Category: Delegate

Shelagh Whittleston

Shelagh Whittleston is the European Representative for Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia. She also undertakes some consultancy projects.

Shelagh has established a QUT presence in the office of Trade and Investment Queensland in the Australia Centre, London. Her role is to lift the institutional profile of the University through strengthening and further developing QUT’s strategic engagement in Europe, with universities, research institutes, government and industry partners in Europe and especially Germany, UK and France. She also supports the Vice Chancellor in organising QUT leadership and participation in key international education events.

Prior to joining QUT in 2015, Shelagh was the Australian Government Department of Education representative located in the Australian Embassy to Belgium and Luxembourg and Mission to the European Union. She managed the Australian education and skills relationship with the European Commission, the OECD and UNESCO. She also had responsibility for the bilateral education relationships with the UK, the British Council and other governments and associations in Europe.
Shelagh played an active role on the OECD Education Policy Committee and in November 2014 was elected to the position of Chair of the Committee by her peers from OECD Member States. She was a member of the OECD CERI Governing Board, the IMHE Governing Board and was active in the OECD South East Asia Regional Programme. She has recently been a member of an OECD expert panel to review the national education system in Chile.

Shelagh has had a long career in the Australian Federal Department of Education and held a number of senior positions across the three education sectors: schools, higher education and vocational education and skills as well as international education.

Shelagh managed the establishment of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) in 2010. She became the Deputy Chief Executive Officer and contributed to strategic leadership and management ensuring accountability and arrangements for the new organisation. She was also responsible for the development of the AITSL professional standard for principals and school leaders.

This built on significant work in the policy areas of schools, teacher education and teacher quality where she led and contributed to national objectives including the Digital Education Revolution Taskforce, implementing a national policy and program for computers in schools across Australia and providing advice to Government on funding for government and non-government schools, a National Partnership on Teacher Quality and the development of national professional standards for teachers.

Shelagh has a very strong commitment to equity in education and in particular the education of young women and young people at risk. In 1999-2000 she led a Prime Minister’s Taskforce on Youth Pathways, managing a major consultation round with key community groups including the Salvation Army, state and territory education, health and welfare agencies, industry and parents, young people and the indigenous community. She developed a national transitions policy (school to work) and the first national careers education policy for students and school leavers.

Shelagh has worked on the personal staff of five Australian Government ministers responsible for education.

Mr. Ilkka Virtanen

Ilkka Virtanen is currently working as International Relations Manager at Tampere University. His task is to create and manage university’s strategic research partnerships and networks and to facilitate the creation of new active research collaboration. In his work, he works closely with university’s top management and management of research and international offices across the world. Prior to his current post, he headed seven years university’s Research and Innovation Services, where he gained in-depth experience of research funding, research collaboration mechanisms, agreements and intellectual property rights. His unit also supported commercializing research results and the creation of new businesses and entrepreneurship. Virtanen has over 19 years’ experience of diverse research collaboration and research funding and of the support of prominent research groups. Previously he has also worked in support of business information management, medicine and biosciences.

Kathie Thomson

Kathie’s primary role is to facilitate major events and functions for the Vice-Chancellor, including speech notes, presentations, briefings and coordination of strategic University events.

Kathie has worked on a number of high profile events, including co-ordination of visits by heads of state during the G20 Summit in Brisbane, including the Prime Minister of India and the President of the Philippines.

Professor Savvas Tassou

Professor Tassou has a first degree in Mechanical Engineering and a PhD in the area of design and control optimisation of heat pump systems. After completing his PhD he worked as a lecturer in thermofluids and energy at the Polytechnic of Central London, now the University of Westminster for 5 years, before joining Brunel University London in 1986. At Brunel he has had a number of roles and management responsibilities at departmental, faculty and university levels including directorship of postgraduate programmes in Built Environment Engineering and Energy, Head of Department of Mechanical Engineering for 3 years, Head of the School of Engineering and Design for 10 years, before becoming the Director of the Institute of Energy Futures in 2014.

The Institute involves 45 academic staff and the research is structured in four major research themes: energy efficient and sustainable technologies; future power networks-smart grids; resource efficient future cities; advanced power train and fuels. Prof Tassou leads the energy efficient and sustainable technologies theme and the Research Councils UK Centre for Sustainable Energy use in Food Chains (CSEF). His research interests include energy efficiency and demand reduction in heating, cooling and refrigeration processes, systems and applications in the built environment and industrial sectors. He has published extensively in the field and has received substantial funding from national and international funding bodies for his research. He is a member of a number of national and international steering groups and committees on energy demand reduction and decarbonisation.

Professor Hirotsugu Takizawa

1. Education:

Ph.D., Department of Materials Chemistry, Tohoku University, Japan, 1990
M. S., Department of Materials Chemistry, Tohoku University, Japan, 1987
B. S., Department of Applied Chemistry, Tohoku University, Japan, 1985

2. Professional Experience:

Research Associate, Tohoku University, Japan 1990.4-1995.3
Visiting Scientist, University of Texas at Austin 1994.7-1995.4
Associate Professor, Tohoku University, Japan 1995.4-2004.3
Professor, Tohoku University, Japan 2004.4-Now
Associate Dean for Research, School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Japan 2012.4-2015.3
Dean, School of Engineering, Tohoku University, Japan 2015.4-Now
Director of New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, Tohoku University, Japan 2015.4-Now
President, Japan Society of Electromagnetic Wave Energy Applications 2015.5-Now

3. Research Interest:

Materials Science, Solid State Chemistry, Microwave Processing, Nanomaterials

4. Professional Societies:

The Ceramic Society of Japan
The Chemical Society of Japan
The Japan Society of High Pressure Science and Technology
Japan Society of Electromagnetic Wave Energy Applications
The Society of Inorganic Materials, Japan
The American Ceramic Society
The Engineering Academy of Japan
Japanese Society for Engineering Education

Professor Barbara Stewart-Knox

Based in the Division of Psychology at the University of Bradford, research interests are focused upon understanding food related behaviour and span consumer food choice (including sensory factors); attitudes toward infant feeding; and, nutrient/food mediated psychological functions.

