Manfred Aben

Dr Manfred Aben serves as a Visiting Tutor for the Leading Sustainable Organisations Programme at Henley Business School, University of Reading. Concurrently, he holds the position of Global Vice President of Science & Technology R&D at Unilever and is the Site Leader of Hive, Unilever's Global Foods Innovation Centre in Wageningen, Netherlands. He also chairs the Next Food Collective, a collaborative initiative uniting food industry leaders and academic institutions to accelerate sustainable food system transformation.

His educational background includes:

• PhD in Artificial Intelligence

Dr Aben's research focuses on sustainable food systems innovation through artificial intelligence and cross-sector collaboration. His work bridges industry-academia gaps to develop scalable sustainable technologies, leveraging extensive international experience across Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Key themes include circular food economies, AI-driven supply chain optimization, and sustainable product development aligned with corporate net-zero commitments.

Scientific awards:

• No scientific awards were mentioned in the source text

Regarding advising and grants, the provided information does not specify doctoral students or research funding details, though his leadership roles indicate significant industry-academia partnership development.

Dr Aben directs Hive, Unilever's flagship Global Foods Innovation Centre in Wageningen, which functions as an open R&D ecosystem for sustainable food technology. He also chairs the Next Food Collective, a strategic alliance connecting multinational food producers with agricultural research institutes to co-develop systemic solutions for regenerative agriculture and climate-resilient food systems.