UKAN+ Annual Conference 2023: Maximising the funding of acoustics

Dominique is a graduate of Imperial College London, holding an MBA with specialisation in Technology Entrepreneurship and a BSc in Life Sciences. She is the Co-Founder and COO at Orthonika Limited, a spin-out established to develop and commercialise a total meniscus replacement. She has previous experience of product, business and company development at Unilever and GSK, followed by 10 years supporting enterprise development at Imperial where she served on the board of start-ups such as Acrobot, Protexeon, MicroDX and London Genetics. She is passionate about supporting new ventures and is currently chair of Osstec Limited and the Imperial Venture Mentoring Service.

Valerie Pinfield, Professor of Ultrasonics and Complex Materials at Loughborough University

Valerie Pinfield is an engineer with a mathematical physics background and has developed a broad spectrum of research interests, with a longstanding focus on physical acoustics and multiple wave scattering in inhomogeneous materials. She has recently co-organised a 6-month programme on The Mathematical Theory and Applications of Multiple Wave Scattering at the Isaac Newton Institute in Cambridge (Jan-Jun 2023) which brought together researchers from all over the world to work together on problems in acoustics, electromagnetics and water waves. She is also developing the application of physics-informed machine learning techniques to material design, optimisation and digital twins for electrochemical systems for energy applications and for more sustainable chemical production without fossil fuel feedstocks.

Hasina Begum, Research Fellow, University of Warwick, WMG/Early Career EDI Champion UKAN+

Dr Hasina Begum completed her PhD at the University of Sheffield working on silica aerogels and their uses in vibro-acoustic applications for building and pipe insulation. She is now a Research Fellow at the University of Warwick – WMG’s National Polymer Processing Center (NPPC). Hasina is currently working on the sustainability of plastics using chemometrics and machine learning algorithms. She is also based at the Automotive Composite Research Center at Warwick where she’s worked on the process engineering of high-volume manufacture thermosetting carbon fibre composites in automotives particularly focusing on ‘Zero-waste manufacturing of highly optimised composites with hybrid architectures’. 

Tryfon Antonakakis, Co Founder & Co-CEO, Multiwave Technologies AG

Tryfon is a scientist and professional athlete turned entrepreneur with a background in engineering and applied mathematics.

Tryfon leads Multiwave Technologies’ interdisciplinary research efforts. His scientific expertise matched with a deep understanding of venture investment principles enables Multiwave to bring answers to some of the big challenges in the field of medical imaging.

Tryfon started his career as a professional skier competing at world championships and world cup mogul competitions. He stopped competing in 2010 to follow his passion for science. He joined the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) as a research associate to design particle beam dumps for the Large Hadron Collider. While at CERN, he completed a PhD in applied mathematics at Imperial College London and went on to work at that university as a post-doctorate research associate for a year. At the same time, he was tempted by algorithmic finance and joined hedge fund 80 capital from 2013-2014. Like all professional athletes, he is driven by perfection and applies that discipline across Multiwave’s scientific portfolio. Prior to taking a turn for applied mathematics in the field of metamaterials, Tryfon earned a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from McGill University and a master’s degree in fluid mechanics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). He was awarded the Yael Dowker Centenary Prize for the best PhD thesis in the Department of Mathematics of Imperial College London a few years later. Apart from setting himself apart as the first Greek professional mogul skier, Tryfon competed for the McGill Track & Field Varsity Team from 2001-2002. In his spare time, Tryfon enjoys mogul skiing, track and field, tennis and basketball.

Russell Richardson, RBA Acoustics, ANC

Russell has worked in acoustics since 1995, primarily in commercial consultancy, with a 3-year break to undertake research in room acoustics at London South Bank University. He has ongoing roles at London South Bank University (LSBU) both as a visiting lecturer for the MSc in Environmental and Architectural Acoustics and Institute of Acoustics (IOA) Diploma courses and as a member of the LSBU Industrial Advisory Board. 

In 2002 he co-founded RBA Acoustics, an independent acoustics consultancy practice providing design services in all aspects and types of buildings, building acoustics, vibration and noise control.

Since then, RBA Acoustics has grown to be one of the largest independent consultancies in the UK, with offices in London and Manchester, and has completed in excess of 4,000 projects in the UK, Europe and Africa. Russell has been heavily involved with the wider acoustics community for many years. He is a past Hon. Sec. of the Institute of Acoustics and is the current Chair of the Association of Noise Consultants as well as the Chief Examiner for the ANC Registration Scheme. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Acoustics and has contributed to various guidance documents, including the ANC’s ‘Good Practice Guide for schools’ and the design guidance companion document to Building Bulletin 93, ‘Acoustics of Schools: a design guide’.

Alistair Somerville, President, Institute of Acoustics 

Alistair Somerville is an Honorary Fellow and the current President of the Institute of Acoustics (IOA).  He is also a Past-President of the Royal Environmental Health Institute of Scotland (REHIS). His professional career spans local authority regulatory control work, Higher Education teaching and acoustics consultancy advisory services. As a manager in Edinburgh’s Environmental Health Service he managed the Noise & Environmental Assessment; Food Safety; Health & Safety at Work; and Private Rented Services functions. He has acted as an expert witness at numerous planning public inquiries and court cases and, as a part-time lecturer at Heriot Watt University, he wrote and examined the Environmental Noise & Vibration module for their Master of Science Degree in Acoustics. He also delivered acoustics modules for undergraduate and postgraduate Mechanical and Building Services Engineering courses. Since March 2013 he has operated as a self-employed acoustic consultant and lecturer/trainer in noise and vibration, with a broad range of private and public sector clients throughout the UK. Alistair has contributed to the work of the IOA for many years, acting as Chair of Education Committee; Honorary Treasurer; serving on Council; and as Chair of the IOA Scottish Branch until becoming President-Elect in 2020 and President in August 2022.

Tony Walker Head of Hub – Northern Region (Innovate UK ICURe programme)

Tony is part of a national team to develop, promote and expand the ICURe programme across the whole of the UK. ICURe is a pre-accelerator programme for researchers designed to help explore the commercial application and potential of UK research. Tony started his career in engineering at the Royal Mail, then specialised in direct marketing and new product development. He joined The University of Manchester in a business development role for ICT and Digital research commercialisation and then as an Incubation Manager running its high-tech business incubation centres. He then moved into the university technology transfer office and focused on spinout and licence creation and then as Deputy Director of the Masood Enterprise Centre at Alliance Manchester Business School focusing on staff, student, and graduate entrepreneurship development. He has provided support to hundreds of researchers, entrepreneurs, and SMEs throughout the commercialisation ‘pipeline’ He has been a director and non-executive director of several companies including a listed PLC and is currently chair of a healthcare start-up created through the ICURe programme and is a mentor to several businesses.

Orchisama Das, Sonos, Senior Audio Research Scientist

Orchisama Das is a Senior Audio Research Scientist at Sonos Inc., London. She received the B.Eng. degree in Instrumentation and Electronics Engineering from Jadavpur University, India in 2016, and a PhD degree from the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University, USA in 2021. During her PhD, she interned at Tesla and Meta Reality Labs, and was a visiting researcher at IRCAM and TU Berlin. From 2021 to 2022, she was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Institute of Sound Recording at University of Surrey, UK. Her research interests are room acoustics modelling for spatial audio and real-time artificial reverberation. Orchisama has been a UKAN member since 2021.