Aston University’s Advanced Services Group Welcomes New Visiting Professors

The Advanced Services Group at Aston University has appointed two new visiting professors to its operations.

Tom Palmer and Professor Mario Rapaccini will work within the University’s College of Business and Social Sciences.

Professor Palmer has led on all significant aspects of the development of services within Rolls-Royce including the digital transformation, the financing of the service assets, the development of the service strategy, the move to a service-oriented organisation structure, and more recently, the move towards a platform business model and placing services at the heart of the company’s sustainability strategy.

Professor Rapaccini’s primary field of research is ‘digital servitization’ and how manufacturing companies can exploit digital technologies to develop their service business.

Professor Tim Baines, executive director of the Advanced Services Group at Aston University, said:

“I am very pleased to welcome Tom Palmer and Professor Mario Rapaccini to Aston University.

“Tom will bring a unique combination of capabilities and experience at the highest level of digital and services transformation to the Advanced Services Group.

“Mario’s experience and expertise in this field span 19 years and he has authored 100+ publications. Mario has contributed to numerous regional (POR FESR), national (MIUR) and European (Erasmus+, Marie Curie) funded research projects. His professional experience includes stints as Innovation Manager, CIO and founder of three successful companies.

“I look forward to working with them to accelerate the adoption of servitization and advanced services within businesses and giving our students access to these industry-leading experts.”