Professor Santi Maensiri obtained his D.Phil. (Materials Science) from the University of Oxford, UK, and is currently Vice Rector for Academic Affairs and Internationalisation at Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), Thailand. He has published extensively in the areas related to physics materials and nanomaterials. Prior to his current position, he was appointed SUT’s Head of School of Physics and later the Dean of Institute of Science. Also at SUT, he is the Director of Centre of Excellence in Advanced Functional Materials. At the national level, he is presently serving as Executive Board Member of National Metal and Materials Technology Center (MTEC) and the President of the Materials Research Society of Thailand. For his research strength, he has received numerous awards, such as the Outstanding Research Award in Physical Science and Mathematics from The National Research Council of Thailand (NRCT) for two consecutive years (2012 and 2013), the 2013 TRF Senior Research Scholar from the The Thailand Research Fund, and National Outstanding Researcher Award: Physical Science and Mathematics (Physics) also from NRCT, to name a few.
Category: 2017 Delegate
Professor Dr Fazal Ahmad Khalid
Fazal Ahmad Khalid (born 31 December 1957), SI, PhD, CEng, is a Pakistani metallurgical engineer .
Professor Khalid has extensive experience of industry, teaching and research. His research interests are in the field of nanotechnology, automotive and engineering materials, in the interfacial and nanostructures in composites and alloys, development of orthopedic implants and prostheses and shape memory alloys, in the deformation and mechanical behaviour of tungsten, metallic alloys and composites at high strain rate, and high temperature oxidation behaviour of stainless steels and superalloys and processing of Al-diamond, Al-C60 Cu-CNT nanocomposites and Al-TiO2 mechanically alloyed nanomaterials.
While working as Research Fellow and Visiting Professor at Universities of Oxford and Leeds and Empa Swiss Federal Institute he has been involved in the research related to high strain rates deformation and hydocode modeling and structure/property relationships in metals and alloys and processing of composites for thermal management applications and nanotechnology. Earlier he worked as AXEN and Senior Engineer in Pakistan Steel Karachi and PCSIR Lahore, respectively.
Currently he is the vice-chancellor of University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore. He holds bachelor and advanced degrees of Metallurgical Engineering. He is a graduate of the same university.
Dr Robert Haché
Dr. Robert Haché is Vice-President Research and Innovation at York University, where he is responsible for promoting and overseeing the strategic development of research. Haché has been instrumental in building research collaborations and partnerships with international universities. He also oversees institutional supports for research, such as Innovation York, which provides services to York researchers, government and industry partners within five service streams including: commercialization, industry liaison, agreements, entrepreneurship and the internationally award-winning Knowledge Mobilization stream, which has been increasingly recognized for its leadership in social innovation.
Dr. Haché has driven the institutional strategic research priorities forward with the development and implementation of the University’s Strategic Research Plan, Building on Strength 2013-2018, and the University’s Plan for the Intensification and Enhancement of Research, while working to strengthen the University’s research profile both nationally and internationally
Prior to York, he served as the Associate Vice-President Research at the University of Calgary. He has also served as Vice-Dean Research for the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa.
A molecular and cellular biologist and biochemist with a substantial record of publications, Dr. Haché has made invaluable contributions to the understanding of how steroid hormone signaling takes place in cells and how cells respond to DNA damaging agents. He has received research grants and awards from the Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR), National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC), National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and other organizations.
Dr. Haché holds a BSc (biochemistry) from McGill University and a PhD (biochemistry) from Queen’s University.
Dr. Luis Gutiérrez
Dr. Luis Alberto Gutierrez Diaz de Leon obtained his Ph.D. with honors in 2008, in Computing Science from the Autonomous University of Aguascalientes.
He is a member of the Mexican Academy of Computation A.C., board member of the Jalisco Institute of Information Technologies. At the institutional level, he is chairman of the Technical Council of Information Technologies at the University of Guadalajara.
He is currently Chief Information Officer of the University of Guadalajara, where he has undertaken various projects, such as strengthening and increasing the infrastructure and services that provide connectivity to the institution, including more than 300 university spots in 108 municipalities in the state. He is chairman of the Development Committee of the Network of the University Corporation for Internet Development (CUDI), where he has coordinated projects of national importance, such as the growth of the fiber network to interconnect more than 30 universities, all of them members of CUDI through the NIBA network, increasing the scope of the National Network of Education and Research. Among other award-wining projects that he has received, most notably is his appointment as one of the “100 Best CIOs of Mexico in 2013 and 2014” by the magazine and CIO / InfoWorld portal. Likewise, he was recognized by Innovation Week Magazine for coordinating projects with “The Most Innovative person of the Public Sector in 2014 and 2015 Award”.
Professor Richard Greene
Professor Greene graduated in medicine and also holds a PhD in Pharmacology and an MBA. He was a research fellow at the University of Oxford for six years before being appointed to a Lectureship in Biomedical Science at the University of Sheffield in 1998. In 2001 he became a Senior Lecturer at the University of Bristol and was appointed Chair in Anatomy at University College Cork in 2008. He moved to the University of Bradford in 2010 as Dean of the Faculty of Life Sciences and in 2016 took up his current role as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Knowledge Exchange at Manchester Metropolitan University. He has held non-executive directorships at the Company of Anatomists and Incanthera Ltd and was elected recently to serve as a Councillor for the North West Region of the CBI.
