Mike Kagioglou is Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Planning, Research and Innovation at De Montfort University (DMU). He is responsible for leading the university’s strategy and delivery of all areas related to research, enterprise, and business innovation. He is the executive lead for the university’s 10-year master plan, the Senior Responsible Officer (SRO), and Chair of the Board for the Development of DMU’s London Campus. He oversees the faculties of Computing, Engineering, and Media (CEM) and Health and Life Sciences (HLS). Prior to joining DMU, he was the Pro Vice-Chancellor Global Development (Europe and UK) and Dean of Engineering, Design and Built Environment at Western Sydney University (WSU), Australia. During his time at WSU, He oversaw the successful merger of two schools, the delivery of the Parramatta Engineering Innovation Hub, the successful restructuring of research with positive outcomes and impact, and significant partnerships, including with Sydney Opera House. He developed and led WSU’s strategy in Europe and the UK with the establishment of key partnerships with universities and research/policy institutions. He is the current chair of the Global Leadership Forum in Construction Engineering Management (GLF-CEM), Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), Fellow of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, Fellow of the Royal Society in New South Wales (AUS), and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Management.
Professor Pejman Sharafi is the head of Modular Prefab Design Laboratory (MPD-Lab) and a principal research academic in the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering (CIE) and Urban Transformation Research Centre (UTRC), which is the node for research and consulting on industrialised and modular construction and offsite manufacturing in the Western Sydney University (WSU). He is the academic chair on advisory boards of some major industries in the area of offsite construction and had been the chair of board of directors in some major infrastructure companies such as NIGC Co, prior to joining academia in 2010. He obtained his PhD from the University of Wollongong in 2013 and joined WSU in 2014. He obtained his bachelor's degree in civil engineering from the University of Tehran, Iran, immediately followed by a master's in 1998. In 2004 he joined the Building and Housing Research Centre in Tehran, Iran, and completed a master's in earthquake engineering. His areas of expertise are structural systems, offsite manufacturing, prefabricated systems, modular design, and optimisation. He has led several national and international research projects in collaboration with a number of leading universities and major industries, and has been the chief investigator of over $30M research projects in this area. He has authored and co-authored over 130 publications in the area of building design, construction, and optimisation.
