World’s Top 50 Innovators 2017

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VICTOR HUGO once famously remarked: “No power on earth can resist an idea whose time has come”.

Since the Industrial Revolution, technology has played a unique role in powering growth and transforming economies. Catalysed by the internet, the pace of technological change and scientific progress is accelerating, creating the new industries of the future.

We are inviting the scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs and visionaries who are building the “Industries of the Future”, to better understand where new wealth will be created, whilst also examining the impact on the economy and society.

The format will be a series of Codex Talks. A Codex Talk is a concise presentation, lasting 15 minutes (or less), in which the speaker addresses a challenging question faced by their technology or industry today and ends with a bold prediction for the future.

Codex talks are engaging, entertaining and elucidating. They give the audience something they can walk away with: valuable insights, actionable information, fresh perspectives, and renewed optimism.

Come and join CEOs, tech entrepreneurs, scientists, investors and media, from across the world for one of the most significant conferences on innovation in 2017.

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BT Auditorium, 81 Newgate street, London, EC1A 7AJ

27 September 2017 - 29 September 2017

8:00 am - 6:30 pm

Schedule

8:00 am 8:50 am Registration

8:50 am 9:00 am Chairman’s welcome

9:00 am 10:30 am Robotics and Artificial Intelligence: I think therefore I am?

Michael Cervenka, Head of Future Technologies, Rolls-Royce
How will AI transform manufacturing ?

Amir Khosrowshahi, Chief Technology Officer, Artificial Intelligence, Intel
What does the future of computing look like?

Rich Walker, CEO, Shadow Robot
What are these new robots going to do for me?

Mark Oleynik, CEO, Moley Robotics
What will your robotic chef cook for you tonight?

Q&A speakers

10:30 am 11:00 am Morning Coffee

11:00 am 12:15 pm Robotics and Artificial Intelligence: I think therefore I am?

Dr Mirko Kovac, Director, Aerial Robotics Lab, Imperial College London
What will the robotics ecosystem look like in future smart cities?

Jane Zavalishina, CEO, Yandex Data Factory
How will AI make industrial production more sustainable and efficient?

Vidhya Karthikeyan, Principal Research Scientist, BT
Will your broadband be smarter than you?

Q&A speakers

12:15 pm 1:15 pm LUNCH

1:15 pm 2:45 pm Big Data and Analytics: The power of information

Sir Nigel Shadbolt, Master of Jesus College, Oxford
How much of our data should be open?

Dr. Simon Thompson, Head of Practice, Big Data & Customer Experience, BT
Can we turn data science into the science of data?

Dr. Caroline Hargrove, Technical Director, McLaren Applied Technologies
What can Formula 1 teach business about data analytics?

Q&A speakers

2:45 pm 3:15 pm Afternoon Tea

3:15 pm 5:15 pm 3D Printing: Manufacturing the future

Filippo Moroni, CEO, ONO 3D
Could dissemination of 3D printing lead to a renaissance in design, engineering and innovation?

Andy Bowyer, Director, Kleos Space and Magna Parva
How does making things in-Space help us on Earth?

Amos C. Breyfogle, Senior Engineer, EMEA, Stratasys
How do we get more from additive manufacturing?

Markus Glasser, Senior Vice President, EOS
Industrial 3D Printing – the future is digital, the future is additive

Nikita Chen-iun-tai, CEO, Apis Cor
How to 3D print a house in 24 hours

Q&A speakers

5:15 pm 5:30 pm Chairman’s Closing Remarks

5:30 pm 6:30 pm DRINKS RECEPTION

Speakers

Sir Nigel Shadbolt
Master of Jesus College, Oxford

Sir Nigel Shadbolt is Professor of Computer Science at the University of Oxford and Principal of Jesus College. He is also the Chairman and Co-Founder of the Open Data Institute (ODI). In 2009, Sir Nigel was appointed Information Adviser to the UK Government, helping transform public access to Government information, including the widely acclaimed data.gov.uk site.

With over 500 publications he researches and publishes on computer science, artificial intelligence, open data and web science. During his career, he has also worked in philosophy, psychology and linguistics. Since 2000 he has secured 17 projects as Principal Investigator with a value of over £20 million pounds. He is currently Principal Investigator on a £6.14M EPSRC funded Programme Grant researching the theory of social machines – Web scale problem solving systems comprising large numbers of humans and computers.

