Keynote speakers

In addition to the main MIT campus, EHS provides support for and oversight over all off-site and international departments, laboratories and research centers. Durak holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering, a MS in Industrial & Systems Engineering and a PhD in Building Construction / Environmental Design and Planning. He has over 25 years of experience in engineering and EH&S in higher education. During his career, he has served in the capacity of EHS Director, Authority Having Jurisdiction, Responsible Official, Fire Marshal, Risk Manager, Radiation Safety Officer, Laser Safety Officer, Safety Engineer, Project Manager and Emergency Manager for government agencies as well as universities with extensive healthcare and research facilities. He is a practicing professional engineer, certified safety professional, certified building and fire official and an associate in risk management. During his academic tenure, Durak held engineering and public health faculty appointments. In addition to occupational safety and health, he has research interests in building sciences with emphasis on performance, energy efficiency, retrofitting solutions, systems integration, integrated control strategies and smart building materials. Durak is a proud father of twins Sam and Sloane and a competitive rower who races nationally and internationally in masters category.

He has given key note talks around the world including the closing key note at the inaugural Campbell Institute ‘International Thought Leaders’ conference (Dallas, USA, 2014 as well as key note talks at major conferences in South Africa, New Zealand, Asia, India and the Middle East. In 2016 he was the key note speaker at the inaugural NEBOSH Alumni event.

Founder of Ryder Marsh Safety he has worked commercially with more than 500 major organisations around the world, including many international oil and gas, utility, chemical, transport, IT and manufacturing organisations as well as the European Space Agency, the BBC, the National Theatre and Sky. Founded Anker & Marsh in 2018 with Jason Anker to focus more closely on wellbeing and mental health issues.

His work as an expert witness includes the Cullen Inquiry into the Ladbroke Grove train crash (Definition of Culture; Changing Culture) as well as with many law firms.

He has worked with media such as the BBC (radio work and selecting and fronting a box set of their “disaster” series) and has written and produced many training videos such as “Drive Smarter” and the extensive “Safety Leadership” series with Baker-media and ‘Crash Course’ (a commercial spin off of the Staffordshire Police speed and safe driving awareness course). He features in “There’s Always a Reason” and “Safety Watch”.

He has written dozens of magazine articles, many academic articles and the books “Affective Safety Management”, “Talking Safety”, “Total Safety Culture”, “Safety Savvy”, “A Definitive Guide to Behavioural Safety” and “A Handbook of Organised Wellbeing”.

“Talking Health Safety and Wellbeing – Building an Empowering Culture in a Post Covid World” published in October 2021.

Paul is the pre-eminent safety defence lawyer operating in the UK. He leads the Global Eversheds Sutherland Health and Safety defence practice. He has been ranked in Chambers since 2010 and described varyingly over that period as ‘a gifted and talented advocate; diligent; very responsive, pragmatic; an excellent tactician; brilliant.’ Recently, Paul wrote the legal opinion on the new version of HASMAP, which is the chief safety auditing standard for Higher Education Institutions. Paul regularly assists IOSH in commenting on new guidance documents and is part of the committee re-writing the guidance on leadership of safety in HEIs.

He manages crises, ranging from explosions, suicide and falls from height on a regular basis, providing expert guidance on handling different stakeholders sensitively. As a solicitor-advocate he appears for organisations in Courts and Coroner’s courts around the country; he is a Fellow of the University of South Wales with a research interest in the developing law around mental health. He is also a trustee of the niche cancer charity Team Verrico.

Alongside his legal qualifications, Paul is cross-qualified as a safety practitioner and as an academic, holding post graduate certificates in teaching and safety. He uses this to good effect in providing consultancy services to global companies, providing legally privileged deep dive reviews into structure and strategy and assisting safety departments in behavioural safety and psycho-social safety. In the last year he has worked in Hong Kong, Europe and Oman on investigations and culture transformation. He has also led teams looking at system integrity working in Northern and London universities.

Previously, Professor Jennings was the Vice-Provost for Research and Enterprise at Imperial College London, the UK Government’s first Chief Scientific Advisor for National Security, and the Regius Professor of Computer Science (a post bestowed by the monarch to recognise exceptionally high-quality research) at the University of Southampton.

