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Learning a foreign language is hard. Studying overseas in a foreign language is even harder!

Universities in Australia have up to 40% international students, that's 400,000+ students and makes up a significant portion of the Australian economy. These students face immense struggles adapting to Australian culture, language and education style. Without help, these students get lost in the complexities of higher-education and cannot successfully graduate.

Shaun's work involves developing innovative solutions with partner universities across the greater Asian regions though contextualised development programs, workshops that highlight modern teaching, and assisting students in acclimatising to their study-life in Australia. Shaun works heavily with China, India, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Malaysia, and Singapore.

Dr Kai-Hsiang Chuang received his Ph.D. degree in electrical and biomedical engineering from the National Taiwan University, Taiwan, in 2001. During his graduate study, he developed methods for improving the detection of brain activity using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). He undertook postdoctoral research at the National Institutes of Health, USA, from 2003 to 2007, where he focused on understanding brain connectivity using novel functional and molecular imaging. He developed manganese-enhanced MRI for high-resolution imaging functional neural pathways in the rodent brain and cerebral blood flow imaging for mapping the resting-state network of the human brain. He joined the Agency for Science Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore, in 2008 as the head of MRI Group in the Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (a national research institute). He established the first preclinical imaging facility in Singapore and facilitated research collaboration across academia, clinic and industry. His lab pioneered functional connectivity imaging of the rodent brain to understand the neural basis and function of resting-state brain network, and the development and application of MRI biomarkers for treatment development. In late 2015, he moved to the University of Queensland, Australia, as an Associate Professor with the Queensland Brain Institute and the Centre for Advanced Imaging. His current research focuses on understanding the structure and function of brain network that underlies cognition and behavior, such as learning, memory and dementia. He is developing multimodal techniques, including fMRI, calcium recording, electrophysiology and optogenetic/chemogenetic neuromodulation, to test hypothesis in transgenic mouse models and then translating to humans to improve the diagnosis and intervention of disorders. The imaging and analysis techniques he developed have been widely used in the research community and some in clinical trials. He is serving on the editorial boards of Frontiers in Neuroscience: Brain Imaging Methods, Imaging Neuroscience and Scientific Reports.

Jen Jen Chung is an Associate Professor in Mechatronics within the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering at The University of Queensland. Her current research interests include perception, planning and learning for robotic mobile manipulation, algorithms for robot navigation through human crowds, informative path planning and adaptive sampling. Prior to working at UQ, Jen Jen was a Senior Researcher in the Autonomous Systems Lab (ASL) at ETH Zürich from 2018-2022 and was a Postdoctoral Scholar at Oregon State University researching multiagent learning methods from 2014-2017. She completed her Ph.D. on information-based exploration-exploitation strategies for autonomous soaring platforms at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics in the University of Sydney. She received her Ph.D. (2014) and B.E. (2010) from the University of Sydney.

Prof Bill Clarke (Schools of Civil and Chemical Engineering) has an extensive publication record in methods for accelerating the solubilisation and digestion of solid organic waste, measuring landfill emissions and the ingress of O2 and subsequent composting of waste in landfills, the utilisation of waste as a carbon source for H2S production in the mineral processing industry, on-site digestion of combined wastewater and solid organic waste and the fate of pathogens, heavy metals and POPs in organic treatment processes. He was an Associate Editor of Waste Management (2008-13) and is on the Managing Board of the International Waste Working Group.

David Cliff was Professor of Occupational Health and Safety in Mining and Director of MISHC from 2011 to 2016. In January 2017 he was appointed Professor of Risk and Knowledge Transfer, reverting to Professor of Occupational Health and Safety in Mining in 2018. His primary role is providing education, applied research and consulting in health and safety in the mining and minerals processing industry. He has been at MISHC over fifteen years.

