Professor Dimitra Simeonidou was instrumental in developing the vision for BDFI, and leading the submission of the bid  which secured £29m of funding from Research England and £72m of co-investment from industry partners.  

Her leadership has been key to the successful establishment of the Institute and bringing it to its current position as a pioneering research institute with unique state of the art sociotechnical facilities. In particular, she is the inspiration, the inventor and the designer behind BDFI’s world-first Reality Emulator.  

Despite stepping down as an academic co-director, Professor Simeonidou is not leaving BDFI.  She will remain a BDFI academic and be closely involved in the further delivery of the Reality Emulator.  

She has strong relationships with BDFI’s external partners; these will continue and much of her and her team’s research is closely aligned to the Institute.  

Dimitra said: “It has been an honour and a privilege to lead the establishment  of BDFI for the past five years. Whilst I will no longer be involved as a co-director, I look forward to a continued relationship with my BDFI colleagues and collaborators. 

“I am especially excited about using the Reality Emulator as part of my research on the  next generation of telecommunication networks and the new digital technologies that depend on them.” 

Recruitment of a new BDFI Academic Co-Director from the Faculty of Science and Engineering is currently underway and will be announced in due course.