Keynote Speaker
Alison Kennedy | Honorary Scientist, UKRI
Alison Kennedy is a semi-retired strategic advisor and independent reviewer for several organisations in the UK and Europe on various aspects of Digital Research Infrastructure investment in hardware and software. Until March 2022, she was Director of the Science and Technology Council’s Hartree Centre, based in the North-West of England, with a mission to accelerate the adoption of HPC, HPDA, AI and quantum computing by UK industry and public sector, leading to economic and productivity gains for the UK.
Prior to joining the Hartree Centre in 2016, Alison held dual roles as Executive Director of EPCC, the national HPC Centre based at the University of Edinburgh and as Managing Director of the PRACE (Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe), an umbrella organisation of leading European HPC centres which provided pan-European services.
She has undergraduate degrees in History and in Mathematics and Technology and a post-graduate degree in Business Administration. Alison began her working life as a real-time systems programmer in industry, progressing to roles in software product management and in sales before moving into HPC. She has now worked in HPC for more than 30 years, managing large organisations, projects and collaborations in HPC, Data and AI. Alison is a co-founder of Women in HPC (WHPC) and served as the organisation’s first Chair and currently sits on WHPC’s Advisory Board.
In November 2024, she was recognised by HPCWire as one of the inaugural “35 Legends of HPC” for her work with Women in HPC and the Hartree Centre.
Panellists
Gillian Arnold | BCS and Director, Tectre
Gillian works in the British IT sector, and is known for her leadership and advocacy for women in technology. She has held significant roles, including President and Chair of the British Computer Society (BCS), and was the Chair of the BCSWomen Specialist Group and she has served on the boards at WISE, and the Institute of Coding.
She has been recognised multiple times as one of the most influential women in UK IT by Computer Weekly, Everywoman and CISCO.
She spent over two decades working for IBM in the UK and ran and founded Tectre, a company focused on diversity in tech.
Livia Bartók-Pártay | Associate Professor, University of Warwick
Livia is a theoretical chemist and Associate Professor at the University of Warwick’s Department of Chemistry. After completing her PhD at Eötvös University in Budapest, she held research positions at Cambridge and Reading before joining Warwick in 2019.
Livia uses advanced computer simulations to explore the structural and thermodynamic behaviour of atomistic and molecular systems, with a focus on developing new sampling techniques to study phase transitions.
Alejandra Gonzalez-Beltran | Head of Data Solutions, UKAEA
Alejandra is the Head of the Data Solutions Unit within the Computing Division at UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). Passionate about using data to accelerate scientific discovery and support sustainable energy, she leads the development of the data and AI strategy to maximise the value of fusion energy digital assets by transforming raw data into actionable insights.
After completing a PhD in Computer Science at Queen’s University Belfast, she held research positions at University College London and University of Oxford. She then joined STFC Scientific Computing, part of UK Research and Innovation, where she led the group supporting data governance, strategy, and management for the large-scale facilities at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory. She currently chairs the International Advisory Board of the DAPHNE4NFDI project and serves on the STFC Computing Advisory Panel.
Charlene Hunter | CEO, Coding Black Females
Charlene Hunter MBE is the CEO and founder of Coding Black Females, an organisation dedicated to empowering Black women in tech. With a BSc in Mathematical Sciences and an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Birmingham, she has over 15 years of experience as a software developer and technical architect.
Charlene founded Coding Black Females in 2017 to address the underrepresentation of Black women in tech. The organisation offers mentorship, role models, and professional development opportunities, collaborating with major corporations and institutions.
Recognised for her contributions, Charlene was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 2022. She is a sought-after speaker at tech conferences, advocating for systemic change to create inclusive environments. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion in tech is unwavering.
Short talks
Christine Aramunde | Head of Enterprise IT, UKAEA
Christine Aramunde is the Head of Enterprise IT at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA), where she leads the governance and modernisation of critical IT infrastructure, cyber security, and digital workplace technologies. She oversees strategy and delivery for national-scale systems that support world-leading fusion research, driving secure, resilient, and inclusive technology transformation.
Kenyan bred and Kenyan educated, Christine began her career in Kenya’s banking and energy sectors, where she implemented enterprise systems, disaster recovery, and security frameworks. She went on to serve with the United Nations in Somalia, building resilient IT systems in challenging environments, before moving to the UK to take on senior leadership roles at the Commonwealth Secretariat and later at UKAEA.
She currently sits in the BCS Oxfordshire Chapter Committee contributing to the advancement of professional practice and community engagement in digital and IT.
With over 20 years of international IT leadership experience, Christine is passionate about building inclusive teams and mentoring the next generation of leaders. A proud mother of five, raising a multi-talented generation inspires her resilience, creativity, and belief in lifelong learning. Christine’s leadership philosophy is clear: "Your vulnerability is your superpower, and the signature of your leadership."
Defne Eken | PhD student, King's College London
Defne is a first-year PhD student in the Vision Human Robotics group at King’s College London. Her research focuses on developing a mobile application to monitor rheumatoid arthritis using computer vision techniques. She is also the London Lead for Women in Robotics, where she works to promote diversity, inclusion, and equitable opportunities within the robotics community.
Brodie Goring | IT Project Manager, UKAEA
Brodie Goring is an IT Project Manager at UKAEA, where she successfully delivers a diverse portfolio of computing and digital projects. Her accomplishments include managing the building and implementation of UKAEA’s new external website and overseeing various infrastructure projects aimed at enhancing UKAEA’s IT facilities.
With a solid foundation in customer service and technical administration, Brodie entered the field of Computing through a non-traditional path and is passionate about making Computing careers more accessible to people from diverse professional backgrounds.
In addition to her project management responsibilities, Brodie chairs UKAEA’s Disability Network. In this role, she champions inclusion and accessibility within the workplace and is dedicated to increasing awareness of hidden disabilities across the organisation.
Wan Maisarah | PhD student, University of Bristol
Wan Maisarah is a 3rd Year PhD student based at the University of Bristol in the Solid Mechanics Research Group and part of the Nuclear Energy Futures CDT, with interest and a research focus on structural integrity for fusion-relevant components. Her academic background is in Materials Science and Nuclear Engineering from the University of Sheffield, and her experience has primarily centred on experimental micromechanical characterisation of materials. As part of her PhD, she is now bridging into materials modelling and harnessing high-performance computing to predict the performance of fusion-relevant materials.
Alex Schutz | PhD student, Oxford Robotics Institute
Alex is a third year PhD student at the Oxford Robotics Institute, in the Goal-Oriented Long-Lived Systems (GOALS) group. Their research involves creating planning algorithms to equip robots with autonomy in uncertain environments, with a focus on graph-based planning. In 2023, they were awarded a prestigious scholarship from the John Monash Foundation, supporting outstanding Australians pursuing postgraduate studies overseas. Alex is passionate about improving the diversity and inclusivity of STEM fields that currently display a severe gender imbalance, contributing as part of several organisations in this realm. Currently, they are a team lead for Robotics Inclusive, a UK-based organisation aimed at improving the inclusivity, diversity, equity, and accessibility of the robotics field, from academia to industry.
