The UOWGE Global Collaborate Conference 2021 will offer a unique program built by three steering committees with representation from all of UOW's global campuses. 

Each day of the conference will address a key topic area and feature best practices, research, innovation and explore opportunities for future collaboration across the UOW global network.

Live Session

AEDT

HKT/MYT

GST (Dubai)

16th of November – Research

4:00pm to 6:00pm

1:00pm to 3:00pm

9:00am to 11:00am

17th of November – Teaching & Learning

4:00pm to 6:00pm

1:00pm to 3:00pm

9:00am to 11:00am

18th of November – Mobility

4:00pm to 6:00pm

1:00pm to 3:00pm

9:00am to 11:00am

In the menu below please explore the conference themes in more detail, find out why you should attend and read the conference schedule and get to know our speakers.

During registration, you will have the option to opt-in to receiving 1:1 or group meeting requests. All conference attendees can generate requests in the Meetings tab.

More information will be added here soon!

The UOWGE Global Collaborate conference provides a unique space for academic & professional staff from across our global network of campuses to gather and learn from each other. It will help you build an understanding of the activities occurring at our different locations and challenge you to think of ways we can work together to enhance our global impact.

This year the conference has a fantastic lineup of speakers across research, teaching & learning and student mobility, and not only that, but you’ll also have the opportunity to engage with your fellow delegates through our 1:1 and group meetings.

We think that the conference is a great place to expand your network and make meaningful connections with your fellow UOW colleagues. Get a new perspective on how your research, teaching or student program can engage a global UOW audience, hear examples of best practices and become inspired by the work currently occurring at UOW.

Additionally, all sessions will be available until January 2022, so if you miss a session or want to watch it again, everything will be right here on this site after the event concludes! 

We look forward to seeing you there!

The central theme of the inaugural conference is Global Collaborate, aiming to celebrate and raise awareness of collaborations occurring between the UOW entities and provide a space for reflection of future opportunities for collaborative projects.

The conference will contribute towards goal 1.3.1 of the UOW Strategic Plan for 2020 2025 of enhancing UOW’s international presence and creating opportunities for student mobility and collaboration across the UOW network & with high-quality global partners. Within the theme of Global Collaborate, three strands will form the focus for each day.

Research Collaboration – 16th of November

Day 1 will open the conference and showcase research happening across our global campuses. Short presentations will highlight research activities within the campus network in areas of common interest, including global health, smart & sustainable cities and education. A panel discussion will provide an opportunity for participants to engage with the presenters and find out more about potential areas for research collaboration. The panel will help to answer the question, “How can UOW take advantage of our Global Campus network to form unique collaborative research teams that can make an impact in addressing the challenges facing communities in the regions we operate?”

Collaboration in Teaching & Learning – 17th of November

Day 2 will showcase innovative teaching and learning happening across our global campuses. Short videos will highlight a range of projects encompassing collaboration with industry and showcase examples of best practices in student support and online teaching and learning across our campus network. There will be opportunities to directly engage with presenters and find out more about specific projects.

The day will conclude with a panel of industry experts representing the four countries where our campuses are located. The industry panel will explore the employer perspective and ask the question: “How can UOW take advantage of our Global Campus network to provide unique Teaching and Learning experiences that improve graduate attributes?”

Student Mobility amongst our entities – 18th of November

Day 3, the final day of the conference, will focus on student mobility between our entities. Two key-note speakers will highlight innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic and point towards more inclusive mobility programs that leverage technology to enrich the student mobility experience. Students will also share how their mobility programs have been transformative and shaped their professional and personal trajectories.

Finally, a panel discussion will bring together staff and students from our global campus network. The panel will explore the question, "how can we build upon our existing student mobility programs to create new opportunities for UOW students and learners to develop their global citizenship whilst increasing interaction and collaboration within the UOW network."

Time

Item

Speaker

5 min

Conference open

Marisa Mastroianni, Group CEO and Managing Director UOWGE

10 min

Welcome address

Professor Patricia Davidson, Vice-Chancellor and President UOW

45 min

Research in the UOW Global Network

Various (Please see speaker information)

45 min

Research panel discussion

Various (Please see speaker information)

10 min

Funding & collaboration opportunities

Dr May El Barachi, Associate Dean (Research) UOWD

Time

Item

Speaker

10 min

Welcome address

Professor Wilma Vialle, Pro Vice-Chancellor Global UOW

70 min

Snapshots from our campuses

Various (Please see speaker information)

45 min

UOW’s Global Campus Network: Industry Panel Discussion 

Professor Theo Farrell, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) UOW

5 min

Thanks and close

Gabriel Lau Chi Wen 

Time

Item

Speaker

5 min

Welcome address

Kath McCollim, Executive Director Global Student Recruitment UOWGE

35 min

Project Unite

Marion Finlay, Project Unite Coordinator

30 min

Keynote presentation

Andrea Sianesi, President Fondazione Politecnico di Milano

40 min

Mobility panel discussion

Various (Please see speaker information)

5 min

Conference close

Kath McCollim, Executive Director Global Student Recruitment UOWGE

 Our list of exciting speakers over the three days is updated regularly, check back to see the latest!

Pascal Perez
Full Name
Prof Pascal Perez
Job Title
Director, SMART Infrastructure Facility
Organisation
UOW
Speaker Bio
Prof Perez is the Director of the SMART Infrastructure Facility at the University of Wollongong, overseeing research in infrastructure-related fields such as water and energy efficiency, future transport and mobility, smart cities and communities, as well as infrastructure system engineering and logistics. He is a specialist of integrative infrastructure modelling and socio-technological transitions. Pascal is a Fellow of the Modelling and Simulation Society of Australia and New Zealand (MSSANZ) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He is the Chair of the Australian Urban Research Infrastructure Network’s Scientific Advisory Committee (AURIN), as well as a member of the Executive Council of IOT Alliance Australia (IOTAA), and a member of the International Advisory Board of UK’s Collaboratorium for Research on Infrastructure and Cities (UKCRIC).
Full Name
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Wong Wong
Job Title
Head of School
Organisation
UOW Malaysia KDU University College - School of Business
Speaker Bio
Dr. Brian KM Wong is a seasoned strategic marketing professional and an academia with solid and progressive corporate, teaching, and training experiences. Currently, he is the Head of Business School at UOW Malaysia KDU and has more than 20 years of local and regional exposures in a multi-industry setting. He is an active researcher with good number of publications in top-tier journals, book chapters, conference proceedings, and popular media. He is also a reviewer and sit in the Editorial Board for several international journals. His main research interests are within the marketing, management, entrepreneurship, and hospitality & tourism field.
Wong Wong
Ong Song-Quan
Full Name
Ong Song-Quan
Job Title
Head of Department
Organisation
UOW Malaysia KDU Penang University College
Speaker Bio
Machine Learning and Computer Vision Entomology: How data mining transform public health and biodiversity conservation

ChM. Dr. Ong Song-Quan is having passion for cross-discipline research that impacts the community. In recent years his research has focused upon controlling the spread of dengue, a potentially fatal disease with data mining and computer vision. He holds a Ph.D. in Medical and Veterinary Entomology, M.Sc in Applied Entomology, and is currently pursuing a Masters in Data Science and Analytics. As a data scientist, licensed chemist, and medical entomologist he comes equipped to leverage the intersection between these disciplines and make a meaningful contribution to advancing public health and biodiversity conservation.
Email Address
Full Name
Job Title
Associate Professor
Organisation
UOWD
Speaker Bio
Food Security: A large scale national collaborative project on food security in the UAE

Dr Ioannis Manikas is Associate Professor in Logistics and Supply Chain Management at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. His work experience includes twelve years of post-doctorate experience working as an academic and consultant in the UK, and the UAE, as well as ten years of pre-doctorate experience, working as a researcher, consultant, and adjunct lecturer in Greece and the UK, and in Central America. Until 2016, Dr Manikas was Principal Lecturer in Logistics and SCM and Director of Business Studies at the University of Greenwich, Department of Systems Management and Strategy. He has participated in a total of 13 research and consultancy projects. Dr Manikas is author of 55 journal publications, book chapters and conference papers. Dr Manikas is currently the Principal Investigator for the READY project, with a focus on Food Security and Supply Chain Resilience for the UAE, funded by the UAE Ministry of Education (AED 6.8M). He is also the Principal Investigator for two internal research grants, with a focus on Urban Food Production methods for the UAE.
Ioannis MANIKAS
Balan SUNDARAKANI
Full Name
Job Title
Associate Professor
Organisation
UOWD
Speaker Bio
Food Security: A large scale national collaborative project on food security in the UAE

Dr Sundarakani is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD). He has 20 years of teaching and research experience in the area of Supply Chain Management across various universities including the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Tiruchirappalli, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, the National University of Singapore (NUS), Singapore and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich, Switzerland. The total worth of his research and consulting projects are valued at around S$2 Million plus AED 7,185,000. In March 2020, He was awarded an AED 6.9 Million grant from the Ministry of Education, UAE for Food safety research in collaboration with IQBA, Dubai Municipality and UAE University.
Full Name
Prof Pui Kwong WONG
Job Title
Professor (Fractional)
Organisation
UOWCHK
Speaker Bio
The language attitude of Hong Kong ethnic minority primary school students towards Putonghua and its implications for designing a tailor-made Putonghua pedagogy for such students

Professor WONG Pui Kwong (王培光)
Graduated from National Taiwan University (BA), Chinese University of Hong Kong (MA), New Asia Research Institute (MPhil) and National Singapore University (PhD), he has taught at the Baptist University of Hong Kong, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and City University of Hong Kong and now is teaching in UOWCHK and is an Honorary Professor of New Asia Research Institute in Hong Kong. He taught Chinese teaching methodology, Dream of Red Chamber and Chinese philosophy etc., and published a book: “Language Awareness and Language Competence” by Beijing University Press. Present interest: religions and Chinese philosophy.
Pui Kwong WONG
FONG CHIN
Full Name
Dr FONG CHIN
Job Title
Assistant Professor
Organisation
UOWCHK - Faculty of Arts and Humanities
Speaker Bio
The language attitude of Hong Kong ethnic minority primary school students towards Putonghua and its implications for designing a tailor-made Putonghua pedagogy for such students

Dr. CHIN Fong, B.A. and MPhil in Chinese Language and Literature, PhD in Linguistics and Applied Linguistics. Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities in UOW College Hong Kong. During her professional career, she has been teaching a wide range of courses in language teaching, testing and pedagogy related (mainly Modern Standard Chinese--Putonghua). She is a national examiner of the Putonghua Proficiency Test. Her specialities and research interests are Chinese Language Teaching and Testing (Specially in Putonghua), and sociolinguistics.
Full Name
Job Title
Professor and Director, Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values, School of Health and Society
Organisation
UOW
Speaker Bio
Stacy Carter is the Founding Director of the Australian Centre for Health Engagement, Evidence and Values (ACHEEV) at the University of Wollongong, a centre for deliberative and values-based research in health. Her background is in public health, applied ethics and social science. She is a chief investigator on NHMRC and ARC-funded projects and collaborations including Wiser Healthcare, The Algorithm Will See You Now, and Integrated Futures for the use of Motorised Mobility Devices. She works on the ethical and social dimensions of health issues including overdiagnosis and overtreatment, screening, vaccine refusal, and artificial intelligence in healthcare.
Stacy Carter
Stephen Wilkinson
Full Name
Dr Stephen Wilkinson
Job Title
Director of Research
Organisation
UOWD
Speaker Bio
Dr Stephen Wilkinson (FCIHT FGS FRMS FHEA DIC ARSM) is the Director (Research) at the University of Wollongong in Dubai, the Head of the Smart and Sustainable Cities Research Cluster, and a committee member of the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation. His research focuses on transportation geotechnics, applied geomicrobiology and sustainable futures.
Full Name
Job Title
Assosciate Professor
Organisation
UOWCHK - Faculty of Social Sciences
Speaker Bio
Rethinking the pedagogy: The challenges of online learning and teaching in practicum-based education during COVID-19 pandemic

Dr. Kiano LUK is an Assistant Professor in leisure and tourism management at UOWCHK. She is a young researcher who has a wide range of research interests, including family tourism, recreation development, and the social sustainability of tourism. She has received highly commended for the UOW Vice-Chancellor's Faculty Award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning in 2021.
Kiano Luk
Mai EL BARACHI
Full Name
Job Title
Associate Dean of Research
Organisation
UOWD
Speaker Bio
Dr. May El Barachi is Associate Dean of Research & Head of Industry Outreach and Executive Learning at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. An Egyptian Canadian Computer Scientist, and Smart Technology Expert with degrees in Telecom. Engineering, Computer Engineering, and Computer Science, Dr El Barachi possesses width and breadth of knowledge in the areas of Computer Science, IT, and Engineering.

Using her knowledge and experience, she conducts large scale multi-disciplinary projects in the areas of BioTech, Smart Transportation, Smart cities, Inclusion & Innovation. With collaborators spanning the globe, and a large group of researchers under her supervision, she tackles challenging real-life problems using a combination of legacy and emerging technologies. In addition to academic collaboration, she is involved in industry collaborations with the telecom and health industries and was able to raise more than 3 Million Dirhams in the last 5 years to support her research work. An active researcher and a published author in the area of smart technologies, Dr El Barachi has shown leadership and cultivated a research reputation of international standing over the years.

In addition to being an Associate Dean of Research and an Associate Professor, Dr El Barachi is a consultant and certified trainer in a number of emerging technologies, including; Blockchain, Big Data, Data Science & predictive analytics, Internet of Things, and Artificial Intelligence.
Full Name
S/Prof Gursel Alici
Job Title
Executive Dean
Speaker Bio
Gursel Alici received the Ph.D. degree in robotics from the Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University, Oxford, U.K., in 1994. He is currently a Senior Professor at the University of Wollongong, Australia, where he holds the position of Executive Dean for the Faculty of Engineering Information Sciences. Prior to this, he was the Head of the School of Mechanical, Materials, Mechatronic and Biomedical Engineering during 2011-2021. His research interests are soft robotics, system dynamics and control, robotic drug delivery systems, novel actuation concepts for biomechatronic applications, robotic mechanisms and manipulation systems, soft and smart actuators and sensors, prosthetic devices, and and medical robotics. He has generated more than 350 refereed publications, and delivered numerous invited seminars and keynote talks on his areas of research.

Prof. Alici is a Senior Editor of the IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, as of January 1, 2020. He was a Technical Editor of the IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics during 2008–2012. He was a Technical Editor of the IEEE Access, the first IEEE open access journal with interdisciplinary scope, since this journal’s start in 2013 until January 2020. He was a Member of the Mechatronics National Panel formed by the Institution of Engineers, Australia, until 2017, for 10 years. He has served on the international program committees of numerous IEEE/ASME International Conferences on Robotics and Mechatronics. He was the General Chair of the 2013 IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics held in Wollongong, Australia. He is the leader of Soft Robotics for Prosthetic Devices theme of the ARC Center of Excellence for Electromaterials Science. He received the Outstanding Contributions to Teaching and Learning Award in 2010, the Vice-Chancellor’s Interdisciplinary Research Excellence Award in 2013, and Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Research Supervision in 2018 from the University of Wollongong. He has held a visiting professorship position at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL) (2007, 2010), City University of Hong Kong (2014), University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) (2015), and University of British Columbia, Canada (2019)
Gursel Alici
Hanaliza Kamis
Full Name
Hanaliza Kamis
Job Title
Senior Lecturer
Organisation
UOWMKDU - School of Business
Speaker Bio
JOB SHADOWING – A COLLABORATION WITH INDUSTRY

Hanaliza is a Senior Lecturer at School of Business, UOWM KDU with more than 15 years of experience as an academician in the areas of Human Resource Management (HRM) and General Management. She is passionate to let her students to actually experience or practice concepts and skills, as opposed to learning that is theoretical or idealistic.
Full Name
Ms. Kin Yan KIU
Job Title
Senior Lecturer
Organisation
UOW College Hong Kong
Speaker Bio
Experiential Learning - Capacity Building Towards a Fuller Appreciation of Culturally Protected Forests

Judy KIU Kin-yan first joined the College as a part-time Lecturer in 2010, commenced full-time in 2017 and recently promoted to Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Science and Technology. She has won a Highly Commended award in the Faculty Award category of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning (OCTAL) at the University of Wollongong (UOW) in 2021.
Kin Yan KIU
Mosquito LEUNG
Full Name
Dr. Mosquito LEUNG
Job Title
Assistant Professor
Organisation
UOWCHK - Business
Speaker Bio
Dr Leung is an assistant professor serving in the Faculty of Business at UOWCHK since 2007. She has more than 15 years of teaching experience in undergraduate, top-up degree and associate degree programmes. Teaching scope includes Management, Human Resource Management, Organizational behaviour, Marketing, International marketing, Marketing communications, Consumer behaviour, Conference and exhibition management, Service management, Inter-interpersonal skills, etc. In her career in UOWCHK, she served as the programme leader for the AD programme - ABA Marketing and the Top-up degree programme - Bachelor of Business. Her research interests include marketing, consumer behaviour, and organizational behaviour.
Full Name
Ms. Wan Ibrahim
Job Title
Programme Leader
Organisation
UOWMKDU - School of Communication and Languages, Department of Languages
Speaker Bio
Wan Laili’s educational background includes an MSc in Applied Linguistics from Edinburgh University and a B. Ed TESL (Hons) from University of Kent and Christ Church College of Higher Education, Canterbury, United Kingdom. An advocate of active learning, she develops and executes blended and online learning plans for ESL classrooms through the initiation of supportive learning activities for students aimed at advancing their language skills.

Additionally, she is experienced in a range of modalities including providing instruction in workplace English for corporate clients, conducting English for research classes for teachers from Thailand, and training Vietnamese students in tertiary English.

Wan Laili is an HRDF-certified trainer. She has developed and conducted internal workshops for UOW Malaysia KDU Penang University College on optimising online instruction, effective presentations for academics, professional business writing skills for administrative staff, and writing skills for students. She has presented workshops at an international summit and several conferences. She is also a co-creator for several online courses.
Wan Ibrahim
Jann Roberts
Full Name
Mrs Jann Roberts
Job Title
UOWCA Peer Learning Program Manager
Organisation
UOWCA
Speaker Bio
A globally transferable model: Multi-faceted Peer Learning support for UOWCA students in online and on-campus environments

Jann Roberts is the Peer Learning Program Coordinator at UOW College Australia, a position that she has held since 2008. Mathematics, research, and teaching are Jann’s passions. She has taught maths, and some computing, at both secondary and tertiary levels. In the 1990s Jann worked for five years as a library technician at the University of Wollongong. Her first post-school career was with BHP Billiton, as a Photogrammetric Operator (a role as rare as hen’s teeth). Jann possesses numerous academic qualifications, including a Bachelor of Mathematics, a Graduate Diploma of Education, a Diploma of IT, and a Master of Education (Research in IT).
Full Name
Clayton McDowell
Job Title
UOW PERL Fellow
Organisation
UOW
Speaker Bio
The Desert Rose House, connecting two campuses

Clayton is an Associate Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong and was the Project Manager/Student Leader for Team UOW. Clayton’s studies into the thermal comfort of low-income elderly resident’s homes in the Illawarra has driven his desire to make a change in the future of Australian housing. This influenced Team UOW in deciding to design a house that goes beyond the competition, by designing a home that is adaptable and aims to improve the quality of life for those living with aged related disabilities. Clayton guided Team UOW towards second place at the Solar Decathlon Middle East 2018 competition.
Clayton McDowell
Theo Farrell
Full Name
Professor Theo Farrell
Job Title
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education)
Speaker Bio
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Education) is responsible for advancing innovation and assuring excellence in all aspects of curriculum design and delivery at UOW. This portfolio is leading capability development in digital and online learning, work integrated learning, lifelong learning, and learning analytics.

Professor Theo Farrell has previously held a number of leadership roles, including Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law, Humanities and the Arts at UOW, Dean of Arts and Social Sciences at City, University of London, and Head of the Department of War Studies at King’s College London. Professor Farrell is Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (UK), Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (UK), Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, Senior Associate Fellow of the Royal United Services Institute, and former President of the British International Studies Association.

At King’s, City and UOW, Professor Farrell led numerous initiatives to innovate in teaching and learning and improve the student learning experience. From 2006-2016, he held the chair in online learning in war studies at King’s College London. In his leadership roles and own research Professor Farrell has also championed academic engagement with policy communities and the wider public. Britain’s leading expert on the war in Afghanistan, he acted as strategic advisor to the UK government and US-led command in Kabul, and participated in track II talks with the Taliban.

Professor Farrell’s research focuses on transformative change in the character of armed conflict. He has held ten UK research council awards, including a prestigious three-year Global Uncertainties Research Fellowship. His latest monograph, Unwinnable: Britain’s War in Afghanistan, 2001-2014 (Penguin Random House 2017) was shortlisted for three national book awards and selected book of the year by The Sunday Times.
Full Name
Rebekkah Middleton
Job Title
Associate Head (Learning and Teaching) - School of Nursing
Organisation
UOW
Speaker Bio
Communities of Practice Enabling Learning and Teaching Processes

Rebekkah is a senior lecturer and Associate Head (Learning and Teaching) in the School of Nursing, the University of Wollongong where she teaches and researches in both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. She has a passion for facilitating and exploring leadership with others, enabling people to embed knowledge and develop person-centred practice relevant to their context.
Rebekkah Middleton
Jason HUGHES
Full Name
Mr Jason HUGHES
Job Title
Lecturer
Organisation
UOWCA
Speaker Bio
Launch

Jason has been teaching at UOWCollege for seven years. During this time he has held several positions and taught on numerous courses in both the Academic and ELICOS programs. For the past two years Jason has been a member of the Jindaola educational development grants program. Since 2012, Jason has taught on the Spanish Language Program in the Faculty of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (ASSH) at UOW. An accredited teacher in NSW, in 2001 he completed a Masters by Research at Monash University, and hopes to commence a PhD in the Education Faculty at UOW in 2022.
Full Name
Dr Norhayati Zakaria
Job Title
Associate Professor
Speaker Bio
Dr Norhayati Zakaria aims to present a topic on ‘Inculcating the Culture and Values of Sustainability through Experiential Learning’ among The Sustainabilist of Tomorrow’ based on her leadership in capstone class. Her research intersects with areas such as global virtual teams, cultural values and self initiated expatriates with one key research aim: How do you manage people at a distance when cultural nuances impacts swift trust formation due to divergent communication styles with contradictory behaviors and attitudes?
Norhayati Zakaria
Sadaf KHURSHID
Full Name
Ms Sadaf KHURSHID
Job Title
Instructor and PhD Student
Organisation
UOWD
Speaker Bio
Observations made through Attendance Sheets in Undergrad students

Sadaf Khurshid is working as an Instructor with the Faculty of Business, at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. She is a PhD Candidate in the School of Humanities and Social Inquiry at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Her research focuses on Social Enterprises specific to the role of familial relations in the growth of female social entrepreneurs in India. She has been involved in research with social enterprises since early 2014 and has published various case studies through her research in the MENA region. She has developed an affinity towards social enterprises, especially understanding the networks that support them. She completed her Master’s in Business Administration with Distinction from the University of Wollongong, Australia in 2013 and has done Bachelor of Technology in Electronics and Communication Engineering with Distinction from Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India in 2009. She is the Secretary and Liaison for the Academy of International Business (AIB) MENA Chapter. She is also an active participant in the UOW Feminist Research Network (FRN), in Australia.
Full Name
ASPRO Suzanne Robertson-Malt
Job Title
Programme Director - Health Sciences
Speaker Bio
Dr Suzanne Robertson-Malt is Associate Professor at the University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) and is the Programme Director for Health Sciences within the School of Humanities, Social Sciences & Health. She has a keen interest in Leadership, Clinical Research, Evidence Implementation and Shared Governance.

Dr Robertson-Malt is an advocate of the ‘flipped classroom/learning’ pedagogy proposed by Flipped Learning Network (FLN) that is defined by four principles: Flexible Environment, Learning Culture, Intentional Content and Professional Educator.
Prior to joining UOWD, Dr Suzanne was the Executive Director, Clinical Excellence & Research – Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi.

Dr Robertson-Malt has a successful track record as an industry specialist and worked as Director of Implementation Science, Joanna Briggs Institute, University Adelaide; Director of Nursing Practice & Research and Clinical Director of the Heart Institute at the King Faisal Specialist Hospital & Research Centre, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and Clinical Manager, Coronary Care Unit – John Flynn Private Hospital, Gold Coast, Australia.
Suzanne Robertson-Malt
Martin O'Brien
Full Name
Mr Martin O'Brien
Job Title
Associate Professor
Organisation
UOW Australia
Speaker Bio
Collaborative group work across campuses

We use cross-campus group work between students in Aus and Dubai often in the MBA, however, it hasn’t all been plain sailing. In an effort to encourage more harmonious group dynamics myself and Florian Gerth (UOWD) tried a few new things in trimester 1 this year. We asked students in each location to discuss what they liked and disliked about cross-campus group work. These findings were shared with the other location so they had an idea of potential issues eg. the Overuse of WhatsApp as a communication tool and reluctance to turn the camera on in meetings was a gripe of the Aus students, Dubai students thought that Aus students could be a bit bossy. We then arranged for students to meet in both an informal and formal setting within the app “gather”, where they could chat, order a virtual coffee, play Tetris and then interview each other for group membership. Group preferences were then taken for each student and used by lecturers in group formation. This exercise had the effect of allowing students at each location to get to know each other a bit better but also have some control over the group formation process. Video testimonials from students indicated that this was a beneficial exercise and substantially enhanced group dynamics and the overall student experience.
Full Name
Professor Mario Fernando
Job Title
Director, Centre for Cross-Cultural Management (CCCM)
Organisation
UOW
Speaker Bio
Dr Mario Fernando is a Professor of Management with the Faculty of Business and Law, and the Director of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Management at University of Wollongong. He is an Attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.

His research and teaching interests are centred on exploring how responsible managerial action leads to positive social change. Currently, Mario is conducting research on responsible leadership, identity work and online privacy in particular, and on leadership, business ethics and human resource management topics in general. Mario is a mentor to start-up entrepreneurs and is an advisory committee member at the Nan Tien Institute, Australia.

Mario’s learning and teaching contributions over a sustained period have been recognised at national and institutional levels. He is an Australian Learning and Teaching Council citation winner (Australian Office for Learning and Teaching, OLT). He is also an ANZAM Management Educator of the Year winner and a recipient of the Vice Chancellor's Outstanding Contribution to Teaching and Learning faculty award.
Mario Fernando
Full Name
Dr Flevy Lasrado
Job Title
Program Director
Organisation
UOW Dubai
Speaker Bio
Dr Flevy Lasrado is a future-thinking academic with an absolute passion for teaching, learning and research. She is a recognised industry leader with extensive business excellence and innovation expertise, the value of which has been recognised in her Higher Education Academy fellowship (FHEA, UK) and UAE quality professional award 2019 by and American Society of Quality award(ASQ). In Dr Lasrado has also been awarded Vice-chancellors award for outstanding contribution to teaching and learning from University of Wollongong in Australia. Using coaching techniques, active learning strategies, authentic assessments and exceptional pedagogical practices, she inspires and enables young professionals to pursue successful professional careers and become knowledge hubs who see learning as a lifelong journey. Using her cutting-edge research, she has published sixbooks with international publishers such Routledge UK, Springer Nature Germany, Palgrave McMillan, IGI Global and Emerald publishing. Her research outputs are more than 50 journal articles, peer reviewed conference papers and book chapters published in high ranking journals. In addition, Dr Lasrado is also a series editor for a business cases series with Springer nature. With her plethora of experience, she has developed over 21 internationally published teaching resources to contextualize quality management practices to the middle east region.

Dr Lasrado a frequently invited speaker and guest of honour at several research conferences India for example, at Madras university, Asan college, Women Christian college Chennai. Dr Lasrado has also delivered high end faculty development (FDP) program in Indian universities. Currently she is also Phd Theses examiner a University of Madras, Chennai. In June 2014, she also became a recipient of the Leadership Quality Award from the World Quality Congress in Mumbai.

Dr Lasrado is a professional speaker at various forums including the British Council’s Global Higher Education Dialogues in Sri Lanka, the UK and the UAE, Bahrain Research Symposium, World Quality Congress, Sustainability Forum, Leadership Congress in the UAE, OLC Forum and Ideas Arabia, UAE. Dr Lasrado presents her research at conferences such as Academy of Management, Academy of International Business and Quality congress.
She is qualified EFQM assessor and ISO auditor and she is an assessor/ Team leader for
• Dubai Quality Awards,
• UAE Innovation award and
• Healthcare Awards in the UAE.
Full Name
Travis Wall
Job Title
Lecturer in Digital and Social Media
Organisation
UOW - School of the Arts, English and Media
Speaker Bio
Sharing values, sharing media: connecting the B Communication & Media across UOW campuses
Full Name
Ms Marion Finlay
Job Title
Alumni Engagement Coordinator
Organisation
UOWCA
Speaker Bio
Marion Finlay is the Study Tours Coordinator at UOW College, Australia. Marion has worked in International Education for over 15 years. Marion specialises in program design and coordination. She is passionate about supporting students to gain global perspectives. With the closure of International borders, Marion successfully created numerous online study tour options bridging the gap of a traditional study tour experience.

Project Unite, Sustainable Development Goals in Focus is the online program that Marion is most passionate about. It brings students from all over the world to help find solutions to some of the worlds biggest problems. Project Unite has been one of the success stories during the pandemic and it is a shinning example of what can be achieved when working together as a global community.
Marion Finlay
Andrea Sianesi
Full Name
Andrea Sianesi
Job Title
President at Fondazione Politecnico di Milano
Organisation
Fondazione Politecnico di Milano
Speaker Bio
Andrea Sianesi is President of the board at Fondazione Politecnico di Milano and President of the board at PoliHUB. He is a researcher and professor of Operations and Supply Chain Management, author of several books and scientific publications focused on these topics. A professor at the Politecnico di Milano is involved in teaching at the Management Engineering Course (bachelor and Msc). As a professor of MIP, the business school of Politecnico di Milano teaches and works to improve the success of any kind of MBA, Executive MBA, Master and Executive program of the school. He’s been Dean and President of the board at MIP Politecnico di Milano from 2015 to 2019
Full Name
Ms Leong Leong
Job Title
Head of Department
Organisation
UOWMKDU
Speaker Bio
Facilitating mobility programmes: Our story of challenges and growth

Leong Mi-Chelle is a senior lecturer at UOW Malaysia KDU. She has a Master of Arts in Linguistics and English Language Studies, and Cambridge International Diploma for Teachers and Trainers (CIDTT). She designs courses and provides training to teachers. Her research interests are educational technologies and English language teaching.
Leong Leong
x x
Full Name
X x x
Job Title
x
Organisation
UOW Australia
Speaker Bio
Professor Wilma Vialle is a Professor in Educational Psychology and Pro Vice-Chancellor Global at the University of Wollongong, Australia. She has published extensively in the field of giftedness and talent development, including a text on ‘Educating the Gifted Learner’ co-authored with Professor Karen Rogers. Her research interests are predominantly concerned with giftedness and talent development and she is particularly interested in issues of social justice. Research projects include an international study of effective teachers of the gifted, a longitudinal study of adolescent academic and social-emotional outcomes, the development of expertise in competitive Scrabble players, popular culture and giftedness, and the development of spiritual understanding in children. She is on the editorial board of several international journals. Wilma is passionate about enhancing our capacity to support the development of excellence and, to this end, has worked extensively with educators and families to advocate for appropriate resources and ongoing teacher training.
Full Name
Dr Simone Favelle
Job Title
Senior Lecturer
Speaker Bio
Dr Simone Favelle is a teaching and research academic in the School of Psychology at UOW Wollongong. Dr Favelle is chair of the School of Psychology's Internationalisation Committee and Academic Program Director for the Bachelor of Psychological Science at SIM, Singapore.
Simone Favelle
Payyazhi JAYASHREE
Full Name
Dr Payyazhi JAYASHREE
Job Title
Dean, Faculty of Business
Organisation
UOWD
Speaker Bio
Professor Payyazhi Jayashree is Dean, Faculty of Business, University of Wollongong in Dubai and a multiple award winning Academic scholar and practitioner. Dr Jayashree’ s core areas of teaching and practise impact include Leadership, Design Thinking, Strategic Change and Business Transformation. Prof. Jayashree is a Certified reviewer for the Commission of Academic Accreditation (CAA), Ministry of Education, and has extensive experience in Academic Quality Assurance, besides governance and leadership in a transnational institutional context, in the Higher Education sector. She has led several research teams to achieve the mandate of Leadership, Strategic Change and inclusivity for Innovation. Her collaborators for these projects include key institutions such as UN, Dubai Business Women Council (DBWC); and Corporate Leaders and CEOS, from global organizations. Professor Jayashree’ s sustained commitment to UN Sustainable Development Goal#5 and impactful research in Women and Leadership, has led to Global Recognition and substantial Media Coverage, including uptake by prominent scholarly publications, such as Personnel Review, and practitioner publications, such as Emirates Woman and Forbes Middle East along with key Awards such as the ‘Women of Impact’ by UOW, Australia. Dr Jayashree is also Board Vice President, for Water for People, India Trust, an international non-profit, working across nine countries to bring safe water and sanitation for 4 million people. She has extensive experience in leading executive development programs in global institutions, and continues to contribute her learning to top Business schools, including Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB) and Sydney Business School, Australia. Dr Jayashree is professionally certified in key tools of Design Thinking awarded by Stanford Centre for Professional Development, Stanford University, and is a Certified Balanced Scorecard Professional, awarded by the Balanced Scorecard Institute (BSCI) and George Washington University College of Professional Studies, USA. Dr Jayashree is also a Certified New Code Neuro-Linguistic Practitioner and Certified NLP Coach, having been trained and certified by the Co-Creator of NLP and New Code NLP, John Grinder, UK. Dr Jayashree may be contacted at payyazhijayashree@uowdubai.ac.ae.
Full Name
Koko Woolley
Job Title
Student
Organisation
UOW
Speaker Bio
Koko Woolley is a 5th and final year Dean’s Scholar student at UOW Wollongong Campus, studying a Bachelor of Arts – Bachelor of International Studies, with majors in Japanese and Global Sustainable Development. She is enthusiastic about languages and intercultural connection and believes the best way to access both is through immersion.
In 2019, Koko had the opportunity to study Japanese for 1 semester at Kobe University, Japan through the New Colombo Plan Mobility Program. During her exchange, she resided at Sumiyoshi International Student House, where she made friends from across the globe. Koko has also engaged in a variety of co-curricular activities including as a Team Leader for Project Unite, where she gained experience leading a multidisciplinary team of international students in researching and developing a pitch addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal 8: Decent work and economic growth.
Koko Woolley