Dr Silvia Tedesco joins university’s Centre for Sustainable Innovation to drive decarbonisation

Dr Silvia Tedesco has been appointed by the University of Salford Business School(@salfordbizsch)’s Centre for Sustainable Innovation to the role of Associate Professor for Sustainability, aimed at supporting businesses on their journeys towards decarbonisation and meeting net zero targets.

Joining the centre, which helps strengthen collaboration between academia, industry and policymakers to empower innovation in an ever-evolving business landscape, Silvia brings a wealth of experience with her from her career to-date which spans more than a decade. Silvia’s career includes an eight year stint at MMU (Manchester Metropolitan University) and almost six years at Dublin City University.

Silvia completes the team of senior researchers at the centre and will be the driving force behind its sustainability workstream, joining Dr Angel Jimenez-Aranda, who leads the centre’s digital transformation division, and Dr Ann Mulhaney, who leads on the change management vertical.

Silvia, who has a background in engineering, has conducted extensive research centring on the use of biomass and waste organic materials to produce the energy, fuels and chemicals for which society is currently over-reliant on non-renewable resources.

Silvia comments:

“Seeing first-hand the work the team is doing at the Centre for Sustainable Innovation was a real draw for me. I’m excited to be able to continue my career in academia, while working with businesses to make a real difference in the short-term, ensuring sustainability remains front of mind when it comes to driving innovation.

“I’m passionate about working with businesses and making an impact in the more immediate future when it comes to tackling climate change through decarbonisation. My role entails working directly with businesses and senior leaders to overcome challenges they may be facing on the road to net zero, supporting them on their sustainability strategies to make a genuine difference when it comes to protecting the environment.”

In addition to her new role at the University, Silvia is an active member of the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council’s (BBSRC) Networks in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy (NIBBs), including:

Ebnet (Environmental Biotechnology Network), BBNet (Biomass Biorefinery Network) and HVB (High Value Biorenewables).  Her research has also featured significant involvement with SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), having collaborated with companies across the UK and Ireland, as well as in Italy.

Sara Boswell, Director of the Centre for Sustainable Innovation at Salford Business School, comments:

“We’re thrilled to welcome Silvia to the centre and are excited to see her work continue to have such a huge positive impact on enterprise net zero strategies. Her work has been instrumental in reducing carbon emissions across various communities and she will play an essential role in the interdisciplinary work we’re doing at the centre, across our three core workstreams.

“Silvia has secured grants from several bodies in the UK and Ireland to further advance the art in biomass and waste conversion, validating the use of circular and decarbonising approaches, and she’s really hit the ground running to continue this essential work to further drive innovation in this space.”