Dr Zaid Alwan is a Senior Lecturer who has academic and commercial expertise in Low Carbon Design Sustainable construction. He is a member of academic staff in the Department of Architecture and Built Environment, Faculty of Engineering and Environment at Northumbria University.

Prior to his academic career, Dr Alwan worked in the commercial sector as a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and Low Carbon Assessor for both domestic and commercial buildings, working within multidisciplinary teams to optimise and deliver low carbon buildings.

Trudi is the UK & Europe Lead for Industrialised Design & Construction at Mott MacDonald, where a rapidly growing team is delivering integrated utilisation of DfMA, MMC, and platform approaches to unlock greater social, economic, and environmental outcomes. She has had an eclectic career working across a broad range of industries, but largely with a common theme of engaging with leaders - from SMEs to multi-nationals and government departments - to tackle challenges and support transformation.

Prior to joining Mott MacDonald, Trudi spent 4 years as a director of the Construction Innovation Hub, working with government and industry to develop tools and approaches that enable improved productivity, performance and resilience. She now champions the transition of this work from research and development into deployment to support the efficient delivery of a more sustainable built environment.

Led by Andrew Pritchard, Director of Policy and Infrastructure at East Midlands Councils, this session will cover:

• Growth opportunities for rail in the East Midlands.
• Key investment priorities for the region.
• The current and future role of Transport for the East Midlands (TfEM).

Fiona Latter is an ILM Qualified Business Coach and Mentor with a focus on supporting the Construction and Creative Sectors. She has most recently been running a 2 year DCMS funded pilot known as the Creative Scale Up Programme which aims to support scaling up businesses in the sector by enabling them to have access to workshops on topics including Value and Pricing and Winning New Work through Tenders. The Programme also aims to introduce businesses to suitable investors by means of Showcase events. Fiona is also keen to support businesses develop international links and has attended trade missions to Malta, Jordan and Uzbekistan with plans to take out businesses to Estonia and Seattle over the next 12 months.