Judges for the Manchester Prize include Leading Lights in UK Technology (31/01/24)

Professor Nick Jennings, Dr Dave Smith and Prof Emily Shuckburgh are among the UK tech experts who have joined the judging panel for The Manchester Prize, which launched in December. 

The Manchester Prize is an innovation-focused initiative from the UK government, seeking cutting-edge solutions that use AI (Artificial Intelligence) for positive societal impact. The Prize will run annually over 10 years, awarding £1 million each year to innovators with bold ideas for how AI can be used for public good.

In its first year, the Prize is seeking innovation that helps overcome challenges in the fields of energy, environment and infrastructure. Up to 10 of the most promising solutions will be awarded £100,000 each, with access to additional non-financial support and compute resources, to develop prototypes capable of winning the £1 million grand prize in 2025.

The Prize’s Judging Panel comprises eight UK leading experts in disaster response, climate change mitigation and adaptation, societal change, decarbonisation of systems, exponential technologies, and more. These experts, supported by assessors from The University of Manchester and Imperial College London, will oversee the judging process, evaluating entries based on their innovation, impact, long-term viability, feasibility, safety and ethics to determine up to 10 finalists.

Learn more about the judges and their expertise below.

The chair of judges for the Prize is Professor Nick Jennings, an internationally-recognised authority on AI and Vice-Chancellor and President of Loughborough University. Nick is passionate about the real-world impact of developing AI systems, with interests including how AI can respond to complex disasters and monitoring the impacts of climate change.

Dr Dave Smith brings his expertise as the former Technology Director of Rolls-Royce, and the present UK’s National Technology Adviser. Dave champions innovation and promotes British technology as having transformative power to redefine society.

Professor Emily Shuckburgh is the Director of Cambridge Zero and Professor of environmental data science at the University of Cambridge. Emily’s research focuses on posing technological solutions for climate change mitigation and adaptation, biodiversity recovery, and reforestation.

Samik Chandarana is the Head of J.P. Morgan’s Digital Banking Group and is responsible for driving the digital agenda across Banking, optimizing the use of technology platforms, ensuring operational excellence, and leveraging data science and AI to better anticipate and serve clients’ needs. Samik brings particular expertise in advancing the development and adoption of data analytics and AI solutions across businesses.

Professor Larissa Suzuki a Visiting Researcher at NASA, and an Honorary Associate Professor in the Computer Science department at UCL, founding the UCL Society of Women Engineers. Larissa is an expert in AI Ethics and has worked to engineer AI and Machine learning solutions across space science, healthcare, finance and smart cities.

Azeem Azhar is the founder of Exponential View, a research group exploring the impact of AI and other radical technologies on our economies. Azeem is a Visiting Fellow at the Oxford Martin School and an Executive Fellow at Harvard Business School. He also co-chairs the World Economic Forum’s Global Future’s Council on Complex Risks.

Dr Hayaatun Sillem CBE is CEO of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the UK’s National Academy for engineering and technology, and the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering Foundation, championing bold, groundbreaking engineering innovation which is of global benefit to humanity. Hayaatun sits on the government’s Levelling Up Advisory Council and co-chairs its Business Innovation Forum.

Tabitha Goldstaub MBE is the Executive Director of Innovate Cambridge, a public private partnership driving the innovation strategy in The Greater Cambridge Region. Tabitha is an advisor to government, academia, philanthropy and business on the impact of AI and author of How To Talk To Robots – A Girls’ Guide to a World Dominated by AI.

Alongside the judges, the Manchester Prize is supported by a range of expert assessors from The University of Manchester, Imperial College London and other supporters. Assessors bring a range of expertise across AI, computer science, the built environment, civic engineering, energy, social impact, ethics and more.

Come back to our news section for more updates and content from our esteemed panel of judges.