Category: 2025 Delegate

Ciarán Ó hAnnracháin has worked in tertiary education, both public and private, for over 30 years in the Irish, UK, US, and Swiss education systems, predominantly working in the field of Hospitality and Tourism Management. He has held several academic management roles in Switzerland and Ireland for the past 20 years and has been a member of a range of national advisory panels in both Hospitality & Tourism and Higher Education. He holds an undergraduate degree from Trinity College Dublin, a master’s degree from both University College Dublin and Waterford Institute of Technology, and a doctoral degree from University of Sheffield. He was Project Manager in Letterkenny Institute of Technology for merger of GMIT. IT Sligo and LYIT to become the Atlantic Technological University in April 2022 with responsibility for Academic Strategy and Planning, Student Services, Internationalisation and External Engagement. He currently works as Director of Strategic Projects for the ATU Faculty of Business.

He is the outgoing Chair of the Operational Board of the World Technology University Network, facilitating collaboration between academics across the globe.

Dr. Wipawee Usaha currently serves as the Director of the Center for International Affairs at Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), Thailand. She is also the co-founder and R&D Advisor of an innovative health tech startup—a university research spin-off that developed wireless sensor insoles for fall prediction in the elderly. This is among SUT’s innovation which has been selected for display at the Thailand Pavilion during World Expo Osaka 2025.

Her work is dedicated to advancing affordable healthcare and wellness technologies for vulnerable populations, with a particular focus on the elderly and individuals with chronic health conditions.

Dr. Usaha’s research interests include wearable sensor technology, wireless sensor networks, signal processing, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, the Artificial Internet of Things (AIoT), and resource allocation in communication networks. She received her Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the Communications and Signal Processing Group, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Imperial College London, U.K.

Dr. Mullika Sungsanit is the Head of the Center of Excellence for Entrepreneurship. With extensive experience in entrepreneurship development and innovation management, Dr. Mullika has led key initiatives to support students and researchers. She founded the Student Entrepreneurship Development Academy (SEDA) to instill an entrepreneurial mindset through practical training and mentorship. Her work is dedicated to connecting academic research with community needs, fostering sustainable business models, and promoting economic growth with a positive social and environmental impact.

Holding a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, Dr. Mullika’s expertise is recognized internationally through her roles as the National Coordinator for ASEA-UNINET in Thailand and past operational chair for the World Technology Universities Network (WTUN). She has also served as a consultant for World Bank programs, focusing on capacity-building for women entrepreneurs. Dr. Mullika is a committed advocate for cross-regional collaboration and sustainable development, actively building partnerships with European institutions to advance shared goals in areas like the blue economy.

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).