We are pleased to announce that Julia Muir, CEO of Gaia Innovation has been appointed to Silverstone Technology Cluster as one of its first female ambassadors.

Detailed below is the press release sent out by Silverstone Park about the appointment.

Julia Muir and Cristiana Pace have been appointed to Silverstone Technology Cluster (STC) as the first female ambassadors.

Julia is well known to the Silverstone Park and STC business communities.

Her company Gaia Innovation’s Inspiration for Innovation programme enables employers to engage with schools to inspire youngsters to pursue careers in advanced technology sectors. This is a key part of Silverstone Park’s schools engagement programme and includes volunteers from multiple STC companies. She was a guest speaker at May’s STC Annual Conference.

Among Julia’s notable roles and achievements are:

• Founder of the UK Automotive 30% Club which seeks to close the gender gap and improve employment destinations for women in the automotive sector
• Senior roles in marketing, product development and HR in Ford of Britain and Europe
• A top 50 Financial Times ‘HERoes – champions of women in business’ in 2017 and 2018

Julia said: “I’m pleased to be asked to be a part of the STC – the cluster strikes me as a perfect incubator environment because people seem so positive towards new ideas. The fact it is already a network sits with our philosophy (Gaia Innovation and Automotive UK 30% Club) of building strong networks.”

Julia believes the Inspiration for Innovation programme being funded by Silverstone Park (currently still in its first year) can evolve to play a greater role in the STC’s future.

“It can become a key enabler in creating a skills pipeline for the STC’s businesses and also those in the wider Cambridge-Oxford ‘super cluster’,” she continued.

“This can be done by breaking down stereotypes for boys and girls so as to achieve the best employment destinations for every child.

“That doesn’t simply mean a post-16 pathway that puts them in education, training or employment but the one that’s actually right for their personality, skills or passion.”

Julia added: “Clearly I’m also passionate about best employment destinations for women – many of whom don’t become, for example, CEOs, entrepreneurs or technologists because of invisible yet very real barriers.

“I’d therefore like the STC’s eco-system to further benefit from the experiences of Automotive UK 30% Club members by bringing them into the Inspiration for Innovation programme which, as we’ve quickly found in its first year, is proving very motivational for children.”

Cristiana is a relatively new face to the STC membership. She has covered senior engineering and management positions in motorsport globally.

Appointments have included:
• Senior Research Consultant for the FIA, Safety Department 
• Head of Sales and Business Development for EM Motorsport 
• Business Development Manager at Williams Advanced Engineering
• STEMNET ambassador and chartered engineer at the IMechE
• STEM leader and ambassador for Dare to be Different – reaching out to 3,000 primary aged girls in the UK and 4,500 worldwide

Aside from an engineering degree in Bologna, Italy and a Masters at Cranfield University, Cristiana is about to complete a PhD at the Faculty of Business & Law, Coventry University in low-carbon transitions.

In 2018 she founded Enovation Consulting Ltd, which specialises in bringing innovative thinking to the motorsport and advanced engineering industries. This provides strategy and operation and knowledge based work in areas such as change management and sustainability. Mindful of legacies left behind, Enovation has also designed and delivered STEM and educational programmes for top businesses in the UK and worldwide.

Cristiana commented: “I am delighted to have been asked to become an STC ambassador.

“Talking with Roz Bird (STC Chair), I was very impressed to learn of all the high tech and innovative companies in the STC. Innovation, new technologies and motorsport are my passions – it’s where my network is so I know how important it is to help the cluster develop those skills and capabilities.”

She added: “I’m very passionate about passing on to future generations the same love for engineering and innovation that our generation has. Engineering is all about making the world a better place – as showcased by the STC membership.

“For me, it’s all about connecting the dots between companies of different sectors, policy makers, universities and local schools to organically and seamlessly enable the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) wave – joining Roz and Julia in the STC is a great opportunity.”

STC Chair Roz Bird enthused: “The STC Board is delighted that Cristiana and Julia recently accepted invitations to become Ambassadors during the week of International Women In Engineering Day (23 June).

“They bring a wealth of knowledge and contacts and are clearly highly motivated when it comes to changing attitudes and being a force for good for the STC, its business community and young people.

“They are both fabulous names to have ‘on our side’ and the STC Board and membership very much look forward to working with them.”