Our people
Professor Dimitra Simeonidou, Project Director
Related positions
- Head of Bristol Digital Futures Institute
- Professor and Director, Smart Internet Lab, University of Bristol
Dimitra Simeonidou FREng, FIEEE, Royal Society Wolfson Scholar is a Full Professor at the University of Bristol, the Co-Director of the Bristol Digital Futures Institute, and the Director of Smart Internet Lab. Her research is focusing on the fields of high-performance networks, programmable networks, wireless-optical convergence, 5G/B5G and smart city infrastructures. She is increasingly working with Social Sciences on topics of digital transformation for society and businesses. Dimitra has been the Technical Architect, and the CTO of the smart city project Bristol Is Open. She is currently leading the Bristol City/Region 5G urban pilots.
Dimitra is the author and co-author of over 600 publications, numerous patents, and several major contributions to standards. She has been co-founder of two spin-out companies, the latest being the University of Bristol VC funded spin-out Zeetta Networks, http://www.zeetta.com, delivering SDN solutions for enterprise and emergency networks.
Professor Harald Haas, Project Deputy Director, WP2 Lead
Related positions
- Distinguished Professor, University of Strathclyde
- Visiting Professor, University of Edinburgh
Professor Haas received the PhD degree from the University of Edinburgh in 2001. He currently is the Director of the Lifi Research and Development Centre at the University of Strathclyde and is co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of pureLiFi Ltd. He first introduced and coined spatial modulation and LiFi. LiFi was listed among the 50 best inventions in TIME Magazine 2011.
Prof Haas was an invited speaker at TED Global 2011, and his talk: “Wireless Data from Every Light Bulb” has been watched online more than 2.4 million times. He gave a second TED Global lecture in 2015 (~1 million views) on the use of solar cells as LiFi data detectors and energy harvesters. Professor Haas holds 32 patents and has published 300 conference and journal papers including a paper in Science.
In 2012, he was the recipient of the prestigious Established Career Fellowship from the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) in the UK. Prof. Haas is recipient of the Tam Dalyell Prize 2013 awarded by the University of Edinburgh for excellence in engaging the public with science.
Kostantinos Katsaros, WP1 Lead
Related positions
- Head of Technology – Future Networks & 5G, Digital Catapult
Kostas Katsaros is a Senior 5G Technologist at Digital Catapult. Using the expertise developed in part during his time as a research fellow at the University of Surrey’s 5G Innovation Centre, he provides oversight and guidance for specific 5G system architecture and subsystem implementations.
A specialist in new architectures that use virtualization and edge computing, Kostas has extensive experience of vehicular and mobile networks and has led research into the use of mobile edge computing to assist autonomous driving. He has also investigated networking and transport protocols and is interested in how these networks are used to improve society and the novel business opportunities that arise from them.
Kostas has participated in several European and national projects and has co-authored more than 20 peer-reviewed technical articles and conference papers. He also holds two patents on hybrid vehicular networking architectures.
Dr Juan Marcelo Parra Ullauri, WP3 Lead
Related positions
- Senior Research Associate, University of Bristol
Dr. Juan Marcelo Parra Ullauri is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Bristol. He is an Electronics Engineer with a specialisation in Telecoms. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from Aston University, UK. His research focuses on the application of AI in telecom systems and
areas of interest include Explainable AI, PETs (Federated Learning in particular), and Data Engineering for Intelligent 6G Systems.
Juan is a leader and coordinator to the AI-related activities of the REASON project and has served as a Technical Program Committee member for multiple High impact Computer Science and Networking conferences such as AAAI Conference on Artificial Intelligence (AAAI), ACM Symposium of Applied Computing (SAC), IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM), and magazine/journals such as IEEE Network, ACM Transactions on Autonomous and Adaptive Systems, and ELSEVIER Future Generation Computer Systems.
