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Ollie Folayan is visiting professor to the School of Engineering, University of Dundee and Head of Process at Optimus Plus Aberdeen. He is the Co-Founder of AFBE-UK.

Ollie graduated with a BEng in Chemical Process Engineering with Fuel Technology from the University of Sheffield in 1999 and then earned a Doctorate (PhD) in Fuels and Combustion from University of Leeds in 2002 authoring five international publications in the field of combustion and engineering. To date Ollie has worked on Major CAPEX Front End Engineering Design, Detailed Design and commissioning Projects. In 2018 Ollie Folayan was accepted into the Fellowship of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Ollie has championed successful outreach programmes such as Making Engineering Hot, NextGen (Scotland), Transition and Real Projects and has co-authored three publications on the influence of role models and on the sustainability of the engineering profession in the UK.

Ollie was awarded the Diversity and Inclusion Award by the Institution of Chemical Engineering (IChemE) in 2021

Alex is a Chartered Engineer and Fellow of the IMechE with over 15 years’ experience of working in Industry. She is the Founder and CEO of STEMAZING – a social enterprise dedicated to inspiration and inclusion in STEM. Alex is passionate about supporting women in STEM to shine as confident, visible role models and inspire our future generations of innovators and problem-solvers. She is also a Visiting Professor with the Royal Academy of Engineering at Brunel University London. Alex won the We Are The City Champions Award in 2020 for her work to champion diversity and inclusion in STEM, and STEMAZING won the Diversity Impact Award at the RAC awards in 2021.

Jenny McLaughlin has worked within the airport industry for over 19 years. The last 14 years have been at Heathrow Airport in a number of departments including Environment, Airside and now Infrastructure as a project manager. 

Jenny is the Lead for Heathrow’s Disability Network and brings that to her PM role. Jenny advocates that each person should have an equitable seat at the table and creating a safe environment to challenge and improve the way we interact and build the world around us.

Jenny is dyslexic and has ADHD and believes that “the way that my brain is wired differently is an asset”. Finally, Jenny was recognised by IET for her work on ‘Systematic Inclusion’ in their Celebrating Impact exhibition.

Abigail Kimber is a Client Development Consultant at social enterprise Mental Health First Aid England, working alongside a team of consultants that manage the organisation’s training courses. MHFA England’s training and new diagnostic service, Startwell, equip workplaces across industries such as construction, public health, and technology, including Skanska, NHS, Deutsche Bank and Samsung, with mental health knowledge, skills, and the tools to build a mental health strategy.

Mark McBride-Wright, PhD, CEng, MIChemE is a recognised diversity and inclusion leader. He is Founder and Managing Director of EqualEngineers, a company offering a wide array of diversity & inclusion consultancy and training services, as well as creative events. Mark has delivered 25 Engineering & Technology careers fairs since 2017 connecting over 10,000 diverse opportunity-seekers with over 100 inclusive employers. Mark also founded the Equality in Engineering conference, and the Engineering Talent Awards, and established the Masculinity in Engineering research theme leading to a new way to deliver more impactful positive interventions on organisational culture change. EqualEngineers has trained thousands of engineers on creating inclusive cultures from front line leaders and operatives to senior leadership and executive teams. Clients include EDF Energy, McLaren Racing, Eurostar, GKN Aerospace, Institution of Mechanical Engineers amongst others.

Mark is also Chair and Co-Founder of InterEngineering, a non-profit industry body that connects, informs and empowers LGBT+ engineers and supporters. In recognition of his diversity work, Mark won the coveted ‘Corporate Rising Star’ award at the 2016 British LGBT Awards and was ranked #2 in the 2015 Financial Times Future LGBT Leaders list (#6 in 2016). In addition, he was ‘Highly Commended’ at the Inclusive Networks Awards (2015), shortlisted for the ‘Corporate Equality Award’ by PinkNews (2016), and is a regular speaker at the London Business School.

He has worked with many Fortune 50 companies on D&I programs and talent engagement strategies and has also authored a white paper for the UK Government on tackling homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in engineering. Mark is a Chartered Engineer (IChemE) by training with a focus on health and safety, having worked at KBR Inc (2013-2017) and ERM (2012-2013) before pursuing his work in diversity. He also holds a doctorate (PhD) in chemical engineering at Imperial College London (2009-2013).

Kevin is committed to widening participation in STEM careers from underrepresented groups. Kevin joined The Smallpeice Trust as CEO in 2013 and led the doubling of the Trust’s reach to 40,000 students a year, and increasing female participation on courses from 32% to 50%. Kevin’s commitment to widening participation was recognised in 2018, when he was a finalist in the (Women in Science and Engineering) WISE Man of the Year Award. Whilst Kevin has spent two decades working for STEM charities, he is a Research Chemist by background, with a PhD in Catalysis. He also holds an MBA. Kevin is Chair of Governors of a Primary School.

Dawn Bonfield MBE is a materials engineer by background and specialises in inclusion in engineering through her role as Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor of Inclusive Engineering at Aston University. She is currently Royal Society Entrepreneur in Residence at King’s College London specifically looking at embedding entrepreneurial skills in the training of engineering students, in order to empower them to address the Sustainable Development Goals. She is Past President and former Chief Executive of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES) and Deputy Chair of the Women in Engineering Committee of the World Federation of Engineering Organisations. She has a variety of other Board roles in engineering.

After an early IT career, Elizabeth graduated from the Open University, specialising in systems thinking. She was awarded Membership of the Royal Aeronautical Society for work with Rolls-Royce and went on to lead skills policy in aerospace before establishing her own consultancy. Elizabeth has always worked towards diversity and in 2018 she was appointed CEO of the Women’s Engineering Society. In 2019 she became a Member of the International Council of Systems Engineers UK and in 2020 Elizabeth was invited to become a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce.