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Speakers2023

Keynote Speakers

Dr. Laura Borge Del Rey

Dr. Laura Borge Del Rey is the Programme Manager on EIT Food’s Education team for EIT’s HEI (Higher Education Institutions) Initiative, launched by the European Insititue of Technology and Innovation in 2021 as part of the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme, with the objective of helping universities boost their innovation and entrepreneurial capacity. Laura has over 8 years of experience in Horizon Europe proposal writing and project implementation on topics such as technology transfer from academia to industry, technology commercialization, or academia-industry collaboration. Laura holds university degrees in technology and innovation management (PhD), Agricultural bioengineering (MSc), Food and Resource Economics (MSc), and Environmental Sciences (BS).

Boris Debić, mag. phys.

Boris Debić
Boris Debić, mag. phys. Google’s Chief History Officer emeritus, is a technologist who spent 15 years with the company from its earliest days and in the period of the most accelerated growth ($3B to $161B revenue/yr, 3500 to 210k workforce). At Google he has worked in several roles: Release engineering, G+Privacy, Global Infrastructure, Data center site location, AI driven decision making, Ads serving and machine learning infrastructure, Developer Relations. He has worked with Google.org on analysis and exchange of global climate modeling data sets and agricultural data to provide food security forecasts, also in providing access to education to Syrian refugees in Jordan and across the Arab world. With support from NASA Ames directs Mars Society’s NorCal Rover project. He is a board member of several high tech startup companies in both the US and Croatia including http://production.pro and which was featured as a top three at Launch Fest in San Francisco. Prior to Google he held positions in: Silicon Valley startups, most notably E.piphany; the United Nations; the Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the University of Zagreb.

Moderators and Panelists

Ivan David Dogan, mag. phil.

Ivan David Dogan, mag. phil., is a lecturing assistant at the ATLANTIC Department of Management, Entrepreneurship and Digital Transformation and serves as the Academic Secretary for the EMBA/MBA Management program at ZSEM. He holds a degree in philosophy and is currently completing his MBA in Supply Chain Management. He teaches courses in Philosophy, Critical Thinking, Business Ethics, and Management. Additionally, he conducts seminars and webinars for the business community.

Dubravka Kovačević, PhD

Dubravka Kovačević, PhD,  joined the International Cooperation Office of ZŠEM. She received her doctorate in the field of the world economy – international business with a special focus on the European Union at the University of Economics in Bratislava.
She has significant teaching experience and experience in business administration in international relations. She worked for some time in the banking industry. She knows the topics and institutions related to the European Union very well. Dubravka speaks English and Slovak fluently and is fluent in Czech, German, and Italian.

Sunčica Oberman Peterka, PhD

Sunčica Oberman Peterka, PhD is a full-time professor at the University of Osijek’s Faculty of Economics, where she teaches entrepreneurial and strategic courses. In two mandates she held the position of vice dean for teaching, and from 2021 she is vice dean for cooperation with Business, International Cooperation and Projects. She is also the director of the international interdisciplinary and inter-university doctoral programme Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She has been a member of the GEM research team for Croatia (since 2002), CEPOR research team and European Council for Small Businesses and Entrepreneurship and is an external associate of the Centre for Entrepreneurship Osijek. She is a member of the expert team at the European Commission for HEInnovate – a tool for measuring the entrepreneurial and innovative potential of universities. She has been involved in a number of accreditation and reaccreditation processes as well as external audits at AZVO. Research interests: entrepreneurial education, entrepreneurial university, quality of higher education, strategic management, authentic leadership.

Dr. Lyubomyr Matsekh

Dr. Lyubomyr Matsekh is the Head of Consulting Practices at ELEKS. In this role, he and his team develop a strategy for creating technology leverage for companies worldwide. After living and working for several years in Asia, he is back in Europe, where besides working for ELEKS, Lyubomyr teaches leadership, sustainability and social entrepreneurship at several universities in Baden-Württemberg (Germany). He also supports the Centre for Entrepreneurship (Reutlingen/ Germany) in innovation management, teaches entrepreneurship and expands the network of international partners.

Janko Mršiċ-Flögel, PhD

Dr.-Sc. Janko Mršiċ-Flögel is a pioneer of the mobile data industry, behind some of the first ventures in Mobile Internet – from SMS, WAP, mobile app stores to personal cloud telecom solutions. He has created and sold a couple of mobile tech startups. Currently he is CEO of Planet Computers. Planet Computers manufactures smartphones and is planning to introduce a range of AI network appliances this year to support democratised blockchain-enabled AI service infrastructure. Janko holds a PhD in Neural Networks from Imperial College, London. He was awarded the Governor’s Lectureship at the Department of Computing, Imperial College, where he lectured on Neural Networks (A.I.), Multi-media Systems and Operating Systems.

Sanja Sever Mališ, PhD

Sanja Sever Mališ, PhD is a full-time professor at the Department of Accounting at the Faculty of Economics, University of Zagreb. After serving as Vice Dean, since 2022, she has been the Dean of the Faculty of Economics at the University of Zagreb. She actively participates in teaching courses related to accounting, financial statement analysis, and external auditing. She is a co-author of university textbooks and books on Accounting 1 -Accounting for Non-Accountants, Financial Statement Analysis -Principles, Procedures, Cases, and State Audit. Sanja holds the title of Certified Internal Auditor after completing her education organized by the Internal Audit Section of HZRFD. She has actively participated in several research projects and has independently and collaboratively published numerous professional and scientific papers. She is a member of the editorial board of the professional journals “Accounting and Finance” and “Treasury,” as well as the compendium “Internal Audit and Control” and the scientific journal “Journal of the Faculty of Economics in Zagreb.”

Manal Al-Hammadi, MSc

Manal-Al-Hammadi_heic2023
Manal Al-Hammadi, MSc is a highly accomplished professional with a diverse educational background and extensive experience. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature, a Diploma in Women in Leadership, and a Master’s Degree in International Relations specializing in International Security and Negotiations. Throughout her career, Manal excelled as a Business Development Expert, displaying strong skills in market analysis and partnership negotiation for both new and existing collaborations. From 2018 to 2022, she served as the Head of Technology Deployment at the University of Warsaw TTO, where she assessed market potential for patents and inventions, contributing significantly to technology transfer efforts. Currently, as a Research Fellow at the University of Warsaw, Manal Al-Hammadi continues to excel in her commitment to research and academic pursuits, demonstrating her passion for contributing to knowledge and innovation. Her diverse skill set, educational achievements, and professional experience make her a valuable asset in any role she undertakes.

Dorian Wild, mag. phys. – geophys.

Dorian Wild, mag. phys. – geophys. holds a bachelor’s degree in Economics from Zagreb School of Economics and Management and a master’s degree in Physics and Geophysics from the University of Zagreb, Faculty of Science. During college years, he worked in the application of AI in physics and education, in addition to publishing scientific papers in the field of business. Currently working at ZSEM, he holds lectures in math/economics/AI related subjects, and is a key member of ZSEM AI:X:Lab alongside his mentor, Boris Debić. One of his current main projects is the translation of the book “Artificial Intelligence: A Modern Approach” to Croatian. Additionally, Dorian plays a vital role in advancing AI education in Croatia by holding conferences for school teachers on its practical applications in the classroom.