Dr Ilavazhagan Govindasamy
Dr.G. Ilavazhagan is Director – International Affairs and before this he was Director -Research, Hindustan University. He was formerly Outstanding Scientist & Director, Life Sciences in Defence Research & Development Organisation, Ministry Of Defence, Govt. of India. Dr. Ilavazhagan has more than forty years of experience in teaching, research, technical coordination and management. Dr. Ilavazhagan has six Indian patents, two US and two EPO patents for the processes of isolation of bioactive principles from Neem. Dr. Ilavazhagan has more than 85 publications in referreed International Journals. His interest in research is High Altitude Stress. He was involved in establishing the Centre for Research in Physiology in Kyrghystan and the DRDO-Bharathiyar Univ, Centre for Life Sciences in Bharathiar University Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Dr.Ilavazhagan also was involved in International Research Projects with erstwhile USSR, Kyrghystan Republic and US Airforce Research Centre in Dayton, USA.
Professor Alex Rayón Jerez
Vice-Rector for International Relations at University of Deusto. Professor & Director Deusto Big Data.
Dr Yong-Chul Kim
Dr. Yong-Chul Kim is the Dean of International and Public Affairs at Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology (GIST). Appointed to the position by President Seung Hyeon Moon in 2017, Dean Kim is using his experience and expertise to bring more dynamism to GIST’s international collaborative research goals and to create stronger partnerships with universities and institutions around the world.
Dean Kim earned his bachelor’s degree in pharmacy, his master’s degree in medicinal chemistry, and his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from Seoul National University. From 1995 to 2000, he served as a postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health and joined GIST in 2001 as a professor in the School of Life Sciences where he also served as the school’s dean from 2011-2015.
Dean Kim’s research area is focused on designing molecule organic that help treat and control disease-related proteins. His research has been recognized internationally with numerous honors and awards, such as the Most Cited Paper Award from Elsevier.
As GIST’s global outreach continues to expand internationally, Dean Kim will play a pivotal role in ensuring successful partnerships and collaborative research projects that will allow science and technology to help solve the most difficult problems facing humanity in the 21st century.
Mr Michael Jameson
Michael Jameson – Strategic Director of Children’s Services, CBMDC
Michael is the Strategic Director of Children’s Services and has been in post since March 2014. Michael has responsibility for strategic leadership across education, employment and skills, social care, safeguarding children and youth offending. He works with partners to make Bradford a place where children and young people from all communities feel safe, enjoy living, and develop the skills and opportunities to fulfil their potential.
Before moving to Bradford, Michael has spent his career working in a number of authorities across the North West and latterly held the post of Executive Director in Oldham, responsible for commissioning, services to adults, children, health, education, employment and skills. Michael played a key part in Oldham’s transformation from 2009 – 2014 and also contributed to Greater Manchester’s public service reform. Michael is committed to using those experiences and skills in helping shaping and delivering the Council’s and partners’ ambitions for Bradford.
Professor Zahir Irani
Professor Zahir Irani studied Manufacturing Engineering at the University of Salford before working as a Project Engineer in industry. He then secured a full scholarship from Brunel University London, where he completed a PhD in Investment Decision Making. His professional development has seen him complete his leadership and financial management training at Harvard Business School (HBS) and University of Cambridge, respectively. He started his academic career in the Department of Computer Science at Brunel University London. Five years later becoming the youngest Professor in the UK, followed by a period as Head of Department, where he championed industry-academia partnerships.
A move to a more senior management position, saw him lead the Brunel Business School. After completing a 7-year tenure as Head of the Brunel Business School, where he won the prestigious Times Higher Education (THE) Business School of the Year award. He accepted an invitation to work in Central Government, where he was seconded to Whitehall as a Senior Policy Advisor in the Cabinet Office during the UK coalition Government. On completion, he returned to academia, as Founding Dean, of the newly established College of Business, Arts and Social Sciences at Brunel University London; an amalgamation of four previous Schools – Business, Law, Social Sciences and Education.
In 2016 the University of Bradford appointed Professor Irani as Dean of Faculty (Management and Law), where he led a successful merger with the Faculty of Social Sciences before assuming the role of a Founding Dean of the new Faculty.
As a senior academic leader, Professor Irani expanded his portfolio when appointed Deputy Vice-Chancellor at the University of Bradford, with responsibility for Academic, Innovation and Quality, where he is accountable for:
• Four academic faculty’s.
• Directorate of Outreach, Recruitment and Marketing (DORM)
• Directorate of Student & Academic Services (including registry, library, career services, counselling, etc),
• Directorate of Learning, Teaching and Quality Enhancement, and,
Professor Irani also leads the transformation and growth of the University’s undergraduate, postgraduate (taught and research) educational portfolio through Faculty and Professional services, where he leads on innovation and enhancing the quality of the student experience, teaching practice, curriculum development and support for student learning and success.
The West Yorkshire Lord Lieutenancy formally recognized Professor Irani for his outstanding service to the community. He continues to support charities such as Age UK (Bradford and District) and the Volunteering Interfaith Partnerships (VIP) that help vulnerable communities.
He has also received the district governor’s award from Rotary International for services to the community.
He is also leading social, economic and cultural value creation, having been appointed by the Bradford Metropolitan District Council as the Chair of the Bradford Covid-19 Economic Recovery Board that developed a 5-year economic recovery plan for the district; approved in 2021 by the council executive and elected officials. At a national level, appointed by the NHS (Health Education England), to Chair a Blended Learning Advisory Group that will revision the future of medical and health clinical placements. He is also a Higher Education representative on a Cyber Security Steering Group for the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport.
Professor Irani was named by the Sunday Times as a leading Bradford influencer. He tweets at: @ZahirIrani1