President and Founder

Simona Sandru is the President and Founder of Global Women in Tech, an organisation supporting the educational and professional development of women in STEM. She joined Pentalog, the European IT engineering and consulting services leader, as Projects Director being responsible for the management of the IT projects at international level. Simona Sandru holds an MBA degree awarded by the University of Wales and an MSc in Marketing.

President

Prof. Hasan Mandal received his PhD degree from Newcastle University, United Kingdom in 1992. In 1994, he started his academic career in the department of Ceramic Engineering in Anadolu University, achieving Professor status in 2001. Prof. Hasan Mandal became President of TUBITAK in February 2018. He is a member of the Presidential Board of Science, Technology and Innovation Policies. He has 6 international patents and over 140 publications.

Dean of the Faculty of Automatic Control and Computer Science

Adina Magda Florea is Professor of Artificial Intelligence at the Department of Computer Science, University Politechnica of Bucharest. She is the Dean of the Faculty of Automatic Control and Computers and the coordinator of the Artificial Intelligence and Multi-Agent Systems Laboratory. She is a Senior Member of both IEEE and ACM, and President of the Romanian Association for Artificial Intelligence.

General Manager

Murat Büyükerk is the General Manager of household appliances leader Artic. He has held management roles in the Arçelik Group for the past 29 years, including Head of International Regional Sales, successfully leading the introduction of a wide range of best in class products and technologies. Arçelik Group is the third largest home appliances company in Europe, offering products and services in more than 145 countries.

Rector

Mihnea Costoiu studied Economic Engineering at the University Politechnica of Bucharest. He previously held the position of Secretary General of the Romanian National Ministry of Education. He is Rector of the University Politechnica of Bucharest, General Secretary of the Romanian National Council of Rectors and Senator in the Romanian Parliament. He is a member of CESAER’s Board of Directors and the AUF Administrative and Associative Councils.

Coordinator Innovation Grants

Lucian Andrei graduated in Law at the University of Bucharest. He is the Coordinator of Innovation Grants & Tenders at Zitec and he has been involved in various innovation projects in the fields of ICT, Security, Energy and Transport. Focus: Horizon 2020, Research, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, SME Internationalisation, Start-ups, Project Management, Training, Border Management, ICT, Security, Smart Cities, Safe Cities, Energy, Transport.

Director, Human Resources

Greg is an HR Generalist with broad experience in the US and internationally. He is interested in challenging HR leadership assignments in global organisations. His specialties are in: Organisational change, performance-based pay systems, employee development, and integrating global HR practices in a local context.

Executive Leader, Leadership, Learning
and Organizational Capability

Dr. Michael A. Fors is an Executive Leader in Boeing’s Leadership, Learning & Organizational Capability (LLOC) Team. Previously he was Executive Leader of Learning at Microsoft. He is an adjunct professor at Stanford University and the University of Washington. As a Senior UN Fellow for 20 years, he leads United Nations strategy and leadership programmes for post-conflict nations. He has Ph.D. that combines business and education.

Science and Innovation Officer

Dr. Emilia Pecheva started working as a Science and Innovation officer at the British Embassy in July 2018. Her work involves engaging with S&I communities in Romania and Bulgaria (seniors in academic, research, business and government S&I organisations) and the creation of strategic relationships leading to mutual UK-Romania and UK-Bulgaria benefits. She also organises S&I events connecting stakeholders from the UK, Romania and Bulgaria.

Senior Vice-President

Colin Lovering is Senior Vice-President of Avison Young Commercial Real Estate, Romania as well as Vice-Chairman of the British Romanian Chamber of Commerce. He has trained hundreds of sales professionals and managers worldwide. He is an active speaker in supporting disability and homelessness in Romania. He is also a Senior Tutor with the Institute of Sales Management and an associate lecturer at the University of Bucharest.

President of Local BEST Group Budapest

Boglárka Duray is a student of Product Design Engineering (MSc) at Budapest University of Technology and Economics. In 2018 she became a Soft Skills Trainer at the Youth Trainers Academy. She serves as President of the Budapest branch of the Board of European Students of Technology (BEST), an international student NGO.

Executive Secretary, GEDC & IFEES Secretary General

Dr. Hans Jürgen Hoyer is Executive Secretary of the GEDC and Secretary General of the IFEES. Based in Fairfax, USA, he is a Resident Scholar in Global Engineering at George Mason University and an Honorary Professor in Hungary, India, Kazakhstan, and Peru. He has been a Resident Scholar at MIT and Harvard and is on the board and advisor of various universities and companies.

President

As President of the large European student’sorganisation BEST (Board of European Students of Technology), Antonia Nanauleads a non-profit present in 97 technical universities in Europe, withapproximately 3,500 people. The organisation is fully run by students and aimsto develop fellow technology students professionally and personally throughtheir education.‍

Founder and CEO, Petrus

Petrus is a multi-award-winning international design company that specialises in connecting employers with students and the global education community. Created in 2005 by Kirsten, Petrus now comprises a team of 20 research, communication, education and digital experts creating and implementing projects world-wide. Petrus designs and delivers impactful learning experiences and creative campaigns, bringing together companies, students and universities worldwide for skills development, innovation, brand communications, recruitment, and community engagement. Kirsten believes that everyone has potential, and her mission is to enable young people worldwide to achieve their potential and make a successful start to a fulfilling career, whatever they choose to do.

Dean of the Armour College of Engineering

Dr. Natacha DePaola serves as the Carol and Ed Kaplan Armour Dean of Engineering and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, USA.Dr. DePaola is the GEDC Chair Elect until October 2017, when she assumes the role of GEDC Chair, serving until 2019.‍

Head of International Publications for Research, CEVIPOF - Sciences Po, France

At the CEVIPOF, Chantal Barry is responsible for ensuring the international visibility of the research team and also leads a weekly seminar focusing on topics of intercultural and political interest. Since 2014, she has been a consultant at Petrus focusing largely on employability skills and cooperation between universities and the corporate world.

Master Student

Zinyat Agharzayeva is highly passionate MS student with proven academic background both in research and taught studies, winner of numerical paper contests and holder ofB.Sc. degree in Petroleum Engineering with distinction from Istanbul Technical University. Currently, owner of TOTAL International Scholarship for pursuing double degree in Petroleum Engineering and Geo-Science at Texas A&M and IFP School.‍