AFBE-UK Executive Board

Dr Nike Folayan is Chartered Electronics Engineer with a doctorate in Electronics engineering focusing on electromagnetic bandgap antennas for mobile applications.

Nike is currently Associate Director and the Technical Discipline Leader for Communications and Control within WSP, an engineering consultancy where she leads a team of telecommunications engineers in the UK and India working on a variety of projects within the transport industry including railways and the highways projects in the UK, Australia, South America, Middle East and Africa. She is also a Technical Blogger on SMART technology systems. Nike is chair and Co-founder of AFBE-UK a not for profit organisation AFBE-UK promotes higher achievements in education and engineering particularly among people from black and minority ethnicity (BME) backgrounds.

Nike was featured in Britain?s 100 most influential people of African and Caribbean heritage 2012 Powerlist. In 2019 Nike was named in the Financial Times published 100 most influential women in engineering. She is also a Trustee at the Engineering Development Trust (EDT). She is also on various Diversity steering groups including the Science Council and Transport for London amongst others. She was recently a judge at the IET Young Woman of the Year 2019 Award. She is a fellow of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Ollie Folayan is visiting professor at the School of Science and Engineering, University of Dundee, and Head of Process and Safety at Engineering consultancy, Optimus Plus Aberdeen. He is the co-founder of AFBE -UK.

Ollie graduated with a BEng in Chemical Process Engineering with Fuel Technology from the University of Sheffield in 1999 and then earned a Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Fuels and Combustion from the University of Leeds in 2002 authoring five international publications in the field of combustion and engineering. To date, Ollie has worked on Major CAPEX Front End Engineering Design, Detailed Design, and commissioning Projects.

 In 2018 Ollie Folayan was accepted into the Fellowship of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Ollie has championed successful outreach programmes such as Making Engineering Hot, NextGen (Scotland), Transition, and Real Projects and has co-authored three publications on the influence of role models in the transition from academic study to the workplace and on the sustainability of the engineering profession in the UK. Ollie has chaired a number of annual seminars featuring key industry leaders and politicians and is a regular speaker at events on varied engineering topics. Ollie was a member of the All Energy Diversity and Inclusion task group setup in 2019 by Oil and Gas UK.

Ollie has been a judge of the Young Woman Engineer of the Year Awards (2020, 2021 & 2022), the Offshore Achievement Awards (2019), the Association for Consultancy and Engineering Awards (2021), and the Oil and Gas UK Awards (2020, 2021).

Ollie was a finalist in the Mentor of the Year Category at OGUK Awards in 2021 and a finalist in the Diversity Hero at the Herald Awards in 2021. Ollie was awarded the Diversity and Inclusion Award by the Institution of Chemical Engineering (IChemE) in 2021. 

Ollie was awarded an MBE for services to diversity and inclusion in engineering in the King's First New Year Honours' List in 2023.

Awai is currently a Lead Systems Engineer at Siemens Mobility Limited. She holds a BEng degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Nottingham and a PhD in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK. She is a STEM Ambassador and is passionate about promoting the engineering discipline to young people.

Ina Colombo is a chartered mechanical engineer with a doctorate in mechanical engineering. Ina currently works as a research fellow in sustainable refrigeration energy at London South Bank University (LSBU). She is the Deputy Director at the International Institute for Refrigeration (IIFR) in Paris.

As Head of Research and Engagement, Ina provides strategic advise on how to enhance the profile of the organisation and engage current and prospective members.

Ina is in charge of the dissemination of activities? outcomes for publication purposes. In her spare time Ina enjoys travel, going to the gym and attending networking events.

Ikechukwu is a Rigid Pipeline Installation Engineer with a doctorate in Mechanical engineering with key focus on the mechanics of pipe-in-pipe systems during deepwater installation. Ikechukwu currently works with the pipeline engineering project support team within TechnipFMC, focusing on projects in the UKCS, NCS and Gulf of Mexico. In this role, he is responsible for finite element analysis and numerical computation related to the reeling and installation of pipe-in-pipe systems.

Outside of work, Ikechukwu is involved in music production and sound engineering, tutoring STEM related courses for high school and undergraduates, and video game testing.

Zainab Adigun is a structural engineer at Pell Frischmann ant has been in the industry for 5 years.

Zainab enjoys connecting young people to engineering through the use of various activities is vital in educating them on the huge pool of career paths available to them.

Having planned and led a number of interactive sessions herself she knows the importance of the MEH is unquestionable to helping a young persons mind open up to the life of an engineer.

Urenna is a STEM Ambassador. She loves to show young people how science, engineering, technology and mathematics play important roles in their everyday lives.

She holds a PhD in Environmental and Materials Engineering related research. She is a Member of the Royal Society of Chemistry and a member of the Chartered Institute of Waste Management. She is also writer, speaker and personal coach.

