TD School

Dr. Arnick Abdollahi is a multi‑award‑winning researcher and subject coordinator at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), specialising in Artificial Intelligence, Data Science, Earth and Space Science Informatics, and Environmental Intelligence. He completed his Ph.D. at UTS and was a research fellow at the Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence, Australian National University (ANU), where he led national AI‑driven sensing initiatives to enhance bushfire resilience. His work has advanced bushfire behaviour analysis, promoted responsible AI in environmental monitoring, and influenced strategies for remote sensing, risk assessment, and disaster preparedness.

Arnick leads transdisciplinary research at the intersection of data science, space technology, and climate resilience. His research focuses on the design and deployment of scalable, data‑centric AI systems with space technology that integrate data engineering, geospatial modelling, advanced analytics, and machine learning to support environmental decision‑making under uncertainty. He currently heads a national agricultural initiative developing AI‑enabled grazing decision‑support systems that fuse climate forecasting, satellite Earth observation, and pasture–livestock modelling to support adaptive, data‑driven management by producers.

He is also leading research to develop a national, data‑driven bushfire risk and resilience framework for Australian grazing ecosystems, integrating machine learning, Earth‑ and space‑based technologies, and land management practices to quantify risk, inform mitigation strategies, and support climate‑resilient decision‑making before and after fire events.

In addition, he leads an international research program spanning Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Germany, in partnership with industry and First Nations organisations. This initiative develops AI‑ and satellite‑enabled early‑warning systems for flash drought detection in complex grazing environments, advancing predictive analytics for climate‑resilient land management across diverse climatic systems.

In his teaching role, Arnick coordinates and lectures postgraduate subjects within the Master of Data Science and Innovation (MDSI), a world-leading program of study in analytics and data science at the UTS Transdisciplinary School, including core and advanced subjects in machine learning, artificial intelligence, natural language processing and data science practice. He leads collaborative teaching teams and designs, evaluates and delivers problem‑based, transdisciplinary learning experiences with strong connections to real‑world challenges, industry engagement and applied research. His teaching emphasises responsible AI, hands‑on analytics, and the integration of data science theory with practical decision‑making in complex, real‑world contexts.

Arnick’s academic service spans postgraduate education, scholarly publishing, national research capabilities, and community engagement. He serves on postgraduate assessment panels at the UTS Transdisciplinary School and supervises honours and postgraduate students, as well as research assistants, contributing to capacity‑building and researcher development. He has chaired international webinar and conference series on advances in machine learning, Earth and space technologies, environmental intelligence, and data science. He is an active contributor to the international academic community through editorial leadership and professional service, having served as Main Editor for multiple special issues in field‑related journals and reviewed manuscripts for more than 35 international journals. His service also includes delivering invited talks at workshops, webinars, and conferences, as well as research presentations at national and international forums and conferences.

Arnick has received numerous grants and accolades in recognition of his impact and groundbreaking work, including being named the Rising Star of the Year at the 2025 Australian Space Awards—Australia’s most prestigious recognition for emerging leaders in the Earth and space sector—and being recognised at Australia’s foremost national AI honour, the 2024 and 2025 Australian AI Awards, for AI Academic/Researcher of the Year and AI Rising Star of the Year, respectively. He has also been internationally distinguished as a World's Top 2% Scientist in the Stanford global ranking (2025). 

Current Projects:

• Strategic Research Project: AI-Driven Sensing of Bushfire Risk in Australian Grazing Systems.
• Foragecaster: Build an operational and accurate AI-driven sensing prediction tool for livestock producers to enable optimised farm management and business decision-making in the face of climate variability.
• Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) Research Development Project: Advancing EarthSense AI-driven Livestock Farm Management for Climate-Resilient Food Security.
• Strategic Research Project: AI-Driven Advanced Radar Imaging for Optimised Pasture Feed Quality and Production.

