Tim Baldwin is Acting Provost and a Professor of Natural Language Processing at Mohamed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence (MBZUAI), in addition to being a Melbourne Laureate Professor in the School of Computing and Information Systems, The University of Melbourne.

Tim completed a BSc(CS/Maths) and BA(Linguistics/Japanese) at The University of Melbourne in 1995, and an MEng(CS) and PhD(CS) at the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1998 and 2001, respectively. He then worked as a Senior Research Engineer at the Center for the Study of Language and Information, Stanford University, before taking up a faculty position at The University of Melbourne in 2004. In 2022, he relocated to Abu Dhabi as Chair of the NLP Department and Associate Provost at MBZUAI.

Tim's research has been funded by organisations including the Australian Research Council, Google, Microsoft, Xerox, ByteDance, SEEK, NTT, and Fujitsu, and has been featured in MIT Tech Review, IEEE Spectrum, Reuters, CNN, The Times, and ABC News. He is the author of over 450 peer-reviewed publications across diverse topics in natural language processing and AI, with over 22,000 citations and an h-index of 70 (Google Scholar), in addition to being an ARC Future Fellow, ACL President in 2022, and the recipient of a number of awards at top conferences including AACL, ACL, EACL, EMNLP, and *SEM.

Dr Eesa Mohammed Bastaki is the recipient of the highest award in the UAE, the “Emirates Excellence Award in Sciences, Literature and Arts”, in the field of Sciences.

Dr Bastaki’s extensive experience in education, leadership, technology and communications will prove a major asset in leading the university into its next progressive phase, which includes the building of a new campus and the addition of several programs, such as a Master of Laws degree and a Doctorate degree in Business Administration. Most recently, Dr Bastaki worked as a professor at United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) specializing in Communications Engineering.  He also recently held positions as: CEO of ICT Fund; Director of Education, Training and Research and Development for Dubai Silicon Oasis (DSO); Consultant and IT Project Manager for Al-Ain Municipality; and Chairman and Partner of Barajeel Engineering Consultants.  Dr Eesa is one of the founders of DSO and RIT-Dubai.

Dr Bastaki is a member of 7 academic boards, Honorary Chair of IEEE, Chairman of Emirates Science Club, Board member of the Cultural and Scientific Association, Board member of KHDA’s UQAIB, Board member of Ankabut (UAE’s NREN) and many more. Dr Bastaki received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of California, San Diego and his Doctorate from University of California, Irvine, before returning to help improve the education and technology sectors in his homeland, the UAE. University of Dubai faculty, staff and students are gratified that a man of his accomplishments leads the university on its continuing path to provide the highest quality education in the region.

Professor Tadhg O’Donovan is the Chief Scientist of Heriot-Watt University and the Deputy Vice Principal with responsibility for Academic Leadership on the Dubai Campus of Heriot-Watt University. He graduated from Trinity College Dublin with a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering in 2001 and a PhD in 2005. He continued in Trinity College as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow and lecturer before joining Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh in 2007 as a lecturer in Mechanical Engineering and became an Associate Professor in 2015 and a Professor in 2019. In January 2018 he was appointed as the Head of the School for Engineering and Physical Sciences at the Dubai Campus and in January 2021 he also took on the role of Head of the Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering.

Professor Tadhg O’Donovan is an established researcher in the area of Green Technology. His research background in thermal science is largely applied to solar energy conversion, systems and storage. His research group focuses on the development of low-cost solar collector technology for domestic hot water systems, phase change thermal storage devices, characterisation of high solar photovoltaics, and the thermal management of Li-Ion batteries. He employs a techno-economic approach to develop renewable energy components and systems in partnership with industry. He has successfully secured more than £4m in research grants as PI and Co-I in my career to date; this includes 4 early-stage Energy Catalyst projects, 4 Knowledge Transfer Partnerships (KTPs), demonstrating his track record of collaborating with and supporting industry partners.

Professor O’Donovan has established Renewable Energy Test Sites on both the Edinburgh and Dubai campuses of Heriot-Watt University; these facilities supported the development and characterisation of solar thermal and solar photovoltaic devices in near ideal conditions (Dubai) and in variable climatic conditions (Edinburgh). The facility also supports the optimisation of renewable energy systems (conversion and storage technology) in the environment.

Ten PhD students have graduated under Professor O’Donovan’s guidance and he has published in excess of 80 research papers in peer reviewed conferences and high impact factor journals. Professor O’Donovan leads the Institute of Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering in the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences and is the Honorary Education Secretary for Energy Institute – Middle East.

Mariët Westermann is the vice chancellor and chief executive of New York University Abu Dhabi. She previously served as executive vice president of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, where she oversaw the grantmaking and research programs. Westermann was also the first provost of NYU Abu Dhabi and director and professor of NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts, associate director of research at the Clark Art Institute, and a faculty member at Rutgers University. As a historian of Netherlandish art she has authored numerous scholarly and museum publications, including the widely read A Worldly Art: The Dutch Republic 1585-1718, and curated the exhibition Art and Home: Dutch Interiors in the Age of Rembrandt (Denver Art Museum and Newark Museum). Her current research investigates the garden of Eden in the Judaic, Christian, and Islamic traditions. She earned a BA at Williams College and a PhD at the Institute of Fine Arts. Westermann serves on the boards of ALIPH (The International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas), the Educational Testing Service, the Rijksmuseum, AmCham Abu Dhabi, and the US-UAE Business Council, and chairs the Scholar Rescue Fund of the Institute of International Education.

Jane Chafer is Vice President of Membership, Marketing, and Communications at CASE. She joined the CASE team in November 2022.

She began her career in 1985 with a marketing sponsorship for ECC Limited, based in St Austell, U.K., and completed her Bachelor of Science degree in Business Studies at Bradford University, with a six-month internship in Milan. From there, she moved to Mars confectionery and BT, where she held various senior marketing and communication roles with responsibility for integrated customer-facing campaigns.

Joining the University of Sheffield, U.K., in 2004 as Director of Marketing, she rebranded the University and led a programme to embed customer service within the organisation, whilst increasing international students by 40% in just one year. Chafer also represented the university at five international conferences. Chafer joined Plymouth University, U.K., in September 2009, completing her MBA degree in 2010 at Ashridge with a dissertation on marketing services at Plymouth. She held the role of Director of External Relations until December 2013, and was responsible for stakeholder engagement, communications, development, alumni, and marketing Operations. In 2013, she was appointed a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Chafer joined the executive team at the University of Exeter, U.K., as its inaugural Director of Communications and Corporate Affairs in February 2014. During her nine years at Exeter, she grew and developed the concept of integrated advancement.

Chafer got her first taste of non-executive work on the Board of Sheffield City Trust. Now, her non-executive work is for Plymouth Argyle Football Club, a league one team in the U.K.