Judging panel

Alison is Non-Executive Director of CCW since 2018, with a strong interest in consumer affairs and sustainability she was part of Board Steering Group that oversaw the development of the Independent Review of Water Affordability, summer 2021.

She has pursued a portfolio career combining Public Sector Board roles with independent sustainability consultancy, helping a range of clients to develop sustainability strategies within a business context. Joined the Food Standard Agency’s Advisory Group on Novel Foods and Processes in 2021 as the consumer representative. A Trustee of the Green Alliance and Springbok Sustainable Heat Co-operative.

Alison’s previous roles include six years as Non-Executive Director of WRAP (Waste Resources Action Programme) and eight years on as Seafish’s Board. Previously Alison spent 25 years with Sainsbury’s Supermarkets in a variety of senior roles, ranging from advertising and marketing, public affairs to technical and food policy, but held the environmental remit for 18 years and in 2000 received the OBE for services to sustainability.

Nicole is a chartered Mechanical Engineer with an eclectic mix of experience in the manufacturing sector, and innovation support. Currently as Head of Customer Success at MESTEC – a global scale up cloud-native manufacturing productivity solution that defines, plans, controls and analyses shop floor data to make better factory performance decisions, faster, Nicole ensures the current customer base are maximising the benefit from their investment. Nicole spent the first 2 decades of her career in manufacturing operations leadership roles throughout Europe. The last ten years has seen Nicole developing and collaborating in technology & innovation projects, in the support sector, in a plethora of sectors. She holds a M.Sc. from Cranfield, and a B.Eng.(hons) in Mechanical Engineering from Imperial College.

Andy is Managing Director at the Water Research Centre (WRc). He is an Environmental Scientist, with a background in Automotive Engineering. Having worked in two of the larger UK Water Utilities, and prior to that a number of environmental consultancies, Andy has contributed to UK best practice on a number of topics. Andy has developed an extensive knowledge of water operations, planning and strategy with experience and perspectives in international utilities. Andy is a non-executive Board member of Waterwise, former water sector specialist for the Department of International Trade and former chair and non-executive director of British Water.

Jon is an independent provider of support, challenge and options to supply chain, academia and industry in the water, waste and sustainability sectors. His focus is to create and realise value from innovation. A thirty-year water sector career of commercial, operational, and strategic roles culminated as Head of Innovation at Yorkshire Water. Jon delivered disruptive, transformational initiatives to inform business vision, strategy and growth. The approach also challenged and supported new technologies offering both incremental and transformational change. With an initial career in agriculture, Jon’s diverse experience and personal approach provides valuable support to clients.

Myrtle Dawes is Solution Centre Director at the Net Zero Technology Centre where she leads the development of technology for net zero in the energy sector.

She is a non-executive board member of FirstGroup, non-executive board member of the Centre for Process Innovation, an advisory board member for the Association of Black and Minority Engineers and sits on the Technology Leadership Board.

A Chartered Chemical Engineer, Myrtle is an established leader with extensive experience in the energy sector both in the UK and overseas. Respected as a prominent voice on the energy transition, she began her career 30 years ago as an offshore engineer for BP, before delivering on leadership roles in engineering, project management, technology and digital transformation. Myrtle’s passion for innovation and technology galvanises her colleagues, government and industry to take action and push boundaries.

Myrtle holds a Masters in Chemical Engineering and Chemical Technology from Imperial College. She is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers, Fellow of the Energy Institute, Fellow of the Forward Institute and Honorary Fellow of the Association of Project Managers.

In 2017, Myrtle received recognition for her contribution to business, having featured in Breaking the Glass Ceiling and being selected as one of 100 Women to Watch in the Cranfield FTSE Board Report 2017.  In 2021 she was recognised by TE:100 as one of the Women of the Energy Transition.  Myrtle has two children and in her spare time studies mathematics, is a keen cat lover, and gamer.

Frank is Director of Innovation at aqualia in Madrid, Spain, which has an annual turnover of 1.2 billion € and provides water services for around 45 M people in almost 1000 towns in Spain and close to 20 countries, in Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa. Frank studied Environmental Engineering in Germany, followed by an MSc as a Fulbright student in the US. Frank created the innovation team at aqualia in 2008, which participated in more than 10 projects each in both EU programs Life and H2020 with a focus on resource recovery and sustainable solutions.

Professor Savić is the CEO of KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands. He is an international expert in smart water systems with over 35 years of experience working in engineering technology, academia, and consultancy. His work has resulted in patentable innovation and spinout companies. In addition to innovation and leadership skills, he is known for believing in bridging science to practice in the wider water sector and utilities in general.

Lisa is a data leader with experience across various data disciplines including open data, data protection, data transformation, and developing data strategies and frameworks to implement data governance. She is vice chair of DAMA UK, a community of data professionals promoting the management of data and information as key assets.She has led many data teams in the public sector before moving to the ODI. At the ODI, Lisa heads up the Data and Services team. They use their data expertise both internally and externally to make the data ecosystem work better for everyone.

Through his company, Stoic Options, Jon is an independent provider of support, challenge and options to supply chain, academia and industry in the water, waste and sustainability sectors. His focus is to create and realise value from innovation. A thirty-year water sector career of commercial, operational, and strategic roles culminated as Head of Innovation at Yorkshire Water. Jon delivered disruptive, transformational initiatives to inform business vision, strategy and growth. The approach also challenged and supported new technologies offering both incremental and transformational change. With an initial career in agriculture, Jon’s diverse experience and personal approach provides valuable support to clients.

Professor Elise Cartmell is the Chief Scientist at Scottish Water and is responsible for Scientific and Research and Innovation activities. Elise joined Scottish Water in April 2016 following a career in academia at Cranfield University where she was Professor of Water Technology and Director of Environmental Technology. Prior to joining Cranfield in 2000 she was a research scientist at WRc plc. Elise is a chemist with a BSc (Hons) from The University of Edinburgh and a PhD from Imperial College, London. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Society of Chemistry. She is on the UK Water Industry Research (UKWIR) Board. Elise remains an active applied scientist and is recognised as an authority on wastewater treatment with special reference to trace contaminants (including pharmaceuticals), resource recovery and off-grid sanitation developments

Jane Davidson is the author of #futuregen: Lessons from a Small Country, the story of why Wales was the first country in the world to introduce legislation to protect future generations.

She is Pro Vice-Chancellor Emeritus at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, having spent nearly a decade leading the university’s sustainability agenda.From 2000 – 2011, Jane was Minister for Education, then Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing in the Welsh Government which included responsibility for water. In her time in the role, Jane proposed legislation to make protecting future generations the central organising principle of government; the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act came into law in 2015. She introduced the first plastic bag charge in the UK and her recycling regulations took Wales to third-best in the world.  She created a Climate Change Commission for Wales, the post of Sustainable Futures Commissioner, One Planet Developments and the Wales Coast Path.

Jane is a patron of the Chartered Institute for Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM), Cambrian Wildwood and Tools for Self Reliance Wales (TFSR Cymru). She holds honorary fellowships from IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment), WWF, CIWM (Chartered Institution of Wastes Management), CIWEM (Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management) and an honorary doctorate from the University of Glamorgan. She contributes regularly to international expert events. She is an RSA Fellow and since 2017 has been guest faculty in the Executive Education for Sustainability Leadership programme at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

She lives on a smallholding in west Wales where she aims to live lightly on the land.

Jane was invited to the panel due to her expertise in sustainability and her experience of innovation for public value and leadership with a particular focus on Wales. 

Jurica Kovac is in the water business for 30 years. He has been a key person in projects related to the preparation and implementation of strategies for water loss management in public water supply systems, water loss control activities, training, equipment selection in +100 water utilities in the Southeast Europe. Jurica is a member of the International Water Association and was recognised in 2014 as IWA Fellow for his results in promotion of best practice IWA methodology for water loss reduction. Today he is a member of the Management Committee of the IWA Water Loss Specialist Group, active as consultant in own Aqua Libera company and partner in Smart Aqua company dedicated to solutions in digital transformation of water utilities.

Anusha is a Senior Director for Resilient Cities and UK Climate Adaptation Lead at Arcadis. She is currently seconded to Effiage, Kier, Ferrovial and BAM Nuttal joint venture on High Speed 2 as Senior Director of Environmental Consents. An ICE Fellow, she is a Senior Vice President at the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) and President -Elect for 2023. Anusha is also a Non-Executive Director at the Met Office, UK and a Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor at King’s College London on Climate Adaptation, Sustainability, and Inclusive Design. In 2021, she was conferred an Honorary Professorship for knowledge transfer by University of Wolverhampton and Doctorate for her services to climate change in engineering by the University of East London. Anusha is also a Visiting Professor at the University of Edinburgh and is invited for lectures at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, University of Cambridge.

With a specialisation in Water & Environmental Engineering, with over 22 years’ experience in designing, managing and leading projects and programmes both in the UK and internationally, Anusha has worked with the government, NGOs, consultants, contractors, regulator, and utility companies. She has led various multi-disciplinary and cross-cultural projects on Water, Environment, Flood Risk Management, Mining and Rail. Anusha is also Past Chair of the Thames Estuary Partnership Board, a charity working towards sustainable management of the Thames Estuary.

Anusha sits on various industry NetZero and Climate Change groups, and represents Arcadis at the London Climate Change Partnership, London First and 50L Home Initiative of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development. She has contributed to several national and international articles/reports on water, climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion topics. She has been a chair and also a judge of the OFWAT Water breakthrough Innovation fund for two consecutive terms. A recipient of several awards including 2020 – Top 50 UK Women Engineers Sustainability Award and CECA FIR Inspiring Engineers Award 2019, she is regularly invited to panel discussions, media interviews and for delivering keynote speeches at various high profile industry events. In 2020, Anusha was recognised by Climate Reframe as one of the UK’s leading BAME voices on climate change.

Professor Aimee Ambrose is Professor of Energy Policy at Sheffield Hallam University. She uses innovative qualitative research methods to reveal the unintended consequences that energy policies can have on our everyday lives. She’s especially interested in how changes to the way we access domestic energy and the fuels we use affect us. She aims to afford a voice to those citizens whose views are rarely heard in research into domestic energy. She has also worked to transfer learning on how to reach and engage hard to reach households from the energy sector into the water sector, increasing the number of households able to access water affordability support.