Our People

• Professor Daniel Neyland, Co-Director

  Daniel is a social scientist and Professor of digital futures in the Bristol University Business School. For over 20 years he has worked on collaborative sociotechnical research projects, often working with computer scientists and engineers to come up with new ways of working and thinking.

  From studies of the everyday life of algorithms through to research on markets for digital data, he has demonstrated a commitment to challenging taken for granted assumptions regarding: the relationship between problems and solutions; what it means to govern and distribute relations of accountability and responsibility; and how we ought to go about the process of doing research.

• Professor Raul Santos-Rodriguez, Co-Director

  Raul is a UKRI Turing AI Fellow and Professor of Data Science and AI and Intelligent Systems at the School of Engineering Mathematics and Technology, University of Bristol. Prior to his current role, he held positions both in the creative technology industry and academia.

  An advocate for interdisciplinary collaboration, Raul works across fields to address societal challenges in healthcare and climate science, rethinking the role of AI in complex decision-making, its accountability and transparency. His research interests lie around the foundations of human-centric machine learning, focusing on developing tools for humans to interact with and shape the behaviour of AI systems.

• Nick Hall, Facilities and Services Manager

  Nick manages the facilities' engineering and technical teams to deliver inclusive facilities and services to a wide range of interdisciplinary research, innovation and commercial projects. He has extensive IT delivery experience across multiple industries.
• Sam Hume, Business Development Manager

  Sam is responsible for business development in BDFI and is a key contact for current and prospective partners and collaborators. His focus is developing these relationships, a portfolio of research and commercial activities and identifying new areas of opportunity. He brings expertise in digital innovation and partnership development with commercial, industrial, business and governmental stakeholders.
• Jenny Bobroff, Senior Communications Officer

  Jenny leads on BDFI's brand, marketing and communications activities. She has a diverse background in public sector communications and higher education project management.
• Karen Howard, Events and Projects Officer

  Karen is responsible for a vibrant portfolio of events that support our academic and partner community - from seminars to Symposiums. She also offers assistance on individual BDFI research projects which stem from these interactions.
• Chris Burton, Research Administrator

  Chris provides administrative support to the institute and its members, including finances, diary management, event support, and governance.
• Adrian K. T. Ng, Technical Expert – Immersive Technologies

  Adrian is responsible for the immersive front-end of the Reality Emulator and the growth of immersive technologies in BDFI. He has a multi-disciplinary background in engineering, psychology, and cognitive neuroscience, and extensive MR project delivery experience across multiple disciplines and technologies.
• Ashley Bligh, Technical Expert – Networks

  Ashley has been working as a Network Specialist within the UoB IT Network team, where he supported network connectivity across all the university buildings. His responsibilities also included designing, configuring, and deploying new networks, including those at BDFI.