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Professor Robyn Gillies' major research interests are in the learning sciences, classroom discourses, small group processes, including co-regulated learning, classroom instruction, student behaviour, and students with disabilities. Professor Robyn Gillies has worked extensively in both primary and secondary schools to embed STEM education initiatives into the science curriculum. This includes helping teachers to embed inquiry skills into the science curricula so they capture students’ interests, provide opportunities for them to explore possible solutions to problems, explain phenomena, elaborate on potential outcomes, and evaluate findings. In short, through these investigations, students learn how to engage critically and constructively with others’ ideas, challenge and rebut proposals, and discuss alternative propositions. In so doing, they learn to talk and reason effectively together. These STEM education initiatives have been funded by research grants and contracts from the Australian Research Council, the Department of Education and Training (DET), the Queensland Museum Network (QMN), and the Office of Learning and Teaching (OLT). Professor Gillies is a Chief Investigator on the Science of Learning Research Centre (SLRC) where she has been instrumental in implementing two recent science-based research projects in primary and secondary schools to help teachers embed inquiry-science pedagogy into their science curricula. Her recommendations on how teachers can translate research into practice have been widely profiled in the international literature and on the website of the Smithsonian Science Education Center in Washington, DC.

Dr Edwards is an Associate Professor in the School of Education where she is currently the Director of Research Innovation and Higher Degree Research. Her research spans education, psychology and medical education and her collaborators are national and international experts in these disciplines. Dr Edwards has an international reputation for contributing to understanding the link between anxiety, attention, and memory. Her work supports the notion that an inability to efficiently process information and maintain concentration, plays a critical role in the development and maintenance of emotional disorders.

Dr Edwards' latest work focusses on the translation of theory-driven, basic science into treatments for clinical problems, specifically for children and adolescents. For example, her research laboratory is currently conducting a series of studies investigating whether training the cognitive processes most vulnerable to anxiety and depression can in turn reduce emotional symptoms in children and adolescents. This work also seeks to understand the influence of cognitive training on academic achievement.

Dr Edwards completed a PhD and an honours degree in psychology (Bond University), and an undergraduate degree in education (Griffith University). For over two decades, she has worked as a primary classroom teacher, special education teacher, guidance counsellor, and psychologist. She has taught and supervised clinical, professional and research skills in education, psychology and medicine and worked in higher education in the United Kingdom and Australia. Dr Edwards joined The University of Queensland in 2020 to teach into the Master of Educational Studies (Guidance, Counselling and Careers).

Teacher Education

Dr. Simone Smala is a senior lecturer in teacher education, educational psychology and multilingualism in education. Drawing from a background as a middle years and secondary teacher, Simone now focuses her research on Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) in bilingual, immersion and TESOL settings, and the emerging world of Generative AI in K-12 education. Simone's research is based in socio-cultural learning theories, educational policy and blended learning.She publishes in both English and German and has extensive research connections in Europe and the USA.

Professor Kelly Matthews is an expert on the student experience in higher education—recently ranked amongst the top 5% of cited scholars globally in higher education, teaching and curriculum, and student partnership—and is an award-winning university teacher.

Her research, spanning over 150 publications and 100 invited talks, is about impact---shaping how students actively participate in their learning, directly improving experiences for students and informing the practices of teaching staff globally. Awarded an Australian Teaching Fellowship and a Higher Education Academy Principal Fellowship, Kelly has

• established influential international writing groups that mentor and motivate emerging scholars to publish about their educational practices,
• co-founded the International Journal for Students as Partners to enable students and staff from across the world to shape what counts as knowledge,
• created and sustained the Students as Partners Network to both celebrate and inspire educational practices across universities worldwide, and
• led collaborative, multi-institutional projects that recognise and promote educational leadership and change through applied research.

In 2025, Kelly is leading a multi-institutional project with Deakin, Monash, and UTS to shape AI policy and practice through student voice.

Kelly is the Academic Lead for Student Experience and Strategic Initiatives in the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Portfolio in the Institute of Teaching and Learning Innovation.

