Theme: Disrupting the Ordinary

Disruption shifts how we think, learn, behave and go about our day-to-day lives. Displacing the existing by creating something new, more efficient and unique. Being both destructive of old and creative of new, disruptors shake up their fields of expertise from top to bottom and achieve extra-ordinary results. Together, we are going to explore how Disrupting the Ordinary can transform the world we live in today, to make a better one for tomorrow.

Y Plas
Cardiff University Students' Union
Cardiff, Cardiff, CF10 3QN
United Kingdom

Andriy Zapotichny

Economics Student

From working at Tesco, GH Forwarding in China and at Google, Andriy has taken inspiration and learnings from each experience and co-founded the Tazil Foundation. A non-profit charity that identifies, inspires and educates students from lower socio-economic backgrounds to unlock their true potential.

Helen Obee Reardon

Impact Specialist

Helen is Professional Services staff in the School of Engineering, helping academics with engagement and impact. She has been a woman in STEM ever since she decided to study sciences instead of humanities at A Level and combine lived experience with a background in engagement and science communication.

Jessica Leigh Jones

Engineer and Astrophysicist

Jessica Leigh Jones is a multi-award-winning Engineer and Astrophysicist, currently responsible for developing the next generation of manufacturing platform at the Sony UK Technology Centre, in collaboration with Japan. The former UK Young Engineer of the Year embarked upon her career in engineering following the design and development of a series of novel fibre optic sensing technologies leading to her receiving the IET Intel Inspiration Award in 2012. Jessica graduated from Cardiff University with an honours degree in Astrophysics in 2015. She is a Non-Executive Director of Wales’ largest exam board, WJEC, and the newly established Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education in England. Jessica has received the Freedom of the City of London and represents the fastest progression to the rank of Liveryman at the Worshipful Company of Scientific Instrument Makers.

Lopa Banerjee

Undergraduate

Lopa Banerjee is a final year medical student at Cardiff University with an interest in public health. She was awarded first class honours for her intercalated BSc in Clinical Epidemiology at Cardiff University and has worked with Public Health Wales. Outside of medical school, she has been involved with the International Federation of Medical Students Association (IFMSA) and Students for Global Health UK (SfGH), at a local, national and international level throughout her time as a medical student. This has included writing policy papers for both the IFMSA and SfGH being branch president of Cardiff Students for Global Health, being the Co-Chair for the 2018 SfGH National Conference on Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS and she is currently on the SfGH National Committee as their National Policy and Advocacy Director. Outside of medicine and global health, Lopa enjoys running, the outdoors and aerial fitness.

Louise O'Shea

CEO - Confused.com

Louise O’Shea is CEO at Confused.com, the UK’s first online marketplace for car insurance. Louise graduated from University with a history degree, before challenging herself to become a fully qualified Chartered Accountant. After qualifying in Finance, Louise pushed herself into another unknown territory; tech - where she became passionate about embracing futuristic technology.

Prof. Arman Eshraghi

Professor of Finance

Arman Eshraghi is a Professor of Finance and Chair of Finance and Investment at Cardiff Business School. His academic research spans finance, accounting and psychology with interests including behavioural finance, financial technology and corporate governance. His work is published in some of the leading academic journals, cited in the media including the Financial Times, Washington Post, Harvard Business Review, Forbes and Bloomberg.

Surj Bami

Consulting Director

For over 25 years Surj has helped companies make strategies work, overcome huge challenges and transform how they operate. Running his consultancy while having a healthy dislike for jargon and perceived ‘rules’, he is called upon by senior leaders to solve complex problems and get results - fast. Surj’s experience gives you a unique, practical view of disruption and how to succeed with it.

Wei Tong

Law Graduate

Wei is a recent law graduate from Cardiff University and an international student ambassador at Cardiff University. Along with being a team leader at the Cardiff University Innocence Project. Currently, Wei leads a team consisting of 3 caseworkers. Their mission is to investigate cases where there were miscarriages of justice and overturn the wrongful conviction in the Court of Appeal.

Zoe Maria Pace

Media & Communications Student

Zoe Pace is a dedicated third year Media and Communications student at Cardiff University with a passion for understanding the relationship between globalisation and sociocultural theory. Her unique cultural experience has given her the opportunity to give tailormade solutions to complex global phenomena.