Extraordinary professor in Engineering Management in the Department of Industrial Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch and Director of DeltaHedron Ltd. Former Vice-Chancellor of the Universty of Pretoria and the University of Hull (UK), and former Chairperson of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI). Extensive experience in the management of technology and innovation. His current and former consulting clients include companies in the information and communications technology (ICT), mining, steel, energy, construction and the built environment, electronics, defence, telecomms, health, food and beverage, paper and pulp, retail, agriculture, logistics, financial, industrial,

media, tourism, chemical and consulting sectors, as well as universities and higher education institutions, training boards, science councils, government departments and municipalities. He has published widely and delivered keynote addresses and conference papers across the globe.

C.Eng, PhD (Ohio State), MS (Ohio State), SM (MIT), BEng(Hons)(Pret), BSc(Eng)(Pret), AMP (Harvard), FIET, FSAAE, FRSSAf, FSAIEE, SMIEEE, MASSAf, CQRM

Prof Grobbelaar is a dynamic scientist with a highly productive research output trajectory. Over the 2015-2021 period, she and her co-authors published 45 journal articles and a further 75 conference articles in proceedings of international and regional conferences. She publishes in the area of innovation for inclusive development with application areas in healthcare, education, agriculture and manufacturing. Recent publications explore the development of innovation platforms and the evaluation of mhealth projects. Sara is a seasoned consultant and has successfully completed in excess of 35 consulting engagements in the government, higher education, not-for-profit and private sectors

(ICT, Energy and Power supply, Chemicals, Materials and Food, Pharmaceutical, Industrial, Mining, Tourism, Private Equity, Aviation and Automotive, Logistics). Prof Grobbelaar’s academic qualifications and background uniquely position her to contribute to debates on how innovation for inclusive development may be realised through policy interventions and innovation programmes in the African context. She holds an MPhil in Technology Policy (with distinction) from the University of Cambridge, a B.Eng (electronic) (with distinction) (University of Pretoria), M.Eng (Computer)(with distinction) (University of Pretoria), PhD in (Engineering) (University of Pretoria) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Monitoring & Evaluation methods (with distinction) (Stellenbosch University).

Professor Willem Barnard has a career in research, development, marketing and general management in both civil and private companies in executive capacity at corporate level. He also served as Professor Extraordinaire at the universities of Stellenbosch and Pretoria over a period of more than twenty years, lecturing in Management of high tech enterprises. He is also promotor for a number of theses for Doctoral and Masters Qualifications. He was appointed to a number of South African national institutes for development of trade and technology and served as President of the AHI (Afrikaans Institute of Trade) and he received recognition from customers for excellence in Engineering and Marketing.

He currently consults companies, including family concerns, in development and production of innovative solutions to market demands.

D.Sc. (Eng.) University of Pretoria, M.Sc. (Eng.) University of Cape Town, B.Sc. (Eng.) University of Pretoria, Executive Management Programme, IMD Switzerland.

Professor emeritus of the Graduate School of Technology Management in the Faculty of Engineering, Built Environment and Information Technology at the University of Pretoria. Founding head of the Department of Engineering and Technology Management and former Director of the Graduate School of Management and Executive Director of the University of Pretoria. Established postgraduate programmes in Engineering Management, Technology Management and Project Management and supervised students and taught postgraduate courses in the fields of Decision Analysis, Project Risk Management and New Product Development. Extensive industrial experience as engineer, project manager,

systems engineer and engineering manager. Past visiting professor at Sydney University and the University of Technology Sydney.

Pr Eng SMIEEE FSAAE B Eng (Pret) M Eng (Pret) MS (Stanford) PhD (Stanford)

Dr Imke de Kock (B.Eng, M.Phil (Futures Research)(SU), PhD(Industrial Engineering) Stellenbosch University, MSAIIE, Pr.Eng.), is a professionally registered Industrial Engineer with international experience in the execution and management of industrial engineering and engineering management projects in South Africa, Europe, United Kingdom and South America. She has extensive experience in business consulting and advisory environments, business analysis, business improvement, project management, feasibility studies, and industrial engineering and engineering management methodologies, applications and knowledge that enables her to develop innovative, quantifiable and comprehensive

solutions for the contemporary challenges faced by organisations. After gaining invaluable industry experience, she joined Stellenbosch University as academic staff in 2015. She is a senior lecturer at the Department of Industrial Engineering, and part-time faculty at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB).

Jacomine Grobler is an Associate Professor in the Department of Industrial Engineering at Stellenbosch University in South Africa. Her main fields of expertise are supply chain optimisation, optimisation algorithm development and data science applications in industrial engineering. She is also specifically interested in decision support systems for freight transport. She spent seven years in industry before completing her PhD in 2015. She received the 2015 JD Roberts emerging researcher award and also the 2017 South African Institute for Industrial Engineering Most Outstanding Young Industrial Engineering Researcher Award. She regularly reviews papers for leading international journals and have

presented various invited lectures, for example, a tutorial at the Seventh International Conference on Swarm Intelligence in Bali, Indonesia.

Coenie Nel has more than 16 years of exposure to various national and international infrastructure projects. After spending valuable project time with both engineering consultants and contractors, Coenie decided to follow his passion, Project Management, and combine that with his talents, leadership and teaching, to follow a career in developing individuals and organisations to become more successful through applying the principles of Project Management, as well as managing various projects to successful completion on behalf of the client organisation. He is a PMI accredited Project Management Professional (PMP) and has facilitated on more than 80 Project Management programs, nationally and

internationally, on various levels for more than 9 years. He has delivered various successful Project Management development programs (individual and organisational) in the private sector, with clients from industries such as the Petrochemical, Ship Building, General Subcontractor, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Manufacturing, Design, Mining, and the Travel industry.

PrEng, PhD (Stell), MSc (Eng)(Civil)(Stell), MBA (Stell), BEng(Civil)(Stell), PMP (PMI)

Dr Sydney Mambwe Kasongo obtained his bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems from the Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) in 2015. He went on to obtain his master’s degree in Computer Systems (cum laude) from TUT in 2017. In 2020, he obtained a PhD in Electrical & Electronic Engineering from the University of Johannesburg (UJ) focusing on deep learning applied to intrusion detection systems. He is currently a Data Science lecturer at Stellenbosch University in the Department of Industrial Engineering and the School for Data Science and Computational Thinking, South Africa. He previously worked as an industrial automation engineer and his duties included the design, implementation

and commissioning of Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems for several mining companies. He also worked as a Senior Software Engineer in the prepaid metering space. Furthermore, he assumed the position of Technical Lead Engineer in an online marketing-based company where his role was to lead the software development department in conjunction with the Chief Technology Officer. Dr Sydney is a published author in the following journals: IEEE Access, Computers & Security (Elsevier), ICT Express (Elsevier, won the ICT Express Best Paper Award 2021), Journal of Big Data (Springer).

Mandla Gwetu has an extensive career in tertiary education which spans multiple institutions, where he has gained experience in curriculum development, community engagement, scientific research and academic leadership. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of KwaZulu-Natal and is an alumni of the Heidelberg Laureate Forum and the USB-ED Senior Management Development Program. His areas of expertise include both theoretical and application aspects of Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision. He is actively seeking for self funded PhD candidates and research collaborations in Computational Data Science.