About UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales)

Dr. Allya Koesoema is a lecturer in Strategic Management at UNSW Australia, specializing in innovation management strategies, particularly in creative and knowledge-intensive industries. She has played a key role in organizing the Peter Farrell Cup, a student entrepreneurship competition at UNSW, and has been recognized with Global Development Learning Network and national grants for her efforts in advancing eLearning initiatives in Indonesia.

Simon is the Associate Dean of Education at UNSW Sydney | Art & Design and a Scientia Education Fellow. A multi-award-winning educator, he focuses on enhancing the student learning experience through technology and innovative pedagogies. His research covers online education, open resources, and MOOCs, contributing to UNSW’s reputation for high-quality online learning. Simon has developed award-winning teaching practices and aims to continue improving online education across disciplines.

Elizabeth Angstmann is a lecturer and First Year Director of Studies in Physics at UNSW. She has taught various first-year physics courses, both in-person and online. Before returning to university teaching, she worked as a high school science teacher. Elizabeth holds a PhD in theoretical atomic physics from UNSW and a Master of Teaching from the University of Sydney.

Ollie Bown is a researcher and maker working with creative technologies, with a background spanning social anthropology, evolutionary systems, and music informatics. He explores how artists and musicians can use advanced computing to create complex works. With over 15 years of experience in electronic music and digital art, his research includes media multiplicities, musical metacreation, and computational creativity. After earning his PhD, he held academic positions at Monash University, the University of Sydney, and UNSW. He has performed in numerous music ensembles and collaborated on digital art projects.

George Khut is an artist and researcher at UNSW Art & Design in Sydney, Australia. He creates biofeedback-controlled interactive artworks that help individuals engage with and reflect on their embodiment, using sounds and images that respond to physiological changes such as heart rate, brainwaves, and movement.

Jeffrey Tzu Kwan Valino Koh has spent much of his life in Toronto, Canada, while also living, working, and studying in cities such as Sydney, Zurich, London, Rotterdam, Berlin, Seoul, Singapore, and Tokyo. As a practicing artist, he has exhibited at renowned venues like the Barbican and Southbank Centre in London, participated in festivals such as the Singapore Design Festival, and showcased his work in galleries across Münster, Berlin, Vienna, Crete, Tokyo, and other prestigious locations. Recently, he served as an Associate Lecturer at UNSW and was a Peer for the Australia Council for the Arts. Currently, he leads the UX strategy and design at the National Gallery Singapore.

Negin is an Academic Developer in the Learning and Teaching Unit and an Adjunct Lecturer in the School of Education at UNSW Australia, where she holds a Doctorate in Education focused on online learning and a Master's in Educational Technology. With over a decade of experience in higher education across Canada and Australia, she specializes in managing and designing educational technology, including fully online and blended courses. Negin co-leads UNSW’s Foundations in University Learning & Teaching Program and teaches a postgraduate course on Educational Design for Learning. Her research interests encompass technology adoption among academic staff, online and blended learning, student preferences for educational technology, and learning analytics. She is currently involved in an OLT-funded project on video annotation software for self-regulated learning and is particularly focused on effectively integrating video technologies into the curriculum. Additionally, Negin serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Learning Analytics and reviews for the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.

Dr. Mike Ryan holds bachelor's, master's, and PhD degrees in electrical engineering and is a Fellow of Engineers Australia, a Chartered Professional Engineer, and a Senior Member of IEEE, among other accolades. With over 40 years of experience in communications engineering and systems engineering, he served as the Director of the Capability Systems Centre at UNSW. His research and teaching focus on communications and information systems, requirements engineering, and project management. Dr. Ryan is the Co-Chair of the Requirements Working Group of INCOSE and has authored thirteen books, four book chapters, and over 400 refereed journal and conference papers.

Associate Professor Emma Robertson, awarded the Art & Design Faculty Dean's Sustained Teaching Excellence and UNSW Vice-Chancellor's Teaching Excellence Awards in 2014, specializes in mapping theories and creative thinking processes in her teaching and research. Her artistic practice focuses on the relationships between words, objects, and memory in mixed media drawings and bookworks, with works held in public collections across four countries. Emma has held senior administrative roles, including Program Director of the Bachelor of Design and Deputy President of the UNSW Academic Board. She has taught across nine faculties at UNSW, integrating scientific illustration techniques into design processes, and has collaborated with organizations like Arup and Thiess on creative thinking initiatives. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Drawing, Emma has exhibited internationally and was the Artist in Residence at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, culminating in a solo exhibition on endangered Australian flora.

John earned his Bachelor of Engineering (Hons 1) in 1968 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1972, both in Electrical Engineering from the University of New South Wales. He most recently served as Master of University House at the Australian National University (ANU), where he was previously Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President, as well as Dean of the College of Engineering and Computer Science. In the 1980s, he was the founding Director of the Centre for Remote Sensing at UNSW. John is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, a Fellow of Engineers Australia, and a Life Fellow of the IEEE. He is also President of the International Society for Digital Earth, with research interests in image interpretation and imaging radar.

The first female engineer in the Sri Lanka Air Force, she is a Senior Lecturer specializing in Mechanical, Aeronautical, Explosives, and Renewable Energy Engineering. With expertise in lecturing, research, curriculum development, and program accreditation, she is a passionate advocate for promoting STEMM and motivates women to pursue careers in these fields despite challenges. Known for her strong interpersonal, leadership, and problem-solving skills, she excels in high-pressure environments. Proficient in MATLAB optimization programming and experienced in Hardware-in-the-Loop real-time plant simulation, she is dedicated to continuous learning and skill enhancement.

Dr. Martin Bliemel is a Senior Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UNSW Australia. His research focuses on entrepreneurial networks, business accelerators, education, and research commercialization. Martin's award-winning work has been published in prestigious journals such as Nature Nanotechnology, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, and the Entrepreneurship Research Journal. He has also received multiple teaching awards, including a highly competitive Citation from the Office of Learning & Teaching (Australian federal government).

Sebastian Fricke is a first-year physics instructor and the laboratory manager for the first-year lab at UNSW. He also designs and teaches online physics courses. Sebastian earned his diploma in physics in Hamburg, Germany, with a research thesis focused on particle physics before moving to Australia for postgraduate studies at UNSW, where he will receive a Master of Science in 2014 for his work in semiconductor physics.

Joe has received national and international accolades for both teaching and research, notably for his multimedia physics resource, Physclips. He leads a research lab focused on the acoustics of voice, hearing, and musical instruments, which also features a popular website. Outside of science, Joe is a composer and musician. His recent research awards include the 2010 Excellence in Acoustics Award and the 2004 International Medal from the French Acoustical Society, along with a 2003 Science Writing Award from the Acoustical Society of America. He is a Fellow of both the Acoustical Societies of Australia and America. In teaching, Joe has won the 2012 Rossing Award for Education, the 2010 Education Medal from the Australian Institute of Physics, and the 2007 Pirelli Prize for Science Communication for Physclips. Other accolades include the 2006 Quality Teaching Award from the Australian College of Educators and the 2005 Science and Technology Web Awards from Scientific American for his teaching sites Einstein Light and Music Acoustics.

Sondoss Elsawah is a researcher and educator dedicated to advancing systems thinking, particularly in public policy, engineering, and education. She has developed innovative methods and tools to examine the long-term impacts of mental models, resulting in over 90 academic publications, including high-impact articles recognized by the Web of Science. Her contributions have garnered multiple awards, including the 2018 Research Award from the International Environmental Modelling and Software Society and the 2016 Rising Star Award from the Australian Operations Research Society. At UNSW's Capability Systems Center, she leads significant projects addressing high-stakes public policy issues like climate change adaptation and sustainable groundwater management. Sondoss also emphasizes research-led education, securing a US National Science Foundation grant to develop core modelling practices and a curriculum focused on leadership in public policy. Additionally, she established the IEEE Systems Modelling Conference and has provided expertise to government agencies on decision support models. As Editor of the Journal of Environmental Modelling and Software and Vice President of the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand, her research interests span systems thinking, modelling, pedagogy, and the interplay between systems thinking and AI.