Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire branch: Committee

Chairman and interim Early Careers Advocate
Charlie Houston-Brown
Email: charlie.houston-brown@bcs.org

Vice Chairman and Treasurer 
Jonathan Westlake MBCS

Jonathan is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with Staffordshire University Business School and a part-time lecturer in the Dept of Computing. Other vocational work includes being an external examiner with a number of award bodies/universities and a regular media commentator on all things information technology

Secretary
Mike Butterworth

Inclusion Officer
Richard Gosling MBCS

Since hearing Sir Clive Sinclair talk about the home computing revolution in 1980 and obtaining my first computer the following year (a ZX81) I have had a keen interest in all aspects of IT.

Since then my career has led me through IT support, software development and data science. Along the way I've worked on projects for automotive manufacturers, tier one banks and government departments.

My main interests are in ethical use of data, emerging technologies and helping others to reach their full potential in the IT industry.

Education Liasion Officer
Sandra Woolley FBCS

Sandra Woolley is a Fellow of the BCS. She chaired the 2022 BCS Human-Computer Interaction Conference at Keele University where she is the Computer Science Research Director, the Deputy Chair of the Central Research Ethics Committee and the Deputy Director of the Digital Society Institute. She leads the Future Systems Research Group and teaches Computer Animation and Multimedia, and topics in 'Ethics, Professionalism and Real-World Case Studies in Computer Science'. Her research encompasses digital heritage including VR/AR and 3D virtual reconstruction of fragmented artefacts, and health technologies including wearables, sensing systems and assistive devices.

Events Coordinator
Sharon Dempsey MBCS

Specialist Group (SG) Liaison Officer
Matt Alton

STEM Ambassador Liaison Officer
Tim Chapman

Webmaster and Social Media Officer
Craig Hannon RITTech MBCS

I am a technical lead for a software consultancy where I lead a team of software engineers, and have around 15 years experience within the IT industry working in both blue chip and SME based settings. I graduated from the University of Salford with an undergraduate BSc Hons in Multimedia and Internet Technology and then completed a Masters of Enterprise (Technology). I have been a member of the BCS for around 3 years and am also a member of OWASP and the IET. I have a strong passion for Software Engineering and DevSecOps and most of my recent years has been spent within this specialism. I largely develop API based solutions on the Microsoft Stack. I have joined the BCS to promote professional ethics and personal development.