Professor Mike Holcombe (Chair)
Professor of Computer Science, University of Sheffield
Mike has been Professor of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield since 1988. He has also been involved in a number of European projects focusing on strategic development of IT for public administrations and the role of free and open source software. He is now playing a leading role to develop the region’s CDI as Chair of the CDI Sector Group for the Sheffield City Region LEP.
His research interests include software engineering and software testing, modelling of complex systems in biology and economics. His research has been funded by Mercedes (who now use his testing technology), BT, ARM and others he has collaborated with a wide range of biologists, medical researchers, economists and sociologists.
He has been teaching practical software engineering for 25 years. He adopted Agile development – specifically Extreme Programming in 2000 and has carried out empirical research into the benefits of this new approach including issues relating to work psychology and motivation.
Mike also set up the software development company Genesys Solution 1994. This company is run by 4th year students as part of their degree course. The University company, epiGenesys was spun out of Genesys a few years ago and has successfully established itself in the area of systems and services for advanced medical research. Mike is a Director of this company.
Dan Bates
Chief Executive of Sheffield Theatres
Dan Bates joined Sheffield Theatres as Chief Executive in September 2009 and co-ordinated completion of the final stage of the £15.3m refurbishment of the Crucible.
Prior to Sheffield, Dan worked at York Theatre Royal for five years and led the organisation through an exciting period of change including being the first theatre in Yorkshire to achieve the Investors in People standard. Before York, Dan had a long career at the West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds, where he joined the company as a Stage Manager in 1987 and served his time in various departments from Project Manager to General Manager through to his final role as Executive Director.
Dan is currently a Board member of &Co (the cultural marketing house) a former elected Council Member for the Theatre Management Association and is a member of Sheffield’s Cultural Consortium. He is currently engaged in programming celebrations for the Crucible’s 40th Anniversary in November 2011.
Ross Bray
Operations Manager, Ask4 Limited
Ross is born and bred in the Sheffield City Region. An IT and Operational Senior Manager with extensive experience and network in the Internet, Telecommunications and Software Development industries. Ross knows first-hand what it takes to get a start-up off the ground and catapult it into operational success. He has a track record of achieving KPI orientated operational development and advocates transparent and accountable governance environments. His specialties include ITIL, RBPM and Prince2 frameworks with a keen focus on delivering service improvements as well as customer satisfaction
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/rossbray
Martin Cantor
Executive Officer to the Chief Executive at Barnsley MBC
Educated at Cambridge and Oxford Universities, Martin Cantor spent the first seven years of his working life delivering laundry, during which time he was involved in a wide range of trade union activities. In the early 1980′s he helped establish a network of trade union Unemployed Centres, where he was also Secretary and Vice President of the European Network of the Unemployed.
Next he worked on European, regional and regeneration policy for the UK’s mining regions and ran EUR-ACOM, the European Association of Mining Communities.
In 2005 he went to work at Barnsley Council. His wide ranging role includes many elements of the digital agenda, including leading on digital inclusion. He co-ordinates South Yorkshire’s digital inclusion programme Making IT Personal and is Director of its ESF-funded Joining the DOTs project. In Barnsley he initiated Totally Online Barnsley, the campaign to make Barnsley the first place in Britain where the entire population are digital natives. He is Secretary of the South Yorkshire Public Sector e-Forum, developing joint public sector strategies to make the most of developments in ICT.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/martin-cantor/17/858/21a
Sonia Coleman
Economic Development & Investment Manager at Bolsover District Council
In this role Sonia manages the economic development and investment service of Bolsover District Council to deliver key objectives that support the council’s aim to create an economically vibrant and sustainable community, which is well qualified to access good quality jobs as a result of investment.
She works with employers to strengthen the local economy through improved workforce skills, coordination and sharing of information and resources, and direct delivery of new initiatives including connecting jobseekers with employers. Sonia also works in partnership with the SCR Local Enterprise Partnership, the Chamber of Commerce and other local authorities and agencies, developers and businesses, and voluntary and community organisations. To support this work Sonia has secured £millions from national and European funding bodies on behalf of the council, to bring forward a wide range of developments and initiatives to promote growth in the local economy.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/sonia-coleman/30/172/8b1
Heather Croall
Director of Sheffield International Documentary Festival (Doc/Fest) and Producer of Crossover Labs.
Heather has been one of the screen industry’s leading proponents of the emerging field of new media and helping producers seize opportunities in the international marketplace and digital platforms. In 2000, Heather developed a conference programme called DigiDocs, which went on to be a major programme strand at the AIDC in Australia and then also in Sheffield Doc/Fest.