Past Projects:

• The Australian Research Data Common (ARDC) Bushfire Data Challenges program: Designed and implemented scalable data engineering and machine learning workflows to aggregate, harmonise, and analyse multi-source fuel attribute datasets, producing nationally consistent data products for bushfire behaviour modelling, risk assessment, and decision support across Australia.
• Bushfire Risk Sensing Framework: Developing an effective, responsible AI-driven sensing framework to predict fire hazards and limit the increasing occurrence of bushfires in Australia.
• UTS Strategic Research Funding: Forecasting Grass Pollen with Satellite Sensor Time-series, Meteorology Data, and Machine Learning Tools.
• Maxar Spatial Challenge: Monitoring land type features with high-resolution remote sensing and deep learning.
• CSIRO’s national bushfire intelligence capability (NBIC) project: Develop automated machine learning–enabled workflows for generating nationally consistent, spatially continuous, and temporally dynamic layers of vegetation and fuel parameters that are multi-functional in application.

As a Lecturer in Transdisciplinary School at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), I specialise in transdisciplinary education and creative teaching and learning approaches. My work is grounded in the conviction that learning should be creative, embodied, and collaborative to foster learners that can think differently and contribute positively to the world. Informed by a background in the creative arts and innovation, my research explores the role of creative and arts-based approaches in transdisciplinary education, where learning takes place beyond disciplinary boundaries and in collaboration with industry and community partners. Through international partnerships, I am working to extend this work across universities, schools, and professional learning contexts to shape how transdisciplinary education is understood and practiced more broadly.

Kailash is an Adjunct Fellow in Human-Centred Data Science at the Transdisciplinary School. He is also a Data and Insights Manager at a government agency. Over the last two decades he has established data and analytics capabilities in diverse organisations ranging from not-for-profits to multinationals. In addition, he has developed and taught courses in business analytics and decision making under uncertainty to students from widely varying backgrounds.

His current professional interests include human/AI interactions, evidence development for policy making, business analytics, program evaluation, decision making under uncertainty and collaborative approaches to problem solving in large organisations.

He is the co- author of two well- regarded books on managing socially complex problems in organisations: "The Heretic’s Guide to Best Practices" and "The Heretic’s Guide to Management." His third book, "Data Science and Analytics Strategy: An Emergent Design Approach", describes a practical and principled approach to setting up modern data capabilities in organisations.

Alex has a variety of teaching and research interests around environmental policy, rural land use sustainability and innovation. He teaches subjects on transdisciplinary practice and industry innovation and is the Director of Teaching Learning for Transdisciplinary School at UTS. He has previously taught on environmental management, sustainable engineering and renewable energy policy.

Alex's research focuses on community engagement and policy options for emerging practices that offer potential environmental benefits. He has recently undertaken research on collaborative carbon farming funded by AgriFutures Australia, as well as research into the social licence of the sharing economy with colleagues from the UTS Business School. Other completed projects cover co-benefits of carbon farming, landholder collaboration for landscape-scale conservation, revegetation strategies and low-carbon tourism. In 2016 he released his first book, exploring ways in which the production of woody bioenergy crops can create incentives to restore degraded land, while addressing concerns around food security and climate change. His research has been published in the Journal of Environmental Management, Ecosystem Services, Environmental Science and Policy, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Annals of Tourism Research, Biomass and Bioenergy, Rural Society and The Rangeland Journal.

Prior to joining UTS, Alex was based at UNSW for 10 years, teaching a range of subjects and working on research projects on landholder collaboration, low-carbon tourism and revegetation. From 2005 to 2008 he worked on the FATE (Future of Australia's Threatened Ecosystems) Program looking at commercial uses for Australian native species that could contribute to conservation goals, including kangaroos in the rangelands and multi-species plantations for bioenergy and other products. Prior to this, he spent three years at the Department of Environment and Heritage in Canberra (which has since undergone at least two name changes), working on international trade in wild plants and animals. His undergraduate studies were undertaken in Environmental Science at the University of Wollongong.

