Future Leaders Forum 2025

Tania Berry MIMarEST

Electrical Capability Leader, BMT

Tania Berry is an electrotechnical expert in her field, with over 25 years’ experience in the maritime industry. With operator (Royal Navy), Class and design experience, she provides robust electrical engineering solutions that enhance the safety and operability of maritime operations. As BMTs Electrical Capability Lead, Tania collaborates closely with cross-functional teams, working towards aligning the electrical capabilities with strategic objectives, thus fostering innovation and excellence. Tania holds an MSc in Systems Engineering Management from the University of Strathclyde.

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Richard Chance

Engineering Manager (Future Programmes) , Babcock International Group

Richard Chance CEng CMgr MIET MCMI MAPM

Richard Chance is a Babcock Engineering Manager for Future Programmes within the Marine-Support division.  Richard has spent most of a 40-year career in Maritime Defence, starting life as a Weapons Engineer within MOD(Navy), moving through the Underwater Weapons Acquisition teams within MOD, undertaking research and exploitation within QinetiQ (and its MOD predecessor) before joining Babcock in 2015 and becoming Systems Engineering Manager for the Type 23 Frigate LIFEX programme.  His current role utilises this wide experience to develop support solutions for the new and often unique needs of Babcock’s future customers.

 

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Oliwia Galecka

Sales Engineer, BAR Technologies

Oliwia currently holds the position of Sales Engineer at BAR Technologies, where she is responsible for commercial and technical support for enquiries regarding BAR Technologies' patented WindWings®, an award-winning 3-element rigid wind-assisted propulsion unit. Prior to this role, she held the position of Energy Transition Analyst at Ardmore Shipping. Here she was responsible to R&D of energy saving devices, in addition to supporting ESG initiatives within the organisation. Oliwia holds an MEng in Naval Architecture obtained from Newcastle University and is a member of the Royal Institution of Naval Architects IMO Committee.

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Professor Christian Harrison

Professor of Leadership and Enterprise, University of Bolton

Christian Harrison is a Professor of Leadership and Enterprise in the University of Bolton. Prior, to joining University of Bolton, he was a Reader in Leadership and the Chair of the Staff Forum for Research of the University of the West of Scotland, United Kingdom. He graduated with a First-class degree in Pharmacy and practised as a pharmacist, assuming managerial positions before moving into the field of Management. Prof Christian Harrison has an MBA and was the valedictorian of the University of Aberdeen Business school MBA class with a Distinction. In addition, he also possesses a PhD in Leadership and other postgraduate research and teaching qualifications in his repertoire.

Christian is a well-known and recognised scholar in the field of Leadership and works across the globe on research projects. He is a recognised expert on leadership and provides regular expert media commentary on Scottish Television News (STV), Scotland Tonight, the Herald, the Conversation, Sunday Post, the Guardian Nigeria. He is very active in teaching and is also the leader of a range of modules on leadership. He is also the author of numerous published research papers on Leadership which is his major research interest and serves as the Director of Studies/First Supervisor of several PhD and DBA students. He has successfully supervised several doctoral students to completion and his current students are working on projects on Authentic leadership, Entrepreneurial leadership, Transformational leadership, Ethical leadership etc. He has also examined over 30 doctoral theses to date.

Furthermore, he is an active member of several learned organisations. He is the Chair of the Leadership and Leadership Development Special Interest Group of the British Academy of Management. As Chair, Christian fosters more dialogue in the domain of leadership and develops alongside this, uplift in activity and research with the aim of bringing together the academic and practitioner experiences and viewpoints. He is the Chair of the Academy for African Studies. As Chair, Christian promotes and advocates for African scholarship and research. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Business Administration and Knowledge Management (FIBAKM). He is also an active member of the Institute for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (ISBE), International Council for Small Business (ICSB), Institute of Business Administration and Knowledge Management (IBAKM), Higher Education Academy (HEA), Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN), National Institute of Food Science and Technology (NIFST) and serves on several review panels and committees. He is an external examiner to other UK universities such as Heriot Watt University, De Montfort University and University of Aberdeen. Christian is the editor of New Frontiers in African Business and Society by Emerald Publishing. He is also the editor of Routledge Studies in Leadership and Leadership Development, associate editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Business Research and Management (IJBRM), associate editor of the Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (HSS) and review editor of Organisational Psychology.

Additionally, he has a good track record of securing grants and research funding and has a very strong external research network and collaborative partnership with organisations. He mentors and develop colleagues on contemporary teaching practice in Higher Education. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a Certified Management and Business Educator of the Chartered Association of Business Schools (CMBE). He is also a Fellow Certified Business Administrator (FCBA) and a Fellow Certified Knowledge Manager (FCKM) of the Institute of Business Administration and Knowledge Management (IBAKM). He was instrumental in developing the British Academy of Management (BAM) Education Practice Award which recognises inspiring and impactful management education practice. He is the founder and Chair of the African Studies Track in the British Academy of Management. The track is committed to fostering dialogue on contemporary African research which directly impacts BAM members and the wellbeing of the broader academic research community.

Christian works extensively as a consultant, speaker and trainer on leadership skills development within organisations. He has delivered several CPDs and sessions on leadership to the Scottish Government Directors, UK Cabinet office staff, NHS, corporate organisations, SMEs etc. He is the founder of the NGO; The Leadership Mould Initiative International. The NGO supports students and moulds future leaders. He is the author of the bestselling book entitled ‘Leadership Theory and Research: A Critical Approach to New and Existing Paradigms’, which is published by the globally renowned publishing company; Palgrave MacMillan. The book was written to enable students (undergraduate and postgraduate), scholars, practitioners, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders to learn more about the concept of leadership. It provides a critical insight into leadership research. Emerging paradigms and theories of new approaches to leadership are identified and addressed. In addition, Christian has also authored several video publications on leadership namely; Traditional Paradigms of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Established Theories and Concepts; Modern Paradigms of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Contemporary Theories and Concepts; Emerging Paradigms of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Developing Theories; Making Sense of Leadership: A Critical Insight into Leadership and Management Research. These videos cover established leadership theories providing a nuance conceptualisation of the field and are published by Palgrave Macmillan.

Christian has won several awards based on his expertise. He was the top academic commentator in the University of the West of Scotland for 2022, with his analysis appearing in 215 different publications. He was the recipient of the Award for Outstanding Leadership by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in 2022. He was the recipient of the Award for Excellence by the Nigerian Society of Engineers in 2020. He was the recipient of the Best Developmental Paper, British Academy of Management Leadership and Leadership Development Track (2021). He also won the award for the Best Reviewer; British Academy of Management African Studies Track (2020).

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Elizabeth Joseph CEng CMarEng MIMarEST

Consultant - Leadership & Sustainability

An Australian with international experience, currently a Consultant at Egon Zehnder bringing expertise across diverse industries. Spent several years at Shell in roles spanning shipping, upstream, and downstream operations, where I developed environmental management and decarbonization strategies for Shell’s maritime fleet, enhanced emergency response frameworks, championed HSE initiatives, and led strategic projects. Previously contributed to land administration services for the Government of Western Australia.

I am a Chartered Environmental Engineer, Chartered Health & Safety Professional, and hold an MBA from London Business School. Passionate about driving impactful change.

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Ashleigh Kitchiner MRes, BSc (Hons), MMOA, CSci, MIMarEST, MCIEEM

Chair, Marine Mammal Observer Association

Ashleigh Kitchiner is a marine ecologist and her interests lie in marine mammal ecology, impact assessment, mitigation implementation, and licensing and consenting.  Ashleigh is passionate about encouraging a global network of environmental professionals and is the co-Chair of the See Your Future and member of the Marine Mammal SIG at IMarEST.

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Nicholas Smith

Executive: Global Systems Product and Technology Leader, GE Power Conversion

Responsible for proposing, developing, and executing Advanced System and Product Solutions, as well as managing system NPIs to support system offerings.

Nick has more than 30 years’ technical leadership experience with the Marine & Power Conversion Business, including more than 25 years in commercial, offshore and Military Marine solutions. 

Responsible for the Design, build and setting to work of Many Naval Power and Propulsion Systems including Type 23 Frigates, Type 45 Destroyers, Albion Class LPDs, Zumwalt Class Destroyers, the Electric Ship Technology Demonstrator, and the Queen Elizabeth Class Power System, as well as numerous commercial marine platforms.

Has also spent significant periods of time in Mining Systems, and in Power Electronics and system engineering for onshore and offshore wind applications around the world.

He has significant experience of customer technical solution development, project execution, site work, commissioning and after sales support, both onshore and offshore, in Africa, Asia, US and Europe.  Nick has also held significant technical leadership roles in volume power electronics manufacturing and global software production.

Nick has an Honours degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, sits on the Lloyds Register Technical Committee for Naval and Offshore, and is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineering & Technology

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Professor Tristan Smith FIMarEST

Associate Professor, UCL Energy Institute

Dr Tristan Smith is a Professor in Energy and Transport at UCL Energy Institute and has, since 2010, grown a substantial group focused on modelling and analysis of shipping’s efficiency emissions and decarbonisation pathways. He is an author of the third and fourth IMO GHG Study. He is a Fellow of the IMarEST through which he attends and participates in IMO GHG debates.

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Oliver Tissington

Engineering for Services Lead Engineer, Rolls-Royce

Oliver Tissington is the Engineering for Services Lead Engineer for Rolls-Royce’s ‘Micro-Reactor’, a new product line under development to provide resilient power for both Terrestrial and Extra-terrestrial users. Oliver’s 17 year career at Rolls-Royce has included service engineering roles on the Trent XWB engine (powering the Airbus A350) leading to the most successful and reliable Entry in to Service phase of any Rolls-Royce large engine.  Oliver progressed to leading the Controls and Installations design team developing solutions to address in service issues across the flying fleet, before joining the Microreactor Project in 2024.

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