Invited Speakers

		Dr Marina Dawes, Atomic Weapons Establishment Marina Dawes joined Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) as a chemistry graduate back in 2003 and spent her first 5 years working in the lab. In 2008 she was persuaded to give line management a try alongside her lab work, when she realised that she really enjoys people management/leadership! She had a few different Team Leader and Group Leader roles along the way to where she currently is, as Head of MAS (Materials and Analytical Science) at AWE, leading an amazing team of about 500 people. She had two separate years of maternity leave during that time, as well as a transition to part-time working to manage her work-life balance, and she is still part-time. She is passionate about supporting working parents to manage their work-life balance to achieve their version of the best of both worlds; being a parent and pursuing career goals.
		Professor Wendy Flavell, University of Manchester, UK Wendy Flavell is Professor of Surface Physics at the University of Manchester, UK. She trained initially in inorganic chemistry in Oxford (DPhil) and at Imperial College London (Royal Society URF). Her research is focussed on the electronic structure of functional materials including semiconductor nanocrystals, oxide catalysts and photocatalysts, tackling questions such as 'how can we make solar cells cheaper and more efficient?' Much of this work uses photoelectron spectroscopies, including near-ambient-pressure techniques, time-resolved photoemission, depth-profiling approaches using synchrotron radiation and lab-based hard X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Wendy is a reviewer of programmes for several international accelerator-based light sources including MAX IV (Sweden), and was a member of the Physics sub-panel for REF2021.
		Rowena Innocent, SVP Engineering, Ultraleap Rowena Innocent studied a BSc in Physics with Astrophysics at the University of Leicester before beginning a career in metrology. Initially working for Druck Ltd in Leicester she developed pressure sensors for research and industry in many application areas including aerospace, motorsport, Oil and Gas. Following acquisition of Druck Ltd by General Electric in 2011 Rowena spent time in project management and product management before returning to R&D to lead the instrumentation and sensors global team in 2008. In 2011 Rowena became Engineering Director for Malvern Instruments a materials characterisation instrument manufacturer and part of Spectris plc. Following a merger with their sister company, Panalytical, in 2017, as Vice President Research and Development, Rowena led a team of 300 engineers and scientists covering the portfolio of technologies including XRF, XRD, laser diffraction, dynamic light scattering and calorimetry amongst many others. Having been passionate about education in STEM throughout her career she created a thriving student programme supported by several UK universities and subsequently led the STEM strategy for Spectris plc in 2021 which included the creation of the Spectris Foundation and registered charity focussed on STEM education. From 2019-2022 she was a Trustee of NMITE (New Model Institute in Technology and Engineering) helping it transition from concept to student enrolment in 2020. In April 2022, Rowena joined Ultraleap, a leading company in digital interface technologies making digital worlds feel more human. As the shift from traditional science and engineering accelerates towards a dominantly digital domain, she is enjoying using her love of Physics and experience leading technology teams to generate novel technologies for the metaverse.