Nick's personal research focuses on developing AI systems for large-scale, open and dynamic environments. In particular, he is interested in how to endow individual autonomous agents with the ability to act and interact in flexible ways and with effectively engineering systems that contain both humans and software agents. He is passionate about the real-world impact of research and has been involved with deployments of systems in domains such as business process management, smart energy systems, defence, telecommunications, sensor networks, disaster response and citizen science. He is also involved with a number of start-ups including Aerogility, Crossword Cybersecurity, Contact Engine, Darktrace, Rebellion Defence and Reliance Cyber Systems.

In undertaking this research, he has attracted grant income of £33M, published over 700 articles (with over 400 co-authors) and graduated over 50 PhD students (including two winners and one runner-up of the BCS/CPHC Distinguished Dissertation Award). With 90,000 citations, he is one of the world's most cited computer scientists. He was the founding Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems and a founding director of the International Foundation for Autonomous Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.

Nick was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath (CB) in the Queen’s New Year Honours List in 2016 for his services to computer science and national security science. He has received a number of prestigious awards for his research including the Computers and Thought Award, the ACM Autonomous Agents Research Award, and the Lovelace Medal.

He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the British Computer Society, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), the Society for the Study of Artificial Intelligence and Simulation of Behaviour (AISB), the Royal Society of the Arts, the City and Guilds of London Institute, the German AI Institute (DFKI) and the European Artificial Intelligence Association and a member of Academia Europaea.

He has previously held a number of executive level roles focusing on leading complex workforce and culture change. He joined Aston from Bristol City Council where he was Director of Human Resources and Change.

Richard is a governor of Aston University’s Engineering Academy and also a pension trustee. He is recognised by friends and colleagues as an out-and-out, total enthusiast (and cricket fan)! He is passionate about working with organisations and people, to help them become the very best that they can be.

David has published widely about performance and health psychology, including ground-breaking research studies in scientific journals and practical articles that demystify complex human phenomena. He currently serves in senior editorial positions for psychology- and sport-related peer-reviewed journals, and has been the recipient of multiple awards from international organisations for his professional practice and research. David is an experienced keynote speaker at corporate and academic events, and an expert media contributor for British television, radio, and newspapers.

Sarah regularly advises directors and organisations during criminal and regulatory investigations and provides representation from PACE interviews through to conclusion or prosecution. Sarah is a Solicitor-Advocate and frequently appears in the Magistrates' Court and Coroners' Court. Sarah's recent contentious safety experience includes representing an organisation in the unplanned collapse of a boiler house where there were multiple fatalities, representing a manufacturing company where an employee received life changing injuries and a retailer in a complex inquest where 2 firefighters died. In her non-contentious work Sarah regularly advises organisations on the robustness of their safety management systems. Sarah has completed health and safety reviews for a number of global organisations including a pharmaceutical company and worldwide travel company. Sarah has recently advised a Leading Power company in the Asian Pacific, in the development of an overarching safety framework and cultural transformation exercise. Sarah undertakes training for clients and colleagues and regularly appears as a guest speaker at safety events, including the H&S EXPO, London Health and Safety Group and IOSH. She also regularly contributes to the Safety Health Practitioner online publication and ES Sector newsletters. Sarah is an Assistant Deputy Coroner for London Inner South. This judicial appointment compliments Sarah's existing coronial caseload as an advocate. The Legal 500 has recognised Sarah as a 'Rising Star' in Health and Safety.

Between 2010 and 2019 she was an MP and served for three years as a Member of the Science and Technology Select Committee before becoming a Minister in the Home Office and latterly at the Department of Work and Pensions, where she had the honour of working with the HSE and leading the Health and Work unit. Amongst other responsibilities while at the Home Office she led work on tackling modern slavery, human trafficking and human exploitation.

Before entering the House of Commons, she was Director of the International Longevity Centre - UK, Age Concern England and American Express Europe. She also served as a Councillor in the London Borough of Merton.

Sarah was educated at Falmouth Comprehensive School and Kings College London. Sarah won a Rotary International postgraduate scholarship in the USA.