Mo is currently a lead Materials Engineer at Baker Hughes, Aberdeen and she previously worked as a Corrosion Engineer at CAN Offshore Aberdeen. She holds a BEng degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Sheffield, UK and an MSc in Corrosion Control Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK.

She is a professional member of the Institute of Materials, Minerals & Mining (IOM3), a STEM Ambassador. She is the Head of Communications for the ‘African Affinity Forum (AAF) at Baker Hughes. She is the CEO of Asa West - a UK based fashion retailer established in 2017. She founded ‘More Blessed to Give’ charity in 2012- a charity which provides outreach and support for homeless men, women and kids as well as financially supporting individuals for higher education. She also founded S.O.L.T (Sisters of Light & Truth) in 2018 - a Christian women’s ministry which provides a platform for support and encouragement.
She is passionate about teaching and inspiring kids to be the best version of themselves.

Emmanuel is a Principal Data Engineer (5x Microsoft Azure Certified) with a PhD in Engineering and Computing, focused on designing and developing Low-Cost PEM Fuel Cells. He loves collaborating with others in crafting and implementing technical vision by providing technical leadership and bringing solutions to various business problems. Outgoing, detail-oriented, and able to leverage exemplary leadership, analytical, and coding skills to achieve business goals. Emmanuel has experience working across UK private and public sectors, including Sword Venture, NATS, BP, Bip UK | Bip US (formerly Chaucer) and Ofgem.

Femi is a Process Engineer with a background in clean energy. He currently work as a Higher Research Scientist at the National Physical Laboratory focusing on solving measurement challenges relating to clean energy gases, such as biomethane and hydrogen for transport.

Femi has a Masters degree in process systems engineering from the University of Surrey and a doctorate in Chemical, Environmental and Materials engineering from the University of Leeds with his core research on a sustainable and optimised means of producing hydrogen using process intensification measures.

AFBE is a platform to support, motivate and inspire engineers of diverse backgrounds and he is keen to support that vision whilst also developing as a process engineer.

Emmanuel is an electrical design engineer working in the buildings engineering group in Arup & Partners Int'l Ltd and based in Edinburgh. Emmanuel holds a first-class degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Benin, Nigeria and an MSc degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Glasgow, UK.
Emmanuel has 6 years of secondary education and A-Levels teaching experience (Physics and Mathematics) and 2 years of University teaching and research experience in electronics and controls systems with two publications in international journals in the field of control and security systems.
Emmanuel currently plays a key part in providing specialist solutions for buildings, transport infrastructure, energy, water, and waste utilities. Emmanuel has been involved in different stages (Study, Concept, Front End Engineering Development, & Detailed Design) of the design of different types of buildings in the last few years".

Joy Ogunsanya earned a First-Class Honors degree in Industrial and Production Engineering from the University of Ibadan and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Renewable Energy Management at Coventry University. During her undergraduate studies, she actively contributed to student life as Vice President of the Industrial Engineering Student Association and was recognized with the Dean’s Honor Award for excellence and the IESA Excellence Award. She founded Operation GEquipmenT, a 3-month initiative to empower underprivileged youth through skill acquisition. Joy has supported and worked with renowned engineers such as Yewande Akinola MBE, Vice President of the Institution of Engineering and Technology on different STEM initiatives such as the Big Engineering Work Experience Week, The Inspire Series, Inventors Training for Students in STEM, TheRippleeffectconference etc . She has also served as a technical reviewer for the Royal Academy of Engineering’s Africa Prize for Innovation. Beyond her academic and professional pursuits, she is passionate about mentoring and inspiring youths. In her spare time, she counsels young people and create motivational content on socials to inspire others. Her commitment to God, diversity, inclusion, and social impact drives her to make a positive difference in the world

Simon Desir, originally from St. Lucia, is a third-year MEng Mechatronic and Robotic Engineering student at the University of Sheffield. During 2023/24, he completed an industrial placement with Siemens Mobility, where he primarily performed SCADA testing and integration. Furthermore, he worked on major projects such as High Speed 2 (HS2) and the London Underground "Elizabeth Line". His exceptional work earned him the "Intern of the Year - Highly Commended" award.

In addition to his ambition to build a career in control and automation, Simon is passionate about empowering the next generation. He mentors young people from diverse ethnic and educational backgrounds, inspiring them to pursue careers in STEM fields.

Surakat is a mechanical and petroleum engineer at RAB-Microfluidics. Working to commercialise their novel technology, turning what was once an idea to a product that people can use and pay for.

Surakat Is an Enterprise fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, supported by The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851. His passion lies in using technology to find solutions to improve people’s quality of life. He is also a STEM Ambassador and has been a member of AFBE-UK NextGen programme since 2018.

