Professor, School of Computing, Engineering, & Maths, Western Sydney University Ray Norris is a British/Australian astronomer in the School of Computing, Engineering, & Maths at Western Sydney University, and with CSIRO Astronomy & Space Science. He researches how galaxies formed and evolved after the Big Bang, and the process of astronomical discovery with large data volumes. He also researches the astronomy of Australian Aboriginal people. Ray was educated at Cambridge University, UK, and moved to Australia in 1983 to join CSIRO, where he became Head of Astrophysics in 1994, and then Australia Telescope Deputy Director before returning in 2005 to active research. He currently leads an international project - the Evolutionary Map of the Universe - to image the faintest radio galaxies in the Universe, using the new ASKAP radiotelescope being built in Western Australia. He also leads the WTF project which is exploring machine learning techniques He frequently appears on radio and TV, and has published a novel, Graven Images.
Associate Professor in History, La Trobe University Dr Clare Wright is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster who has worked in politics, academia and the media. She is the author of Beyond the Ladies Lounge: Australia's Female Publicans (MUP 2003, Text 2014) and The Forgotten Rebels of Eureka (Text 2013), which won the 2014 Stella Prize and the NIB Literary Prize and was short-listed for the Prime Minister's, Queensland, NSW and WA Literary Awards, and long-listed for a Walkley. Clare researched, wrote and presented the acclaimed ABC1 documentary Utopia Girls and devised and co-wrote the ABC documentary series, The War That Changed Us.
Asst Professor, University of Western Australia Richard is an Assistant Professor at the University of Western Australia Business School. His research interests include social media marketing, market research, supply chain-enabling information technology, and sustainable supply chain management. Richard obtained several awards for his research and teaching. His work has been published in leading international journals such as the International Journal of Operations and Production Management, and the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Richard is also a regular contributor to executive teaching programs. Prior to his academic career, Richard was a marketing manager for one of Europe's leading media companies--Hubert Burda Media. He also has consulting experience with clients from the U.K., Australia, Germany, and Italy.
Lecturer in Economics, Aston University I joined Aston Business School in September 2011, having spent the previous two years as Visiting Lecturer at the University of Cyprus. Prior to that, I was for two and a half years Research Fellow at the University of Nottingham.
Senior Lecturer, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University Geoff Robinson is a political historian and lecturer in History and Politics at Deakin University. Before taking up an academic position he worked in higher education management and policy development and as a tutor at Monash University. His doctoral research examined the NSW Labor government of 1930-32, led by Premier Jack Lang, as an example of the limits of reformism under a capitalist economy. He has published several articles and book chapters on Australian labour history and politics and a book based on his PhD When the Labor Party Dreams was published in 2009.
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Australian Institue of Busines and Economics, The University of Queensland, Australia, The University of Queensland Shabbir Ahmad completed his PhD in Econometrics at the UQ School of Economics in 2014. He also holds PhD in Economics with specialization in financial economics. His areas of research include efficiency and productivity analysis, environment and sustainability, and financial regulation and governance. He has 15 year's university research and teaching experience in Pakistan and Australia. His areas of research focus on resource and financial sectors performance measurement at micro level. He has devised novel methodologies to measure business growth and innovation, with particular focus on agriculture sector. Currently, he is working as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at AUstralian Institute of Business and Economics (AIBE), the University of Queensland (UQ), Australia. Previously, he held research positions at the Centre of Social responsibility in Mining (CSRM), Sustainable Minerals Institute (SMI), UQ. Currently, he is leading Australian Centre for International Agriculture (ACIAR) funded project Farmer's capabilities, productivity, and profitability: A case study of smallholders in selected agro-zones in Pakistan". He has delivered numerous projects for international agencies on sustainable development and productivity focused on mining, manufacturing and financial sectors. His research activities span to both public and private sectors with a focus on social and economic impact assessment. He has been involved in these projects to develop and apply a variety of tools for economic analysis and the resulting policy implications. He is also an Associate of the World Bank-sponsored South Asian Network for Development and Environmental Economics (SANDEE).