In 2006 he was one of three founding Directors of Garlik Ltd, which in 2008 was awarded Technology Pioneer status by the Davos World Economic Forum and won the prestigious UK national BT Flagship Award. Garlik was acquired by Experian Ltd in 2011. In 2013 he was awarded a Knighthood for services to science and engineering. He is a member of the GDS (Government Digital Services) Advisory Board. At the request of the Government he recently chaired a Review of Computer Sciences Accreditation and Employability. In 2015 the Chancellor asked him to Co-Chair the UK French Data Taskforce.
Naveen Jain
Founder and Executive Chairman, Moon Express

Naveen Jain is an entrepreneur and philanthropist driven to solve the world’s biggest challenges through innovation. He is the founder of several successful companies including Moon Express, BlueDot, Viome, Intelius, Talent Wise and InfoSpace.

Moon Express is the only company to have permission from the US government to leave earth orbit and land on the moon. It’s developing technologies to harvest planetary resources on the moon for the benefit of humanity.

Viome is focused on disrupting healthcare by “making illness optional”. We do this by recommending personalized diet & nutrition and by identifying predictive biomarkers of diseases based on deep analysis of microbiome, metabolome and meta genomics.

Naveen Jain a trustee of the board and vision circle member at the X PRIZE Foundation where he is focused on finding entrepreneurial solutions to address the global challenges in health, education, women empowerment, agriculture, and energy. He recently launched a million-dollar Women Safety XPRIZE to empower the women around the world.

Naveen Jain is on the board of Singularity University, an interdisciplinary university with the mission to educate and inspire leaders to address humanity’s grand challenges through innovative technologies.

Naveen Jain has been awarded many honors for his entrepreneurial successes and leadership skills including “Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year”, “Albert Einstein Technology Medal” for pioneers in technology, “Humanitarian Innovation Award” at the United Nations, “Distinguished Global Thinker Award” by IILM, “Most inspiring Entrepreneur” by Andaaz TV, “Most admired Serial Entrepreneur” by Silicon India, “Top 20 Entrepreneurs” and “Lifetime Achievement Award” for the leadership in the technology industry and support of other entrepreneurs by Red Herring.
Dr. John M. Sankovic
Glenn Research Center, Chief Technologist, NASA

Dr. John M. Sankovic serves as the Director of the Office of Technology Incubation and Innovation at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s John H. Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Sankovic was appointed to the position and to the Senior Executive Service in September 2014. In his current role he oversees discretionary investments in technology, technology transfer and licensing, promoting and protecting the center’s intellectual property portfolio and identifying infusion opportunities. Dr. Sankovic also serves as the Center Chief Technologist.

He joined NASA in June of 1987 as a co-op engineering student working on turbine engine compressors and has had a distinguished NASA career serving in various technical, supervisory and mid-level program/project management positions of increasing responsibility across a variety of Glenn competencies. Prior to his current position Dr. Sankovic served as the Chief of the Space Operations Project Office managing work assigned to Glenn in the areas of electric power, space communications, human health and physical sciences.

Dr. Sankovic earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mechanical engineering from The University of Akron, his Master of Business Administration from Cleveland State University, and his master’s and doctorate in biomedical engineering from Case Western Reserve University. He is a certified Project Management Professional by the Project Management Institute.

Dr. Sankovic is a registered professional engineer in the State of Ohio with distinction by the Ohio Society of Professional Engineers for highest achievement on both licensure examinations. He is the recipient of numerous awards including the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, five agency group achievement awards, and an R&D100 technology innovation award. Dr. Sankovic has authored or co-authored over 70 technical publications in topics ranging from space propulsion and power to fluid mechanics and biomedical sciences.
Dr. Douglas Terrier
Chief Technologist, NASA

Dr. Douglas Terrier serves as acting chief technologist and is the senior leader of the office. In this role, Terrier is the agency’s principal advisor and advocate on NASA technology policy and programs, helping plot the strategic direction of the agency’s space technology program.

Terrier is responsible for the operation, management and programs within the Office of the Chief Technologist. The Office of the Chief Technologist serves as the NASA Administrator’s principal advisor and advocate on matters concerning agency-wide technology policy. Terrier directs the work of the strategic integration and innovation teams, coordinating and tracking technology investments across the agency, working to infuse technologies into future NASA missions and facilitating agency technology governance. He also is responsible for coordination and integration of research and development planning, policies and programs with other NASA Directorates and Offices, NASA centers and other government agencies, industry and academia. In addition, Terrier conducts advocacy activities with technology partners in industry, the educational community, the public, customers, and stakeholders.