Euton is a chartered chemical process engineer with over thirty years’ experience mainly in the offshore oil and gas field. He became a chartered engineer in 1994 and was accepted as a Fellow of the IChemE in 2007. He has worked for both contractors and operating companies. His first experience of offshore engineering was in 1996 working for a contractor in Aberdeen. Subsequently he worked for contractors in London and the North West plus operators in the North West and Aberdeen. He has been the process discipline lead at BHP Billiton Petroleum UK Ltd and ConocoPhillips UK Ltd. His last staff position was as Lead Process Engineer with Harbour Energy, before leaving to become a consultant.

Dr. Helen, a Quality Assurance Engineer with Atlas-Copco Bolting Solutions and a Chartered Engineer with the IOM3 has investigated various quality issues within different industries including aerospace, oil and gas and general engineering industries.

She completed her Masters in Advanced Technology Management and PhD in Additive Manufacturing of Aluminium Composites at the University of Wolverhampton. Her passion for mentoring led her to teaching at the City of Wolverhampton College for two years and identify the need for representation in engineering. She hopes to inspire new generation of engineers to having fulfilling careers after their education while nurturing their passion and creativity.

Rabeccah is a Graduate Civil Engineer at Mott Macdonald with a key focus on design and implementation of infrastructure projects.

She holds a master’s degree in Transport Infrastructure from the University of Leeds and BSc degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Nairobi, Kenya.

She previously served as the STEM Chapter Lead for WAAW Foundation’s Nairobi Chapter spearheading the college-to-secondary STEM mentorship, training outreaches and after school STEM clubs for girls in schools around Nairobi.

She is passionate about increasing participation of young people in engineering and redressing the imbalance in access to quality education for girls in marginalized communities.

Abeer Fatima holds a Bachelor’s degree in Petroleum Engineering from NED University of Engineering and Technology Karachi, Pakistan, and Masters in Project Management attained with distinction from the University of Law, the Business School, Manchester. She is working in British Engineering Services as a Quotes and Onboarding administrator.

With her international experience she aspires to unlock career opportunities for students of Black &amp Minority Ethnic and underrepresented backgrounds, to reach their career targets through AFBE Transition Events.

Lemuelle Assuncao is a 2nd year student of Mechanical and Offshore engineering at Robert Gordon University. She is now working voluntarily at RGU Union as a Vice President of Societies. She is very passionate about music and ways to help others in her community. ’ 

Hisham is a chartered Chemical Engineer with over 4 years of experience in bp’s North Sea Wells organisation, working a mixture of offshore & onshore roles within the discipline. He has spent the majority of time developing technical competency as a Completion Engineer for the Quad 204 & Clair Ridge Projects, designing, planning and supervising the construction of offshore wells. Hisham has recently moved into bp’s People & Culture team, where he will be working as an Education & Employability Advisor, with a focus on progressing social mobility & a just energy transition. Before joining bp, he had previously worked in the pharmaceutical industry.

Outside of his day to day role, Hisham is a One Young World Ambassador, an advocate for Diversity & Inclusion & an active mentor. He also supports gender parity as a committee member for bp’s Women’s International Network. Hisham also acts as an early careers discipline lead for wells, facilitating the graduate & intern recruitment cycle for the business unit. Hisham was previously recognised for his contributions as part of OGUK’s Awards as a Graduate of the Year finalist and was also a Salter’s Centenary Award Winner. Hisham enjoys exercising, cooking & spending time with his wife Ariana & dog Beau.

Toyin Fatokun is an environmental and sustainability professional with a master’s degree with Distinction in Energy and Environmental Technology and Economics from City University London. Toyin currently works as a Sustainability Officer with Aberdeen City Council where she provides advice on environmental and substantiality issues and helps the organisation translate their sustainability goals into actionable and measurable programmes to enable its transition to a low carbon economy. Toyin is passionate about the environment with a particular focus on how we can drive sustainability through behavioural change. 

In her spare time, Toyin is involved in coaching in the workplace and volunteers as a Mental Health First aider.

Titi holds an undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and a Masters degree in Advanced Chemical Engineering (Process Systems Engineering specialisation) from Imperial College London. She has gained experience as a safety engineer, providing safety assurance expertise for various engineering systems and major projects in the energy and transportation industries. 

Titi has attended and volunteered at various AFBE UK events, including Transition events at LSBU and DMU and Real Project programmes. 

Titi is passionate about promoting and changing the misconceptions about the engineering profession. She recognises and is excited to be a part of the efforts that AFBE is making towards making engineering more accessible and appealing to all. 

Melhy is a motivated individual graduating in 2024 with a first-class BEng in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Kent. Completing her dissertation project on a monitoring device for post- surgery rehabilitation, she aspires to pursue a career in medical devices and is interested in wearable electronics and biomaterials. She is passionate about promoting STEM to younger generations, and bringing more clarity to what engineering is. Outside of academia and professional pursuits, Melhy enjoys learning new languages and roller skating.