Faculty and Staff

Dr Cross is an accomplished higher education leader with over twenty-five years of experience within the sector, including six years within the Middle East.

Earlier she worked as an Academic at the University of Central Lancashire, between 2010 and 2020 and at the University of Salford holding positions of Associate Dean (International) and latterly Dean. Julie was also instrumental in forging the University of Salford partnership with the British University of Bahrain and within the partnership held positions of VP Academic, Vice President and President. She received her MRes and PhD from the University of Salford and her Bachelors Degree from the University of Central Lancashire.

Gianluca is a Programme Leader for LLM, an Editor of Academia.edu and the Editor of the Constitutional Law category on Philpapers.org. He is also a former Director of the Professional and Institutional Ethics Programme at the Institute of Applied Ethics as well as a former member of the Advisory Group, Ethics and Social Justice Interdisciplinary Research Theme at Hull University, Kingston upon Hull.

He held academic posts at several English universities and obtained substantial funding from several prestigious research institutions from both inside the UK (e.g. ESRC) and outside (e.g. ESF/PRIME).

Dr Alessandro Stefano Ala is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for International Business Management

Dr Lyn Batchelor is Director of Studies at the Qatar Campus.

She began her academic career in the Business School at the University of Aberdeen and recently returned to the University to take up the role in Qatar. Lyn has a range of experience in the UK Higher Education setting, having previously worked at the University of Chichester, and most recently as Head of the Entrepreneurship and Innovation group in the Business School at Edinburgh Napier University.

Lyn has set up and run several new academic programmes, including the Graduate Apprenticeship at ENU, as well as piloting innovative delivery of venture creation modules online. She has served on a range of committees, including Learning and Teaching, Academic Quality, and Athena Swann. Externally she has been on panels that have advised on programme approvals in England and Scotland, as well as the evaluation of EU Knowledge Alliance projects in Brussels, and a member of the Scottish Parliaments Cross-Party Working Group on Women and Enterprise.

Venture creation, business start-up and innovation are her teaching interests, particularly from the perspective of equipping students with theories and tools for a world of work that is yet to be invented.

Dr Feim Blakcori is a Senior Lecturer and Programme Leader for International Human Resource Management at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen in Business and Management discipline. He has an undergraduate degree in Management & Informatics from the University of Prishtina, a Masters degree from the University of Sheffield and a PhD degree from the University of Hull.

Prior to joining the AFG College with the University of Aberdeen, he had academic posts at the University of Leicester and University of Hull teaching at all academic levels and publishing on organizational change, dynamic routines, small and medium enterprises and feedback and sensemaking in organization. He has also presented his academic work in various conferences, such as Academy of Management Proceedings, British Academy of Management and European Group for Organizational Studies.

Feim has over five years of teaching experience and has developed a wide range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, in the subject of HRM. He is also a Senior Fellow of Higher Education Academy.

His research interest comprises organizational change, organisational routines, sensemaking in organisations, identity and cognitive neuroscience.

Dr Nadia DeGama is a Senior Lecturer and the Programme Leader for Undergraduate Business Management Programmes at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen.

She completed her PhD at York University, Toronto in the field of Human Resource Management. She is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Nadia's research primarily draws on critical and interpretive approaches to understanding work and working in organisations. Key strands to her research include: global careers; alternative approaches to understanding HRM; and examining contemporary and alternative forms of work. She has recently conducted studies within the context of self-initiated expatriation, Uber drivers, and social media bloggers. Her work has been published in various peer-reviewed journals such as Organisation, Organisational Research Methods, Journal of Occupational and Organisational Psychology and Journal of Business Ethics.

Nadia also serves as an Associate Editor of Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management. Her areas of teaching include human resource management, business management, and organisational studies. Nadia has taught and supervised dissertations at the undergraduate and postgraduate level in universities in Canada, the UK and Qatar.

When not working Nadia enjoys spending time with her husband and two young children, exploring and discovering Qatar's many gems.

Stephen started his career working for the Mapping and Charting Establishment (Royal Engineers) as a cartographer. He moved into education as an administrator and has held various management and leadership roles within the private and public sectors. He was director of development at a leading independent business school in London, and, as a member of the strategic management team there, was responsible for domestic and international student recruitment and selection, as well as all aspects of marketing and promotion.

He completed an MBA in 1994, and for the past twenty years he has concentrated on teaching and lecturing. He has taught on various university programmes (The University of Hull, The University of Plymouth, The University of Northampton, and The University of Wolverhampton), at both the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He was an external examiner for The University of Teesside and an Examiner for the Chartered Institute of Marketing.

Stephen brings a wealth of experience both as a theoretician and a practitioner in management, marketing and strategy. In his professional and academic roles he has travelled widely around the globe and has experience of delivering programmes externally in China other Asia countries and across the African continent.

