Dr. Maria Stukoff is a seasoned expert with over 25 years of experience leading digital skills and creative innovation programmes in the videogames, media sector, and STEM industries. Currently, she serves as the Director of Maker Space at the University of Salford, a hi-tech digital fabrication lab providing a testbed for innovation and optimisation, sporting high-specification equipment to solve electronic, design, manufacturing, and technical challenges. She collaborates closely with industry to support future-fit talent pipelines, emphasising future-fit skills provision across additive manufacturing, digital design, architecture, and immersive experiences and her research practice focused on human-computer interaction design, featured in international exhibitions and publications.

Previously, Dr. Stukoff held lead roles at the BBC and Sony PlayStation, where she pioneered initiatives, leading to commercial product development and established numerous successful startup incubation facilities in the UK, and internationally. She has served in advisory roles with the British Esports Federation, Creative Skillset, InnovateHer, the Global Innovation Framework for Health Innovation (MIMIT), and more recently, GameTech at HOST, MediaCity.