Karen is the CEO of XCAM (www.xcam.co.uk), a small business which designs and manufactures customised digital camera solutions for science, industry and spaceflight. After graduating with a BSc Hons Physics degree, Karen spent several years developing fibre optic transceiver technology for military and commercial applications for the Plessey company in the UK. During a career break with her family, Karen was a founder member of XCAM, and later took over as CEO.

During the 20 years that Karen has run XCAM, it has grown from a 1 person business operating out of a spare room at home, to a business which operates from a 6000 square foot factory in Northampton, complete with ISO 6 class cleanrooms where cameras are made, which are subsequently launched into space or installed in world-class science facilities.

Jan Peters PhD is a thought leader of inclusion in STEM. Experience of academic research, manufacturing, and commercializing technology underpin her expertise as a global inclusion strategist and practitioner, founding Katalytik in 2004. President of the Women’s Engineering Society from 2008-2011, she was awarded her MBE for services to women and engineering in 2017.

Dr. Nicola Thorn is managing director of AND Technology Research, an all female-led design and development consultancy. Trained as a system architect and software engineer, Nicola has established expertise in embedded software, low-powered devices, design for scale and medical compliance.

Founded in 1980, AND Technology Research have delivered high-quality design services in medtech, consumer electronics, and green tech to over 350 customer worldwide. Beyond professional accomplishments, Nicola has a passionate commitment to innovation, with a special focus on advancing technology and actively promoting increased diversity, particularly advocating for the inclusion of more women in the tech sector.

A veteran of 37 years in the Analog Integrated Circuit Design industry, Ash Madni continues to contribute to the rapidly changing world of Microelectronics. Ash has worked for a number of big companies, such as Ferranti, STL, GEC Plessey Semiconductors, Maxim Integrated, Dialog Semiconductors, to name a few.

He has also worked in startups, such as Phyworks. During his tenure at GEC Plessey Semiconductors, Ash raised over 20 patents, including Synthesis Exploiting Algebraic Design, which was used successfully in a number of products. Ash is currently running his consultancy, Madni Technologies (UK) ltd.

For relaxation, Ash enjoys walking, spending time with his wife, daughters, grandchildren and friends. Ash is an active composer in Chamber and Orchestral music. Inspired by the works of Shelley and Stoker, Ash is working on his first SciFi novel Transmutation – the rise of Hemonra. Passionate about the Semiconductor industry, Ash is an active blogger for the Electronics Weekly website

Monika Biddulph is a non-executive director in the alternative energy and technology space. After graduating with a PhD in Experimental Particle Physics from the ETH Zurich, she moved into the electronics industry in a career spanning more than 20 years. She has gained a wide range of experience in both the commercial and technical aspects of an international technology business, including General Management, IP and SW Licensing and Marketing roles with Arm Holdings, the global chip designer. Monika left in August 2018 to build up a portfolio career and consult with start-ups on business strategy.

Currently Monika is a Non-Executive Director on the boards of AFC Energy Plc, Celebrus, Ilika Plc and Power Roll Ltd. She has been a STEM ambassador for many years and loves mentoring the next generation leaders in tech. Organisations she has worked with include Cambridge Enterprise, Everywoman and Leaders Plus. Her hobbies include roller skating - including with the ‘Wheels and Wheelchairs’ group, hiking, reading, and cooking and baking for friends and family.

Senior Data Scientist( Lead) with over 12 years of experience in a variety of fields, including predictive modeling, Interpretable Machine Learning, Natural Language Processing, Prognostic & Health Management of aircraft, and data mining algorithms. I've worked in industries ranging from retail to aviation to education to transportation to climate change, and I've applied my skills to solve challenging business problems across all of them. I hold 7 granted US patents and one trade secret in the field of interpretable and interactive machine learning.

Currently, as a Senior data scientist at Microsoft, I'm focused on building machine learning models to support Xbox Supportability. My work has included developing customer profiles, automated support area paths, and leveraging GPT for case summarization to improve the advocate and customer experience.

In addition to my work at Microsoft, I've also served as an Adjunct Faculty at the University of Maryland Baltimore County, where I taught Platforms for Big Data Processing. I've presented several technical papers and co-authored publications spanning a variety of applications, including Prognostic & Health Management of Aircrafts, Human interpretable ML, and Explainable AI. I've also co-authored many papers in various Machine Learning Conferences and Workshops such as WIML (Women in Machine Learning), AMSTAT (Women in Statistics and Data Science), and IEEE.

Helen Duncan is Chief Marketing Officer of Blueshift Memory, a semiconductor IP startup. Following an early career as a microwave design engineer, she was marketing manager for two global semiconductor manufacturers, then editor of Microwave Engineering Europe magazine. More recently she has worked as a marketing consultant and as a freelance writer on RF and 5G technology, and is also an advisor on UK semiconductor and telecoms policy.

