Dr Violeta Holmes is a Reader (Associated Professor) in High Performance Computing at Huddersfield University with over 25 years of teaching and research experience in computing and engineering, and author of over 40 publications in refereed journals and international conferences. She is High-Performance Computing (HPC) Research group Leader at the University of Huddersfield, ARCHER UK National Supercomputing Service champion, NVIDIA Deep Learning Institute (DLI) certified instructor and ambassador in the University of Huddersfield. Violeta is actively promoting partnership between industry and academia working closely with local SMEs. She has led and participated in UK government and university funded research projects. She has presented her work at UK government events and scientific conferences on Higher Education and High Performance Computing, and she promotes UK education through British Council activities. As a Chartered Engineer and a member of the IET and BCS she continues to support the advancement and promotion of the careers of women in science, engineering and technology in Higher Education and research.

Tshego Cornelius, PrEng MSAIEE is A BSc Electrical Engineering graduate from UCT and with just about 10 years of working experience, Tshego is a motivated, self-driven & energetic individual who started her career as an Engineer in Training in 2009 within Eskom’s Transmission Division and is now the Engineering Design Application Manager within the Eskom’s Group Technology Division. Tshego is a Power System Protection Engineer with experience in the design and development of protection systems. Tshego is currently studying towards a Masters in Business Leadership degree at UNISA. She is a registered professional engineer with the Engineering Council of South Africa (Pr.Eng, ECSA), a Council member of the South African Institute of Electrical Engineering (SAIEE), a member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Black Management Forum (BMF) as well as National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE).

Quraish Behari is the CEO of Derivco, a leading developer of software for the global online gaming industry, Quraish Behari has over 20 years’ experience in the Information Technology sector. Quraish began his career as an IT Manager before joining Derivco in 2004 as a Senior Software Developer doing backend development in C++, C# and MS SQL across various platforms. It wasn’t long, however, before he was promoted to Software Architect, where he took ownership of the entire Software Development Process before being promoted to various senior leadership positions. Having learnt the business of software development quite literally from the inside out, it came as no surprise when he was elected as CEO of Derivco in early 2018. Working in a multi-national organisation, he has a unique world view of many global practices and demands, and is focused on ensuring the company’s competitive advantage in an increasingly tech-orientated world by employing innovative technologies, together with some of the best minds in the industry. Recognising the need to grow a more stable talent pool in the South African IT market, Derivco also work closely with local NPOs, such as CodeMakers (a technology education and youth empowerment public-benefit NPO) to drive STEM education in low-resource communities.