Name: Michael Ayres
Business: Dearman Engine Company
Job title: Group managing director
Website: www.dearmanengine.com
Dearman is a startup developing the invention of Peter Dearman, an archetypal ‘garden shed’ inventor. The vision of the company is to harness liquid air to deliver cleaner and cheaper (zero-emission) transport and refrigeration solutions globally.
Michael Ayres has been instrumental in bringing this game-changing technology, the Dearman engine, to an international market in a compressed timeframe.
Michael joined Dearman at its inception in 2011 as COO, with the responsibility of delivering a demanding engineering programme to achieve the company’s objectives. Since then, he has: built an international team of more than 25 world-class UK engineers; led Dearman’s first two collaborative projects, winning more than £4.5m in grant and industrial funding; delivered a successful first engine for on-vehicle testing at MIRA; secured partnerships with industry market leaders including Hubbard Products, Air Products, TRL, CENEX, MIRA and leading UK engineering universities.
Michael’s success in creating a cross-industry and academic ecosystem has been central to the rapid growth of Dearman. In 2015, the Dearman engine will be in field trials with a major UK food retailer – this is a huge achievement.
Michael joined Dearman with a background in economics and policy but no formal engineering training. Despite this, he continues to deliver a pioneering engineering programme that has received the praise of the leaders in automotive research, many of whom are twice his age.
Nominated by: Alec Falconer, associate - public affairs at Dearman Engine Company