Professor Toktam Mahmoodi, WP4 Lead
Related positions
- Professor of Communications Engineering, Kings College London
- Director of the Centre for Telecommunications Research, Kings College London
Toktam is a Professor of Wireless Networks, and Director of the Centre for Telecommunications Research (CTR). She was visiting research scientist with F5 Networks, in San Jose, CA, in 2013, post-doctoral Research Associate in the ISN research group at Electrical and Electronic Engineering department of Imperial College during 2010 and 2011, and Mobile VCE researcher from 2006 to 2009.
Toktam worked on European FP7 and EPSRC projects aiming to push the boundaries of the next generation mobile communications forward. Toktam has also worked in mobile and personal communications industry, from 2002-2006, and in an R&D team on developing DECT standard for WLL applications. She has a BSc. degree in Electrical Engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Iran, and a PhD degree in Telecommunications from King’s College London, UK.
Professor Hamid Asgari, WP5 Lead
Related positions
- Verification & Validation Lead in Autonomous Systems Research Group, Thales UK
- Network Research Lead, Thales UK
Prof Hamid Asgari has been with Thales UK Research & Technology since 1996 and is now a Chief Technical Consultant leading the Network Research team there. He is also a Visiting Professor at King’s College London. Hamid is a highly experienced and skilled professional in leading large R&D teams, a technical expert, and a professional in providing scientific and academic contributions. He has been leading R&D teams and participating in collaborative European Commission (EC) projects since the year 2000.
Hamid is a technical lead in Advanced and Future Networking and Security Concepts including:
- Information and Cyber Security
- Multi-Level Security
- Wired/Wireless Networks Architectures and Technologies
- Network
- Service
- Quality of Service (QoS) Management.
Hamid has a proven track record and published 55 book chapters and papers in the most respected scientific journals and peer-reviewed conferences. Hamid received his PhD in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from University of Wales, Swansea, UK in 1997.
Simon Fletcher, WP6 Lead
Related positions
- Chief Executive Officer, Real Wireless
Simon has spent the past 20 years working in the design and development of technical telecoms infrastructure. Beginning his career in technology demonstrators at Racal Radar Defence Systems, he moved to Telecoms Modus in 1999 to play a key role in the development of 3G products, and in 2006 he established a core architecture team that helped develop the first-generation of technology for 4G systems culminating in a Steering Board position in the LTE SAE Trials Initiative (LSTI), a global forum with a mission to assure the early adoption of LTE.
Simon’s lengthy participation in Common Public Radio Interface (CPRI) defining early C-RAN concepts brings great foresight on an important architectural element of emerging 5G architectures.
Simon is a regular speaker at industry events and is chairman of the Cambridge Wireless Future of Wireless Conference Organising Committee and Small Cell SIG Champion. His long-standing association with the UK innovation eco-system, as a director of mVCE, member the UK5G Advisory Board and the Innovate-UK ICT-KTN, brings a wealth of knowledge on the application of strategic research through open innovation to accelerate product and service delivery.
Maria Lema, Security Lead
Related positions
- Founder & CEO, Weaver Labs
María Lema is a Co-Founder of Weaver Labs, a Telecoms-software company building a blockchain-based network management tool to open up access to connectivity. Maria leads commercial and strategy activities, as well as building partnerships and handling all company operations. In addition to having a Ph.D. in Telecoms, María has also led all operational activities at King’s College London in the 5G Tactile Internet Lab powered by Ericsson.
María often disseminates her work at many important events within the industry such as:
- Ted X King’s College London
- Mobile World Congress
- Telecoms TV DSP
- International Cyber Security Expo
- Capacity Europe
- Cambridge Wireless International Conferences
- The Green Network
Maria’s work has been covered by many top-level media such as CNN business, The Telegraph Business Review, Raconteur, and The Guardian. She was recently listed as one of Capacity Media’s 20 Women to Watch in Telecoms 2022 and was shortlisted Entrepreneur of the Year 2022.
