’s position: he attended as Minister for Science at DSIT and resigned that day, as the department he led was wound up.

Organisations

31 represented

Organisations with at least one individual confirmed present.

Confirmed present, representative not identified

Named by the University or by another confirmed participant as taking part, but with no individual publicly identified.

Two cohorts are documented in aggregate but almost entirely unnamed. Organiser copy refers to “leading AI firms” and the Henry Royce Institute to “tech giants… entrepreneurs, investors” — yet only one AI delegate, Reza Zadeh, and no investor has been identified.

Method

How entries qualify

What counts as evidence

In descending order: an organiser or employer statement naming the individual; a first-person published statement naming the Summit or the opening; a name caption in organiser-produced video; a captioned official photograph, or credential text legible in official photography; reputable press naming the person in the King’s receiving line; another confirmed attendee placing them at the event.

What does not count

Job title or seniority. An employer being present. Liking, sharing or commenting on an event post. Being thanked for project work. Being a donor, an advisory-board member, or a contributor to an earlier report. Appearing in a search-result snippet. Coverage of a different event at the same laboratory — the 2023 groundbreaking, the topping-out ceremony, earlier SMI visits, or pre-event announcements.

No facial recognition

Nobody here was identified from their appearance in a photograph, including the group photograph on the companion page. Where photography contributed, the identification came from printed text — a lower-third caption or a legible credential — which is evidence of the same kind as a photo caption.

Known limitations

The delegate list, the programme and the printed Court Circular are not public. Several confirmed organisations have published nothing about the day. Coverage is therefore biased toward organisations with active communications teams and individuals who chose to post — which under-represents government, investors and international delegates.

Rejected

Considered and excluded

A list is only as trustworthy as the entries it refuses.

← Companion page

Reflections from the Summit

What the Summit argued for, the three technology demonstrations, and the cryogenic engine figure worth reading.
Video ↗

The opening, on film

Footage of the King opening the New Whittle Laboratory. Third-party upload; captions are auto-generated and the narration is not a reliable source.
Sources