Dr. Wilfrid Flanda is a Senior lecturer (Associate Professor) in Management at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen. Dr. Wilfrid Flanda holds a BA (Hons) in Education, an MA in International Development (Education) and also an MBA. He successfully completed his postgraduate certificate in Teaching and Learning, which is accredited by the Higher Education Academy (Advance HE) and offers national and international recognition as a Fellow. He studied for his postgraduate doctoral degree at the University of Chester (UK) where he investigated the management of teacher continuing professional development in the UK further education sector.

Dr. Flanda has fifteen (15) years of continuing and progressively responsible relevant professional experience in the field of education. He has developed extensive experience of curriculum planning and delivery, as well as course and programme development and administration from Foundation to doctorate levels. In his leadership roles, he has been responsible for outcomes that enable and enhance the University's education provision, from short courses through to doctoral programmes, with a strong focus on learning, teaching and the student experience. Dr. Flanda has provided direction and leadership on student experience, education policy, flexible and online learning, admissions and student complaints. He has driven the delivery of an outstanding student experience that reflects and embeds the University's values and its diversity and inclusion commitments. Dr. Flanda has ensured the scrutiny of both programme proposals and institutional partnerships in the United Kingdom, Hungary and Sri Lanka.

Dr. Flanda' welcomes qualitative research projects in the following areas: Workplace learning; Diversity in the workplace; Prior experiential learning; (Teacher) Continuing professional development (in TVET); Teacher resilience; Marketisation of Higher education; Assessment and feedback in Higher education; Inclusive teaching and assessment.

Dr Rami Hamdi is a Lecturer and the Programme Leader for Computing Science at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen. He is the course coordinator for several Computing courses for the Computing Science, and Business Management & Information Systems Programmes, including Artificial Intelligence, Software Engineering, Databases and Data Management, Programming, and Mathematics.
He received the PhD degree in Engineering from the ÉTS University of Quebec, Canada, in 2018, where he was a recipient of the prestigious scholarship from the Fonds de Recherche du Québec Nature et Technologies for his doctoral research. His thesis was nominated for “Best Thesis of the Year”.
Prior to his tenure at AFG, Dr Hamdi held positions at several international universities, including the University of Quebec at Montreal, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Qatar University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, and Texas A&M University at Qatar.
Dr Hamdi authored numerous world-leading IEEE journal and conference papers. He has a research interest in artificial intelligence, internet of things, energy efficiency, resource management, and algorithm design for next generation wireless networks.

Dr Munshi Masudul Haq is a Lecturer in Economics and Finance at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen, where he brings a wealth of academic and practical experience to his role. He holds a PhD in Economics, an MSc in International Money, Banking, and Finance, and a BSc in Economics, underscoring his deep commitment to the field. Since 2010, Dr Munshi has been privileged to teach Economics, Finance, Statistics, and Econometrics at renowned institutions, including the University of Aberdeen, the University of Birmingham, Aston University in the UK, and Qatar University. He is also a Certified Management & Business Educator (CMBE) from The Chartered Association of Business Schools in UK. His teaching philosophy is centered on nurturing the next generation of thinkers and equipping them with the skills needed to excel in a dynamic global economy.
In addition to his academic role, Dr Munshi serves as an independent consultant, offering expert insights in Applied Finance and Economics. His research endeavors are driven by a passion for advancing economic understanding and fostering financial innovation. He is honoured to have research published in leading international journals in Economics and Finance. Over the years, he has successfully secured research grants from various esteemed institutions worldwide. Currently, his research focuses on critical issues such as Food Security in Qatar and the MENA Region, with additional research interests in Applied Econometrics, International Trade, and Corporate Finance.
He is open to exploring new research collaborations and welcome opportunities to work with fellow scholars and professionals in advancing the field of Economics and Finance. He can be reached at munshi.haq@abdn.ac.uk for research collaboration opportunities.
Further information about Dr Munshi's research:

• Google Scholar Profile

Thomas James, PhD (ABD) is a lecturer and the programme leader for Politics and International Relations at AFG College Qatar with University of Aberdeen. Thomas is a specialist in West Asian Studies. His primary research areas include International Relations, Global Political Economy, Foreign Policy Analysis, and South Asian Studies. Thomas's academic and research vocation is to explore Qatar's foreign policy and demonstrate how non-traditional tools enabled branding Qatar's image regionally and internationally.

Dr. Georgios Kapogiannis, a Greek - British, is a pre-eminent figure in digital innovation and leadership within the realms of construction engineering and project management. Presently, he holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Management and serves as the Programme Leader for the MSc in Global Business Communication at AFG in collaboration with the University of Aberdeen.

Additionally, he is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in Management at the University of Aberdeen, UK, and a Visiting Faculty member at the College of Science and Engineering at Idaho State University, USA. His academic journey commenced with a PhD from the University of Salford's School of the Built Environment, laying a solid foundation for his distinguished career. Dr. Kapogiannis' global experiences, spanning Finland, China, the Middle East, and more recently, Qatar, have greatly enriched his insights into digital transformation.