Biography:

Ian Cameron is a professor at the School of Chemical Engineering, an inaugural Senior Fellow of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council and ALTC Discipline Scholar in Engineering & ICT. He is also a director and principal consultant at Daesim Technologies, Brisbane. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE).

He completed Chemical Engineering degrees at the University of NSW, and a masters degree at the University of Washington. He worked for 10 years for the CSR Group in diverse industry sectors such as sugar, building materials and industrial chemicals, having roles in process and control system design, plant commissioning, production management and environmental protection.

He obtained his PhD and DIC from Imperial College London in the area of Process Systems Engineering (PSE), and then worked full-time for 3 years as a United Nations (UNIDO) process engineering consultant in Argentina and a further 6 years in Turkey on a part-time basis. He has spent the last 25 years in research, consulting, teaching and learning innovation at The University of Queensland, having received numerous awards including the J.A. Brodie Medal of the Institution of Engineers Australia, the Australian Award for University Teaching in Physical Sciences 2003 and the Prime Minister’s Award for University Teacher of the Year. He was part of the team from UQ Chemical Engineering that won a national AAUT institutional award in 2005 for educational enhancement via project centred curriculum and course innovation.

He has held visiting appointments at Imperial College London, University College London, the Technical University of Denmark, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and the University of Edinburgh.

Research:

Ian’s research interests are in Process Systems Engineering, granulation, risk management, intelligent systems and engineering education. He has published over 220 international journal and conference papers in these and related areas.

His current work focuses on innovative methodologies to detect and analyse failures in process systems, including human factors. He also applies systems thinking to innovative design and design tools for higher education curricula in engineering. He has created numerous 4D virtual systems in conjunction with industry that are now deployed and used globally.

He is the co-author of 4 books, including a process systems modelling book used in over 35 countries, as well as a widely used book giving a comprehensive treatment of industrial process risk management based on almost 30 years of research and consultancy work.

Teaching and Learning:

Since arriving at UQ, Ian has been deeply involved in course and curriculum design innovation, having established, and taught, numerous project based courses around process systems engineering. He consults widely to the national and international engineering sector on curriculum design issues. He has recently been involved in educational aspects of Skolkovo Tech, a joint venture between MIT and the Russian government.

Projects:

1. Blended hazard identification methodologies for advanced process diagnosis
2. Resilience engineering: theory and practice
3. Improved decision making via 4D+ virtual learning systems
4. Innovative curricula design tools for higher education

Transporters for Catecholamines and Serotonin. Science Education.

The overall theme of Lesley Lluka's research over 3 decades has been the structure and function of the noradrenaline transporter (NET) and the serotonin transporter (SERT). These transporters are important sites of action of drugs such as antidepressants.

More recently, Lesley Lluka's work has increasingly moved to Science Education, with a focus on areas such as student engagement in practical classes, innovative assessment practices to drive deep learning, and internationalization of the curriculum.

I am an Associate Professor in the School of Languages and Cultures at UQ (since 2017), formerly assistant professor at the Centre for Applied English Studies (CAES), University of Hong Kong (since 2014). I hold an MA TESOL from the University of London and an M.Phil/Ph.D in applied linguistics from the University of Cambridge, UK.

My areas of research and supervisory expertise include corpus linguistics and the use of corpora for language learning (known as 'data-driven learning'), as well as computer-assisted language learning, and English for General and Specific Academic Purposes. I have published over 50 articles to date in many leading Q1 journals in the field of applied linguistics, 10+ book chapters, 4 books, 3 MOOCs, and several textbook series.

I am the Editor-in-Chief for the Australian Review of Applied Linguistics (from 2024). I am also currently serving on the editorial boards of the Q1 journals IRAL, Journal of Second Language Writing, Journal of English for Academic Purposes, and System, as well as Applied Corpus Linguistics, a new journal covering the direct applications of corpora to teaching and learning.

Dr. Travis Mitchell is a Lecturer within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering at The University of Queensland (UQ). Travis completed his PhD in multiphase computational fluid dynamics at UQ, as well as a dual degree including a BE(Hons) in mechanical engineering and BSc in Mathematics. During his PhD, he interned at the Helmholtz Institue for Renewable Energy Production in Nuremberg (Germany), presented invited talks at the Warsaw University of Technology, Massachusetts Institutte of Technology, and stayed with collaborators at the University of Pennsylvania. His doctoral research focused on the development of a simulation methodology for capturing liquid-gas interactions, which he applied in the context of resource extraction.