As the Senior Officer and Industry Manager at the SA Film Corporation, Heather developed a strategy for building cross platform digital media production opportunities in South Australia including the launch of Crossover Labs alongside many initiatives that encouraged new media producers to work with traditional film and TV companies. Prior to coming to the UK Heather was a film producer and also the director of the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC), where she created the innovative matchmaking initiative called The MeetMarket.
She moved to Sheffield to take up directorship of Doc/Fest and brought MeetMarket and Crossover Labs to the UK. The MeetMarket in Sheffield is now regarded as one of Europe’s leading pitching markets attracting over 100 buyers to the market each year.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/heather-croall/0/b78/681
Michael Dimelow
Director of Business Development for ARM Corporate Development.
As director of business development within the corporate development team at ARM, Michael is responsible for identifying and investing in businesses that complement the ARM technology roadmap and that support our partners go to market strategies and plans.
Michael has over 20 years experience operating at the heart of the communications industry, having worked for Nokia, Ericsson, Mercury One2One, Your Communications and TTPCom before moving to ARM in 2006. During this time he has held a variety of business management, marketing and engineering roles that have led to the successful commercial roll-out of products within mobile and internet service providers, network infrastructure and consumer device product manufacturers.
Michael holds an MSc in Electronic Engineering from The University of Surrey and an MBA from Manchester Business School.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeldimelow
Chris Dymond
Innovation Director, Technophobia
Chris Dymond has been working in the digital communications industry for over 20 years, and has been involved in designing and delivering websites for large companies and public sector organisations for much of that time. Indeed the first major website he helped design was for the National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts in 1995, and has since helped deliver sites for Intel, the Financial Times, Zurich Insurance, Best Western Hotels, The Cooperative Bank, The Office of Fair Trading and many others.
He currently holds the position of Innovation Director at Sheffield-based web software developer Technophobia (now part of the Capita group), where he is responsible amongst other things for promoting collaboration and technology adoption within and across organisational boundaries.
Over the last few years he has been closely involved with large projects for the Technology Strategy Board and Sheffield City Council, both of which have collaboration at their heart.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/chrisdymond
Dr. Stuart Green
Chief Executive Officer, Zoo Digital Group
Stuart has led software companies since the early 1990s. He has founded and managed three software development houses. With a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Bristol, UK, he brings a technical edge to the leadership of ZOO Digital Group.
In the early days of ZOO, Stuart initiated the research which led to a range of new methods to simplify the preparation of video products. He also invented a number of the core algorithms used by ZOO’s proprietary software — Stuart has more than 20 granted patents in the fields of image processing and media transformation. His knowledge of the technology and the industry has led ZOO’s development of innovative software as the enabler for its differentiated media transformation services. Stuart is also active in the search for new industry connections to propel sales and development.
Edward Highfield
Director of Economy, Enterprise and Skills, Sheffield City Council
Edward Highfield is Director of Economy, Enterprise and Skills at Sheffield City Council. Edward graduated the University of Liverpool in 2001 after reading Politics and began his career at the North West Regional Development Agency. He moved to Sheffield in 2004 and has fulfilled a number of roles, becoming Director of Economy, Enterprise and Skills in 2010. Edward is responsible for economic policy development and the commissioning of economic activity from the Council and its partners that is designed to create the conditions for private sector growth.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/edward-highfield/15/5aa/725
Eammon Hunt
Director, TDC
Eamonn’s career began designing and building synthesizers and special effects for local bands and theatres. He became the lighting designer for Hull Truck Theatre Company which led to technical consultancies on West End and Broadway shows wishing to adopt new technologies. This in turn led to Eamonn working with the likes of Floyd and Madonna. Throughout the eighties and nineties, Eamonn worked on the integration of large format video projection in live events.
Eamonn is currently developing web based solutions for better access to live performances and cinema screenings for the profoundly deaf, and better study systems for students with disabilities through GPS and web enabled mobile devices.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/eamonn-hunt/14/196/2b9
Alison McKinna
Operations Director at Tribal
Alison has extensive business experience having worked in four different industry sectors (utilities, financial services, insurance, technology) leading business growth in the UK and internationally. Alison is currently Operations Director at Tribal managing the development of E learning and content management systems to customer requirements.
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/alisonmckinna
Colin McDonald
Head of Market Strategy at LearnDirect
http://uk.linkedin.com/in/colinmac
Mark Pearce
Director, The Workshop
Mark is a Director at The Workshop, a top 10 digital, design, communications and learning consultancy based in Sheffield. He works with clients and leads multidisciplinary teams at The Workshop to identify how learner-sided design principles can be used to support learning and solve communication challenges.
