Valerie was born and raised in the United States.  She has always had a love of science and of doing what she can to make the world a better place. She earned a baccalaureate degree with Honors in Microbiology, and subsequently worked in both academic and industry research teams. Her research focused on immunotherapeutics and virology, including Coronaviruses and Vaccinia vaccine development. Valerie then decided that she would rather have a more tangible impact on people’s lives, so she went on to get a baccalaureate degree in Nursing. She has been working in Intensive Care Units for ten years. She has also participated in numerous medical trips abroad, volunteering in South Africa, Haiti, Zambia, and Honduras.

“Throughout my ten years working in nursing, I have never been able to find an N95 or FFP3 mask that fits my face – either in the US or the UK. This has created stress for me, not knowing if any adequate PPE will be available for me when I arrive at the hospital for work. I believe that everyone should be able to get a mask that fits them correctly and provides the protection they need to feel safe. I also feel that this should be reusable, both for the benefit to the environment with reduced waste, but also so that every individual has a mask they know will be available when they need it.”

Gareth was born and raised in Wales bar a one-year period in the USA during childhood.  From an early age Gareth would annoy his parents by dismantling anything he could get hold of, starting with escaping from his cot as a baby.  This love of working out how things worked led him into science and engineering.  He eventually studied Chemistry at Warwick University and the earned a PhD in Synthetic Organic Chemistry from Swansea University.

After his academic studies, Gareth went on to establish his first Business in IT.  Swan CD LTD flourished and is now in its 24th year of trading.  He has subsequently founded two other companies including myMaskFit.

In his spare time, Gareth is addicted to adventure and actively pursues sports such as mountaineering, caving and climbing amongst others.  His sports led to a love of travel, and he has visited many remote regions around the world including sailing to Greenland, exploring and mapping remote areas of the coastline whilst achieving a few first ascents of mountains on the way.

Gareth also has been involved in helping on medical trips to developing countries including Haiti and Honduras.

“The need for proper protection against disease was highlighted to me during the COVID-19 pandemic. My wife Valerie cannot fit the current masks and she was pregnant with our daughter Sienna at the start of the pandemic. The worry that she was working in the ICU with COVID patients whilst pregnant brought home the real urgency of the need for properly fitting face masks. My Scientific and Engineering background coupled with my entrepreneurial flair led me to be highly motivated to work on this important project in order to hopefully protect lives.”

Born and raised in Argentina, in a bilingual Spanish-English family, made me curious about education and language acquisition since my late teens.

Although my parents were always questioned about the need to send us to a bilingual school, they managed to convince friends and acquaintances that not just because of speaking English at home, we would learn how to read and write in that language so, with a lot of effort, they managed to put my sister and I through private education, helping us to master both languages.

I became a kindergarten teacher studying in the evenings and working in different schools during the day so before moving to the UK, I had already collected 15 years of experience working as a teacher both in English and Spanish.

Fast forwarding to now, I became a mum and I am not only a bilingual teacher to my son and step children but a house manager, a breastfeeding advocate, a co-sleeping insomniac, expedite decision maker, human resources manager for myMaskFit and a person still trying to overcome PTSD, amongst other roles.

“From a selfish perspective, having family and friends in Argentina and Australia took me to take interest in finding a way to control the virus so I can meet my loved ones sooner. Experiencing heartbreak and deep sorrow first hand, after the death of my son Félix, made me aware of how the avoidable death of a loved one can be a life changing experience that leaves a scar in the structure of the family and affects the relationships within the family, therefore, I am proud to be part of a team that is working on contributing with a solution that will help keep people safe in this unprecedented pandemic times.”

Paul has thirty years’ experience in Aerospace, Defence, Naval & Energy markets – and high technologies associated with these industries.

Paul comes with suite of senior Director and Vice President roles in BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, GKN Aerospace, Exostar and Airbus, and has been involved in the creation of new ventures such as a service company supporting the Royal Air Force as the  AirTanker as a board director.  

Paul has recently supported GKN Aerospace in achieving over £124m net funding for aerospace and manufacturing technologies in the UK, Sweden, US and Europe with a focus on Additive Manufacturing (£25m), a new technology centre for Industry 4.0 £60M which included a prime role with the Aerospace partners BAE Systems, Rolls-Royce, and BAE Systems but also Nissan and GSK. In addition a grant of £54M will be awarded to allow GKN Aerospace to lead Hydrogen Hybrid Propulsion. He has also initiated and delivered in the first weeks of the pandemic a response the the UK Government’s call for ventilators - and set up the Ventilator Challenge UK alliance with the HVM Catapult, F1 companies, Automotive and Aerospace primes with a result of over 14,400 ventilators in 14 weeks, a 100x scale up of UK supply chain and enabled by Digital Manufacturing and supply chain, ready for the next spike in the pandemic.

Paul’s strengths are in delivering new growth strategies and creating the propositions which the customer recognise are linked to their needs, and identifying how shareholders can understand their profitability from new business models.

Paul has been in partnership for 10 years to develop new entrepreneur’s ideas, and has a created an extensive network of new businesses through his network. He is a Young Bristol Chamber of Commerce member, and has been active in the Schools promoting engineering and business, and is currently setting up a ʻdragons denʼ.

Paul has a first class degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Bath University, and a Diploma in Business Administration from Lancaster University. And trained at Wharton Business School on Strategy and Scenario Planning. Currently working on his MBD with Bath University.

“I am passionate about solving the world’s largest challenges using innovative engineering and science. I believe MyMaskFit allows our care workers to be safe and productive whilst comfortable. Having been involved with manufacturing in aerospace and aero engines - I am keen to develop sustainable manufacturing and solutions that solve our climate goals and bring mass customisation for diversity.”

My motivation is a personal passion for Engineering. I have strong roots in engineering and have developed management, project and technical skills throughout my career. Born in Oxford and at 16 started my career in working my way up from the shop floor as a toolmaker through to eventually owning and managing Tecton Engineering where we produced and designed precision components. More recently my roles have been in technical sales supporting the Aerospace and Automotive sectors.

“MyMaskFit will make a real difference protecting front line staff with a bespoke mask and I am pleased to be able to help make that difference.”