Our Team
Aakeen Parikh
Director
Aakeen is a PhD researcher at Imperial College London in Department of Mechanical Engineering, an Arkwright Engineering scholar and a fellow of the RSA (FRSA). She has worked in development innovation for several years. She has a diverse project portfolio in design led innovation and sustainability as well as technical engineering projects, leading user research and prototype development.
“At Minazi, we develop engineering & design solutions that are respectful our natural world. We envision a world that has an equal distribution of resources – a world that is collaborative, communal and just. A world where everyone has access to their basic needs, such as water, health and education. A world without exploitation of people or our planet. A world where enterprises put people before profits, are restorative in nature, and care for our ecosystem. Is such a world possible? Perhaps. Can we engineer it? Absolutely.”
Naa Ayorkor Harding
Design Consultant
Naa Harding is a third year Mechanical Engineering student at Imperial College London. Naa has gathered useful analytical experience doing primary research in Rwanda. As well as being a design consultant for Minazi, she has a passion for marketing and undertakes several marketing positions, including being the manager of The Boiler Room, for her course at Imperial College.
Soren Vines
Co-Founder
Soren has worked in the humanitarian-sustainable field for the past four years and is a co-founder of several initiatives focused on creating vibrant communities to leverage student potential and bring tangible social impact, and a winner of several awards such as the prestigious Diana award and CGCU Student Activity Award.
Kieran Burke
Engineering Project Manager
Kieran is currently completing a Masters in Advanced Mechanical Engineering after working as a graduate sustainability engineer for a leading coorporative in Leeds. He has vast experience in the third sector ranging from data analytics for a development charity to a directorship of a social enterprise and is looking forward to complementing development experience with engineering.
Jinal Parekh
Strategy Consultant
Jinal is a graduate of the University of Oxford (MSc Modern South Asian Studies) and Royal Holloway (BA History and International Relations), having also been awarded Best Joint Honours Finalist. As previous Assistant Director of an international charity, she managed education, healthcare and protection-focused projects. Her role also included internal strategy; organisational, operational, and knowledge management; business development; and impact measurement and evaluation.
Alex Gallo
Lead Impact Consultant
Alex is a postdoctoral researcher at TU Delft, with an MEng and a PhD in Control Engineering from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department at Imperial College. Alex has several years of experience in humanitarian engineering, particularly as part of the innovation society E.quinox, and has held several managerial positions at different levels of the organization.
Victoria Tully
Lead Impact Consultant
Victoria is a graduate of IDS, from the University of Sussex in Globalisation, Business, and Development. She has worked several years in the development sector and handled multiple projects related to sustainability, community development, gender equality, and economic empowerment. Additionally, she has knowledge and practice in project design and implementing, programme management, M&E, and business development.