About us

Dan Hook CEng, FRINA, is a naval architect and chartered engineer with over 25 years’ experience in the marine industry. Upon graduating from the University of Southampton, Dan worked on the development, testing and trials of a wide range of specialist craft. During this time, he recognised the potential within the unmanned vehicle industry and specialised in unmanned platform design.
Dan was one of the founding members of ASV Global, a pioneer in USV development now known as L3 ASV and held the position of managing director as the company grew from two employees to 150 before selling to L3 Harris Technologies. He then became the CTO of Ocean Infinity overseeing the development of the Armada fleet of lean crewed ships (up to 86m) and a host of supporting technologies and platforms. Dan is the co-founder and CEO of RAD, a fast-growing marine tech company providing electric drive and control systems for crewed and uncrewed platforms. He supports several robotics start-ups as a minor investor and board advisor and between 2019 and 2025 was a Trustee and Director of the National Oceanography Centre.
He is active on many industry/government initiatives to grow the UK marine industry.

With 20 years’ experience in the marine technology industry, Richard is a qualified naval architect. After graduating from the University of Southampton with a Master of Engineering in Yacht and Small Craft Design, he began his career at Seaspeed Marine Consulting, specialising in unmanned platform and high-speed craft design.

Richard then spent nine years co-founding and building ASV Global, an autonomous surface vessel technology company where he was technical director until April 2019. Richard built and ran the company’s engineering teams and developed and delivered the company’s technology and product strategy. ASV Global was sold to L3 Harris Technologies in 2018 after intense growth across its UK and US offices.

Dave is a very experienced engineering and project manager who has a proven track record in the successful delivery of a large number of both government and commercial projects with a particular emphasis on projects related to the delivery of research and technology in the marine sector. He has worked for both large defence primes and various marine leisure electronics manufacturers (including Garmin and Raymarine).

His most recent role, before joining RAD, was as the engineering manager for a software engineering team within a small start-up company that developed autonomous surface vehicles.

His project delivery and management skills are backed up by over eight years practical experience working in the commercial offshore oil and gas sector and as such he has direct first-hand experience of the challenges of developing products for the harsh marine environment.

Peter Byford is chief technical officer at RAD, leading all technical aspects of product development and overseeing the delivery of complex engineering projects.

Since joining RAD, Peter has played a central role in the design and development of the company’s electric propulsion systems, helping to position RAD at the forefront of sustainable marine technology.

Before RAD, Peter was head of electrical systems at L3Harris Technologies, where he led the design and delivery of advanced marine robotic systems. Earlier in his career he gained extensive experience in the automotive sector, working with major OEMs and race teams, and he spent over a decade in web development and online database systems delivering digital solutions for blue-chip clients.

Peter holds a first-class degree in automotive engineering and brings a blend of technical depth, cross-industry experience, and practical leadership to his role.

Vicki has 25 years’ experience in b2b, tech and consumer PR and marketing, running award winning campaigns for clients including Princess Cruises, Skype, Sky, IBM, Harman Kardon, Lenovo and GSK. Vicki worked in London until 2016 for two international PR agencies – Porter Novelli and Text 100. As a director at Text 100 she led campaigns across the EMEA region for the agency’s tech and consumer clients.

Prior to joining RAD she worked for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Harry graduated from the University of Southampton with a MEng in Electronic Engineering. His extensive skillset covers processor and PCB design as well as web development and cloud infrastructure. At RAD Harry leads a team of engineers to deliver digital systems enabling the electrification of marine propulsion.

During his degree he focused on embedded systems design, particularly networked sensor systems and low-level electronic design. His masters’ project involved novel analogue design for a secure system.

Sam has worked in both the aerospace and marine industries focusing on requirements management, product testing and certification. Prior to joining RAD he worked on the certification of landing gear for Airbus A330 NEO aircraft, test and certification of bespoke first-class cabin products for major international airlines, concept/requirements development for large naval defence projects.

Sam is responsible for product compliance testing as part of his role ensuring that RAD's high performance electrical systems are designed and tested to the latest standards.

John has a BSc Hons in product design and innovation and 18 years of experience as a designer for both SMEs and large public institutions.

Prior to joining RAD, John worked at the University of Portsmouth where he was responsible for developing the Faculty of Creative and Cultural Industries’ 3D printing, computer aided design and manufacture (CAD/CAM) facilities as well as supporting overall design practice at the University. John was nominated for a Praxis Auril Knowledge Exchange Award for using the University’s laser cutting facilities to design and create a face shield for use by medical professionals during the Covid-19 pandemic.

John’s decision to join RAD was strongly influenced by his love of water sports. He is an avid windsurfer and paddleboarder. Also, a keen sailor from a young age, he has an in-depth understanding of the marine environment that helps to inform his design decisions.

Todd brings extensive experience in building and nurturing key relationships, having worked with Sebastian Terry at 100things Inc and at ContentCal (now Adobe). He has partnered with global brands such as Google, McKesson, and Odeon Cinemas, helping them implement solutions that drive real business impact.
With a first-class degree in coaching and development, Todd puts people at the heart of everything he does. He thrives on helping individuals and teams reach the next level, and his collaborative approach fuels both his work and the success of those around him.

Chris Shepherd is a commercial and business growth leader with extensive experience across the defence, aerospace and autonomy sectors. He is responsible for driving RAD’s growth in defence and adjacent markets, leading business winning, strategic partnerships and market expansion.

Chris has held senior roles at Thales, L3Harris and MBDA, working on complex, high-value programmes across maritime, land and air domains. He has led business units, recovered challenging programmes, and delivered critical capability into service at pace, including in operationally urgent environments.

More recently, he has worked at the forefront of the uncrewed maritime sector, leading the rapid delivery of autonomous surface systems into defence customers and supporting innovative deployments in support of UK and allied operations. He has also advised a number of SMEs in the autonomy and maritime space, helping them position, grow and win in highly competitive defence markets.

Chris brings a combination of strategic insight, delivery focus and deep understanding of defence customers, supporting RAD to become a leading provider of electric propulsion and integrated systems for next-generation maritime capability.