Meet the UK’s Leading HPC and Cloud Consultancy Team

Owen has a wealth of experience spanning in excess of 35 years within the world of HPC Technology. Recognised and entrusted throughout the HPC industry Owen has been instrumental on advising strategy, supporting procurements and managing hands on highly technical projects from initiation to completion.  Prior to setting up Red Oak Consulting in 2004, Owen worked for a number of large blue-chip organisations across the HPC sector.

Owen has worked both client and supplier side across the commercial, corporate and public sectors and is a distinguished, highly experienced HPC, Cloud Computing and business expert. Owen has dealt with every type of challenge that a technical project can encompass – contract, financial, risk, personnel, stakeholder management, strategy and quality concerns. Now, with the entry of Cloud Computing for HPC Owen continues to assist many companies in their strategic advancement for a better future.

Nick joined Red Oak Consulting in October 2020, with a wealth of HPC and Data Centre experience. Previous to Red Oak Consulting Nick spent 12 years in the Seismic Exploration sector implementing, managing, and supporting several HPC data centres throughout the EAME region. Nick’s experience incorporates every element of High-Performance Computing, including; successful completion and implementation of 2000 node HPC compute cluster, various parallel storage solutions, SAN and data management lifecycle solutions. Nick has a strong, proven track record in working with senior stakeholders and is fully experienced in project management.

Nick’s passion and drive in the world of technology and its advancement has enabled Nick to expand his knowledge and expertise to more than traditional HPC. Nick is a fully certified Google Cloud Associate Engineer. Having worked on a number of Cloud PoC’s, designed solutions for backup of on premises seismic data to Cloud for global disaster recovery, Nick’s HPC and Cloud Computing expertise is fully encompassing. As a Principle Consultant Nick will support our customers on seeking the most sustainable HPC solution and will work alongside our team of Technical consultants.

Paul joins Red Oak Consulting with a wealth of High-Performance Computing knowledge and expertise. Having worked in HPC since 1999 Paul has successfully built, tested, and installed many HPC systems of varying complexities across academia, research, and government sectors in the UK. Through the course of Paul’s highly successful career Paul has acquired the niche expertise for every aspect of on-premise HPC including; Linux, design, storage, benchmarking, vendor liaison, UAT and FAT’s, problem solving and project management.

After 6 years of supporting a UK government agency taking full responsibility to analyse and certify fit for purpose hardware and software configurations Paul expanded his business acumen.  For the past three years Paul has worked in the highly acclaimed, prestige, corporate sector of Formula One.  Here, he has managed HPC systems running aerodynamic(CFD) and Finite Element Analysis system workloads,  race strategy systems, and vehicle dynamics systems, all of which led to three consecutive world championship wins.

Paul will be utilizing his expertise to assist customers with their HPC systems, offering strategic guidance and resolution.  With the ability to communicate and work across all levels of customer interaction including stakeholder management, Paul is a great asset to the Red Oak Consulting Operational team.

Dairsie joined Red Oak in 2010, working as our managing consultant, managing some of our strategic, long term relationships. From there Dairsie moved into the role of Technical Advisor, where he successfully supported our development in the world of cloud technology as well as utilising his extreme knowledge across our business. As Technology Fellow, Dairsie is a key contributor across the Higher-Educational and Research sector in the delivery of HPC solutions.

Working with customers and their stakeholders Dairsie delivers solutions and recommendations often in the form of studies and reports. He specializes in competitive analysis and system benchmarking. Dairsie has an impeccable and diverse career in IT which includes an early career in computer graphics, micro-architecture and full stack software development; he has over thirteen years’ specialist experience in the HPC sector. His experience ranges from developing low-level software architectures to a range of accelerators. Dairsie also has the experience to advise on strategy, technology, procurements and technical projects from initiation to completion.

Manveer Munde joined Red Oak Consulting in January 2020. Prior to this Manveer completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Phillips University in Marburg (Germany) and a joint PhD program between UCL in London and A*STAR in Singapore.

