Binal Patel

Consultant at Copperleaf 

Binal is an Implementation consultant at Copperleaf with experience working with organisations in the Water, Power Generation and Rail Industries. She currently supports organisations in implementing the Copperleaf software to make value-based decisions. Prior to joining Copperleaf, Binal has had experience of leading and supporting a wide variety of projects across the Asset Management System, including building Reliability Engineering tools, Investment Planning and Strategic Planning. Passionate about the industry and bringing in more graduates, Binal supports the NxtGen Committee to deliver the strategy to support the IAM moving forward.

Jennifer De Vries

Principle Asset Management Consultant at PA Consulting Group

Jennifer is an asset management consultant at PA Consulting. Her experience spreads across numerous sectors including energy, utilities and defence where she has worked with clients at varying stages of asset management maturity to achieve their business objectives. She is a firm believer in pragmatic and practical solutions.

She is a member of the IAM Council and previously worked with the NxtGen committee for the 6 years to deliver the ‘Introduction to Asset Management’ stream at the annual conference.

Andrew Sharp

Global Asset Management Director at AMCL

Andrew is the Global lead for Asset Management within AMCL responsible for coordinating the development and continual improvement of AMCL’s international products and services, sharing good and best practices.

Andrew is a Chartered Electrical Engineer with over 30 years’ experience in the utilities and transport Asset Management field in line management, headquarters and consultancy roles.

He is experienced in designing, implementing and assessing Asset Management systems across the transport and utility sectors, including Asset Management staff training and development.

Originally employed within the UK Rail industry for 10 years, since 1999 Andrew has worked with AMCL to deliver Asset Management solutions for transport and utilities clients, and is now responsible for the development, maintenance and assurance of AMCL’s international product portfolio.

Michelle Ashford

Chief Operating Officer at Water Industry Commission for Scotland

Michelle is a chartered civil engineer and a highly experienced management professional, with over 30 years in the water industry. Her areas of expertise are in strategic business and asset planning, performance monitoring, and technical and regulatory governance for business planning and risk management.

Michelle joined WICS in 2017 as Chief Operating Officer. She brings experience of working within regulated companies to the practice of the economic regulator. By drawing on her communication skills and expertise in collaborative working, Michelle is currently working with the water sector stakeholders in Scotland to promote Ethical Business Practice and Regulation and develop a trust and confidence behavioural model for the sector to operate moving forward into the next regulatory period.

Before joining WICS, Michelle was Head of Network Asset Planning at Bristol Water, where she was responsible for managing the company’s network assets. Prior to this she was seconded from PA Consulting into Ofwat as the Programme Director for the Retail Market Opening Programme. Michelle had previously worked for Black & Veatch, where she led on several strategic business and asset planning assignments.