Hafiz Alaka has over 6 years of experience in academic leadership and research, with expertise in applied contemporary technologies.  He has strategic and operational oversight of research activity across HBS including governance, culture and impact. He leads the school's REF as the UoA coordinator. 

Prior to their appointment as Associate Dean, Hafiz served (and still serves) as Director of Big Data Tecnologies and Innovation lab, and leads for the ‘Prediction of Climate and its Impacts (PCI)’ group in the Centre for Climate Change Research (C3R), contributing significantly to multiple research funding successes, publications, PhD supervision and ECR mentoring.

Hafiz's leadership philosophy centers on creating an inclusive, supportive, and dynamic  environment that empowers faculty, students, and external collaborators to reach their full potential. His key responsibilities include:

• To provide strategic leadership in the development and execution of research policies, priorities, and initiatives.
• To foster interdisciplinary research partnerships and collaborations within and beyond the university.
• To oversee research funding opportunities and grant administration.
• To support school in securing research grants, managing research projects, and enhancing their research visibility.
• To lead initiatives to promote research excellence, innovation, and impact.

Hafiz favours cross-disciplinary collaborative research for solving real-life challenges. His focus area is application of contemporary technologies (big data, artificial intelligence/machine learning, augmented reality, etc.) to construction, infrastructure, energy, sustainability, circular economy business/finance, and agriculture, among many others. 

Hafiz has secured, led and participated in over £10million worth of funded research projects at national and international levels. He has collaborated with local and international partners including in Malaysia, Nigeria and Indonesia among others. Local partners include Balfour Beatty (the largest construction company in UK), Galliford Try, Reusefully Ltd, Finishes and Interior Sector and Earthsense among others. 

Hafiz is an assessor for Innovate UK, EPSRC, ESRC, Small Business Research Initiative UK, and The National Centre of Science and Technology Evaluation, Kazakhstan. He is an editorial board member of three international journals and part of the International Scientific Committee for three international conferences. He has acted as external and internal examiner for PhD viva.