I joined Canterbury Christ Church University in September 2020 as Pro Vice-Chancellor (STEM) and Dean of the Faculty of Science, Engineering, and Social Sciences where I am responsible for leading the development of the Institution’s Transdisciplinary STEM agenda, bringing together a broad range of STEM, near-STEM and non-STEM disciplines to create one transdisciplinary innovation environment.
My passion for STEM, and engineering in particular, has guided my career choices for more than 30 years. During this time, I have worked as an engineer, researcher, educator, senior academic leader and entrepreneur. I am an advocate of STEM and Digital skills development, and I have been at the forefront of a number of initiatives that nurture inclusion, innovation, entrepreneurship, and business-university collaboration.
Prior to joining CCCU, I was the Dean of Engineering, Arts, Science and Technology at the University of Suffolk. I was responsible for leading the University’s STEM research, business engagement and innovation strategies where I was at the forefront of a number of regional initiatives, securing more than £15m of external funding. My initiatives include setting up of the Ipswich Waterfront Innovation Centre (IWIC), the STEM centre, the NALEP supported Digital Skills and Innovation Accelerator (the DigiTech centre) in partnership with BT Adastral Park, and the OfS supported Data Science Academy in collaboration with BT.
I am an active academic with a strong international research and publication record. I supervised over twenty-five postgraduate students at masters and doctoral levels to successful completion; served as doctoral examiner; professorial appointment external assessor and contributed to the organisation of a number of international conferences as well as regularly refereeing for prestigious technical journals. My multidisciplinary expertise and research interests span the broad spectrum of Digital Technologies with focus one Future Networks, Industry 4.0 and Digital Transformation, where I am actively engaged with skills development and university-business collaborations.
I hold a BEng in Electronics and Telecommunications, a MSc in Telecommunications Engineering from the Arab Academy for Science and Technology, and a PhD in Electronic Engineering (Image and Video Processing), from Staffordshire University. I have been recognised as a Fellow of the Institute of Innovation and Knowledge Exchange (FIKE), Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (SMIEEE), Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute (FCMI), and served as a co-opted member of the British Institute of Non-Destructive Testing (BiNDT).