GCBR Expert

Hanna Zavolodko

OrganisationNational Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”

GCBR role:

Member, GCBR Expert Network

Job title:

Assjciate Professor

Organisation:

National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute”

Based in:

Ukraine

Geographic focus:

Europe

Languages: Ukrainian, English

Dr Hanna Zavolodko is an Associate Professor, PhD in Technical Sciences, researcher, educator and technology strategist with over 20 years’ professional experience in artificial intelligence, digital transformation, cloud computing, cybersecurity, data science and organisational resilience. She currently serves as an Associate Professor at the National Technical University “Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute” (NTU “KhPI”), where she is the Programme Coordinator for the Bachelor’s Programme F7 “Applied Computer Engineering”. Since 2017, she has been an IEEE Senior Member, actively contributing to the global engineering community through leadership, mentoring and international collaboration. Between 2021 and 2022, she served as an IEEEXtreme Ambassador in Ukraine, promoting participation in the world’s largest IEEE programming competition. From 2023 to 2025, she served as an IEEEXtreme Proctor, coordinating competition venues, mentoring student teams and ensuring compliance with international competition standards. In 2025, she became an IEEE Day Ambassador, followed by her appointment as IEEE Women in Engineering (WIE) Day Ambassador for 2026. Since 2025, Hanna has been a reviewer for the IEEE Educational Activities Board (EAB) TryEngineering STEM Grants Programme (2025–2030) and serves as a mentor and judge for international STEM and innovation programmes, including the IEEE Volunteer Leadership Training (VoLT) Programme. Her international involvement extends beyond the IEEE. She is a member of the IEEE P3722 Working Group – Guide for the Responsible Use of Artificial Intelligence in Higher Education, contributing to the development of international recommendations for the responsible adoption of AI in universities. She also serves as a World Research Fellow London (WRFL) with the Ukrainian World Research and Innovation Collaboration (UWRIC) in the United Kingdom (2025). Since 2025, Hanna has been actively involved with the Institute of Strategic Risk Management (ISRM), serving as a member of the Strategic Advisory Group of the ISRM Ukraine Chapter and as Academic Liaison for the Ukrainian Chapter. She successfully completed the ISRM Academy programme, strengthening her expertise in strategic risk management, crisis leadership, business resilience and organisational preparedness. Her professional career at NTU “KhPI” began in 2005, and since 2019 she has held the position of Associate Professor in the Department of Multimedia and Internet Technologies and Systems. She teaches courses in Cloud Computing, Programming for Global Networks, Software Engineering, Artificial Intelligence, Data Processing, Information Security and Digital Technologies. She has supervised more than 50 Bachelor’s and Master’s theses and has contributed to the education of more than 1,000 students. Since 2023, Hanna has served as the Central Point of Contact (CPOC) for the AWS Academy at NTU “KhPI”, leading the integration of AWS cloud technologies into engineering education and supporting the modernisation of the university’s curricula. She has participated in several international educational and research initiatives, including the Erasmus+ GameHub project as a technical implementation specialist and the Erasmus+ dComFra project as a web-course developer. Her international collaboration also includes partnerships with universities, researchers and professional organisations across the United Kingdom, the European Union, India and other countries. Hanna is the co-founder of ProstoEDUlab and ReMnemo, two educational innovation initiatives established in 2022. These projects focus on adaptive learning technologies, AI-powered educational solutions, digital transformation and lifelong learning. Under her leadership, the ProstoEDU start-up was selected as one of the Top 10 projects in Ukraine’s national Lab2Market programme, demonstrating successful technology transfer from academic research into practical innovation. She is also the conceptualiser, project manager and lead organiser of the Business Innovation Challenge (BIC 1.0), Ukraine’s first cross-university international IT case competition. The project brought together universities, technology companies, investors, mentors and students, creating an innovative educational ecosystem focused on entrepreneurship, engineering and practical problem-solving. Her research interests include artificial intelligence, responsible AI, machine learning, educational technologies, multimodal data analytics, cloud computing, cybersecurity, adaptive learning systems, digital transformation, microservice architectures, CI/CD, information security, web technologies, data visualisation and digital risk assessment. She has authored and co-authored more than 150 scientific publications, software products, patents and registered intellectual property items. Since 2019, Hanna has organised EU Code Week activities in Ukraine, and since 2020 she has coordinated All Digital Week initiatives, promoting STEM education, digital literacy and technological innovation amongst students, educators and the wider public. She is also an active volunteer with the Ukrainian Women’s Guard, supporting community resilience, emergency preparedness and civic initiatives. Living and working in Kharkiv during the ongoing war has significantly shaped her professional perspective. She has continued to teach, supervise research, organise international events, support global collaborations and develop educational innovations despite constant security challenges. This experience has strengthened her expertise in organisational resilience, crisis adaptation, stakeholder communication, digital transformation and leadership under uncertainty. Today, Dr Hanna Zavolodko combines academic excellence with practical innovation, international leadership and strategic thinking. Her mission is to build resilient organisations, empower future engineers and researchers, promote responsible AI, strengthen international cooperation and contribute to sustainable digital transformation through education, research and professional communities.

Member of the GCBR Expert Network · Business Resilience Research · Paris Resilience Summit