Associate Professor Martin Bliemel is the Director of Innovation at TD School (ex Faculty of Transdisciplinary Innovation) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Prior to this, he served as the inaugural Director of Research (aka ADR) for TD School for 4 years. In 2024, with colleague Jochen Schweitzer, he co-instigated the Innovation & Entreprenuership Collaborative (IEC) across UTS, more formally bringing together 30 researchers from across UTS with a common interest in evidence-based innovation policy and producivitiy improvements (https://iec.uts.edu.au/). 

Martin’s research interests include startups, entrepreneurial networks, accelerators, education, research commercialisation, entrepreneurial ecosystems, and the entrepreneurial university. Martin’s research has been published in several prestigious journals including Nature Nanotechnology, Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, Technovation, Entrepreneurship & Regional Development, Education+Training, International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior & Research, and the Entrepreneurship Research Journal where one of his articles on entrepreneurship education is ERJ’s most downloaded article. 

His work frequently informs innovation policy, such as the $23m Incubator Support Programme by the Australian Government's Department of Industry, the evaluation of the $150m Southern Cross Renewable Energy Fund by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). He has been an expert advisor and author on several innovation policy reports for the New South Wales Innovation and Productivity Council, and has led projects for various levels of government, including Georges River Council, Greater Cities Commission, the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT Australia-Indonesia Institute), and OECD. 

In 2020, Martin had the privilege to host the UTS Impact Studios 7+1-part podcast series, which was also featured as part of an article for The Conversation titled "Who cares about university research? The answer depends on its impacts"

Martin is a recipient of the nationally competitive Office of Learning and Teaching Citation for “For preparing students studying management to become entrepreneurs by creating authentic and respectful learning experiences that immerse students in collaborative interactions with external stakeholders."

He is a member of the committee for the Australasian Consortium for Entrepreneurship Research Excellence (ACERE), was a subcommittee and Expert Advisory Group member of the NSW Innovation & Productivity Council, and was on the executive committee for the Network of Inter- and Transdisciplinary Research Organisations (NITRO Oceania).

In previous careers, he's worked with Canada's oldest Angel Network, Canada's largest startup pitch competiton, various startups, launched his own startup consultancy, engineered the tuned mass damper for Taipei 101, worked assembly line in a car manufacturing plant, and a few more mechanical engineering experiences. 

Bindi supports the large-scale delivery of the TD Electives program and the successful setup of high-value internship experiences for our students. With extensive administrative expertise and organisational skills, Bindi infuses her knowledge and experience from various industries spanning leading companies and Government departments to deliver meaningful industry-student engagements. Passionate about relationship management, Bindi ensures the smooth recruitment of internship host organisations and the onboarding and positive experience of partners in the Transdisciplinary School network.

Paul is a national and international award-winning academic specialising in production economics, integrated modelling to understand and evaluate the sustainability of production systems, innovative and innovation-management practices, and teaches Creative Intelligence and Innovation at UTS.

Paul is a leader in several multi-disciplinary teams and has successfully led or contributed to over 15 externally funded research engagements, leading to over 28 policy papers and industry reports on various topics. Several of his projects have significance at the national level, such as his work on Management Capability, Innovation and Productivity, and, more recently, Waste Avoidance Measurement. Paul’s work has been published in leading international journals, including Journal of Cleaner Production, International Journal of Production Economics, International Journal of Production Research, British Accounting Review and Business Strategy and the Environment.

Paul has been part of the teaching and development teams for a range of innovative subjects and courses which have been recognised as being at the leading edge of innovation in education and industry engagement, including the international award-winning Bachelor of Creative Intelligence and Innovation (Bronze Award - Wharton-QS Stars Reimagine Education Award 2016 (category of Presence Learning Innovation). Awarded for “the most innovative classroom-based pedagogy resulting in enhanced student learning” for BCII: Create The Future (University of Technology Sydney, Australia). One of the key characteristics of the BCII degree is that it has been recognized as being at the leading edge of work-integrated learning and other teaching and learning strategies that involve information transfers and innovation at the interface of the university and industry.

