Doctoral Networking Café

Ata Babei

PhD Student, University of Leeds

Ata is a PhD student at the University of Leeds. He has a civil engineering BSc and infrastructure project management MSc. He is a Networking Officer in the British Academy of Management Project Experience Special Interest Group (BAM Prex SIG).
His professional experience includes working on residential, industrial, and offshore projects in various roles.

Rodrigo Juarez

Civil Engineer, Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies

Rodrigo is a Civil Engineer from the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (ITESM) in Mexico. He holds a Master's degree in Construction Management & Engineering from the University of Leeds. In addition, he is pursuing a PhD in Project Management at the Faculty of Civil Engineering, also at the University of Leeds, in the United Kingdom. In addition, he has completed FIDIC's Young Professionals Management Training Programme (YPMTP), and is currently participating in the Major Projects Association (MPA) Rising Stars 2022 Programme.
As for his professional experience, he has worked with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) in Mexico City, the PMO for the Mexico City New International Airport (NAIM) with Parsons Corporation – FOA Consulting. In addition, he works as an external consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB), exploring best practices and lessons learned for rail transport and metro systems megaprojects in Latin America.
Rodrigo is also the current Vice-Chair of the FIDIC Future Leaders Council, Vice-Chair of the Young Professionals Group of the Mexican Chamber of Consulting Companies (CNEC) Mexico and ECR Networking Officer for the Project Experiences SIG in the British Academy of Management (BAM Prex).

Dr Christine Unterhitzenberger

Chair, BAM Project Experiences SIG

Dr Christine Unterhitzenberger, PhD is an Associate Professor of Project Management at the University of Leeds and a Chartered Project Professional (ChPP).

Her research is focused on organisational and relational aspects in projects and has been published in the leading journals in the field as well as presented at major international conferences. She has won the EURAM 2021 Best Reviewer Award, the PMI/DSI 2019 Best Instructional Case Award and is shortlisted for the APM Best Research Paper Award 2022.

She is a Department Editor for the Project Management Journal, Founding Chair of the Project Experiences SIG at the British Academy of Management and Chair of the Research Advisory Group of the Association for Project Management. She has taught on different under- and postgraduate programmes various aspects of project management as well as research methods.

She has also developed and delivered project management courses for Executive Education and is a regular speaker at industry events. Prior to her academic career she has worked for almost ten years as a project manager in the construction industry.

Dr Nicholas Dacre

Vice Chair, BAM Project Experiences SIG

Dr Nicholas Dacre is an Associate Professor of Project Management, a leading ‘ITS Complex’ scholar, DAR’s Director of the Advanced Project Management Research Centre (APROM) at the University of Southampton Business School, is a Fellow of the Chartered Association for Project Management (FAPM), and Vice Chair of the British Academy of Management Project Experiences Special Interest Group.

With over 20 years of executive experience spanning academia and industry, Nicholas has developed a significant track record of developing high-impact research by actively collaborating with international partners, industry experts, and the UK government on emergent ‘ITS Complex’ research topics, focused on Innovation, Technology, and Sustainability in Complex Projects.

As a passionate transformative academic and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), Nicholas Dacre has also received multiple awards for his innovative approach to teaching and learning by delivering highly engaging project management sessions, in order to provide the skills, knowledge, and expertise required for future project professionals.