Previously David was the Safety and Health Adviser to the Queensland Mining Council, and prior to that Manager of Mining Research at the Safety In Mines Testing and Research Station. In these capacities he has provided expert assistance in the areas of health and safety to the mining industry for over twenty three years. He has particular expertise in emergency preparedness, gas analysis, spontaneous combustion, fires and explosions, including providing expert testimony to the Moura No.2 Warden’s inquiry, the Hazelwood Mine Fire Inquiry and the Pike River Royal Commission. In recent times he has also devoted a lot of energy to fitness for duty issues particularly fatigue management. He has been a member of the organising committee for the level one emergency exercises in Queensland underground coal mines since their inception in 1998. He has also attended or provided assistance in over 30 incidents at mines. He has developed expertise in the development of Trigger Action Response Plans.

David has also extensive experience in providing training and education in OHS in mining to in many countries.

He has published widely in the area of occupational health and safety in mining including not just the physical hazards but also on the processes for the effective management of these issues. Examples of this include reviews of the annual safety performance report for the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Mines and assistance to the Mine Safety Advisory Council of NSW in developing Health Management Plans (HMP) and key performance indicators for HMP.

In recent years he has collaborated closely with Nikky LaBranche researching respirable dust particularly coal dust and silica.

I am a motivated and enthusiastic Accredited Practising Dietitian and Accredited Sports Dietitian. I am interested in building sustainable foodservices worldwide, sports nutrition for recreational runners and seperate entrepreneurial ventures. I have a passion for clinical research and quality improvement projects in hospital dietetic services. Currently I want to help build sustainable foodservice systems for public/private entities that consider the future of human and planetary health. I am an ambitious individual who loves networking and who is eager to collaborate, please reach out.

My PhD research has focussed on the measurement and management of food waste in hospital foodservices through aggregate food waste audit activities and diverting food waste from landfill.

Professor Simon Cool is Professor of Bioengineering and Director of the UQ Advanced Cell Therapy Manufacturing Initiative in the School of Chemical Engineering at the University of Queensland.

Professor Cool began his scientific career at the University of Queensland more than 20 years ago. He received his BSc (hons) and PhD degrees from the University of Queensland, where he subsequently held a faculty position in the School of Biomedical Sciences. His areas of studies have included age-related changes in the structure of bone and teeth and the extracellular matrix compartment of skeletal tissue that guide stem cell behaviour and wound repair. Professor Cool was invited to join the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR, Singapore in 2003 as a Principal Investigator. He then joined A*STAR’s Institute of Medical Biology (IMB) in 2008, shortly after its inception, to further his research in regenerative medicine, serving as Senior Principal Investigator of the Glycotherapeutics Group. In October 2020, Professor Cool re-joined the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) as a Research Director, Glycotherapeutics, where he focused on developing novel glycosaminoglycan biomolecules that enhance wound repair and control adult human mesenchymal stem cell activity.

Professor Cool has 117 patent applications across 26 families with 51 granted in the fields of glycosaminoglycan biochemistry, regenerative medicine and stem cell science. He has more than 150 publications and continues to foster strong strategic collaborations both nationally and internationally with academic and industry groups. He has a strong biomanufacturing and translational focus with experience in taking glycosaminoglycan-based devices through discovery RnD on to pre-clinical and clinical testing. Professor Cool also has an entrepreneurial and licensing background having successfully spun-off some of his technology to a US-based regenerative medicine start-up company, SMC Biotechnology Ltd. Professor Cool holds a Visiting Professor appointment at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A*STAR, Singapore and an Adjunct Professor (Research) appointment in the Orthopaedic Department at the National University of Singapore (NUS). Prior to his move back to UQ, he previously held the position of Treasurer, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, Asia Pacific Chapter (TERMIS-AP) and Treasurer, Stem Cell Society Singapore (SCSS). He also held senior leadership positions in several Singapore-based R&D programmes, notably as Director, Allogeneic Stem Cell Manufacturing (ASTEM) and Theme Leader in Advanced Manufacturing for Biological Materials (AMBM). Prof Cool currently serves on the Editorial Board of the journals Biomaterials, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, and is Asia-Pacific Regional Editor for Stem Cells and Development.

Professor Justin Cooper-White is a global leader in using engineering to solve problems in biology. In addition to holding the position of Head of School and Professor of Bioengineering in the School of Chemical Engineering, he is Affiliate Professor in the AIBN, Director of the Australian National Fabrication Facility-Queensland Node, Research Director of the Herston Biofabrication Institute (a partnership between UQ and MNHHS) and co-Director of the Australian Organoid Facility at UQ. Professor Cooper-White is a past President of both the Australasian Society for Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering and the Australian Society of Rheology and held the position of CSIRO Office of the Chief Executive (OCE) Science Leader. He has previously held a Visiting Professor Fellowships at ETH Zurich (2007) and Politecnico di Milano (2012-2013). Professor Cooper-White is the Australian representative and Past President of the Asian Biomaterials Federation; an elected Fellow of and Australian representative on the International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering (IUSBE), and an elected Fellow and past vice President of the Queensland Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Professor Cooper-White has many past and currently active international collaborations with world leading research groups at MIT (US); Stanford (USA); ETH (Switzerland); EPFL (Switzerland); SNU (Korea); University Of Grenoble (France); Politecnico di Milano (Italy); UCL (UK); and the Max Planck Institute (Germany). He has performed contract research and consultancy work for many multinational companies, including Unilever in the UK; Nestle International, Switzerland; Rhodia, US; Inion, Finland, Syngenta, UK; and NuFarm, AU since 2001.

He is the Editor-in-Chief of APL Bioengineering (American Institute of Physics Publishing); serves or has served on the editorial boards of Rheological Acta, Soft Materials, Biomicrofluidics and the Open Biomedical Engineering Journal; and is a reviewer of major international journals, including Nature Materials, Nature Methods, Advanced Materials, Lab on a Chip, Stem Cells, Stem Cells and Development, Biomacromolecules, Tissue Engineering, Langmuir, Biomaterials and Journal of Non-Newtonian Fluid Mechanics.

Remo has over 15 years of research experience in water engineering and joined the School of Civil Engineering in February 2016. Remo’s research projects span over a range of topics such as marine renewable energy, hydrodynamics in coastal areas, sediment transport processes, seafloor mapping and environmental engineering.

Remo started his professional career as a Research Associate at the Franzius-Institute for Hydraulic, Waterways and Coastal Engineering at Hannover University, Germany. Remo did his PhD on the hydrodynamics of oceanic gravity and turbidity currents under the influence of Coriolis forces in the Earth Sciences Department, University of Toronto, Canada. He continued his work in Canada as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Physical and Environmental Sciences at the University of Toronto where he focused on turbulence in coastal boundary layers and sediment transport processes in density currents. Before joining UQ, Remo was working as a Lecturer and Postdoctoral Fellow at the Australian Maritime College (AMC) at the University of Tasmania where he worked on projects in Tasmanian coastal waters (renewable energy, analysis of tidal currents, pipeline surveys) and limnological processes (Lake Ohau, New Zealand). A career highlight was a research trip with a team of sea-ice experts funded by NZARI to Antarctica (Cape Evans, McMurdo Sound) to analyze characteristics of the sea-ice ocean boundary layer using an autonomous underwater vehicle (UBC Gavia AUV).

Remo’s research over the last years has created advances in renewable energy site exploration methods that aims to fill a critical knowledge gap in understanding the suitability of candidate sites and linking local conditions (hydrodynamics, geotechnical aspects) with device design. Remo is involved as a lead researcher on several projects, for instance, the AUSTEn project for tidal energy exploration in Australian coastal waters (http://austen.org.au/) and the recently funded Blue Economy CRC (https://blueeconomycrc.com.au/).

Professor Caroline Crosthwaite BE(Hons), MEngSt (UQ), MSc. (JCU). Associate Dean (Academic) Faculty of Engineering, Architecture & Information Technology, University of Queensland. Caroline is a chemical engineer with over 30 years’ experience in engineering education and curriculum innovation. She has been involved in teaching, curriculum design and the development of student centred learning practices in engineering. She has published widely on project centred engineering education and has won UQ and national AAUT and AAEE awards for enhancement of student learning. Through the Associate Dean role Caroline champions teaching and learning innovation and development and active learning. Recent projects include the implementation of the Engineers without Borders National Design Challenge as part of the first year core engineering curriculum at UQ, and the development of Immersive Learning Environments in engineering using Virtual Reality . Caroline led the has recently completed Office of Learning & Teaching sponsored evaluation in 13 Australasian universities on the adoption of the Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Challenge projects into first-year curricula as a model for widespread curriculum renewal in engineering education. Caroline has also led national work by the Australian Council of Engineering Deans and other engineering organisations investigating attrition and retention in Bachelor of Engineering degrees in Australia. She consults nationally and internationally on engineering education and curriculum redesign which includes work with IChemE in Malaysia, Imperial College London and Purdue University USA.

my research interests are in the design of diagnostic medical devices and new applications for those devices

Prof Crozier is the director of Biomedical Engineering at UQ. He holds a higher doctorate in engineering for his work in improving the technology of imaging equipment. Stuart was elelcted as a fellow of the institute of physics (UK) in 2004 and hold many national and international grants relating to medical imaging and medical devices.

Yi Cui received his B. Eng. and M.Eng. degrees from Southwest Jiaotong University, Chengdu, China, in 2009 and 2012, respectively, and received the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering at University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia, in 2016.

Dr Cui has been a Research Associate in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA since 2016. Currently, he is an Honorary Research Fellow in the School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, University of Queensland, Australia. His research interests include wide-area monitoring and control, data analytics and cyber-security of smart grids, condition assessment and fault diagnosis of power transformers.

Qualifications:

• PhD (Civil Engineering), The University of Queensland, Australia.
• M.Eng (Civil Engineering), The University of Queensland, Australia.
• Graduate Certificate in Higher Education, The University of Queensland, Australia.
• B.Eng (Civil Engineering), The University of Danang, Vietnam.

Vinh Dao is an Associate Professor of Civil Engineering at The University of Queensland, where he has been since 2009. He is currently the UQ-IITD Research Academy Theme Lead for Advanced materials and manufacturing. He was the Director of Teaching and Learning (UQ Civil Engineering, 2020-2021) and the Deputy Director of Research (UQ Civil Engineering, 2019).

He has been an elected National Councillor of the Concrete Institute of Australia (2013-2023), responsible for "Concrete In Australia" Magazine (2013-2019) and "Technical & Publications" portfolio (2019-2023). He is currently also (i) an Associate Editor of Australian Journal of Structural Engineering and (ii) the General Secretary of EASEC International Steering Committee. He was (i) the Vice-Chair of the 16th East Asia-Pacific Conference on Structural Engineering & Construction and (ii) an invited presenter of the National Seminar Series on “Early-age cracking in concrete structures” in capital cities around Australia, besides many state/industry seminars.

Vinh's research interests are in the broad areas of structural engineering and fundamental behaviour of concrete/structures. The focus of his research has been on connecting materials behaviour to structural response of concrete in order to address major issues facing construction industry; with current emphasis on (i) performance of concrete structures at early ages and at elevated temperatures and (ii) low carbon concretes.

In teaching, he has been lecturing in the areas of structural mechanics, reinforced and prestressed concrete design, concrete technology, and advanced structural engineering. He has received a few nominations for the most effective lecturer from UQ-EAIT Dean’s commendation students and was profiled in Learning@UQ for having contributed to high quality of the student experience at UQ.

Prof Matthew Dargusch’s research interests are in advanced manufacturing and the design and development of medical devices.

Matt Dargusch is a Professor in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering within the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering. He is the Director of the ARC Industry Transformation Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing of Medical Devices and he is also the Chief Technology Officer for the Defence Materials Technology Centre. Further information about AMPAM can be found on the Centre’s website: http://ampam.mechmining.uq.edu.au/

Prof. Dargusch completed his PhD in 1998, and has a strong background in working on industry-outcome focussed research. After completing his PhD, he worked in manufacturing and product development in industry before moving being appointed as a Senior Research Fellow at UQ and Program Manager for both the Aerospace and Industry Best Practice Program Manager with the CAST CRC. During his time as program manager the best practice program received a number of awards from the Cooperative Research Centres Association for delivering industry outcomes. Professor Dargusch’s work has been recognised by the star award from the CRC Association for his work with industry. In 2007 Professor Dargusch was a critical member of the successful bid team for a Defence Future Capability Technology Centre (DFCTC) which became the Defence Materials Technology Centre (DMTC) with partners such as BAE Systems, Thales and many SMEs. In 2008, Professor Dargusch became the Chief Technology Officer for the DMTC, a position which he currently still holds.

Prof Dargusch has been successful in obtaining competitive grant funding totalling $2.95 million through the Queensland Government’s Innovation Projects Fund since 2006. He is also a chief investigator on 5 x ARC LPs, 2 x ARC DPs, 2 x ARC ITRH and 5 x ARC LIEF grants and lead investigator on 1 DEST (now DIISR) International Science Linkages Program – Australia-China Special Fund Grant. He was also awarded a Smart Future Fund RPP grant of $405,000 as lead investigator for a project focussed on the “Development of Next Generation Endovascular Grafts”(2012-2015). Most recently Professor Dargusch was successful in establishing another ARC Industry Transformation Research Hub for Advanced Manufacturing of Medical Devices.

Prof Dargusch’s ability to transfer research outcomes to industry is provided by the case study on titanium technology submitted by Prof Dargusch as lead investigator to the Excellence in Innovation for Australia trial in 2012. The submission was rated A for outstanding impacts in terms of reach and significance.

Prof. Dargusch’s primary research interests are associated with addressing the major technical challenges facing Australian metal manufacturers in order to assist them to participate more effectively in global supply chains and the development of improved medical devices. His aim is to use his research to impact the ability of Australian companies, to develop and integrate advanced manufacturing technologies particularly in the production of high value components for Aircraft, Maritime and Medical Device applications.

Eminent Staff Specialist in Neonatology (Consultant Neonatologist) - Grantley Stable Neonatal Unit, Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital

Associate Professor of Neonatology - Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, University of Queensland

Mark Davies is a medical graduate of the University of Queensland (MB,BS 1985). He trained in Paediatrics at the Royal Children's Hospital (Brisbane), with time at the Worcester Royal Infirmary, Doncaster Royal Infirmary and the Royal Hospital for Sick Children (Glasgow) in the UK.

Mark sub-specialised in Neonatology training at the Royal Women's Hospital (Brisbane), the Rosie Maternity Hospital (Cambridge) and the Glasgow Royal Maternity Hospital. His advanced training was conducted under the supervision of the Neonatal-Perinatal Specialist Advisory Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) and he became a Fellow of the RACP in 1997. He completed a two year fellowship training programme in Neonatology and Neonatal Ultrasound at the Royal Women's Hospital (Melbourne) in January 1999.

In July 2000, Mark was appointed to the joint position of Staff Neonatologist at the Royal Women's Hospital, Brisbane and Senior Lecturer in Neonatology at the University of Queensland. He is now an Eminent Staff Specialist in Neonatology and an Associate Professor of Neonatology.

Mark Davies’ research focused on neonatal ventilation. He did his PhD studies on partial liquid ventilation. He supervises projects in neonatology and neonatal intensive care.

Mark prepares and maintains a number of Cochrane systematic reviews in neonatology and intensive care. From 2002 to 2006 he served on the Cochrane Collaboration Steering Group, and was Co-Chair of the steering group from 2005 to 2006. He was a Director of The Cochrane Collaboration Trading Company from 2013 to 2017.

Paul Dennis leads an exciting research group that applies cutting-edge technologies to understand the roles of microorganisms and their responses to environmental change.

He is also a passionate educator and public speaker who advocates for the importance of biological diversity and evidence-based environmental awareness. He has talked about his research on ABC Radio and a range of other media outlets.

His teaching covers aspects of ecology, microbiology, plant and soil science, and climatology. He considers these topics to be of fundamental importance for the development of more sustainable societies and takes pride in helping others to obtain the knowledge and skills they need to build a better future.

Paul's research has taken him to Antarctica, the Amazon Rainforest, high mountains and oceans. The approaches used in his lab draw on a wide range of expertise in molecular biology, ecology, statistics, computer science, advanced imaging and soil science. He applies these skills to a wide-range of topics and systems including plant-microbe interactions, Antarctic marine and terrestrial ecology, biogeography, pollution and human health.