Dr Mitchell's research is focused on the development, implementation, and application of numerical models to study complex fluid flows, with a particular interest in porous media, multiphase, and multiphysics problems. Travis was recognised at the 18th International Conference for Mesoscopic Methods in Engineering and Science with the ICMMES-CSRC Award for his work in multiphase lattice Boltzmann methods. His current research applications include the development of gas diffusion electrodes for CO2 electrolysis, bubble-particle interaction in hydrogen formation for methane pyrolysis, particle propagation in the upper respiratory system, and multiphase transport in fractured media.

Within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering, Dr. Mitchell coordinates the second year course on Computational Engineering and Data Analysis (MECH2700) and lectures into Computational Mechanics (MECH3780) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (MECH6480). Travis is an Associate Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and received an EAIT Citation for Excellence in Student Learning in 2023.

Since returning to academia from industry in 1998, Professor Lydia Kavanagh has become a leader in engineering education and has used her background as a professional engineer to design both curricula and courses for active learning by combining real-world projects and specialist knowledge. She has had a significant impact on the delivery of UQ’s undergraduate engineering program through creative new teaching pedagogies including the Flipped Classroom, innovative authentic approaches to assessment, and the introduction of multi-disciplinary courses. As Director of First Year Engineering for almost a decade, Lydia was responsible for a significant program of extra-curricular transition support for first year students and she co-coordinated two compulsory courses that delivered what could arguably be the world's largest flipped classroom for 600 students. Recently, she has set up a Leadership and Mentoring Program for all EAIT faculty students (undergraduate and postgraduates), and continued this into a Leaders@EAIT, an ongoing academy for these students to continue to develop leadership competencies.

Lydia is now the Deputy Associate Dean Academic (Curriculum Review and Teaching Innovation) for the Faculty of Science where she has overseen a faculty-wide overview of curriculum resulting in streamlined undergraduate and postgraduate offerings. She holds a concurrent fractional position with the Institute of Teaching and Learning Innovations, where she has developed frameworks and systems for UQ shorter form credentials.

Lydia is also heavily involved institutionally with training and mentoring academics and professional staff with teaching responsibilities through the development and implementation of the Graduate Teaching Assistant program (for PhD scholars and postdocs), Teaching@UQ (for staff new to teaching), and TeachingPlus@UQ (for emerging leaders in Teaching and Learning).

Lydia’s work was recognised with a Principal Fellowship of the HEA, an ALTC Excellence in teaching award in 2011 and she has lead and participated in Carrick/ ALTC/ OLT projects on teamwork, online learning, curriculum innovation (2x), preparing students for first year engineering, and Flipped Classrooms.

Monique Waite is a Lecturer in Speech Pathology in the School of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences. Immediately prior to this appointment she held a Research Fellowship in the HEARing Cooperative Research Centre (CRC), an internationally unique consortium of 21 research, clinical and industry organisations investigating impacts, conducting world leading research in hearing healthcare. Her current research involves the use of telehelath in improving access and outcomes of individuals with hearing loss and their families. Monique is a qualified speech pathologist and a pioneer in research in the application of telepractice in paediatric speech pathology- having completed the first PhD in this field in 2010. Her thesis involved the validation of an Internet-based multimedia videoconferencing system for the assessment of the speech, language, and literacy of children aged 4-8 years and a proof of concept of an upgraded telehealth system for the treatment of children with literacy disorder using the Phonological Awareness for Literacy (PAL) Program.

Since being awarded her thesis, Monique has worked in teaching and research positions focusing on innovation in clinical practice and student education in the allied health professions. This includes the Simulated Telemedicine Environment Project for Students (STEPS; Griffith University), a large scale multidisciplinary study funded by the Australian Department of Health, which involved the delivery of novel simulated learning activities to students across the disciplines of dietetics, exercise physiology, nursing, pharmacy, physiotherapy and speech pathology.

Professor Wojtek Tomaszewski is Deputy Director (Research) and a Research Group Leader at the Institute for Social Science Research, and is also Chief Investigator in the Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (the Life Course Centre). He holds a BSc and MSc in Mathematics, as well as an MA in Sociology from the University of Warsaw, Poland and a PhD in Social Sciences from the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. Wojtek joined UQ from the National Centre for Social Research in London and has specialist expertise in quantitative research methods and advanced statistical analysis.

Wojtek has a strong research interest in the impact of disadvantage on educational and labour market outcomes in young people. He has undertaken a number of research projects for the State and Commonwealth Governments in Australia, and previously for the British Government. He has published in high-profile international academic journals across the fields of social sciences, education, and beyond.

Stephen is a physiologist with expertise in endocrinology. His research focuses on the regulation of metabolism, growth, appetite, and reproduction - exploring how hormones regulate many physiological processes. He collaborates with animal nutritionists and veterinary clinicians to address significant issues in animal health and production. His current research investigates phosphorus deficiency in Australian cattle.

Complementing his scientific work, Stephen is an educational leader with a strong record in teaching strategy, curriculum renewal, and student success. As Director of Teaching and Learning in the School of Biomedical Sciences (2019–2024), he led the School’s teaching response to the COVID-19 pandemic, earning a UQ Service Excellence commendation and being named Faculty of Medicine Academic Leader of the Year. He provides strategic direction in the renewal of the UQ Bachelor of Biomedical Science, guiding the development of a future-focused program that enhances students’ sense of belonging, engagement, and graduate capabilities. Stephen has also advanced biomedical science education locally, nationally, and internationally. From fostering pathways for local high school students into university, undertaking curriculum reviews for Australian universities, consulting on Nat Geo science documentaries, and developing physiology MOOCs, Stephen has contributed across sectors to shape education, inspire future scientists, and bring physiology to global audiences.

Stephen’s educational leadership is grounded in extensive teaching experience. At UQ, he has taught physiology to more than 40,000 students across biomedical science, animal and veterinary sciences, allied health, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, dentistry, and medicine. He has received multiple university awards for teaching excellence and innovation, including a national ALTC Citation. He holds a Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy, recognising his leadership and impact in higher education. His current scholarly work investigates how students engage with complexity and uncertainty in developing an advanced understanding of physiology. In April 2025, Stephen was reappointed for another term as Director of Teaching and Learning in Biomedical Sciences.

Dr Anthony Halog: Expert in Circular Economy, Life Cycle Thinking, and Sustainable Systems Engineering

Dr Anthony Halog leads interdisciplinary research on circular economy transitions, life cycle assessment, and AI-enabled sustainable systems at The University of Queensland. With a mission to co-design decarbonised and circular solutions for complex global challenges, his work advances the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and supports UQ’s strategic priorities of research translation, education transformation, and community enrichment.

His research spans bioeconomy, green hydrogen, waste-to-energy, and climate policy systems, with over 130 scholarly outputs and fellowships from OECD, DAAD, JSPS, and NREL. He actively secures research funding, supervises HDR and EMCR researchers, and partners with industry, government, and international universities to foster innovation and impact.

Dr Halog teaches across undergraduate and postgraduate programs on sustainable consumption, industrial ecology, and life cycle thinking. His teaching is informed by real-world research and student-centred pedagogies, with consistently strong SECaT feedback. He mentors diverse cohorts and champions experiential, inclusive, and future-focused education.

He serves on international panels and university committees, contributing to UQ’s mission through leadership, policy advice, and community engagement. Dr Halog exemplifies UQ’s values of excellence, sustainability, and global citizenship.

Keywords: Circular Economy, Life Cycle Assessment, Green Hydrogen, Sustainable Systems, AI for Sustainability, Industrial Ecology, ESG, Bioeconomy, Systems Thinking, Net Zero

TYLER OKIMOTO is a Professor and Associate Dean (Academic) for the Faculty of Business, Economics, and Law at the University of Queensland. He received his Ph.D. in Organisational Psychology from New York University in 2005, and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the School of Psychology at Flinders University in Australia, and in the School of Management at Yale University.

Tyler's research aims to better facilitate collaboration and consensus between diverse points of view, and to understand the role of leadership in overcoming those challenges. He often examines consensus/collaboration as a conduit for social justice in organisations and society, both how a lack of consensus contributes to injustice and inequality, and how people can effectively collaborate to move past conflict and repair harmonious relationships.

He is also an award-winning educator, teaching both traditional and online/blended courses on leadership, human resources, conflict/negotiation, and decision-making in the Undergraduate, MBA, and Executive levels. He was also the Program Director and Academic Lead Designer of UQ’s MicroMasters Program in Business Leadership, a series of five postgraduate-level MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses); in its first year, this program reached over 60,000 learners from 193 different countries, and was a 2019 finalist for the global edX Prize for Exceptional Contributions to Online Education.

Chris O’Donnell obtained his PhD from the University of Sydney. He is an Associate Editor of the Journal of Productivity Analysis, an Associate Editor of Empirical Economics, and a Distinguished Fellow of the Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society. His current research is focused on economic and statistical methods for measuring and explaining productivity and efficiency change. He has authored or co-authored three books on this topic. His work has been published in leading economics and econometrics journals, including the American Journal of Agricultural Economics, the Journal of Econometrics, the Journal of Applied Econometrics, Econometric Reviews and the European Journal of Operational Research. He has provided in-house training and/or been a consultant for organisations including the World Bank, the Asian Productivity Organisation, the International Rice Research Institute, the Australian Energy Regulator, the New South Wales Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal, and the Australian Independent Hospital Pricing Authority.

Dr David Smerdon is a Senior Lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Professor) in the School of Economics. He primarily works in behavioral and development economics. His research involves theory and modelling, experiments in the lab and field, and microeconometric analysis in order to investigate topics at the intersection of these fields.

David earned his PhD from the Tinbergen Institute and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) as a General Sir John Monash scholar, and afterwards worked as a PODER fellow at Bocconi University in Milan. His research often involves collaboration with non-academic partners, ranging from aid agencies and NGOs like US AID and Save the Children, to tech companies like Chess.com.

Prior to his academic career, David spent three years working for the Australian Department of Treasury as a policy analyst. David is also a chess Grandmaster and has represented Australia at seven chess Olympiads. Combining his passions, David occasionally conducts niche research in chess economics on topics such as gender inequality, cheating, and the life cycle of cognitive performance, supported by organisations such as the World Chess Federation (FIDE) and Chessable.

Shakes an imaging expert that leads a strong deep learning, artificial intelligence (AI) focused research team interested in medical image analysis and signal/image processing applied to many areas of science and medicine. He received his Ph.D in Theoretical Physics from Monash University, Melbourne and has been involved in applying machine learning in medical imaging for over a decade.

Shakes’ past work has involved developing shape model-based algorithms for knee, hip and shoulder joint segmentation that is being developed and deployed as a product on the Siemens syngo.via platform. More recent work involves deep learning based algorithms for semantic segmentation and manifold learning of imaging data. Broadly, he is interested in understanding and developing the mathematical basis of imaging, image analysis algorithms and physical systems. He has developed algorithms that utilise exotic mathematical structures such as fractals, turbulence, group theoretic concepts and number theory in the image processing approaches that he has developed.

He is currently a Senior Lecturer and leads a team of 20+ researchers working image analysis and AI research across healthcare and medicine. He currently teaches the computer science courses Theory of Computation and Pattern Recognition and Analysis.

Rebecca is a Lecturer in Speech Pathology at the University of Queensland, and she has a particular clinical and research interest in paediatric populations. Clinically, Rebecca has experience working with school-age children, and she is passionate about sharing her interest and expertise in this area through her teaching and research aspirations. Rebecca’s teaching and research focuses on a range of paediatric areas of speech pathology practice, including speech, language, literacy and special needs in communication (including children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Developmental Language Disorders). To date, Rebecca has presented at national and international conferences and also has published in peer-reviewed journals published in the areas of Autism Spectrum Disorders, and also population-based research examining the early life predictors and long-term outcomes of language impairment.

Len Coote holds the rank of Associate Professor in The University of Queensland Business School. His primary academic contribution is to the study of economic choices, which are ubiquitous in marketing (e.g., consider the decisions to install solar panels, purchase private health insurance, and use toll roads—to name just a few). Together with his academic collaborators, he developed a very general and flexible model for studying decision making and choice. The model integrates the mathematics of Daniel McFadden’s (UC Berkeley) conditional logistic regression and Karl Joreskog’s (Uppsala) linear structural relations models.

Len’s primary teaching interests are in quantitative marketing, which is a precursor to the new discipline of business analytics. In his opinion, today’s business school students need greater “data literacy” and business schools must place greater emphasis on equipping students to succeed in a world of artificial intelligence and big data. The methods of business analytics—data visualisation, machine learning, optimisation methods, predictive analytics, text mining, and web analytics—have much application to solving business and marketing problems. Len is passionate about bringing these methods to a new generation of business school students.

For the past 10 years, Len has performed several valued service roles at the University of Queensland. He served as Acting Dean of the UQ Business School for 1.5 years through to December, 2017. Before that he served as Deputy Dean of the Business School (1.5 years) and Head of the Marketing Discipline (7 years). As Acting Dean, Len was committed to understanding the needs of business and responding to those needs by introducing advanced and innovative programs. The introduction of the Bachelor of Advanced Business (Honours) program reflects this commitment.

Len is an active participant in community service roles. For example, he is the Vice-Chair of the Australian Consortium for Social and Political Research, Inc. ACSPRI is a non-profit consortium of Australian universities. Its mission is to improve the quality of research in the social and behavioural sciences and encourage Australian governments to take an evidence-based approach to policymaking. Before serving in the role of Vice-Chair, he was an instructor on ACSPRI’s summer and winter programs for circa 10 years (teaching courses on structural equations with latent variables).

I completed a PhD in Neuroscience with Jack Pettigrew (FRS) at Vision, Touch & Hearing Research Centre followed by an NHMRC Clinical Research Fellowship at Alfred Health & Monash University.

Back in QLD I'm continuing a transdisciplinary research & innovation program to Bring Discoveries of the Brain to Life!

I'm currently focused on developing novel MedTech Biotech diagnostics & therapeutics for enhancing human performance, recovery & resilience with the following projects:

[1] Precision Pain Medicine — the largest genetic study of persistent (chronic) pain in Australia, in collaboration with QIMR Berghofer & Monash University, aims to identify pharmacogenomics causal pathways for the design of personalised therapeutics & effective early intervention approaches (e.g., screening, education, prevention).

[2] Brain Switcha — A digital transdiagnostic biomarker and cloud-based large-scale population phenotyping & analytics platform to improve early intervention strategies in sleep & mental health conditions (esp. at-risk youth cohorts) and recruitment screening for Defence forces.

[3] VCS — vestibulocortical stimulation: A simple, inexpensive, non-invasive & non-pharmacologic neurotherapeutic treatment technique for fibromyalgia (with US colleagues) and other centralised pain syndromes, sleep apnoea, dementia & mental health conditions (e.g., depression, PTSD, bipolar disorder).

I also have >5 years professional services experience providing specialist research performance evaluation, consultation, reporting & training workshops that successfully delivered several major strategic priorities to a large internal & external client base — such as organisational unit leaders/managers at multiple levels (e.g., Centre/Department) and senior executive business missions for national/international strategic partnerships. This work includes mapping, monitoring & benchmarking of research capacity, capabilities/strengths, gaps & collaboration networks (e.g., clinical, corporate & government) across diverse disciplines for Annual & Septennial Departmental Reviews (e.g., patent, policy & clinical guideline citations; external stakeholder engagement including media); ARC Engagement & Impact assessments; and workforce capability development (e.g., recruitment for senior leadership positions and ranking of NHMRC/ARC funding applicants).

In particular, I enjoy meeting & connecting people with a shared vision & commitment towards building innovative & sustainable public-private partnerships to deliver meaningful solutions for the wider community.