Beginning his career at the Hellenic Ministry of Education in Greece, he swiftly became an instrumental figure in spearheading digital transformation initiatives in the UK, China, and beyond, while also fostering entrepreneurial spirit amongst students in these regions. His academic achievements were acknowledged early on with a scholarship from the European Project CoSpaces for his PhD studies, followed by a scholarship in the "Digital Technologies for Governments" programme at The Center for Technology in Government University at Albany, State University of New York (CTG UAlbany).

As an innovator, Dr. Kapogiannis holds two patents in Robotics and Building Information Modelling. His extensive research as a Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on projects like CoSpaces, RESSEEPE, and RoboBIM, alongside his role in guiding students, highlights his commitment to developing the next generation of leaders in the broader engineering community. His professional path includes significant contributions to esteemed institutions such as the University of Nottingham's China Campus and Anglia Ruskin University in the UK. As a consultant, his impact on diverse global projects, particularly in sectors like railways, oil and gas, and smart campus developments, has been substantial, advancing digital transformation efforts worldwide.
In academia, Dr. Kapogiannis is highly regarded as a mentor and educator, having taught and supervising postgraduate dissertations at prestigious universities including Cambridge, Manchester, University College London (UCL) and Warwick. His recent appointment as a Visiting Scholar at Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University further emphasises his dedication to academic excellence. His scholarly work, featured in top-tier Q1 and Q2 Journals, and his recognition as one of the top 320 scholars in Intelligent Manufacturing by Emerald Publishing in 2021, underscore his profound expertise and contributions to his field.

In his teaching roles, Dr. Kapogiannis covers a broad array of subjects, ranging from Project Management and Business Strategy to specialised courses in BIM and Digital Transformation. His mentorship of PhD and MPhil students to completion at Coventry University and the University of Nottingham, which ranks among the top 100 globally, further demonstrates his dedication to nurturing future leaders. Dr. Kapogiannis' journey, characterised by an entrepreneurial ethos and scholarly excellence, continues to inspire future leaders in the dynamic digital technology landscape, particularly within the architecture, engineering, construction, and operation sectors.

This combination of hobbies - swimming for tranquility, walking for reflection, and traveling for exploration - forms a harmonious balance in Dr. Kapogiannis' life. It not only fuels his professional pursuits in understanding and contributing to the AECO sector but also nourishes his soul, keeping him grounded and connected to the world's diverse tapestry.
https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=FA_9S6sAAAAJ&hl=en
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1738-6734

Dr Saad Kashem is a Senior Lecturer in Computing Science at the AFG College with the University of Aberdeen. He has 11 years of experience as an Instructor, Course Coordinator, and Researcher of Robotics, Computer Science and Engineering courses in Australia, Malaysia, and Qatar. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from East West University and Ph.D. degree in Robotics and Mechatronics from Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. At present, he is the Visiting Assistant Professor at Presidency University. Prior to that he worked at Qatar Armed Forces - Academic Officers Program, Qatar University, Texas A&M University, and Swinburne University of Technology. Dr Saad also worked in industry for two years as an Executive Electrical Engineer and Control System Engineer in Brisbane Australia.

Dr Saad has already published 1 patent, 1 book, 5 book chapters, 37 peer-reviewed journals (Web of Science indexed:12, Scopus indexed:19), and 22 conference articles (Total= 63). https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=_Sxh6SUAAAAJ&hl=en

He is a professional member of Institution of Engineering and Technology, UK (IET), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), IEEE Robotics and Automation Society, and International Association of Engineers (IAENG). He is an editorial board member and reviewer of many international reputed Journals such as Journal of Electrical and Electronic Engineering (USA), IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology (USA), Vehicle System Dynamics, Taylor and Francis Ltd, (UK) etc.

His research interests include vehicle dynamics, electric vehicle, renewable energy systems, intelligent and autonomous control, robotics, nonlinear control theory, and applications.

Dr. Razi Mahmood is a Senior Lecturer at AFG College with the University of Aberdeen in Public Health. He has an undergraduate degree in biology from Concordia University, a Master in Public Health degree from the University of Saskatchewan and a PhD in Epidemiology degree conferred by the University of Saskatchewan.

Prior to joining the AFG College with the University of Aberdeen he worked at the University of Doha for Science and Technology and the University of Saskatchewan. He has 7 years of teaching experience having taught at undergraduate and graduate levels, and has successfully supervised/mentored several graduate students. He has developed courses related toepidemiology, biostatistics, research methods, health education, human ethics, and leadership. Research interests include epidemiology of chronic diseases (diabetes, COPD), infectious diseases (COVID-19, food borne illnesses, and STIs), and upstream determinants of disease (circadian disruption, mental health and well-being). In his free time he enjoys traveling, learning new languages, and spending time with his family.

Robert is an experienced Senior Lecturer that has worked around the world on a number of trans-national higher education projects.