Mark’s focus is on developing learning materials for a range of organisations. He believes in lifelong learning for personal and professional development, where it supports real people doing real things. Over the last 15 years, Mark has used instructional design principles to create multimedia training and education products for corporate and government clients, including BBC, Barclays, Becta, Cisco, Deloitte, Futurelab, Marks & Spencer, NCSL, Vodafone and SSAT.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/mark-pearce/4/145/515
Elena Rodriguez-Falcon
Director of Enterprise Education, University of Sheffield
Elena Rodriguez-Falcon joined the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Sheffield in 2001 having previously worked in industry for seven years in project management, product development, quality control and business planning. Elena, in addition to being a mechanical engineer, has MBAs in Industrial Relations and Industrial Management, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Education.
In the last nine years Elena has developed three degrees, which aim at embedding enterprise and management in engineering. She is also the founder of the Ibberson Centre for Enterprise, better known as the E-lab, which was the model for the White Rose Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Learning in Enterprise Zone (WRCETLE), now known as University of Sheffield Enterprise (USE).
Andrew Smith
Director of BDP
Andrew has lived in Sheffield for over 25 years since coming to the city to study Architecture at the University. He is a Director of BDP, one of the largest interdisciplinary design practices in Europe. Founded in 1961, BDP employ more than 800 architects, designers, engineers, urbanists, sustainability experts, lighting designers and acoustics specialists in studios across the UK, Ireland, the Netherlands, Abu Dhabi, India and China. BDP is the largest firm of Architects in the UK.
Andrew is leading the development of the practice’s architectural use of Building Information Modelling. He is also responsible for all healthcare projects undertaken by the practice and recently led design teams for Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham and Southmead Hospital in Bristol. He was a member of the former NHS Design Review Panel and the expert reference group for the Design Council’s ‘Design for Patient Dignity’ programme.
Andrew is also a visiting lecturer at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University.
Frank Wilkes
Band Development, Higher Rhythm
Frank Wilkes has over 26 years experience working in the music industry and has run a number of Yorkshire based music initiatives in this time.
Frank works for multi-award winning Doncaster based Higher Rhythm Ltd, an organisation which encompasses a number of strands including SINE FM, Higher Rhythm Recording Studios and The Music Week, a website promoting regional music industry events and offering event management / e-ticketing for promoters and venues.
Frank’s current role with Higher Rhythm is to develop Yorkshire based music businesses through the Plugged In Yorkshire network. The main aim of Plugged In Yorkshire is to retain and grow the regional income from music, which includes representing the regional music industry at international events.
Frank also oversees Higher Rhythm’s record label, Circuit Records, which is distributed through 650 worldwide digital platforms via a partnership with the New York based The Orchard, and Higher Rhythm’s music publishing arm.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/frank-wilkes/a/632/893
Robert Wilkinson
Economic Development Manager- Bassetlaw District Council
Responsible for Economic Development, Inward Investment & Marketing, Town centres, Markets, Car Parking, Tourism, Enterprise Development, Project Management and Rural Economic Development. Robert has been with Bassetlaw for six years and worked in the public sector for eleven.
Prior to that Robert worked extensively in the private sector mainly in business development in the retail and hospitality sector, and has run two businesses, so understands the demands particularly on small businesses. Robert graduated in Food Technology and has a natural inclination towards the application of technology and innovation.
Robert describes himself as a passionate non-bureaucrat and naturally creative – his first novel is due to be published next year.
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/robert-wilkinson/19/878/374
Dr Simeon Yates
Director of the Cultural, Communication and Computing Research Institute (C3RI), Sheffield Hallam University
As Director of C3RI Simeon is also Director of the Design Futures Centre of Industrial Collaboration as well as having oversight of the Art and Design, and the Communication and Computing Research Centres.
Simeon is the Professor of Communication and Technology at SHU and has a background in social science (communication studies) and science. He and has previously worked at the Open University (UK) and at the University of Leeds (UK). His current broad research interests include: new media, language, culture and interpersonal interaction; scientific and technical communication; and discourse analysis – theory and methods.
He has been researching the impacts of the Internet and New/Digital Media on Language and Culture since 1990.
Simeon has worked with a range of regional, national and international companies and organisations on research and development projects in areas such as: mobile phone use; the future of media; design innovation; organisational technology use; ICT and policing and digital inclusion.