Meet the team
The key people
The UWE Team
Professor Lukumon Oyedele
- Professor Lukumon Oyedele is the Assistant Vice Chancellor, Digital
Innovation and Enterprise at UWE Bristol. He is also the Director of the
Big Data Enterprise and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (Big-DEAL) and
Professor of Digital Enterprise and Project Management at UWE Bristol.
Prior to this, he was the Head of Division of Project Management and
Sustainability Division at Queen’s University Belfast (QUB). He also worked
as a Senior Executive Director at Lahn Development (UK) Ltd and was a
Project Director at a multinational company named Sagem SA, France/Nigeria.
In terms of his personal research track-record, Professor Oyedele has
received more than £18 million in research funding from various funding
bodies (Innovate UK, EPSRC, Department for BEIS).
Dr Anuoluwapo Ajayi
- A fellow of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology International Science
and Technology Initiatives (MISTI), USA, and previously a visiting scholar
at the University of Lorraine, Nancy, France, University of Eastern
Finland, Kuopio, Finland, and University of Zululand, South Africa. He has
over 17 years of experience in research, teaching, and administration at
the Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. He is interested in using
techniques such as Artificial Intelligence, Big data analytics, IoT,
optimisation, construction informatics, simulation and visualisation to
solving critical and challenging problems in Construction, Energy,
Education, and Health domains. He has over 40 publications in journals of
repute and conference proceedings.
Dr Olugbenga Akinade
- Dr Olugbenga Akinade has a PhD in Construction Informatics from the
University of the West of England (UWE) Bristol. His research transcends
knowledge boundaries through effective research leadership and industry
engagement for delivering innovation with high-impact research to
businesses. His cross-disciplinary research interests cut across Advanced
Visualisation/Simulation using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and
AR/VR, Machine Learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and Project Management.
He has been actively involved in the application of emerging techniques in
these areas to address real-life problems in the Architectural, Engineering
and Construction (AEC) industries. This is evidenced in his direct
involvement in the successful delivery of various research projects. With
over 12 years of experience in research and teaching, he has published over
30 papers in reputable journals.
Dr Hakeem Owolabi
- Dr Hakeem Owolabi's area of expertise is cross-disciplinary and cuts across
two key knowledge domains namely, Project Analytics/Strategic Project
Management and Digital Innovation. His competencies involve leveraging
digital technologies like Big Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence,
Machine Learning, and IOT to gain valuable insights into day-to-day
operational, business and project-related challenges. He is an expert in
Project Analytics, Project Management, International Project Finance
including Project Enterprise (PFI/PPP projects), Risk and Uncertainty
Management and Governance in Public Procurement. He has more than 13-years
of industry, teaching and research experience, including memberships with
reputable professional associations like APM & IPMA. He has over forty (40)
peer-reviewed articles published in highly-rated international journal
publications, in addition to conference articles.
Dr Chukwuka Monyei
- Dr Chukwuka Monyei is a research fellow on energy policy and sustainable
decarbonisation in the University of the West of England, where he works as
a researcher and consultant on issues pertaining to sustainable energy
systems modelling, energy policy, energy security, energy poverty and
adaptive climate change mitigation. Specifically, my research spans core
electrical engineering, the social sciences and computer science and
focuses on sustainable development, renewable energy systems, smart grid,
applied artificial intelligence, energy efficiency and the design of public
policy to help facilitate easy access to electricity and improvement in the
resilience of energisation systems.
Dr Luo Xiaojun
- Dr Luo Xiaojun obtained her PhD degree in Architecture and Civil
Engineering in City University of Hong Kong. Her research interest includes
Machine learning, Sustainable trigeneration, Evolutionary computation,
Building energy management, Demand side management, Dynamic simulation of
building systems, Control optimization of trigeneration system, Fault
detection and diagnosis and Solid oxide fuel cell. She currently works in
the Big Data Enterprise and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (Big-DEAL),
at the University of the West of England (UWE).
The TerOpta Team
Michael Sharratt
- Mike has held many senior Engineering Management roles in major telecoms
companies, having started his career in optical systems over thirty-five
years ago with Plessey, and has frequently been at the forefront in the
commercial development of new, formerly unproven, technology and
techniques. With a Masters degree in Telecommunications and three patents
on optical system design to his name, Mike has wide experience of optical
networking and of leading large multi-disciplinary teams to bring complex
product developments to a successful conclusion.
Paul Callan
- Paul graduated from Cambridge University with 1st Class Honours, and began
work at GEC-Plessey Telecommunications in 1989. Since then, he has played a
key technical role, frequently as team-leader, in the design and
development of many advanced products, including several world firsts
within Marconi’s ground-breaking optical transmission product range. Holder
of five patents in optical technology, Paul bridges the gap between
industrial development and academic research, whilst retaining a strong
emphasis on practical, commercial engineering solutions.
The Costain Team
Tim Embley
- In 2010 Tim was appointed Chairman by the Government’s Knowledge
Transfer Network to lead the Infrastructure research and innovation
programme for the Modern Built Environment. This programme aims to
stimulate research and innovation activities across this sector, working
closely with government policy and funders, clients, industry and academia.
He is currently Group Innovation and Knowledge Manager at Costain,
responsible for their collaborative research and innovation programme. This
is a significant investment, targeted at addressing customer’s problems
with solutions that reduce costs and improve performance. Formerly Tim was
the Director of Constructing Excellence Infrastructure Forum, and a
Director for the Built Environment Centre in the East Midlands. He
recognises the importance of the localism agenda, to encourage small and
medium sized business activity in the economy. As an industry champion, Tim
strongly believes in creating an environment where innovation can flourish
in a live commercial environment. Tim welcomes the Government’s focus on
innovation and plan infrastructure investment. This provides opportunity
for the sector to embrace and deliver new solutions to address national
needs.
Manuel Cortés Moreno
- As a member of the Innovation and Sustainability Team at Costain, Manuel is
committed to delivering sustainable engineering solutions across all
sectors. Manuel’s highly technical engineering background (Energy and
Chemical Engineering - URJC), coupled with his master´s studies at the
University of Edinburgh and infrastructure industry experience, means he
has developed significant expertise in sustainability activities such as
Life-Cycle Assessment, Carbon Management and Circular Economy solutions.
Manuel is leading the development of innovative capabilities for the Green
Energy Theme, which in the context of this project means the use of IoT to
reduce carbon emissions and improve energy efficiency in buildings. He is
currently working on a range of projects including: Innovate UK, BEIS and
i3P.