Prior to his current position, Terrier worked at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, as the center’s chief technologist, serving as the principal advisor to the Center Director for technology, and the Center point of contact for the Agency Chief Technologist and the Space Technology Mission Directorate. He is responsible for guiding JSC’s technology investment strategy and integrating and managing the comprehensive technology portfolio.

Douglas also serves a dual role as the Deputy Director of JSC’s Strategic Opportunity and Partnership Development (SOPD) Office. SOPD is responsible for guiding JSC future business including: strategic planning; new business pursuit; technology investment and commercialization; and partnership development. SOPD coordinates all external competitive pursuits and collaborative efforts on behalf of the Center technical Directorates.

Douglas’ previous assignment was Associate Director of Engineering where he led teams responsible for design and development of spacecraft for NASA’s human space exploration program. He also managed the multi-center Crew Exploration Vehicle Aero-science Project developing the critical aerodynamic and aero-thermal environment design database for the Orion spacecraft.

Prior to joining JSC, Douglas served in the Enterprise Readiness Division in the Office of Program Analysis and Evaluation at NASA HQ where he led efforts to align field Center institutions with the Vision for Space Exploration. He joined NASA in 2003 at the Langley Research Center in the Office of Business Development where he was responsible for growing and realigning the Center’s strategic business profile.

Douglas worked in the commercial aerospace sector for a total of 23 years with Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and General Electric Aircraft Engines. He was responsible for International Business Development for Lockheed Martin in the Asia/Pacific region, supporting major successful campaigns including the Australian Joint Strike Fighter campaign worth $12B and the Singapore F-16 Peace Carvin Program worth $4B. Douglas managed Lockheed Martin’s Executive Strategy Team in their successful bid for the DoD’s Joint Strike Fighter program worth $500B.

As an engineering project manager for the Lockheed Martin, Douglas led several highly successful Department of Defense development projects on flight programs including: The F-35 Joint Strike Fighter international variants and block upgrade program; F-22 Raptor fighter program; A-12 Lightning program; National Aerospace Plane; and several classified programs.

Douglas earned a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering and a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Texas. He also completed the Carnegie Mellon Graduate School of Industrial Management program with the Lockheed Martin Institute for Leadership Excellence. Douglas holds patents for his work in aerospace propulsion and has published numerous technical papers. He has earned the Lockheed Martin “Outstanding Technical Achievement” award on four occasions, several NASA “ Superior Technical Accomplishment” awards, and the NASA Leadership medal.

Douglas is the proud father of two daughters and a son. In his spare time, he is an avid soccer player and an aircraft owner and pilot.

Michael Cervenka
Head of Future Technologies, Rolls-Royce

Michael joined Rolls-Royce after graduating with a first class honours degree in Aeronautical Engineering from Bristol University. He was initially involved in designing turbines for future combat aircraft before taking up an early career opportunity as Technical Assistant to the Rolls-Royce Main Board Director – Engineering & Technology. Most of his career has been spent working across the Rolls-Royce civil aero engine portfolio, with increasingly senior roles covering design, development testing and service support.

In his current role as Head of Future Technologies Group working for the Chief Technology Officer, he leads a global highly multidisciplinary team that acts as the prime technological early warning system for the company as well as having responsibility for generating future concepts and developing, protecting and transferring cutting edge disruptive technologies across all of the Rolls-Royce businesses.
Amir Khosrowshahi
Chief Technology Officer, Artificial Intelligence, Intel

Amir has an AB and AM from Harvard and PhD from Berkeley. He started his career at Goldman Sachs where he was a derivatives trader. He then worked at startups, returned to school to study neuroscience, and then founded Nervana. He is now CTO of the AI Products Group at Intel.
Dr Mirko Kovac
Director, Aerial Robotics Lab, Imperial College London

Dr. Mirko Kovac is director of the Aerial Robotics Laboratory at the Aeronautics Department at Imperial College London. His research interest is the conception and design of novel aerial robots and their analogy in biological systems. Before his appointment in London, he was post-doctoral researcher at the Harvard Microrobotics Laboratory as part of the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University in Cambridge, USA. He obtained his PhD with the Laboratory of Intelligent Systems at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He received his M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ) in 2005.