Paul completed a Master of Business Administration degree in Accounting, graduating with Distinction at UTS in 2004. He received the ACCA prize for being judged the best graduating student in the Master of Business in Accounting. Paul joined the UTS School of Accounting in 2005 as an associate lecturer, subsequently completing a PhD in 2009 on the topic 'Group versus Individual Compensation Schemes for Senior Executives and Firm Performance'.

Kate Carruthers is a leader in data analytics, AI, data governance, and cyber security with extensive experience across higher education, large enterprises, startups, and boards. She is currently a PhD candidate in the Transdisciplinary School at UTS and is researching AI governance and innovation policy.

Dr Clarice Garcia is an award-winning researcher and foresight practitioner with a drive for imaginative and collaborative futures. She specialises in connecting cultural shifts with opportunities for innovation to generate value for brands when uncertainty prevails and a transition to sustainable futures is paramount. Over the last 14 years, Clarice Garcia has worked as a researcher and foresight strategist for global companies, collaborating on projects for clients such as Nike, Google, L’Oréal, YouTube, Netflix, Nestlé, Panasonic, and Ford.  As a doctoral researcher at RMIT University in Australia, she created Fashion Futuring - an award-winning speculative methodology that intelaces design, culture, strategic foresight and collaboration to spark imagination and provoke a values-driven transition towards sustainable futures. 

Rosalie Chapple is a cross-disciplinary conservation ecologist with a focus on protected areas and wildlife, and habitaully engages with socio-politically contentious issues such as bushfires, feral animals, dingoes, wild horses and Indian street dogs. A key inspiration is working with Indigenous peoples to reimagine how we practice conservation. 

Rosalie has been based in the TD School at UTS since 2023, where she is Senior Research Fellow and Deputy Director of the Centre for Compassionate Conservation. Her current research is on the behaviour and welfare of Indian street dogs (see https://rohindies.org). 

She works across academic, government and non-government sectors, including as a consultant, and teaches part-time in the Master of Environmental Management program at the University of NSW Sydney (UNSW). In 2004 she co-founded the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (https://www.bmwhi.org) where she has held various positions including as Executuive Directive and Research Director, and remains on the Board of Directors. 

Rosalie lives on Gundungurra and Dharug country in the Blue Mountains outside Sydney.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rosaliechapple/

Francine oversees industry partnerships across the TD Electives program at the University of Technology Sydney. She supports successful academic/student/industry engagement across a suite of specially designed subjects. These learning experience enable students to learn in dynamic problem-focussed environments and exercise their skills as emerging professionals.

Francine fosters multi-year relationships with organisations that encourage students to tackle the big problems of our time and works with corporate, community and government partners to generate insights from UTS programs that can inspire future business and ways of working.

I am a transdisiciplinary social researcher and creative practitioner currently working as a Lecturer with the TD School, University of Technology Sydney and a Research Affiliate with the Emerging Technologies Research Lab, Monash University.

My research sits at the intersection of human-computer interaction, critical data studies, and design anthropology and focuses on how industry, government and communities can collectively design sustainable digital futures in Australia, with a focus on data centre expansion. I am leading the two-year research project Grounding the Cloud: Co-creating a Sustainable, Community-Inclusive Data Centre Industry, which is funded by Australian Public Policy Institute. I design creative and critical participatory methods to support diverse stakeholders reflect on complex societal challenges and codesign possible futures and pathways.

I am the course designer and coordinator of the TD elective: Pathways to Societal Transition, a new subject offered through the UTS Transdisciplinary School which exposes students to cutting-edge research relating to the interrelationship between global digital and environmental sustainability transitions, and how these transitions and inevitable challenges are experienced by communities. 

I am a composer and member of the Archival Futures Collective who make experimental films about human and more-than-human relationships to nature on Earth and off-Earth. 

I explore how the brain's visual system integrates sensory input with cognitive processes to generate adaptive, real-world responses—revealing the plasticity and intelligence of human visual perception. My research focuses on uncovering the core mechanisms of visual intelligence – bridging neuroscience, perception, and cognition. By deepening our understanding of these processes, I aim to unlock practical applications that can transform learning, creativity, performance optimisation, and even innovative design across education, technology, arts, and beyond.

