Shereen El Feki - Project Consultant

Shereen El Feki is an inaugural Fellow at the American University in Cairo. Before joining AUC, Shereen was a presenter/reporter for Al Jazeera (English), specialising in global health. From 1998 to 2005, Shereen was Healthcare Correspondent at The Economist, writing on biomedical research, the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, international public health, biomedical ethics, intellectual property rights and development. Shereen is a senior fellow of the 21st Century Trust, the International Science and Technology Practice and Policy Center at the University of Minnesota, the Royal Society for Arts and Manufactures (RSA) and an international editor of MIT Technology Review. She is also an expert consultant to PharmaFutures 3, a new initiative looking at novel business models for the pharmaceutical sector in the developing world. Shereen holds a BSc. from the University of Toronto, as well as an M.Phil in biochemistry and a Ph.D in molecular immunology from the University of Cambridge.

Dr. Sami Mahroum - Project Consultant

Dr. Sami Mahroum has a PhD from the Faculty of Economics and Social Sciences at the Helmut-Schmidt University (Bundeswehr University)-Hamburg. He spent part of his PhD training at the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies in Seville, Spain. Prior to that, he gained an MSc in Science & Technology Dynamics from the University of Amsterdam, and a Bachelor degree in Political Science & Development from the University of Oslo. Sami is now a Research Director at the UK's National Endowment for Science, Technology, & Arts (NESTA) and a Research Associate of the International organisation for Knowledge Economy and Enterprise Development (IKED) in Sweden, and a Visiting Reader at the School of Management at Birkbeck College, University of London. Over his career Sami worked for various organisations, including the Technology Policy department at the Austrian Research Centres in Vienna; the Ministry of Research & Innovation at the Ontario Government in Toronto; and the Science and Technology Policy unit at the TNO and Rand Europe in the Netherlands.

Dr. Athar Osama - Project Consultant

Dr. Athar Osama holds a PhD in public policy with a specialization in science, technology, and innovation policy from the Frederick S. Pardee -RAND Graduate School for Public Policy in Santa Monica, CA. Athar also holds a bachelors degree in Aeronautical Engineering and is a graduate of Pakistan's Air force Academy. Currently, Athar is a Senior Consultant for ANGLE plc. -a UK-based technology commercialization consulting, management, and venture capital company with offices in United States and the Middle East, where he supports the company's technology and innovation policy consulting and new venture formation activities. Athar also acts as a Science and Innovation Consultant with the Science and Development Network (SciDev.Net) -a UK based charity focussed on promoting the use of science for development in the South. Athar is also a Visiting Fellow in Science, Innovation, and Development at Boston University's Pardee Center for Global Long Range Future. He is also the founder of Pakistan Research Support Network (PRSN), and the newly launched Muslim-Science.com. Prior to joining ANGLE, Athar worked as PRGS Doctoral Fellow at the RAND Corporation in Santa Monica.

Charles Leadbeater - Project Consultant

Charles Leadbeater is one of the world's leading authorities on innovation and creativity. He is a Senior Visiting Fellow at NESTA, a Demos Associate, a visiting fellow at the Said Business School, Oxford University, and a co-founder of Participle, the public service innovation agency. A former Industrial Editor of the Financial Times, he has advised governments and organisations around the world on innovation strategy. His publications include Living on Thin Air (Penguin, 1999); The Pro-Am Revolution (Demos, 2005); Ten Habits of Mass Innovation (Nesta, 2006); and The Atlas ofIdeas: How Asian innovation can benefit us all (Demos, 2007). His latest book We-Think was published in 2008 by Profile.

Dr. Yunus A. Çengel - Project Consultant

Dr. Yunus A. Çengel is the Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering at Yildiz Technical University (YTU) in Istanbul, Turkey. He received his Ph. D. in Mechanical Engineering in 1984 from North Carolina State University in USA. Before joining YTU in 2010, he served as a faculty member at the University of Nevada, Reno, USA for 18 years, and as the director of the Industrial Assessment Center at UNR.

Dr. Çengel has published many science and education articles: “High School Education and Basing University Entrance Exam on a Rational Basis” (Muradiye Periodical, 2008), “The Art of Teaching with Inspirational Quotes” (Muradiye Periodical, 2007), “YÖK (The Higher Education Council of Turkey) Has Remained Behind the Times” (Zaman Daily Newspaper, 2005), “Transition to Rational Education During the Process of Joining EU – Vission and Mission” (National Education Journal, 2005), “Conservation: The inexhaustible Energy Source That Awaits Discovery” (Insulation World, 2005), “The Role of Universities in the Development and Advance of Nations” (Alternative View, 2005).

He is the recipient of the ASEE Meriam/Wiley Distinguished Author Award twice. He currently serves as the advisor to the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources and the Ministry of National Education in Turkey.

Dr. Tarik Ozkul - Project Consultant

Dr. Ozkul has received his electrical engineering degree in 1981 from Bogazici University, Turkey and his Master and PhD degrees in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology, USA in 1984 and 1988 respectively. During his stay in FIT he has worked as Adjunct Faculty teaching undergraduate courses in Electrical Engineering Department. He was also responsible for setting up Robotics Laboratory of the FIT. After his graduation he has worked in Computer Engineering Department of King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran S. Arabia from 1989 till 1995 where he taught computer Engineering courses as well as being responsible for setting up new labs for the University.

In 1995 he has set up a high tech company in Istanbul, Teknomed Engineering where he designed and manufactured high tech medical devices like medical endoscopes, endoscopic video cameras. Between 1995 and 2001 in his company he has designed and manufactured more than 65 different high tech products which are mostly developed in house. Some of the products have won awards from the industry.

In 2001 he has started working for American University of Sharjah, UAE where he started teaching in Computer Engineering Department.

Between 2005 and 2006 he has taken a leave from AUS and worked as Research and Development Director of Turksat AS in Turkey where he was part of the team responsible for technology transfer and manufacturing of Turksat 3A satellite. Within his capacity he was part of the team hiring engineers, writing and following up RFP’s related to satellite manufacturing and building up of manufacturing facilities.

Dr. Ozkul has more than 50 refereed publications in international journals and conferences and has served in organizing committees of dozens of conferences. He has two sole authored books and several books chapters in edited books. He has 10 patent applications in WIPO which some of them are in the process of turning into national patents.

Dr. Ozkul has received several awards from different institutions including Excellence in Research Award from AUS/UAE, Distinguished teacher award from KFUPM/S. Arabia, Collegiate Engineering Award , National Collegiate Leadership Award, Collegiate Academic All-American Award from FIT/USA, Supreme Achievement Award from Turkish Health Services Journal/ Turkey.