Please note that the venue of this event has changed to Lecture Theatre 207, Skempton Building (no. 27 on this campus map).
Registration for this event is via The WISE Campaign Eventbrite page (external link). Staff and students at Imperial are eligible for free tickets as the College is a subscribed member of WISE.
Interact via the hashtag #wiseatimperial.
Overview
‘Innovation’ is something often cited in mission statements and sought after by organisations but what does this buzzword really mean, why do we seek it and what role does gender diversity play in driving innovation?
Hosted by Imperial College London, ranked by Reuters as the most innovative university in Europe, this WISE Knowledge Sharing Event will bring together Imperial researchers, students and WISE industry partners in a panel discussion. The panel will share what innovation means to their research and business, examine the part that gender diversity plays in bringing new ideas and approaches to the fore and discuss what more organisations – be they in industry or education – can do to foster the talents of innovative women.
This Knowledge Sharing Event will be hosted by Professor Dot Griffiths, Provost’s Envoy for Gender Equality and Professor of Human Resource Management in the Imperial College Business School. The panel discussion will include a Q and A and will be followed by a chance for guests to share their own thoughts on gender diversity and innovation at a drinks and canapés reception.
Speakers
Kerry O’Donnelly Weaver and Angela de Manzanos Guinot postdocs at Imperial College London, having both recently completed PhDs at the College, and founders of Fungi Alert. FungiAlert is a low-cost, easy to use device that allows farmers to detect the presence of fungal spores before they infect crops. They recently won £20,000 as part of Imperial College’s “CDT Dragons’ Den” and first prize at the Venture Catalyst Challenge; they were also finalists in the inaugural Imperial-Althea Programme which supports female students in innovating an enterprising idea.
Toby Mildon is Head of Diversity & Inclusion for BBC Digital, which is the team behind online services like iPlayer, the Sports App, Red Button and News website. Toby is responsible for a raft of projects covering the attraction, selection, development and retention of underrepresented groups in technology.
Kate Ronayne, Head of Innovation of Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC). Kate is responsible for the management and exploitation of STFC’s IP portfolio through licensing and the creation of spin-out companies. Kate has a BSc and PhD in Physical Chemistry from The Queen’s University, Belfast. During her PhD, she worked in the Sales and Marketing division of Andor, a Belfast-based startup. She joined STFC in 2004 as a Laser Instrument Scientist in the Central Laser Facility where her research centred on spectroscopic applications of ultrafast laser systems. In 2008, Kate joined the Business and Innovation directorate managing a range of commercialisation activities across the broad research remit of the Council. As Head of Innovation, she leads technology transfer for STFC and represents STFC on the board of a number of spin-out companies.
Charlotte K. Williams, Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Econic Technologies and Professor of Chemistry, Imperial College London. Charlotte, winner of the WISE Tech Start-up award 2015, is a committed advocate and an internationally recognised expert in sustainable chemistry, focused on improving the environmental sustainability of polymers. She founded econic technologies to commercialise her inventions of catalysts which transform carbon dioxide to polymers. Charlotte has led, inspired and developed the scientific teams at econic technologies, and is also a key member of the management team and board; the company has raised more than £8M in funding and currently has 15 employees. As Professor of Catalysis and Polymer Chemistry at Imperial College, London, Charlotte leads a large research-team of postgraduate, undergraduate and postdoctoral researchers.