Alice Dong is a lecturer in Data Science at UTS. Before UTS, she held the position of Head of Analytics at HSBC Australia, accumulating over 15 years of industry experience in Data Science across major financial institutes including the Commonwealth Banks, Toyota Finance, Citi Bank, and Insurance Australia Group. She is a recognised expert in applying AI to business analytics.

Alice’s research focuses on integrating statistical models with machine learning within the broader field of AI. This includes Bayesian statistics, Optimisations and spatial statistics, with applications in business analytics, claims reserving, pricing, deep learning-based visualization, and image analysis for computer vision and identity verification.

Alice holds a PhD degree in Applied Statistics from Sydney University, A Master of Science (Bioinformatics) degree from the same institute, and a Master of Information Technology degree from the University of Queensland. She has served as a program committee member and reviewer for a number of conferences and peer-reviewed journals.

Alice is committed to promoting environmental awareness through her research. She also fosters diversity through transdisciplinary teaching, particularly in the context of emerging technologies such as AI.

Dr Barbara Doran specialises in creative intelligence and transdisciplinary practice and is the course director for the UTS Creative Intelligence and Strategic Innovation program. Barbara specialises in identifying creative opportunities that respond to complex challenges and developing innovative strategies that can be put into action. She is an experienced speaker, mentor, educator, project innovator and artist who directs her energies to building our collective capacities to improve how we live.

Her skills are drawn from working across the arts, the tertiary sector and from project experience in the private, public and community sectors which bring together practical, scholarly, imaginative, playful and collaborative outcomes. She has twice won the United Nations Bioethics and Art Award for Photography and displayed her work on both the national and international stage. Barbara's creative works include over 100 projects spanning film productions, exhibitions, performances, earth building and cultural events. As an educator she has delivered over 40 subjects ranging across health psychology and sociology, urban planning, design, the arts and creativity. Barbara has supervised diverse research projects at honours, masters and PhD levels. Her research expands understandings of creativity and its application to challenges in health and planetary wellbeing. Barbara’s work and collaborations are distilled in her book ‘Creative Reboot: Catalysing Creative Intelligence’- a compendium of supporting practices and methods.

Barbara is the lead curator of the SPHERE Knowledge Translation Platform (a leading national healthcare partnership) and advises on numerous innovation projects. Her post at TD School comes after having worked as a Senior Lecturer for Australia’s leading performing arts conservatoire NIDA, National Institute of Dramatic Arts, with prior positions at The University of New South Wales and Western Sydney University.

Barbara's mememberships include:

• Australian Good Design Ambassador
• Arts Health Network NSW/ ACT
• SPHERE Knowledged Translation Platform
• Possibilities Studies Network
• Global Body Mapping Consortium
• RSA

Kees Dorst is Professor of Transdisciplinary Innovation at the University of Technology Sydney’s TD School.

He is considered one of the lead thinkers developing the field of design, valued for his ability to connect a philosophical understanding of the logic of design with hands-on practice. As a bridge-builder between these two worlds, his writings on design as a way of thinking are read by both practitioners and academics. He has written several bestselling books in the field – ‘Understanding Design’ (2003, 2006), ‘Design Expertise’ (with Bryan Lawson, 2013), 'Frame Innovation' (2015) ‘Designing for the Common Good’ (2016) and ‘Notes on Design – How Creative Practice Works’ (2017).

Over the years his focus has developed to the use of designerly ways of thinking outside the traditional design domains – in particular as applied to the ‘wicked’ problems of the new networked society. He has developed a set of methodologies to support these processes, experimenting with them in practice through the research centres and degree programs he founded.

Luke Aaron Forbes is a grant and impact narrative writer and research consultant at the University of Technology Sydney’s Transdisciplinary School. As an independent, early-career scholar, he conducts research in the fields of dance and performance studies.

