Imperial College and Corndel Masterclasses

Penny Hoffmann-Becking is a Senior Teaching Fellow at Imperial College Business School and Deputy Academic Director of the Global Online MBA. She joined Imperial in 2020, bringing with her a distinguished 25-year career in business and management consulting. Penny teaches strategy, business problem-solving, organisational behaviour, and leadership in both MBA and undergraduate programmes. Her career prior to academia was marked by a successful tenure as a partner at a boutique consulting firm, specialising in strategic change and organisational design. Her extensive consulting career includes major projects for top firms such as BP, Shell, Diageo, Vodafone, The UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Santander, and Liverpool Football Club, and has taken her all over the world to locations including Barbados, Germany, Austria,Italy and Kazakhstan. Penny holds an MEng in Electrical Engineering and Management from Imperial College London and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr. Emma Lawrance is the Founder and Lead of the Climate Cares Centre at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, Imperial College London. A globally recognised expert on the intersection of climate change and mental health, Emma has advised and presented to top organisations including the World Economic Forum, World Health Organization, UNFCCC, World Psychiatric Association, Royal College of Psychiatry, and the OECD. Her work has been featured in major media outlets such as the BBC, The Guardian, Die Zeit, Al Jazeera, Reuters, Forbes, and The New York Times. Emma has collaborated with individuals from diverse sectors—research, policy, practice, and lived experience—to build a global climate and mental health field. Through the Climate Cares Centre, she has developed workshops, activities, and online platforms that help individuals process their responses to the climate crisis, protect their mental health, and enhance their climate agency. Her academic background includes degrees in physics, chemistry, science communication, and neuroscience, with a focus on youth and digital mental health. Emma is also the Founder and Chair of Trustees for the youth mental health charity, It Gets Brighter.

Islem Rekik is an Associate Professor at Imperial College London (Innovation Hub I-X) and Director of the Brain And SIgnal Research and Analysis (BASIRA) Lab. A leading expert at the intersection of AI and healthcare, and a recipient of the TÜBİTAK 2232 Fellowship (2019) and a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship (2020), she has published over 160 high-impact papers and led 100+ AI-driven healthcare projects. Beyond research, Islem is a key figure in the global AI and medical imaging community, having co-organized 35+ major conferences and competitions, including MICCAI, where she will serve as General Co-Chair in 2026. Passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion in AI, she is the former President of Women in MICCAI (WiM) and co-founder of the RISE Network, which supports minority researchers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries (LMICs)

Daniel is a seasoned expert and trailblazer in Digital Marketing and Digital Transformation with 25 years of experience on both the client and agency sides. He serves as CEO of TargetInternet.com, Programme Director at Imperial College Business School, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing. Daniel is the host of the Digital Marketing Podcast, a top-ten global marketing podcast, and an award-winning author for Kogan Page. His books, including Mobile Marketing, Digital Branding, Building Digital Culture, and Podcast Marketing Strategy, have been translated into 12 languages. Daniel has worked with a diverse range of organisations from startups to global giants like the BBC, Accenture, Sony, Google, and Vodafone. Known for his practical, hands-on approach, he bridges technical and business aspects of digital marketing to deliver effective strategies and campaigns.

Dr. Merlo is the Associate Dean (External Relations) and Academic Director of the MSc Strategic Marketing programmes at Imperial College Business School. Previously, he was a Lecturer at Cambridge University Judge Business School and the University of Melbourne, with visiting professor roles at top institutions like Oxford, UCL, and ETH Zurich. He is also a Fellow in Marketing at the University of Cambridge. With degrees in Business, Political Science, and a Ph.D. in marketing strategy from the University of Melbourne, Dr. Merlo specialises in strategic marketing, services management, and brand engagement. He has received numerous awards for his teaching and research, including EU and American Marketing Association accolades. His research appears in leading journals such as MIT Sloan Management Review and Journal of Service Research. Dr. Merlo has consulted for global organisations including McKinsey & Co., Samsung, Airbus, Nissan and Unilever, and advises start-ups. He also serves as a member of Duke Corporate Education’s Global Learning Resource Network.

Ruth Misener is a Professor of Computational Optimisation at Imperial College London, where she holds the BASF/Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) Research Chair in Data-Driven Optimisation (2022-2027). She is a recipient of prestigious awards, including the 2017 Macfarlane Medal and the 2023 Roger Needham Award from the British Computing Society. Her expertise in computational optimisation and AI is recognised internationally. Ruth’s research has earned numerous Best Paper awards, and she has delivered named lectures at top institutions like Purdue, Princeton, and Georgia Tech. She leads the development of the award-winning Optimisation & Machine Learning Toolkit (OMLT) and serves as an Associate Editor for the INFORMS Journal on Computing and Operations Research, as well as an Area Chair for NeurIPS.

Dr. Catherine Mulligan is an Advanced Research Fellow at the Institute for Security Science and Technology, specialising in digital technologies for sustainability and resilience. With extensive experience in senior leadership roles, including as CTO leading 14,000 staff, she combines her practical expertise with academic research and teaching. Catherine has authored seven books and numerous research papers on digital technologies and holds several patents. She completed her MPhil and PhD at the University of Cambridge and has served as an expert at the World Economic Forum and a member of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation (2018/2019). She is the founder of the Sustainable Society Digital Collective, a platform dedicated to achieving sustainability outcomes through digital technologies, and advises various not-for-profits and start-ups on advanced technologies such as AI, blockchain, and 5G.

Dr. Tamara Russell is a neuroscientist, clinical psychologist, and author, recognised for her innovative approach to integrating body and mind for improved well-being and performance. As Director of demyst Board Sciences, Tamara works with senior leaders, including C-Suite and Board members, to design programmes that foster innovation, cognitive diversity, and effective decision-making in high-pressure environments. Tamara also leads the Mindfulness Centre of Excellence, a not-for-profit she founded in 2011 after sharing the stage with the Dalai Lama at a symposium in Brazil. Her work applies neuroscience and ancient contemplative practices to transform mental and physical health across corporate, education, health, elite sports, space, and creative sectors worldwide. Tamara has authored three books: Mindfulness in Motion, #whatismindfulness, and What Colour is Your Dragon?—and is a frequent contributor to academic and public discussions on neuroscience. She also serves as a Visiting Lecturer in Neuroimaging at King’s College Londo

Adam Kingl is a Programme Director at Imperial College Executive Education. He is an expert on the future of business, focusing on Generation Y’s impact on work and leadership. His book, Next Generation Leadership (HarperCollins, 2020), explores these paradigms, while Sparking Success (Kogan Page, 2023) delves into amplifying creativity in teams through lessons from the arts. Currently, Adam is a Programme Director at Imperial College Executive Education and serves as adjunct faculty at various institutions. Previously, he was the Regional Managing Director for Duke Corporate Education in Europe and Executive Director of Thought Leadership for London Business School Executive Education. Adam has worked with major global organisations including Disney, HSBC, Nestle, Santander and Shell. He is a sought-after speaker at global conferences and has been featured in publications such as The Financial Times, Forbes, and The Guardian. Adam holds degrees from London Business School, UCLA, and Yale, and is a dual British-American citizen.