Navigating Sustainable Futures: Engineering Meets Sustainability

Dr Paul Folan BEng MEngSc PhD FHEA PCAP

Senior Lecturer, MLA College

Paul joined the MLA team in August 2022 to take up a role as senior academician, having worked in a range of previous university roles related to manufacturing and mechanical engineering, with an especial focus on engineering management. His first degree was in the field of industrial engineering from National University of Ireland Galway, which he completed with first class honours. He then progressed to complete his MEngSc and PhD at the same institution, and it was in these studies that Paul developed his research background and expertise in performance management and measurement, supply chain management, and product lifecycle management, with participation in a range of EU 5th and 6th framework projects.

Paul has worked as a lecturer in engineering and management at the University of Exeter, before being appointed as senior lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Chester. He subsequently led the Mechanical Engineering department for that faculty as its head since 2017; before making the leap to the Centre for Professional & Economic Development at Chester, with its focus on enabling professionals to study part-time as apprentices to deliver high-value occupational impact.

Paul’s career background has enabled him to lecture on a wide range of topics including manufacturing systems, engineering science and management, engineering design, supply chain management, lean manufacturing, operations research and simulation. Throughout his career he has also supported a whole range of students with their research projects, and always aims to encourage them to think in creative ways about how to develop valid research questions and use suitable research methods to bring their research to fruition. He looks forward to doing the same at MLA!

Dr Marie Hale LLB MAs PhD SFHEA

Lecturer, MLA College

Dr. Marie Hale is an academic and tutor at MLA college on the Global Sustainable Development portfolio, designed for professionals to develop their skills and knowledge through under and postgraduate awards. Marie was recently awarded the Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).

As a human geographer, Marie’s research interests focus on people and their relationships to place across a range of contexts (specifically in protected areas) and the interweaving of social and ecological landscapes. Her teaching explores how places are transformed by contemporary processes, as well as understanding how places, nature and societies are (re)shaped.

With MLA being an official academic partner of CIFAL City of London, and part of the United Nation’s UNITAR organisation, Marie’s research interests are extending to further understanding the roles that the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) play in promoting more resilient and sustainable societies.

Dr Rodrigo Perez PhD, MSc, MBA, CEng, CMarEng

Software Engineering Senior Director (Marine), Siemens Digital Industries Software

PhD, MSc, MBA, CEng, CMarEng, FIMarEST, FSNAME, FRINA

Dr Perez holds both PhD and MSc in Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering. He has also completed an MBA and several postgraduate programs in Shipbuilding, Maritime Transport and Executive Management.

He is currently Senior Director for Software Engineering at Siemens Digital Industries Software. He previously worked at Siemens as Global Portfolio Development Director.

Combining his activity in the industry, he is a professor in the Marine Engineering School of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM).

He has published several books and written more than one hundred technical papers about marine engineering.

He is member of the Committee on Education in Engineering (CEIE) of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) and President of the Spanish Association of Marine Engineers (Madrid Branch).