Meet the Academics

Short biographies of the members of the group

Email addresses for the group and links to IRIS profiles can be found here (Contact details)

	Professor Michael Emes Michael is Professor of Technology Management, Head of the Technology Management Group at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory and Director of the UCL Centre for Systems Engineering. His research interests include technology decision making, risk management and the causes of project failure. Before joining UCL, Michael was a strategy consultant working on projects in retail, e-commerce and transport. Michael is a Chartered Engineer, Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering (INCOSE), the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) and the Association for Project Management (APM), where he was founding Co-chair of the Systems Thinking Specific Interest Group (a joint initiative with INCOSE). He is Programme Leader for the MSc Technology Management, the MSc Transformation Leadership Level 7 Apprenticeship and the European Space Agency Project Manager Training course.
	Dr. Chekfoung Tan Chekfoung is Associate Professor in Transformation Leadership in the Technology Management Group at UCL's Mullard Space Science Laboratory. She is a practice-oriented academic with a decade of academic and industrial experience in technology project management, digital solution development, and business-IT consulting. She has a PhD in Informatics, where the research contributes to improving information management practice and managing the IT application portfolio of a UK hospital. Her research interests include socio-technical studies in information systems development and technology adoption. Chekfoung is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, certified TOGAF enterprise architect from The Open Group, and a certified project manager from the Association of Project Management (APM) and PRINCE2. She is Programme Leader for the MSc Management of Complex Projects.
	Professor Alan Smith In 1990 Alan joined University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory following 8 years at the European Space Agency in the Netherlands. He is founding Director of UCL's Centre for Systems Engineering (since 1998), instigator of the Centre's education and training programme and former Director of MSSL. Alan's background is in space science technology and project management and he has worked with all of the major space agencies.
	Benoit Pigneur Benoit is a Lecturer in the Centre for Systems Engineering in Department of Space and Climate Physics (MSSL) at University College London. He is involved with teaching at MSc level as well as delivering industrial training. Some of his research interests include space systems, space mission design, systems architecting, system-of-systems, concurrent design, design management and design thinking. Before joining UCL, he worked in the space industry and also in academia in UK, Europe and USA. Through his career, Benoit has been involved with several space projects as well as teaching engineering courses at university. He holds a MSc in Space Mission Analysis and Design from the University of Glasgow and a MSc in Systems Engineering and Control from Purdue University. Benoit is a member of the International Council of Systems Engineering (INCOSE).
	Dr. Carola Hieker Carola specializes in Senior Executive Coaching, coaching senior management teams and running international leadership programs.  As a trained banker and business psychologist, she possesses more than 25 years’ experience as a coach and change management consultant and has worked with top teams and individuals across a wide range of industries all over the world. Next to her work as a coach, supervisor of coaches and consultant she is an Honorary Associate Professor for Transformation Leadership at UCL,  Associate Professor for Leadership and Organisational Behavior at Richmond, The American International University in London and sits in the advisory board of Professors without Borders. Her publications reach out to scholars and practitioners and focus on leadership, coaching, diversity and mentoring.
	Professor Doug Cowper Doug is a UCL Visiting Professor in Systems Engineering and has over 20 years of industrial experience working on various aspects of systems in the Defence, Aerospace and Rail sectors. Doug has a proven track record of delivering Systems Engineering, Technical Management and Governance and Technology Decision Making with a diverse range of organisations. Doug also has lead a number of working groups developing the definition and teaching of systems engineering core competencies in the UK. Doug is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the IET. He has been an active member of INCOSE and was President of INCOSE UK from Nov 08 to Nov 10. He was founding Co-chair of the joint APM and INCOSE UK Systems Thinking SIG, he is an INCOSE Certification Application Reviewer (CAR) and Member of the INCOSE Certification Advisory Group (CAG).
	Giles Poulsom Giles is a Lecturer in UCL's department of Space and Climate Physics (MSSL). He is Programme Leader for the MSc Systems Engineering Management and the Director of Industrial Engagement. Since graduating with a master's degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Giles has gained broad experience within the aerospace, defence, marine and rail industries, and has held various senior technical and management roles. Giles is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) and Royal Aeronautical Society (RAeS). Giles is Programme Leader of the MSc Systems Engineering Master's Degree Apprenticeship.
	Ian Raper Ian is an Associate Professor in the Technology Management Group of the Department of Space and Climate Physics. He is also the Departmental Graduate Tutor responsible for MSc programmes in Systems Engineering Management. Prior to joining MSSL he had 22 years of industrial experience working on all aspects of the systems design lifecycle from user requirements through to integration, acceptance and deployment. Part of Ian's career was in the defence sector, within Vickers Shipbuilding and BAE SYSTEMS. Following this, he worked in the space sector covering mission and system level activities at EADS Astrium. Ian is a Chartered Engineer and a member of the International Council on Systems Engineering. He holds an MSc in Systems Engineering from UCL and in 2015 gained a PGCert in Teaching and Learning in Higher and Professional Education.
	Dr. Kenny Tang Kenny is a Lecturer in Technology Management in the Technology Management Group of UCL's Department of Space and Climate Physics (Mullard Space Science Laboratory) and Associate Lecturer at UCL's Institute of Finance and Technology (IFT-CEGE). He has a PhD in Business Strategy from Cambridge University's Judge Business School, where his research assessed the global business strategies of telecommunications switching equipment manufacturers, and an MSc from Oxford University (Jesus College). He previously worked for leading global investment bank, UBS and international consultancy, KPMG. He is a member of the Investment Committee of the British Innovation Fund - investing in research spinouts from UK universities. Kenny's books include 'CRISISnomics, Credit & Climate', 'YUANomics - China's Global Currency', and 'CARBONomics - A Guide to Carbon Finance'. His research interests include the use of finance and technology for sustainable development. Kenny is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA) and a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) charter holder of the CFA Institute, USA.
	Dr. Marta Stelmaszak Rosa Marta is an Honorary Lecturer in the Technology Management Group. She holds a PhD and an MSc in Management, Information Systems from the London School of Economics and Political Science, as well as an MSc in Data Science from Birkbeck, University of London. Having previously developed a number of entrepreneurial ventures, Marta now focuses on researching and publishing on how to manage technology, in particular big data, analytics and artificial intelligence, in increasingly complex organisations. She regularly teaches on this topic and holds a PGCert in Higher Education. She is a member of the British Computer Society and the Academy of Management.
	Matthew Whyndham Matthew is an Assistant Lecturer in the Centre for Systems Engineering. He is a practising project manager and research scientist in UCL's Department of Space and Climate Physics (MSSL). Most of his work has been in the instrumentation field (radiation detectors and data handling systems). He teaches topics in space technology, technology management and project management within these programmes, and is Programme Leader for UCL's APM-accredited project management course.
	Dr. Peipei Zhang  Peipei is an Assistant Lecturer in the Technology Management Group involved with teaching and research in systems engineering and management, technology strategy and the business environment. Peipei holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from University College London. Previously she worked in the world's largest air conditioner producer as commissioner of science and technology management and holds the Associate Teaching Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy.