South Yorkshire branch: Committee

As well as running the branch, the committee organises the events programme and maintains links with local members, schools, colleges, universities and industry.

You can find out more about the committee below, or come along and meet us at the next South Yorkshire branch event.

Chair
Eva M. Barabas MSc(Eng) MBCS

Principal Engineer & Tech Volunteer

Since March 2020, Eve has been a principal engineer in the CTO Office of the UK Home Office based in Sheffield where she works in inhousing applications and growing the internal engineering capability. Since 2023 she has been working at scale focusing on internal facing applications as well as the platforms offering.

Outside of work, she has been the chair of BCS South Yorkshire since Oct 2022, following more than 10 years of tech volunteering in the UK - among others running the Sheffield Ruby User Group, organising events and a conference. She has a passion for building communities and ensuring the engineering voice is heard in organisations that are not engineering-led.

Prior to the Home Office - she worked as an Individual Contributor and Technical Leader as Dev Team Lead for NHS.UK (part of NHS Digital) from Sept 2017- March 2020. Worked with Python, JavaScript and previously Ruby on Rails as a Senior Full Stack developer since April 2014.

She's been a Mid-level Full Stack Developer working with Ruby on Rails at epiGenesys (Sept 2011 - Jan 2014) after gaining a Distinction in Advanced Software Engineering at MSc(Eng) level at The University of Sheffield in January 2012.

Eva's LinkedIn profile | Twitter profile

Vice-Chair
Shahrzad Zargari

Principal Lecturer in Cyber Security & Forensics and Subject Group Lead at Sheffield Hallam University

I have a PhD in Applied Statistics and MSc in Forensic Computing & Security (with Distinction). I have worked in the computer industry for over ten years and gained a great deal of experience in computer hardware, software, and business management.

I am passionate about digital forensics and security, advocating collaboration (i.e. Government, Industry & Academia), sharing information and educating students. My background in applied statistics and data mining allows me to have a unique approach towards cyber security, including intrusion detection.

I am an experienced researcher (CENTRIC), having published book chapters as well as many papers in conferences, journals, and magazines. Additionally, I am the associate editor of Information Security Journal: A Global Perspective at Taylor & Francis.

Secretary
Dr Gregory Meyers EngD CEng CITP MBCS

Gregory is a data scientist and systems developer with over ten years of experience in developing AI-driven decision support systems for various companies, such as Jaguar Land Rover, Sainsbury's, South West Water and Kraft Heinz. He received his doctorate in applied machine learning from the University of Exeter in 2019, was awarded chartered engineer status by the UK Engineering Council in 2021 and chartered IT professional in 2023 the British Computer Society. Gregory has been a postdoctoral research associate for the University of Sheffield and Loughborough University, as well as lectured at the University of Exeter and University of Sheffield.

Gregory's LinkedIn profile

Treasurer
Dr Martin Beer BSc, MSc, PhD, CEng, CITP, FBCS

After completing my first degree in Chemistry and Computer Science at Royal Holloway College (University of London), I took an MSc in Chemical Spectroscopy followed by a PhD in theoretical chemistry.

For twenty-four years a was a member of the academic staff of the University of Liverpool teaching and researching into Computer Science. In 2001 I joined Sheffield Hallam University as a Principal Lecturer teaching advanced information systems and supervising a number of PhD students. I retired in 2017. My research interests have included collaborative and mobile learning, multi-agent systems, distributed AI, robotics, database management systems and recommender systems. Since retiring I act as a consultant setting and marking BCS professional examinations, am an editor for the Journal of the Journal of Information Technology: Research.

BCS activities, as well as being the Branch Treasurer, I am a member of Communities Board Finance Committee and a mentor for Fellowship applicants. Away from academic activity I am vice-chairman of the Great Hucklow, Little Hucklow and Grindlow Parish Council and a member of the Peak District National Park Authority.

Inclusion Officer 
Andy Shaw MBCS

Andy Shaw graduated from Sheffield Hallam University, achieving a BSc Honours degree in Business Information Systems. He began his career in the Tech Industry, initially wanting to be a developer. He later decided to focus on software testing as a career, following a redundancy at a multi-national company years ago.

Andy enjoys developing his career as a software tester, and has delivered talks about software testing, career development and mental health in the Tech Industry. He is involved with other BCS groups, including the Specialist Interest Group in Software Tester where he creates the online magazine "The Tester". Outside of work, his interests include martial arts, travelling and he is also passionate about mental health awareness.

Early Careers Advocate 
Neil Bizzell BSc MCGI MBCS

Leader and Educator

Neil was born and grew up in Norfolk. He moved to Sheffield for University and other than a year in London has lived here ever since. Initially trained as a Science Teacher he quickly developed an interest in IT and moved into industry after a year of teaching. Working mainly with windows infrastructure projects starting with support and development before moving into project, process, and people management.

After 10 years he returned to teaching, this time Computer Science specialising in programming and project work. He remained in this role part time alongside work at The Developer Academy until March 2020 when he moved full time into his current role as Director of Education.

He is trustee of Sheffield UTC Trust and Chair of Governors at UTC Sheffield Olympic legacy park. In time outside of work he maintains his sanity by playing with cars (currently an MGTF) and playing war games / painting miniatures. He enjoys getting into the outdoors either mountaineering / hillwalking or more frequently running around after his children. He volunteers as an Officer with the Army Cadet Force, currently appointed as the County Media Officer. He tinkers with electronics, runs to keep fit and plays golf for fun.

Neil's LinkedIn profile | Twitter profile

Events Coordinator
Colin Smythe BSc FBCS CEng

Colin has a degree in Applied Physics and was awarded a PhD for his work on spread spectrum local area networks; both degrees were from the University of Durham. During the past 25 years he has worked in both the academic and the industrial world.

He has been a lecturer at the Universities of Durham and Surrey, worked for several years at Logica Ltd., was the founder and managing director of the systems consultancy Hyperion Systems Ltd., has acted as independent consultant to many private and public organisations, and has also given numerous industrially oriented training courses on communications and software engineering.

From 1992-1999 he was a member of the Department of Computer Science at the University of Sheffield where he was Head of Department and Professor of Computer Science. During the time at the University of Sheffield his research activity was focussed on the modelling and performance analysis of data networks, particularly those based on cable network architectures. At present he is a director and principal consultant of Dunelm Services Ltd. (a company that for the last twelve years has specialised in the provision of Information & Communications Technology (ICT) consultancy and training in the fields of data communications and software engineering) and eLoki Ltd (a company specialising in the technical and business development aspects of e-learning).

Since October 1999 Colin has been consulting for the IMS Global Learning Consortium. The IMS Global Learning Consortium is the World's premier e-learning specification development organisation. He is currently the IMS Chief Specification Strategist and as such he is responsible for the managing the development and maintenance of the full suite of IMS specifications.

During the last five years he has worked on a number of public and private sector e-learning projects and has given presentations on this topic in many parts of the world. He joined the British Computer Society (BCS) in 1999 at which time he was made a Fellow of the BCS and became a Chartered Engineer. He was Chair of the South Yorkshire branch of the BCS 2002-2004. He was Non-Executive Director of Digital South Yorkshire (d-SY) from 2003-2005.

Committee members

Anthony Agbor MSc CISSP MBCS

Protective Monitoring Professional

Anthony Agbor is a dedicated professional currently excelling as a Protective Monitoring Professional at BT Group. With a career spanning over a decade, Anthony holds an MSc in Cyber Security from Sheffield Hallam University and a BSc in Computer Science from Cross River University of Technology.

Anthony enjoys watching Formula 1 and gardening in his spare time.

Mike Cook CISSP CITP MBCS

ICT Manager at Sheffield City Trust

Mike has been with Sheffield City Trust since 1992, originally working as part of the Finance Team, being a member of the Association of Accounting Technicians (AAT). Mike's first encounter with IT within the Trust was to lead a project to upgrade the Box Office system for Sheffield Arena in 1998, due to his strong interest in technology outside of work. Following successful delivery of the project Mike was appointed ICT Manager in 1999.

Mike leads a small IT team delivering services to 15 leisure & entertainment venues across the region. As well as managing the team, Mike has a strong focus on cybersecurity, specifically information management, security & privacy. Mike led the implementation of GDPR for the Trust, and the subsequent requirements of the UK Data Protection Act 2018. Mike is the nominated Data Protection Officer for the Trust and is a keen privacy advocate.

Outside of work, Mike is an avid PC gamer and is also a published musician and recording artist.

Mike Cook's LinkedIn profile | Twitter profile

Chris Gray CEng MBCS

Chris has been a member of the South Yorkshire BCS committee for over fifteen years, helping support the work of the Branch and local members through events, and more recently, annual sponsorship of the Steelcon Kids Track conference - providing a day of hands-on-experience with technology for the next generation of IT professionals. Outside of the Branch Chris works in cyber security within financial services, actively participating in the wider cyber security community, and a member of the BCS Information Security Specialist Group.

Liam MacPherson BSc (Hons) MBCS

Liam's computing journey started when he was around 13, during which he fell in love with the simplicity of Visual Basic and C#. He followed this through from college to university, where he studied for a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from Sheffield Hallam University. During this course, he completed a year-long placement with McAfee, formerly Intel Security, fostering his love for cybersecurity combined with software engineering skills.

After completion, he worked a short stint as a graduate software engineer at Servelec Healthcare, working on a vast array of flagship software and internal tooling. Following this, Liam joined the Home Office on the Digital Career Development Programme, a program which he frequently advocates for. Throughout the next two years, Liam progressed to senior software developer and is currently working in a cross-cutting capacity, improving resilience, assurance, and security through embedding DevSecOps thinking into internal tooling.

Liam is studying further for a master's degree in Cyber Security at Sheffield Hallam University, hoping to advocate for improved secure development practices in everyday development. Outside work, Liam enjoys looking into the latest artificial intelligence advancements, working on personal projects, and gardening.

Dr Olakunle Olayinka MBCS SFHEA

Olakunle Olayinka is a Senior University Teacher and Departmental Director of Student Experience at the University of Sheffield, Department of Computer Science.

Olakunle obtained a BSc (Hons) in Computer Science from Babcock University, Nigeria, MSc Computer Forensics from University of Glamorgan, PgCert in Research Methods and PhD in Computing from University of Gloucestershire.

He has over sixteen years experience in IT and security and has worked in various roles in industry as well as academia. He teaches various Cybersecurity and Digital Forensics modules. His research interests include Digital Transformation, Digital Forensics and Cybersecurity & Gamification.

Brett A. Wright BSc(Hons) MBCS AfCIIS

Brett is a postgraduate student at Sheffield Hallam University currently studying a master's degree in Cyber Security, and is a graduate of an Honours degree in Cyber Security with Forensics also at Sheffield Hallam. Since 2023, his range of expertise includes cyber security consulting, digital forensics and security operations.

Brett has been a Student Ethical Hacker at the North East Business Resilience Centre since 2022, and has taken part in internships as a Cyber Security Consultant at HSBC in 2023 and a Tech Facilitator at QA in 2022. He has a passion for developing security solutions that work towards the cutting edge and promoting industry growth to improve security nationwide.

Outside of work, Brett enjoys volunteering, such as helping facilitate mentoring schemes at Sheffield Hallam and his involvement in BCS activities

Myles Dempsey BEng(Hons) BSc(Hons) CertEd FHEA MIET MBCS

Myles started working in cyber security when the focus was protecting systems against bandwidth and resource theft rather than data and he has developed his skills and knowledge over the years, as the sector evolved. He has both a breadth and depth of knowledge in cyber security and forensics as well as a wealth of experience which he uses when lectures, positioning the theory and practical skills being taught directly into real world scenarios. He is actively involved in a number of University Outreach programmes and with the local cyber security community.

Setareh Ghazaani

Cyber Security Auditor at British Assessment Bureau, Certified ISO 27001 LA I have a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering and a Master's degree in Cyber Security, providing me with a solid foundation in the field. I started my professional career in cyber security as a cyber security lecturer at Sheffield Hallam university. During my time at Hallam, I also held the role of Academic Lead for Cyber Security projects. In addition to my academic roles, I also engaged in practical cyber security work. I was an ethical hacker at North-East Business Resilience centre, and cyber security consultant for various SMEs to guide them achieve the cyber essentials, cyber essentials plus and ISO 27001 certifications.

Further Committee members

Dave Whitley CITP CEng FBCS
Gavin Callaghan
Graham Silver-Ford
Mike Brett MBCS
Sanjeeb Mohanty
Tharmini Janarthanan