Our academics and research community

• Rebecca Coleman
  Professor of Digital Futures, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies (SPAIS)
  Her specialisms are in the everyday life of digital media, with specific interests in how presents and futures are made and experienced. Her research works across theory, method and the empirical.
• Colin Gavaghan
  Professor of Digital Futures, University of Bristol Law School
  Colin’s research looks at the relationship between law and emerging technologies. He explores how existing laws can be applied to new technologies, whether we need new laws, and if so, how to make sure those are ‘future-proof’ in the face of fast-moving regulatory targets. He is particularly interested in rules around AI and robotics.
• Rasheed Hussain
  Senior Lecturer in Digital Futures, School of Electrical, Electronic and Mechanical Engineering
  Rasheed’s specializes in ad hoc networks and cybersecurity, vehicular communications security and privacy, applied cryptography, Internet of Things (IoT) security, and the role of emerging technologies (blockchain and Artificial Intelligence -- AI) in cyber and network security. His research work at BDFI will also focus on the security of digital twins, emerging network infrastructure, and the social implications of security and privacy.
• Marisela Gutierrez Lopez
  Senior Research Associate, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
  Marisela’s research specialism is in investigating how the outcomes of AI can be meaningfully explained to different data publics, and the adoption of emerging technologies in the workplace. At BDFI she will apply her experience in interdisciplinary and design-led participatory research to create more diverse, equitable and inclusive data-driven futures.
• Angeliki Katsenou
  Senior Lecturer in Networked Media (shared with MyWorld), Faculty of Engineering, SCEEM
  Angeliki's research interests include topics around the media processing and experience pipeline: acquisition, analysis, compression, communication, understanding perception, and quality of experience. Important aspects of the engineering and the societal impact are also of interest, such as sustainability. Other side research activities include working with interesting data for biomedical engineering (e.g. proteomics).
• Sophie Lythreatis
  Lecturer in Business Analytics, School of Management
  Sophie’s area of research revolves around ethics and leadership, looking at the responsibility of corporations towards society and where they focus their attention, beyond making profit and abiding by laws. At BDFI, Sophie will be working to ensure that the ethical dimension of digital technology is properly built into our digital futures to address emergent ethical challenges which will help in creating a better future that is inclusive and trustworthy.
• Sanja Milivojevic
  Associate Professor in Digital Futures, School of Policy Studies
  Sanja’s research interests are borders and mobility, security technologies and surveillance, gender and victimisation, and international criminal justice and human rights. She will work on the crime-technology nexus, in particular challenges and promises around technology’s current and future application in crime prevention, offending, victimisation, and the criminal justice system.
• Devika Narayan
  Lecturer in Digital Futures, University of Bristol Business School
  Devika Narayan's research focuses on the transformation of markets, firms, and the structure of work. She is interested in the relationship between emerging technologies and industrial change. Her current work investigates how cloud computing arrangements restructure the corporate computing sector. Devika holds a Ph.D in Sociology from the University of Minnesota and an M.Phil and M.A. in Sociology from the Delhi School of Economics.
• Jessica Ogden
  Lecturer in Digital Futures, School of Sociology, Politics and International Studies
  Jessica’s research centres on the politics of data/archives, with a focus on the ways that digital culture, media and knowledge are constructed and represented online, as well as the broad implications these have for contemporary and future digital scholarship. She is excited to continue this research with BDFI, in particular on the role and future-making capabilities of data in everyday life, with a view towards building more inclusive digital futures.
• Xenofon Vasilakos
  Lecturer in Artificial Intelligence for Digital Infrastructures, Faculty of Engineering
  Xenofon works on intelligent digital infrastructures, leveraging ideas that combine Artificial Intelligence with traditional Parallel and Distributed computer system solutions. At BDFI, Xenofon will research aspects of 5G/B5G that go beyond just designing new technologies.
• Yulei Wu
  Associate Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  Yulei’s current research focuses on network digital twins, AI-powered networks, connected systems, and edge intelligence. He will continue this research with BDFI, particularly focussing on applying AI to improve the performance of future networks and developing technical solutions to address relevant ethical and social issues.