Category: 2020 Delegate

A senior leader with a background in strategy development, collaborative working and knowledge management. At Coventry University Jo is the institutional lead on national and international policy engagement. She is responsible for coordinating our engagement with relevant bodies, national regulatory bodies and HE networks such as University Alliance and the World Technology Universities Network (WTUN). Through her work she has a wide network of HE, industry and policy contacts. Jo has led on a number of organisational change programmes within the university, the two most significant involved (i) establishing two new professional services departments to support our growing research aspirations, as well as our continued engagement with industry and (ii) the launch of a formal Location Independent Working programme. She is a CMI accredited coach and supports colleagues with their personal development through our university’s coaching and mentoring academy. Jo strongly believes that collaborative working is key to economic and societal growth and that the Higher Education sector has a key role as a catalyst for collaboration. Experience: HE policy in the UK; developing business cases for investment; chairing and facilitation of large and small groups; public speaking; networking and building influence; project management; public funding bid writing and development; flexible working practices; business-university collaboration; public funded research and enterprise programmes; business and enterprise support; managing complex budgets; information and knowledge management.

Dr Godwin Poi is Senior Lecturer and Director of University Advancement & Linkages at the University of Africa, Toru-Orua, (UAT), Bayelsa State, Nigeria. His specialist subject area is Entrepreneurship Research and Development. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales (ICAEW) as well as a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN). He holds a Ph.D in Management (Human Capital Development) and an MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from UK universities. He presently also heads the Department of Business Administration of the Faculty of Social and Management Sciences. He has published in both national and international journals.

Professor Zeppenfeld was born in Werl/Germany. After having passed the Abitur (higher education entrance qualification in Germany), he studied computer sciences with mathematics as a minor subject at the University of Paderborn. Afterwards, he was employed as scientific assistant at Osnabrück University, where he also earned his doctorate. Subsequently working as a senior consultant for Capgemini (formerly: sd&m – software design & management AG), Professor Zeppenfeld was in various projects responsible for the holistic development of individual software solutions for key account customers.

In 1997, he accepted the position as a professor of computer sciences at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund/Germany, where he was appointed vice dean of the department in 1999, before being dean from 2005 to 2009. In this function, he helped to determine the orientation of the computer science department. In 2009, the Ministry of Science in North Rhine-Westphalia appointed Professor Zeppenfeld as founding president of Hamm-Lippstadt University of Applied Sciences. His second term as university president lasts until 2021. Since 2021 he is back as a teaching and research professor in the fields of practical computer science and software engineering at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Dortmund/Germany.

Besides his activities as a university professor, he also acted as a scientific director and as a chairman of the supervisory board in different companies and has written several scientific textbooks. He is also a member of an international jury panel for the annual Hamdan Bin Mohammad Award for Smart Government in Dubai since 2014.

Since October 2021, Professor Zeppenfeld was awarded as a Lifetime Fellow in the WTUN (World Technology Universities Network).

Professor Vishanth Weerakkody is Associate Dean of International and Enterprise at the Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences and Chair of Bradford Business and Social Enterprise Board. He was formally Dean of Faculty and is a Professor of Digital Governance in the School of Management at the University of Bradford. Before moving to the University of Bradford, he held various senior management roles at Brunel Business School.

His current research and teaching are multidisciplinary and centred around public sector policy implementation, process transformation through digital technologies, social innovation and the implementation, diffusion, and adoption of disruptive technologies in society. Focusing on the evolving role of technology, Prof Weerakkody closely follows and critiques digital-enabled service transformation efforts in government that fail to deliver public value and meet citizens’ expectations. He was called to the House of Commons in 2018 as a scientific expert to provide evidence on UK’s digital transformation efforts in public administration. His passion for solving societal problems through research and innovation has allowed him to attract over £25 million of R&D funding over the last few years from the EU, ESRC, Qatar Foundation, British Council and UK Local Government.

As a research-active academic, Prof Weerakkody continues to publish in the Chartered Association of Business Schools 3* and 4* journals. Prior to joining academia, Prof Weerakkody worked in several multinational organisations including BAT Industries and IBM.

