Our team of aerospace engineers are rigorously analytical, creative and pragmatic in their consulting approach, having combined experience over multiple engineering disciplines.
Dr Steve Lingard
Steve, our Director, founded Vorticity, a niche aerospace engineering consultancy, in 2002. Today Steve is excited to see Vorticity continue to grow and lead in its field of parachute simulation, systems design and aerospace innovation.
John Underwood
John, our Principal Engineer, has extensive experience with all aspects of parachute system design including system definition and trades, computer modelling and testing – both in wind tunnels and free-flight.
Sarah Griffey
Sarah, our People and Business Development Manager, has more than twenty years experience of working in professional services and the technology sector. Sarah is responsible for Vorticity’s contracts management, procurement and HR.
Sam Overend
Sam, a Senior Engineer, has expertise in system definition and trades, computer modelling, simulation software development and test analysis.
Dr Arrun Saunders
Arrun is a Senior Engineer. His area of expertise is in orbit dynamics and the near-Earth space environment; secular thermospheric density change and the estimation of satellite physical properties for use in predicting long-term orbital evolution.
Dr Michela Gramola
Michela joined Vorticity as a Senior Engineer in December 2024. She holds an MEng from the University of Cambridge and a PhD in high-speed aerodynamics from Imperial College London, where she also completed a postdoc on the aerothermodynamics of deployable heat shields. Her prior industry experience includes mission analysis for atmospheric flight vehicles and high-speed propulsion systems. Outside of work, Michela enjoys running and salsa dancing.
Thomas Hancock
Thomas joined Vorticity in 2019 and is a Senior Engineer. He completed his MEng at the University of Cambridge, and is a Chartered Engineer with the IET. He focuses on all aspects of textile engineering, parachute inflation modelling, trajectory simulation and flexible thermal insulation.
Joe Lynch
Joe joined Vorticity in August 2019 and is a Senior Engineer. A graduate of the University of Southampton, he currently focuses on hardware testing activities, electronics and mechanical system design and manufacturing, and computational aerodynamics simulations. Outside of work, Joe’s interests include running and climbing.
Juan Rodgers
Juan joined Vorticity in November 2022 after graduating from the University of Cambridge. His master’s project focused on turbomachinery blade geometry optimisation using CFD. During his time at Vorticity he has worked on software, trajectory simulations and test design & analysis. Outside of work, Juan enjoys rugby and football.
Shash Verma
Shash joined Vorticity as a Systems Engineer in March 2024. He graduated with a master’s degree in Physics from the University of Cambridge. He focuses on electrical engineering, computational analysis, and additive manufacturing. Outside of work, he enjoys playing field hockey as a left-forward.
Stephen Doran
Stephen joined Vorticity in October 2024 as a Systems Engineer after graduating with a master’s degree in Aerospace Dynamics with a specialisation in flight dynamics and control from Cranfield University, and a bachelor’s degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Limerick. His master’s project focused on the modelling and autonomous control of parafoil and payload systems during landing. Outside of work, Stephen enjoys participating in athletics and hurling, and playing music.
Hugh Pickerin
Co-founder of Vorticity and Company Secretary. Hugh has led a number of major projects for the aerospace, IT and upstream oil exploration industries over the last twenty-five years.