Luke’s PhD was awarded by Monash University in 2021. He completed his MA Dance Studies at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln in 2015. Luke’s research has appeared in the Australasian Drama Studies Journal, Journal for Emerging Dance Scholarship, and Runway Journal. Luke co-edited and contributed a chapter to the German Dance Archives book project, Yvonne Georgi: Tagebuch und Dokumente zu Tanztourneen mit Harald Kreutzberg (1929–1931) (2019). He has published journalistic articles in dance, literary, arts, and lifestyle outlets, including Australian Book Review, Dance Australia, Dance Europe, DAPPER DAN, Springback Magazine, and Time Out Melbourne.

Luke has received research funding from the Australian Government Department of Education and Training (Research Training Program Stipend), National Library of Australia (National Library of Australia Scholarship), Monash University (Vice-Chancellor’s International Inter-Campus PhD Travel Grant, Faculty of Arts Postgraduate Publication Award, Graduate Research Completion Award, Graduate Research Writing and Publishing Workshop Bursary), and the National University of Singapore (travel grant to attend a workshop jointly organised by the Department of English, Linguistics, and Theatre Studies and Asia Research Institute).

Forthcoming research output(s):
Luke Aaron Forbes, “Norda Mata and the Mutable Forms of Her Identity and Expressionist Dances During Transimperial Tours of the Indo-Pacific,” in Archipelagic Movement and Itinerancy: Performance Histories, Media, and Memory, eds. Alvin Eng Hui Lim and Kyueun Kim (London: Bloomsbury, forthcoming).

Jan Henrik Gruenhagen is a Lecturer in Innovation and Entrepreneurship and the Deputy Director of the Diploma in Innovation at the Transdisciplinary (TD) School at UTS. His research interests include international entrepreneurship, the new venture creation process, innovation systems, entrepreneurial ecosystems and the development, adoption and diffusion of new technologies. Jan has been involved in several externally funded research projects, including projects investigating innovation districts, entrepreneurial support organisations and decarbonisation initiatives in the resources sector. Jan has developed and teaches several subjects that equip students with skills related to innovation and entrepreneurship.

Prior to joining UTS, Jan worked as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Centre for METS Business Innovation at QUT Business School researching firm and system level enablers and barriers to technology development, adoption and diffusion. He received his PhD for his research at the Australian Centre for Entrepreneurship Research at QUT investigating start-up activities and impact of returnee entrepreneurs in emerging economies. Jan also completed a Master of Business (International Business) and a Bachelor of Science in Communication Science.

Before working in academia, Jan accumulated extensive industry experiences as a journalist, editor and news anchor for radio and print media in Germany.

A/Prof Tony Huang is Course Director of Data Science and Innovation at the UTS Transdisciplinary School and an Executive Committee member of the UTS Visualisation Institute. Prior to joining UTS, he led the Human-Data Interaction Program at the Swinburne Data Science Research Institute and the Collaboration and Visual Analytics Group at the Human Interface Technology Laboratory Australia (HIT Lab AU) in Tasmania.

His research focuses on human-centred AI and visual data analytics, particularly how AI, data analytics and interactive visualisations can support people in understanding complex information, communicating analytical findings and making informed decisions. His current research includes human-AI interaction, responsible AI, AI-supported visual analytics, and the design and evaluation of human-in-the-loop AI and analytics systems.

A/Prof Huang has extensive experience leading and collaborating in transdisciplinary research and industry projects, working with researchers, industry partners and domain experts across disciplinary boundaries to address real-world problems through AI, data analytics and visualisation. His work spans business and finance, health, education, manufacturing, energy and sustainability, with applications ranging from remote training and maintenance in manufacturing to business and organisational decision-making, AI-powered personal companions to support sustainable self-care for chronic pain, and eco-visualisation for pro-environmental behaviour change.

Within UTS, he leads a research team of PhD students, postdoctoral researchers, research assistants and visiting scholars. The team develops methods and tools that combine AI and machine learning with human knowledge, interactive visualisation and domain expertise to support effective and responsible decision-making.