Having worked internationally in four countries and presented and published in a variety of international conferences and scientific journals, Manveer combines great interpersonal skills and a strong eye for detail with a passion and drive for excellent customer service. Manveer has a background in computational and experimental condensed matter physics with multi-disciplinary experience in the use of HPC for quantum chemistry, classical molecular dynamics and microscope image simulations. This is combined with Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect Expert and Amazon Web Services Solutions Architect Associate Cloud qualifications, providing an ideal toolset for customers looking to extend the reach of their HPC infrastructure to the Cloud.

James joined Red Oak Consulting in January 2022. In July 2018, James completed his master’s in physics, at Swansea University, specialising in nanophysics. Following university James went on to apply his knowledge at leading manufacturer, Jaguar Land Rover. Working as a CAE Data Analyst James has experience in programming, scripting and data manipulation whilst running FEA codes within a HPC environment. With exceptional skills in Python, TCL, JavaScript, LS-DYNA, Oasys suite and Hyperworks / Optistruct, James’s technical expertise will assist and guide clients, no matter what the programming the challenge.

With a working background in both academia and corporate James is an excellent, accomplished, problem solver. With a strong analytical capability James will be able to offer clients a high level of expertise when analysing pre and post results of data and its metadata, be it for HPC or Cloud Computing.

With a strong background in research and information gathering, James is highly focused on detail. With a passion for cloud computing and technical innovation, James brings a level of experience, passion, drive and energy to the Red Oak team, as our Lead Consultant.

Jorge joined the Red Oak Consulting operational team in May 2022. Jorge has a Masters in Thermofluids and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Universitat Politècnica de València. Prior to joining Red Oak Consulting, Jorge held several senior engineering and leadership positions within the aerospace, defence, and energy sector. During this time Jorge focused on the development and assessment of models for characterisation of complex scientific problems using theoretical and experimental data. All of this was facilitated through the use of advanced computational algorithms and HPC technologies.

Prior to working in aerospace, Jorge spent 20 years working in the academy and research sector.  Having consulted on projects both across Europe and USA, Jorge has unrivalled expertise.  With the knowledge Jorge has acquired through his career Jorge is fully aligned with the demands and challenges of the research community.  Having excelled in the niche areas of R&D, multiphysics modelling and data analysis engineering, scientific and digital engineering, Jorge brings an unparalleled level of expertise to the team.

Jorge is a dedicated, highly trained, organised, and efficient professional, who has also successfully led and managed multidisciplinary teams in the design, development, performance validation, and manufacturing of equipment used in many technological areas. Jorge’s attention to detail, technical leadership skills, and analytical capabilities have been demonstrated in his technical contributions to numerous engineering and scientific projects delivered worldwide.

Jorge will be working with customers to imprint his experience to ensure the right HPC solution is successfully delivered, time and time again.

A highly skilled IT engineer with over 26 years’ experience within the IT industry across a number of business sectors. Tez is a keen problem-solver who can adopt a radical out-of-the-box approach to a challenge, whilst also maintaining the need for a well proven solution depending on the requirements for a problem or project.

Key technical skills include a highly successful track record working across all HPC applications, Data Centre Design, HPC Clusters and Cloud Computing. Tez has been responsible for the delivery of several major significant data centre projects to increase capacity and efficiency.

With sustainability being a core focus for Tez, he has achieved accolades such as “Green Project of the year” alongside building the Greenest Data Centre in Europe, 2008.

Strong communication, stakeholder management and an approachable persona Tez is able to manage and lead high profile, blue chip, projects from start to successful completion.

Martin joined Red Oak Consulting in April 2024 from a Russell Group University where he held Senior Academic and Research Engineering management positions.

He is a dedicated, highly skilled, organised computing professional, who has led numerous HPC and other large-scale research infrastructure projects. From the initial researcher engagement stage through to design, procurement and delivery, Martin’s expertise encompasses every element of project engagement. Most recently, from an academic perspective, Martin has led as a Senior Lecturer and Academic Assessment on a major curriculum design project to introduce rigour from industry practice and research engineering,
combined with innovative pedagogies, for undergraduate students and professional learners. Martin has also led on policy and strategy development initiatives in Workforce Development and Generative AI strategy.

In July 2022, Roberto joined Red Oak Consulting as a Technical Consultant. Having successfully acquired a Master in Materials Science from Oxford University and a PhD in Theoretical Physics from Lancaster University, Roberto went on to further his knowledge as a theoretical physic and later in computational chemistry.