During his studies he was research associate with the University of California in Berkeley USA, RIETER Automotive Switzerland, the WARTSILA Diesel Technology Division in Switzerland, and CISERV in Singapore. Since 2006, he has presented his work at numerous international conferences and in journals and has won several best paper and best presentation awards. He is founding member of the London Robotics Network that acts as the community building hub in the larger London area for robotics in academia, government and industry. He has also been invited lecturer and keynote speaker at more than 30 research institutions world wide and has been representative speaker on education and innovation at the World Knowledge Dialogue Symposium 2008 and the EPFLDidactic Days Conference 2008.
Rich Walker
CEO, Shadow Robot

I’ve spent years working in robotics, and now lead the team at Shadow who are developing new robots and new applications for robotics.

I’m active in developing and implementing European (FP7 and now Horizon 2020) and Innovate UK projects and always happy to discuss possible projects and proposal ideas.

I’m on the Innovate UK “Robotics and Autonomous Systems” SIG Advisory Board, as well as several EPSRC robotics advisory boards and management committees, so if you have strong opinions about what we’re doing right or wrong about robotics in the UK, then please get in touch.

I also am one of the three SME Directors of the EuRobotics association, helping shape the robotics roadmaps there and trying to make sure European robotics does some of the right things!

Outside windowless rooms with powerpoint presentations, I like to find new ways we can apply next-generation robotics technology and thinking to solver real-world problems. Even if someone else does it!

Nikita Chen-iun-tai
CEO, Apis Cor

We are the first company to develop a mobile construction 3D printer which is capable of printing whole buildings completely on site. Also we are people. Engineers, managers, builders and inventors sharing one common idea – to change the construction industry so that millions of people will have an opportunity to improve their living conditions.

On the six continents of Earth there are families which cannot afford to buy or build a house. A good accommodation is costly. And waiting for it to get construction takes more than a single month.So it used to be. Today – it’s different.

Today we have a 3D printing technology, new building materials and a mobile 3D printer to build affordable, eco-friendly houses within a single day, capable of lasting up to 175 years.

Construction industry is a sluggish machine. But we are ready to readjust it and continue working until everyone is able to afford a place to live.
Andy Bowyer
Director, Kleos Space and Magna Parva

Andy is co-founder of Magna Parva a Space Engineering company that has been delivering flight hardware and R&D developments for European Space Agency missions since 2005.

Andy co-founded a spin-out company exploiting Space tech for beverage can manufacture now a JV with Ball Corp, and more recently a spin-out new-Space remote sensing mission company; Kleos Space.

Kleos is using proprietary, market disruptive In-Space Manufacturing technology capable of making 3D structures potentially km in length in-situ to deliver global Defence, Security & Commercial tracking solutions.
Amos C. Breyfogle
Senior Engineer, EMEA, Stratasys

Amos C. Breyfogle currently spends much of his time helping people understand how Additive Manufacturing can help their companies today and into the future.

He has worked in several disciplines across manufacturing including Manufacturing Engineering, Production Management, Mechanical Design, Quality Control, Product Design, Tooling, and Additive Manufacturing Development. He works with many of the largest and most innovative organizations in the world including; McLaren Racing, Airbus, United Launch Alliance, and many more to push the limit of what’s possible with Additive Manufacturing.

He is currently working out of Stratasys’ European Headquarters in Germany.
Filippo Moroni
CEO, ONO 3D

Filippo’s 18+ years of experience expertise in the field of 3D printing and industrial design have culminated in the creation of the ONO 3D printer. He has taught classes in digital fabrication, design and art.

Over the course of his career bringing to fruition over 1200 projects, Filippo has been honored with multiple international awards for achievements in design, entrepreneurship, and marketing. He has been involved in a number of startups producing products from home automation to naval predictive navigation, from automated growbot systems to high-end Hollywood movie props and sets.

Currently Filippo’s energies are entirely directed at bringing ONO and its lines of resin to market, leading the departments of Mechanical Design, Product QA, Supply Chain and Facility Production Engineering. Filippo’s R&D team is working on the larger versions of the ONO, the ONOtab and ONOpro, as well as expanding the worldwide deployment of ONO 3D printing technology.