Research activities have included participation in several funded projects both within the UK and Europe the results of which have been widely published. Recent work has focused on the EU funded Food4Me integrated project which employed a triangulated design to understand public perceptions and attitudes toward personalised nutrition as well response, both psychological and physiological, to a personalised nutrition internet–based intervention in various European populations. Barbara’s research is of relevance not only to dietary health promoters but also the food industry.

Ms Rovani Sigamoney

Rovani Sigamoney is a chemical/environmental engineer from South Africa who started in the platinum refinery/mining sector and then moved on to researching bioenergy systems and biofuels for Africa.

She joined the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) HQ in Paris, France in 2007 in the Natural Sciences Sector and later ran the Chemistry programme and International Year of Chemistry 2011. She thereafter took over the UNESCO Engineering programme. The Engineering Programme is working with Member States (UNESCO has 195 Member States), international partners and program experts to strengthen engineering education through curricula development, hands-on training and capacity building. In line with UNESCO’s global priorities on Africa and Gender Equality, it focuses on women and Africa but also has activities around the world. Rovani is passionate about women in engineering and encouraging more youth to pursue careers in engineering.

She previously worked at the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Paris on a biofuels strategy and also at the Wuppertal Institute of Climate Change in Germany on a policy document for the European Parliament on the security of energy supply.

Dr Mamdouh Shoukri

Mamdouh Shoukri, C.M., O.Ont., PhD, FCAE, P.Eng, was appointed the seventh President and Vice-Chancellor of York University on July 1, 2007.

Dr Shoukri began his career in academia at McMaster University, where he joined the faculty in 1984. He served in a number of leadership roles there, including Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Vice-President Research & International Affairs.

Dr Shoukri serves on the Ministry of Industry’s Space Advisory Board, the Boards of Directors of Universities Canada and the Loran Scholars Foundation, and is Chair of the Government and Community Relations Committee for the Council of Ontario Universities. He is a member of the Standing Advisory Committee on University Research (SACUR) for Universities Canada, and was a founding Board Member of the Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and a member of the Ontario Research and Innovation Council (ORIC).

For his contributions to the flourishing of Ontario’s academic institutions as an engineer and administrator, Dr Shoukri was named a Member of the Order of Canada and the Order of Ontario in 2013, and awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee medal. He is a Senior Fellow of Massey College, a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering and the Canadian Society for Mechanical Engineering. Dr Shoukri’s scholarly interests are in thermo-fluid science, and he is the author or co-author of more than 120 papers that have appeared in refereed journals and symposia.

Professor Arun Sharma

Professor Arun Sharma is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Commercialisation) at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT).

He has played a leadership role in development of Australian research capability in information and communication technology. He was co-founder of National ICT Australia Limited (NICTA), and was the inaugural Director of its largest research laboratory. Prior to NICTA, he was the Head of the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales where he helped establish the Cooperative Research Centre for Smart Internet Technology.

He has held a number of advisory roles both at the federal and state levels. He was a member of the inaugural Advisory Council of the Australian Research Council and served as a member of the Queensland Premier’s Smart State Council and as a member of the Premier’s Business Roundtable. He has also led the Australia India Business Council both at the state and national level. He was awarded the 2010 Premier’s Special Award for contribution to building the export profile of Queensland.

Professor Sundararajan Ramachandran

Prof. S. Ramachandran is currently serving as Vice Chancellor at Hindustan University, Chennai. Prior to this he has served as a Vice Chancellor in University of Madras (2006 – 2009) and Vels University (2009 – 2013). He served Anna University for 20 Years in various capacities such as Professor & Director. He earned his D.Sc. in the field of Coastal Studies from the University of Madras. Prof. Ramachandran has made more than 50 academic visits to various institutions in abroad during 1990 – 2010 especially to implement several international collaborations in the field of Integrated Coastal Zone Management (ICZM), higher education and research. As a Course Director of the UK Department for International Development ICZM training and capacity building programme he has made tremendous contributions in implementing ICZM programmes in India. As an Expert Member in more than 45 National Committees he has made significant contributions in strengthening the implementation of ICZM for Indian coastal zone in all levels. He has initiated research in areas of every day application and has accorded priority to many modern disciplines such as Coastal Zone Management, Port and Harbour Management, Coastal Ocean Studies, Environmental Studies, Disaster Management etc. Prof. Ramachandran has published more than 285 research papers, edited 11 books; guided 28 Ph.D’s and completed 52 research projects. Dr. Ramachandran resuscitated the academic and research focus in the universities he served. He has more than 35 years of experience in higher education administration and research. He has established several research centres and academic departments in the universities he served. He has received more than 21 International fellowships, and 7 National and International awards including the Italian government’s highest civilian honour and medal, ‘Stella Della Solidarieta Italiana’, the Cavalliea’ award.