Paul is a Professor of Innovation and Entrepreneurship Practice and Director of Bradford-Renduchintala Enterprise Ecosystem (BREE) in the University of Bradford School of Management. Paul leads the University of Bradford Accelerated Entrepreneurship Programme, which provides opportunities for students, researchers, staff and community members to establish and grow successful business and social enterprises. Paul also directs the UK-China Healthtech Open Innovation programme, which has secured over £11m for collaborative research and innovation between UK/EU and Chinese academics, clinicians and companies.Paul is also a co-founder and CEO of CrystecPharma, a University of Bradford technology spin-out company focused on improving the performance of medicines, working with industry clients world-wide as well as developing its own portfolio of differentiated pharmaceutical products. The company has operations, joint ventures and strategic partnerships spanning the UK, Europe, Switzerland, China and the US. Paul has broad technical and business experience from the chemical and pharmaceutical industry, where he held engineering, research, product development and commercial roles to executive level. He also has experience of establishing and running NGOs and spent three years as a Director of a UN refugee health programme in Tanzania. He has been involved in establishing, growing and exiting several business, has run his own dynamic strategy consulting company, has held executive advisory and board roles in companies, trade associations and NGOs, and was appointed by the UK government as the National Focal Point for Health and Innovation with China. Paul speaks four languages (and is learning Chinese), holds an MBA, professional membership of the Institute of Marketing, is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.

Amir M. Sharif joined Bradford in August 2017 and is currently Associate Dean (International & Accreditations) and Professor of Circular Economy. A previous Head of Brunel Business School (Brunel University London), he has held numerous leadership roles. Amir continues to research and teach in the areas of food security, circular economy, operations / supply chain management, leadership, decision-making and humanitarian logistics (and was also an AI researcher early in his academic career). Amir is regularly called upon by international research funding bodies including: UKRI (EPSRC and ESRC), EU, the national research foundations of China, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Qatar and Switzerland as well as the British Council and British Academy. He is a Board member for the Network Universities / Higher Education advisory group for the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, is a Member of the UKRI Future Leaders Fellowships Programme, has previously served as Governor for Glyn School, in Epsom, Surrey and most recently has become a board member of the Stronger Communities Partnership Board for Bradford Municipal District Council. Amir is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, the Chartered Institute for Logistics and Transport, the Institute of Leadership and Management and is a Member of the Chartered Management Institute.

Peter Scharff is the former president of TU Ilmenau, Germany since 2004 and is currently a Professor of Chemistry. Before he was the Director of Physical Institute and Head of the Department of Chemistry. Peter received his Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry from the Technical University Clausthal, Germany and his Habilitation (venia legendi) in Inorganic Chemistry from the same institution. Before joining the TU Ilmenau in 1998, he served as a Visiting Professor at Nicolas Copernicus University, Torun, Poland. His research interests consist of preparative carbon chemistry and electrochemistry. He has published nearly 300 papers in international journals. He is member of head of German Exchange Service (DAAD) and fellow of the Academy of Useful Sciences in Erfurt. Peter was awarded several Dres h.c., as well as several Prof. h.c. He was awarded honorary member of senate of TU Ilmenau in 2021.

Prof Scharff is the former Chair of the World Technology Network (2020-2023).

Professor Melo has been Rector of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte since May 2019. Before that, he held the positions of Vice Rector (2015-2019) and Dean of the School of Engineering and Architecture (2011-2015). Prof. Melo received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Colorado State University (2002), M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine (1993), and B.S. degrees in Mechanical Engineering (1990) and in Civil Engineering (1997) from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte. He was Visiting Scholar at the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics of Stanford University from 2008 to 2019. Prof. Melo has worked in the field of Composite Materials for over 30 years. His main research interests and contributions are in design and mechanical characterization of polymer composites. In this area, he advised many graduate students, published three books and numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals and international conference proceedings. Prof. Melo is also Associate Editor of the Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites.