Simula's Management Group

The management group includes the directors and deputy directors of Simula's companies, as well as the CFO and other key functions at Simula. The management group is led by Dr. Lillian Røstad, Managing Director of Simula Research Laboratory.

Managing Director

Dr. Lillian Røstad
Lillian Røstad joined Simula as Managing Director in May 2023. Røstad has a master's degree in computer science as well as a PhD in information security. Røstad formerly was at the consultancy company Sopra Steria, in the public sector, and spent 7 years as a research scientist at SINTEF. Through the years Røstad has taught at Universities as an adjunct. 

Deputy Managing Director

Dr. Kyrre Lekve
Kyrre Lekve joined Simula in 2015. Lekve holds a Dr. scient in biology from the University of Oslo. Lekve has been a political advisor and deputy minister under Ministers Tora Aasland and Kristin Halvorsen in the Ministry of Research and Higher Education (2007-2012). Before joining Simula, Lekve worked as a deputy director at the Nordic Institute for Studies in Innovation, Research, and Education (NIFU). Lekve has also been a political advisor in Abelia, part of the Norwegian Trade association, where he was responsible for policy development for private research and education and research institutes.

Director of the Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering (SimulaMet)

Professor Olav Lysne
Olav Lysne has held various positions, including Section Director for Communication Systems, at Simula since its establishment in 2001. Lysne currently serves as the Director of Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering (SimulaMet). He is also a Professor at Oslo Metropolitan University. In addition to his research on resilient networks, formal methods and computer architecture, Lysne has led two government commissions on digital vulnerability and lawful interception of internet traffic. He has also built the Center for Resilient Networks and Applications (CRNA), which is currently part of SimulaMet. He is currently a member of the Norwegian Parliamentary Oversight Committee on Intelligence and Security Services (EOS-utvalget).

Deputy Director of the Simula Metropolitan Center for Digital Engineering (SimulaMet)

Marianne M. Sundet
Marianne M. Sundet has been at Simula since 2007. Before taking on the role of Deputy Director of Simula Metropolitan, Sundet held various management positions at Simula, including the Director of Administration and the Director of Simula Innovation. Sundet holds a Master of philosophy from the University of Oslo.

Director of Simula Innovation

Ottar Hovind
Ottar Hovind joined Simula in 2007. Hovind holds a degree in law (cand. jur) from the University of Oslo and has a master's degree in international commercial law from the London School of Economics. Before he joined Simula Innovation as director, he was involved in different projects at Simula through his law company JusIt. Hovind has worked with the law firm Ræder Advokatfirma.

Director of Simula UiB

Professor Carlos Cid
Carlos Cid is the director of Simula UiB. He has been linked with Simula UiB since 2018, originally as a visiting research professor. He took on the role of director in May 2022. He is also adjunct professor at the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University, Japan. Before joining Simula, Carlos was a professor at Royal Holloway University of London, where he spent over 18 years. He was the founding director of Royal Holloway’s Centre for Doctoral Training in Cyber Security. A mathematician by formation, Carlos is an experienced researcher and educator in cyber security, with main research interest and expertise in cryptography.

Deputy Director of Simula UiB

Mari Garaas Løchen
Mari Garaas Løchen has been at Simula since 2016 when she started as Head of Administration at Simula UiB. Before joining Simula, Løchen was leading the study section at the Department of Informatics at the University of Bergen. Løchen holds a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Bergen

Director of Simula Academy

Dr. Rachel Thomas
Rachel Thomas joined Simula in 2017 as an advisor at the Simula School of Research and Innovation. Thomas has a PhD in immunology from the Hannover Medical School in Germany and has worked in academic publishing as well as research administration at the University of Oslo. Before taking on the role as Director of the Simula Academy, Thomas held the position of Director of Corporate Development from 2018 - 2021.

Research Director for Software Engineering and High-Performance Computing

Professor Are Magnus Bruaset
Are Magnus Bruaset has been with Simula since 2003, after several years as a senior research scientist at SINTEF Applied Mathematics and as an entrepreneur in the software industry. At Simula, he has filled a wide range of management positions spanning research, education, and innovation. In particular, he has been responsible for developing Simula's most comprehensive industrial enterprise - a close to 15 years-long collaboration with Equinor, and for establishing the transatlantic PhD program SUURPh as a collaboration between Simula, University of Oslo, and University of California San Diego. Before his current position as Research Director for Software Engineering and High-Performance Computing, he led Simula's commercial subsidiary Kalkulo for two years until the successful acquisition by the American company Bluware. Prof. Bruaset is also an adjunct professor at the Department of Informatics at the University of Oslo and leads the national HPC research infrastructure eX3.