Talk
From Engagement to Empowerment: How Technology Can Transform Students’ Success

Bio
Dr. Abdelhamid has over 20 years of combined academic, research, and software engineering experience, including more than a decade of university teaching. His research focuses on CS education, technology-enhanced learning, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and machine learning. Principal Investigator and Co-PI on numerous funded projects supported by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the Commonwealth Cyber Initiative (CCI), 4-VA, and the Department of Defense (DoD). He has published over 50 peer-reviewed papers in IEEE, Springer, ACM, and ASEE venues. Dr. Abdelhamid is the developer of several award-winning educational platforms and the Founder of Network Sense LLC, a winner of the Virginia Cybersecurity Challenge and the CCI Tech Innovation Award. He was also the recipient of the 2024 IEEE Emerging Tech Award, the 2025 IEEE CCWC Best Paper Award, the IELA Best E-Learning Platform Award, and other institutional and outreach recognitions for teaching excellence, innovation, and community engagement.

Talk
From Resources to Trajectories: Updating the Educational and Learning Capital Approach

Bio
Albert Ziegler, PhD, is Chair Professor of Educational Psychology and Research on Excellence at Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen–Nuremberg, Germany. He is the founding director of Bavaria’s Statewide Counseling and Research Center for the Gifted and one of the leading international scholars in talent development. Ziegler has authored more than 450 publications, including books, chapters, and peer-reviewed articles. He is best known for developing the Actiotope Model of Giftedness, a systemic framework that reconceptualizes learning and talent development as dynamic person–environment processes. His research focuses on learning resources, effective learning environments, self-regulated learning, mentoring, and identification practices. His work has been supported by over US $30 million in competitive funding. According to Google Scholar, he has an h-index of 56 and an i10-index of 197. He is the former Vice-President of the European Council for High Ability (ECHA) and the founding chair of the European Talent Support Network (ETSN).

Talk
Social Contracts in Schools: Power, Peers, and Pathways to Quality Education

Bio
Alison is Professor in Psychology of Education at the University of Worcester, a Chartered Psychologist (CPsychol), and lead for the Social Psychology of Education Research Group. Her work draws on influences from (social) psychology to understand how the presence of others affects interactions, perceptions and behaviours within educational contexts. As such, Alison’s current research focuses on the nature, quality and dynamics of educational relationships and identities; more specifically, the influence of teacher and pupil characteristics on social interactions and behaviours. This offers crucial insights into how these aspects of school/classroom life impact the effectiveness and retention of teachers, and the quality of children’s school experiences. Alison has led a range of research projects, securing external funding from Research Councils, charities and Government agencies, and her sustained profile of inter/national research and collaboration has resulted in a strong track record of publications relating to her substantive and methodological interests.

Talk
Social Contracts in Schools: Power, Peers, and Pathways to Quality Education

Bio
Ben is a Senior Lecturer in Education at the University of Worcester. He has held leadership positions in secondary schools before his move to higher education in 2016. Ben’s research focuses on social psychology of education, particularly on effective relationships in school settings, including those between teachers and pupils, and between teachers. Ben’s research primarily takes a mixed methodological approach, to develop deep and broad understandings of social psychological constructs in education. Ben’s academic background, having studied natural sciences before moving to social science research, has led to an experimental methodological approach to which blends a critical realist philosophy with grounded theory methodology.

Talk
Experiences of Mathematics Faculty Engaging in Departmental Transformations to Support Students

Bio
Amy Been Bennett is a Research Assistant Professor in the Center for Science, Mathematics, and Computer Education and the Department of Mathematics at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Bennett earned her PhD in mathematics education from the University of Arizona (USA). She studies equitable and collaborative instruction in postsecondary STEM education, student experiences while learning mathematics, critically transforming postsecondary departments and institutions, and mathematical modeling curricula and competencies at the K-12 level, particularly for future teachers.

Talk
Staying Relevant in an AI-Driven World: How Innovation, Industry Engagement and Human Connection Can Transform Higher Education in the Digital Age

Bio
Dr Amira Elnokaly is Associate Professor of Sustainable Architecture and Environmental Design at the University of Lincoln, and Director of Carbon Leaf, a UoL consultancy specialising in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and environmental performance for the AEC industry. With over twenty-five years of international experience, she combines academic leadership with applied consultancy, industry collaboration and research-informed pedagogy. She is recognised for her inclusive, research-informed and globally attuned approach to architectural education. A chartered architect (MENA) and Chartered Manager (CMgr MCMI), Amira holds an MBA in Senior Leadership and has a longstanding track record in sustainability, environmental design, heritage resilience and interdisciplinary innovation. She serves as Vice-Chair of IBPSA England and sits on the Expert Advisory Board of the national RSVP doctoral supervision project. Amira has supervised 14 PhD completions, examined over 30 doctoral theses globally, and contributed to major funded projects with Innovate UK, UKRI, the British Council and Newton-Mosharafa. Her work spans sustainable and environmental design, global pedagogy, heritage, and industry-engaged innovation and transforming built-environment practice across the UK, Middle East, Africa and Southeast Asia.