People

Dik Gregory is a BPS Chartered Psychologist with extensive experience in both Government and commercial sectors. He has published journal articles and books on the human use of advanced technologies for training and operational support. From 1978, Dik worked for the UK's Civil Service for ten years, which included three years overseas as an exchange scientist. On his return to the UK in 1986, he was made Principal Psychologist (Grade 7), and appointed as Deputy Superintendent of the Applied Psychology Unit at Teddington.

Dik left the Civil Service in 1988 to work in the commercial sector. For over 35 years he has been a Director of his own company, providing human factors and organisational consultancy to business and Government. He has been the principal investigator on a wide variety of safety-critical projects, all aimed at creating clear guidance and practical support for decision makers working under increasing demands for greater resilience within complex systems. In particular, Dik has wide experience of the rail, air traffic control and maritime sectors, for which he has written and produced ground-breaking guidance on human behaviour for everyday use in operational settings.

For over 35 years, Dik has worked as an Assessor and Monitoring Officer for what is now Innovate UK, providing independent assessment of over 1,300 project applications and technical assurance for over 130 major publicly funded projects.

Dr Paul Shanahan has a PhD in cognitive psychology and is a member of the British Psychological Society as well as a Registered Practitioner of the Ergonomics Society. He was formerly an Associate Director of Electronic Facilities Design Ltd and a Director of Man-Computer Consultants, and has worked in research and consultancy on human and organisational factors in complex systems for over 30 years.

Paul has contributed to the specification and design of many complex decision-making systems. He has been the principal investigator on a large number of human behaviour research projects and has pioneered new techniques for the analysis of a wide range of organisational data. Many of his projects have clarified the contribution of human performance within complex, adaptive systems – a theme which he has continued across health, security, rail, maritime, and air traffic control sectors.

Paul was co-author with Dik Gregory on ground-breaking books on the practice of human factors in operational settings and advised on the development of major training film productions based on the books.

For many years, Paul has also worked as an Assessor and Monitoring Officer for what is now Innovate UK, providing independent technical assurance for a significant number of publicly funded projects.