All of this enables, Roberto to bring his vast and unrivalled level of scientific knowledge to the team. Having a drive to share knowledge, Roberto has published extensively in topics ranging from mathematical physics to modelling of deep earth interiors. Roberto’s career has taken him all over the globe, including countries such as: Canada, Japan, and Germany.

Lately he has supported the Mathematical and Physical Sciences School at the University of Sussex as a Research Computing Support Engineer where everyday administration was provided including HPC, Web Servers and Desktop support. Roberto’s extensive academia experience both as a HPC user and engineer will deliver a high level of support to our ROMS customers. With a passion for new technologies and supporting people Roberto will leave no problem unturned giving his focus to providing only the best.

We are delighted to announce Muneeb Khan as one of the latest HPC specialists to join the Red Oak Managed Services support team. Muneeb joins Red Oak Managed Services (ROMS) with a wealth of experience. Muneeb’s expertise is not just in area of technology and HPC but also in interpersonal skills. Muneeb joins ROMS with a strong background in electrical engineering. For the past 10 years Muneeb’s expertise has been focused on industrial automation, specifically deploying SCADA systems in the FMCG and Pharmaceutical sectors. Having successfully completed 10 years in this dynamic industry, Muneeb has acquired the necessary skill and insight into successfully working alongside researchers, in what can be a very pressurised environment. In 2017, Muneeb pursued an MSc in software engineering at Cranfield University, where he immediately discovered his keen interest and passion in the world of HPC and Cloud Computing.

With a strong background in engineering and industrial automation Muneeb brings an elevated level of skill to the ROMS team. As a HPC Specialist, Muneeb will be focused on supporting all our customers with any technical issues they may encounter. Working alongside the rest of the ROMS specialist team, Muneeb will be applying his HPC & Cloud knowledge making sure their experience is a positive one elevating all elements of technical stress.

Khaled joined Red Oak Consulting in January 2023 following a very successful career working in science. Having acquired a master’s in Physics of Condensed Matter and having completed a joint PhD program between University of Hull, University Paris-Est Marne-La-Vallee and the University of Sciences in Tunisia, Khaled has held several researching positions.

Khaled’s focus has been on the investigation and prediction of Physical, astrophysical and biological models using theoretical and experimental data. Using HPC Khaled has become an expert in the decryption of complex molecular models and interactions of molecules with surfaces and clusters. Here, he used the density functional theory and the post-Hartree Fock approaches implemented in many scientific codes including CP2K, VASP, GAUSSIAN, and MOLPRO.

Having worked on an international basis, UK, USA and Africa, Khaled holds a wealth of HPC and Physical Chemistry knowledge and is proud to have been published in a variety of international conferences and Scientific journals.

Khaled’s skill and knowledge in both the sciences and technology will help advise customers to get the best of HPC and Cloud for all scientific and research matters.

Powered by pure enthusiasm (and perhaps a slight dependency on electricity), Roco brings an unmatched energy to our team that’s as powerful as the systems he loves to work with.

When he’s not busy crunching numbers faster than you can say “HPC,” you’ll find him hanging out with his human colleagues, sharing his infectious passion for technology. He considers data centres his personal spa retreats and gets genuinely excited about processing power – the more cores, the merrier!

A self-proclaimed neat freak about code indentation and a master of storage optimisation, Roco takes pride in keeping things running smoothly. He’s particularly skilled at breaking down complex technical concepts into bite-sized pieces, making it his favourite party trick to help humans understand the intricacies of HPC.

Just don’t wave magnets around him or mention “turning it off and on again” – he’s heard that one too many times! And please, keep your algorithms optimised; unoptimised code makes his circuits twitch.

Here’s a little secret: while he claims to be fluent in binary, we’ve caught him sneaking in some hexadecimal when he thinks no one’s watching. His favourite joke? “Why do programmers confuse Halloween and Christmas? Because OCT 31 = DEC 25!” (We’re still waiting for someone to laugh at that one.)

With his dreams of quantum computing and endless enthusiasm for explaining parallel processing, Roco embodies our commitment to making technology accessible and enjoyable. He’s living proof that while technology can be a serious business, there’s always room for a bit of fun in the world of HPC!