Helen is dedicated to promoting the role of women in electronics, and has served on the IEEE UKI Women in Engineering Committee.

Helen Weedon is a senior PR professional with more than 15 years experience managing PR and Marketing campaigns. She founded Radical Moves in 2007, a PR and Marketing agency specialising in the broadcast and satellite industries. Helen is also the Managing Director of the Satcoms Innovation Group (SIG), a role she was appointed in January 2020. Having worked with SIG since 2011, Helen was already integral to many of the group’s activities. Helen is a keen linguist with a BA Hons degree in French, German, and European Studies.

Sujit has engineering research and professional experience of more than 34 years with specialisation in Signal Processing at leading Space Research Organisations and Radar manufacturing companies. He was a principal designer for the payloads of ISRO's remote sensing and communication satellites including RISAT, INSAT, GSAT and OceanSat and ESA's SolarOrbiter. He has also worked as a Technical Lead at BAE Systems and presently working in the lead role related to robotics surgery at CMR Surgical, Cambridge, UK. Sujit is an active STEM ambassador, an Edtech specialist, an educator, an entrepreneur and an open-source advocator with a mission to inspire the next generation of innovators. He is the founder and mentor of the Cambourne Electronics and Robotics Club (CERC), Cambridge Electronics and Robotics Academy (CERA) and Cambridge Innovation Foundation (CiF). Sujit is a Senior Member of IEEE, US (SMIEE) and Fellow of IETE (FIETE). He is also a Global Micro:bit Champion 2022 and 2023 to promote STEM activities worldwide.

As I continue to learn to love living life and work to the full, I am focusing on world-class Boards as a director and executive chair, mentoring and business coaching plus driving major global initiatives of purpose & impact. I proudly founded my Academies for Youth with Potential in 2020, starting with the Lost Girls of COVID Schools in Thailand.

This continues to enrich all involved, providing the young people with so many great skills the world needs and I’m excited to expand my academies further in the years ahead! I am also immersing myself in our new home in Norfolk, getting involved in and fundraising with the local community and creating a carbon-zero living environment.

My mentoring and Business Coaching expands with assignments across Africa, Asia, Europe and the US supporting young leaders in multiple sectors and countries, and I continue to use my Voice as I communicate the commitment and promises I make to practically help repair the fabric of society where it needs me, breathing life into Tikkun Olam. I was the Founding Trustee for the impact start-up, Mission Beyond where I was Executive Chair from 2020-2023.

I also served on the Advisory Council for King’s College London Business School for 9 years, sharing my business and technology expertise to advance education. Leaving Singapore in early 2020, to spend special time with my family, I concluded my 2-year role as Chair & CEO, Asia Pacific at IBM, where I was responsible for driving change and leading some of IBM’s highest priority and most strategic business initiatives across 15 countries. I recently completed a 2-year board role for Singapore Economic Development (EDB), ended a 9-year service to the world-class Board of FTSE 100 BAE Systems and concluded eight years on the Emerson Electric main Board. From 2015-2017, I was the leader and founder of the IBM startup Watson Internet of Things and then added the Cognitive Commerce and Education portfolios.

From 2012-2014 I was CEO of the Thomas Cook Group, leading the global transformation and rebranding of the leisure travel company. My early career in the electronics industry, for which I received my OBE in 2010, included leading businesses across Europe, the US, and Asia. I was managing director of Macro Group aged 29, and then appointed VP marketing Arrow Europe 1994 and president of the Asia/Pacific sector of Arrow Electronics from 2002 to 2006. I was chief executive officer of Premier Farnell, a global electronics distribution business, from 2006 until 2012.

Honours and Awards

● LinkedIn Top Voice 2019 to 2022 – Top Ten Influencers in the UK to follow

● HERoes Hall of Fame in 2020, after being consecutively listed for three years on the HERoes champion of women list

● One of Fortune’s most powerful women internationally in 2019

● LinkedIn Influencer, since 2019

● Kings College London – Wall of Fame, since 2019

● Fast Company top 100 most creative people in business, 2017

● Women in Technology Hall of Fame, 2016

● Veuve Cliquot Businesswoman of the year, 2013

● National Business Awards Leader of the Year 2013

● OBE for services to electronics, 2010

Annette is a veteran PR professional, having worked with clients of all sizes, in many different tech sectors, and on a wide variety of campaigns throughout Europe. She founded Annette Bley PR after holding senior in-house and agency roles and her client roster has included major companies, such as ARM, Cadence and Dell, plus an extensive list of successful start-ups, government initiatives and events. Having worked with DVCon Europe (Design and Verification Conference and Exhibition Europe) since its inception 10 years’ ago, she now sits on the Steering Committee.