People behind the programme

The team, facilitators, and partners.

Innovation Labs @ BCU is organised by students and strengthened by contributors across enterprise support, entrepreneurship, business education, law, design, and cyber security. The aim is simple: build a programme that is practical enough to move founders forward and credible enough for others to take seriously.

The people building and running Cohort I.

Portrait of Tayyeb Nadeem Somro Founder and Programme Director

Tayyeb Nadeem Somro

Cyber Security Undergraduate and incoming Intern at National Gas, Co-Founder of Zentic Health, Founder of Unihack. He leads the programme's direction with a focus on standards, execution, and giving student founders a more credible route from ambition to action.

Portrait of Mohamed Dahir Programme Delivery Lead

Mohamed Dahir

Computer Science undergraduate specialising in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, with an incoming placement year in Data and Analytics at National Highways. He supports delivery across the cohort with a structured, analytical approach shaped by data thinking, machine learning, and practical problem solving.

Portrait of Tanzila Mudassar Head of Partnerships

Tanzila Mudassar

Business graduate with a strong interest in strategy, growth, and innovation. Alongside her roles as a Student Ambassador and International Outreach Support Officer at Birmingham City University, she brings experience in analytical and operational support, helping build the partner relationships that give the programme wider reach.

Portrait of Hamzah Abdur Rahman Head of Community Engagement

Hamzah Abdur Rahman

Computer Science undergraduate with strong foundations in problem solving, design thinking, and programming. He brings leadership experience from volunteer work and helps shape the community side of the programme so that participation feels active, coherent, and worth showing up for.

Portrait of Yasamin Zaid Software Engineer

Yasamin Zaid

Computer Science undergraduate with a strong interest in software engineering and developing high-quality applications. She was part of a team that achieved 2nd place at the BCU Innovation Fest, demonstrating her ability to work on creative technical projects and collaborative solutions. She brings a motivated, detail-focused approach to her work at BCU Innovation Labs.

Portrait of Baber Khan Web Platform Engineer

Baber Khan

Computer Science undergraduate focused on building robust, efficient, and secure software systems. He maintains the web platforms for Unihack and the BCU Cyber Security Society, handling design, development, hosting, and maintenance, and brings that same full-stack discipline to Innovation Labs @ BCU.

Contributors who strengthen the programme.

These facilitators bring enterprise support, entrepreneurship, design, legal awareness, and technical perspective into the cohort. Each adds practical value rather than ornamental prestige, which is how this sort of thing should work.

Enterprise support

Jennine Jones

Student Enterprise Manager at Birmingham City University. She brings practical knowledge of student enterprise support, incubation pathways, and how to help students move from early interest to workable opportunities.

Entrepreneurship and strategy

Dr Colin Akhurst

Lecturer in Strategy and Entrepreneurship and Module Lead for Enterprise Growth at BCU. He brings practice-based teaching, microbusiness insight, and a sharp understanding of how early ventures grow beyond the first burst of enthusiasm.

Business analytics and systems

Dr Nassir Mohamed Ibrahim

Senior Lecturer and Course Lead for Business Management at BCU. He contributes systems thinking, data-driven decision-making, and an employability-focused view of what makes student work legible to employers and external partners.

Creative facilitation

Bra'ah Awadh

President of Creative Exchange, a society built around practical workshops and creative collaboration across disciplines. She supports the programme's design strand with attention to user perception, creative thinking, and visual communication.

Legal awareness

Gia Dhami

Contributes the legal-awareness strand through BCU Pro Bono, also known as League of Justice. Her input helps founders think more clearly about intellectual property, responsibility, and the legal edges that can otherwise stay fuzzily ignored.

Organisations that widen the programme.

These partner organisations expand what the programme can offer, from enterprise support and technical practice to creative collaboration and legal awareness.

Society and community partners

Institutional partner

  • BCU Student Enterprise — Birmingham City University's student enterprise team, helping students and graduates explore, experiment, and bring ideas to life through events, programmes, and support.
  • BCU Business School — Birmingham City University's Business School, supporting enterprise, management, and entrepreneurship education.

Get in touch.

All programme enquiries are handled through LinkedIn. Students, partners, and collaborators are welcome to reach out there.

Primary communication channel Innovation Labs @ BCU on LinkedIn Send a message, follow the programme, and stay informed about updates, cohorts, and events.

Built by students. Strengthened by the right partners.

Innovation Labs @ BCU works because students are not building it alone. The right partners make the work more useful, more demanding, and more real.

See the programme