Theme: Vision

The world is continuously changing, and it's natural to wonder what the future holds as we progress. In ten or fifty years, how will our cities, societies, and technologies look? Will we be able to resolve some of the most pressing problems we currently have, or will we be confronted by brand-new issues?

We will explore several future visions at this event. Experts from a range of disciplines, including education, health, technology, art, and politics will offer us their projections for the future. We will look into the possibilities and difficulties that lie ahead.

So let's explore the fascinating and always evolving world of the future while keeping an open mind to new concepts and possibilities.

Denys Holland Lecture Theatre
Bentham House, Endsleigh Gardens
UCL
London, London, City of, WC1H 0EG
United Kingdom

Alexandra Steinacker-Clark

Art historian

American-Austrian art historian, podcast host, curator and writer. She lives and works in London, UK. Her areas of research include feminism in contemporary art and art history, western museum policies, as well as accessibility and engagement in the arts. She is the founder and host of the ‘All About Art’ podcast and currently holds a position at Skarstedt Gallery in London after working at Sotheby's Auction House.

Aliza Ayaz

Businesswoman

Aliza Ayaz is the founder and chair of “Climate Action Society”, a start-up which mobilizes the youth to enact climate action via educational workshops and sustainability consulting. With this, Aliza made the Vogue Arabia’s 2019 list of “Most Influential Women” globally at just 21 years old, when she was still a student at UCL. Back then, her start-up’s customers included Bank of England, H&M, Net-A-Porter and others. Now, Aliza is the youngest self-made climate businesswoman. And while she still partners with buzzy companies, today she’s part of the consulting team that gives 42,000 students the opportunity to be involved with sustainability alongside their studies, and leading divestment deals valued at £40 million across UK institutions – all pro bono.

Arthur Chapman

Associate Professor of History in Education at the IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society

Dr Chapman is the editor of the History Education Research Journal, Deputy Director of Public History Weekly and Associate Editor of Teaching History. He has edited six books in history education and written numerous book chapters and articles. His work has been translated into a number of languages and a book of his papers in Portuguese appeared in 2018. Dr Chapman is also a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and an Honorary Fellow of the Historical Association. He has worked as a consultant for governments in NGOs in 7 countries and has been a visiting scholar at NIE Singapore, the University of Parana, Brazil, the University of Karlstad in Sweden and Hiroshima University in Japan.

Mariam Elgabry

Founder and CEO of Bronic

Dr Mariam Elgabry is founder and CEO of Bronic (www.bronic.co), the first cyber-biosecurity company. Her background is in deep-tech and bioengineering, developed from leading award-winning projects in industrial settings, during her time at Astra Zeneca and Microsoft. She holds a PhD in Cyber-biosecurity from the Dawes Centre for Future Crime and the Advanced Biochemical Engineering Centre at UCL. Dr Elgabry has developed genetic circuits as biosensors for smart pills in start-up environments and delivered substantial research outputs across public, private and civil society sectors during my PhD at UCL with a patent and publication record in priority areas of Science & Technology. She was also a Cyber Fellow at Yale University Law School. Dr Elgabry’s work on biotechnology crime has been recognised by the UK Parliament Joint Committee for National Security and the United Nations.

Michal Wlodarski

Co-founder of Solvemed

Dr Michal Wlodarski is a Co-founder of Solvemed, a neuroscience AI company, where he leads specialised world-class teams to bring cutting-edge digital products into clinical care and neuroscience research. Trained as a scientist, with a PhD in biological sciences from the University of Cambridge, Dr Wlodarski’s decade-long career in healthcare and life sciences has spanned research and commercial posts at GlaxoSmithKline, National Health Service England, among others. As an Honorary Lecturer at the University College London’s Institute of Ophthalmology and the School of Management, he trains Masters-level students in healthcare technology innovation. More recently, Dr Wlodarski’s has been appointed an Adj. Professor at the IE Business School in Madrid, where he shares his experience in entrepreneurship and emerging technology to help raise the next generation of venture builders.

Sophie Redlin

GP and researcher

Sophie Redlin is a GP, suicide prevention trainer and mental health researcher passionate about exploring and challenging the ways in which we view and manage emotional distress. She has conducted research into the impact of community, culture and environment on mental wellbeing around the world and in 2019 received a Churchill Fellowship to study indigenous talking circles in American Indian and Alaska Native populations in the US. Sophie is currently expanding this research through a Masters in Medical Anthropology at University College London, while putting her learning into practice through a number of pilot projects supporting healthcare care workers suffering with pandemic-related distress.