Dr. Caroline Hargrove
Technical Director, McLaren Applied Technologies

Caroline Hargrove is a founding member of McLaren Applied Technologies (part of the McLaren Technology Group) set up to exploit McLaren technology and expertise to new markets. She has worked in a range of sectors from motorsports to health, elite sports, manufacturing and oil and gas. She has played a pivotal role in developing McLaren Applied Technologies from a start up to a highly profitable company and is actively engaged in forging partnerships with international leaders in R&D to enhance Applied Technologies’ position as an innovative and forward looking technology company.

Caroline obtained a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge. After lecturing for four years at Cambridge, she joined the McLaren Formula 1 team. For a period of 10 years, she worked in vehicle dynamic simulations and the development of the McLaren F1 simulator. In 2007, she joined McLaren Applied Technologies, where she is now the Technical Director. She is also a regular visitor at Oxford, where she is a Visiting Professor in Surgical Simulations. In 2016, she was selected by the Daily Telegraph as one of the 50 most influential Women Engineers in the UK.
Vidhya Karthikeyan
Principal Research Scientist, BT

Vidhyalakshmi Karthikeyan is a Principal Research Scientist leading a programme on using AI to improve data network management. Her interest is in automating data insights that drive faster detection and diagnosis of faults in networks and services to support real-time management of a complex nationwide infrastructure. Her research enables BT to deliver reliable and error-free TV over our network by directly linking customer impact to network performance and vice versa. She holds 25 patents or patent applications in autonomous network management, addressing the need for future networks to be intelligent, predictive and ready for the next generation of high-bandwidth applications.

Vidhya was awarded Young IT Professional of the Year in 2015 at the BCS UK IT Industry Awards and she won the CBI First Women Award (Engineering) in 2014 for achievements as a senior level business woman in the sector and inspiring women to enter the profession. She is passionate about increasing female representation in STEM subjects. She holds a Master’s degree in Telecommunications and a Bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, both from University College London. She also pursues a part-time PhD alongside her role as a scientist at BT.
Jane Zavalishina
CEO, Yandex Data Factory

Jane Zavalishina is the Chief Executive Officer of Yandex Data Factory, a provider of AI-based solutions for industrial companies. Yandex Data Factory builds upon the unique machine learning and data science expertise of its parent company Yandex, one of the Europe’s largest internet companies and Russia’s leading search engine.

Since joining Yandex in 2000 as its Chief Product Officer Jane held various executive positions with the company. Throughout her career, she has always focused on harnessing the power of the innovative technologies for the everyday needs of millions of users and for disruptive business applications.

Jane is a frequent speaker on the topics of AI business strategy and applications at various events in Europe, Middle East and Asia. She also serves on the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Councils.
In 2016, Jane was named in Silicon Republic’s Top 40 Women in Tech as an Inspiring Leader. She is recognized by Inspiring Fifty as one of the top fifty most inspirational women in the technology sector in the Netherlands.
Dr. Simon Thompson
Head of Practice, Big Data & Customer Experience, BT

Simon Thompson leads the Big Data and Customer Experience Practice at BT. Simon and his team have led the development of big data and machine learning infrastructures in BT and have delivered a number of commercially successful applications over the last ten years. Simon is a member of the advisory board of the Systems That Learn consortium at MIT, previously he was a member of the Big Data@CSAIL board.

He is a member of the EPSRC college, has published more than 50 refereed papers and more than 30 patent applications. He will be a visiting researcher at The Alan Turing Institute in summer 2017 and in 1997 received a Ph.D from the University of Portsmouth. Simon has delivered presentations about machine learning & data science at University of Cambridge, MIT and The Royal Society.

Markus Glasser
Senior Vice President, EOS

Markus Glasser joined EOS in January 1998 and since 2017, is Senior Vice President in charge for the EOS business in Europe (excluding Germany), Africa, Middle East and South America. As part of his role, Marcus has been developing the Export region for EOS since joining in 1998, as well as introducing and implementing distribution partners in various countries. Before this, as a Regional Director, Markus was responsible for the establishment of EOS subsidiaries in Europe, and expansion into new markets and industries in the region. Prior to joining EOS, Markus was Area Manager in Europe and Asia for Kettner, an equipment manufacturer in the packaging industry. Markus is a graduate engineer in the field of manufacturing engineering.