Dr Athanassopoulou is the Head of Solutions Development team within IfM Engage. She is a Research Associate at the Centre of Resilience and Sustainable Development (CRSD), Institute for Manufacturing (IfM), University of Cambridge. She is a strategy and technology management specialist and works with business and innovation leaders within the high-value manufacturing community, universities, and government. She has been working in the IfM Engage team for 15 years. Nicky has been leading the consulting team in delivering effective solutions to government, industry, and academia, based on the research output of the University Engineering Department Institute for Manufacturing. In her role as the Head of Solutions Development, Nicky assists clients with moving their organisations forward in the following key areas: Strategy development, Innovation strategy, Strategic, Product and Technology Roadmapping, Scenario development, Innovation process & system design, Project management, Entrepreneurship, and market research. Nicky has been working closely with academic colleagues to translate their research into practical approaches and apply them widely to a diverse number of companies as well as industrial sectors. She has co-developed, co-authored, and delivered tools and methodologies in innovation strategy, technology strategy, roadmapping, creativity, portfolio, and project selection. Before joining IfM Engage, Nicky worked as a project manager in different technology start-ups in Cambridge. During this time, she initiated, implemented, and managed many international projects to enable the commercialisation of new technologies into different markets. She commercially managed two product lines and was involved in many technology and business development activities, from the development of technical solutions to the creation of business plans, market research and fund acquisition. Nicky holds a master’s and a PhD degree in Physics from the University of Cambridge. She has a PRINCE 2 Foundation Qualification in Project Management, a CMI Level 5 Certificate in Coaching and Mentoring and she is a Change Management Practitioner.

CRSD