His research has resulted in more than 200 publications in high-quality academic venues, including books on human-centric visualisation published by Springer and collaborative technologies published by Wiley-IEEE Press. His research has attracted more than AUD $3 million in funding, including competitive ARC Discovery and Linkage projects, as well as projects funded by government and industry partners such as the NSW Department of Education, Water Corporation, EnergyAustralia and Boeing.

The impact of his research and international standing are reflected in invited keynote speeches at international conferences and industry forums, the commercialisation and industry adoption of technologies developed through his research, and his recognition among Stanford’s top 2% of scientists worldwide each year since 2020. He received funded international visiting appointments and fellowships at the University of Konstanz in Germany, HKUST (Guangzhou) in China, and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University in Taiwan, and presented in invitation-only Dagstuhl Seminars in Germany and NII Shonan Meeting in Japan.

A/Prof Huang has a strong track record in curriculum design, accreditation and academic program leadership, particularly in data science and emerging technologies. As Course Director in Data Science and Innovation, he has led major curriculum development and redevelopment initiatives, integrating data science with innovation, specialised disciplinary knowledge and real-world applications. These initiatives emphasise inclusion and diversity while providing flexible learning pathways that support students’ different backgrounds, interests and career goals. They have attracted strong interest from international students and contributed to sustained enrolment growth. He works across faculties and with industry to develop contemporary curricula that respond to advances in technology, evolving industry needs and diverse student learning needs. He also led the development of Australia’s first and only Executive Master of Data Science and Innovation, designed for experienced professionals and industry leaders. His educational initiatives and projects have also attracted external funding, including support from the Australian Government Office for Learning and Teaching and the Tasmanian Clinical Education Network.

A/Prof Huang has served as Associate Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Visual Languages and Computing. He is Associate Editor of Behaviour & Information Technology, an invited Guest Editor for Q1 and SCI-indexed journals, founding and current Chair of the award-winning IEEE SMC Technical Committee on Visual Analytics and Communication, a grant assessor for the Australian Research Council and international funding agencies, and an invited examiner of about 25 PhD theses across Australian universities. He has also provided consultancy to Fortune 500 companies and successfully supervised and mentored numerous PhD candidates and postdoctoral researchers who have progressed to senior positions in academia and industry. He has been regularly invited to take on senior leadership roles at major international conferences, including as General Chair and Program Chair, and is currently a General Co-Chair of IEEE Pacific Visualization 2026 and the Australasian Data Science and Machine Learning Conference (AusDM 2026).

Ajanie is a PhD Candidate (awaiting conferral) at the Transdisciplinary School (TD School) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. Her research interests lie in the application of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, with a primary focus on AI in education (AIED). Drawing on her background in software engineering, she brings a strong socio-technical perspective to her work, aiming to develop meaningful solutions within this domain.

Her doctoral research addresses the challenges of information seeking in the era of misinformation and generative AI (GenAI). She is designing a pedagogical intervention tailored for higher education, featuring a GenAI tool named INFO-NAVIGATE, which she developed to support students in navigating complex information landscapes.

In addition to her PhD work, Ajanie contributes as a research assistant at both UTS and Monash University. Her current research focuses on designing sustainable teaching modules for secondary education to teach uncertainty and disagreements in complex topics using local language models. Her previous research in AIED focused on investigating student engagement with GenAI tools during assessment writing and integrating Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) principles into ICT education. As part of the EDI initiative, she developed an AI-powered chatbot to assist educators in embedding EDI principles into their teaching practices.

Ajanie actively engages with the academic community through conferences. She served on the program committee for the 26th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED 2025), where she also reviewed multiple papers. In recognition of her successful progress in PhD research and research contributions, she was awarded the Vice Chancellor’s Conference Fund Scholarship in 2025.

She also serves as a teaching assistant at TD School and the Faculty of Science at UTS, contributing to both undergraduate and postgraduate courses. She teaches in the Argument, Evidence and Intuition (AEI) course at the undergraduate level and the Applied Natural Language Processing (ANLP) course at the postgraduate level.

Prior to commencing her PhD, Ajanie worked as a software engineering professional for over five years at a global technology company. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Management and Information Technology from the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Big Data Analytics from Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.

Dr Leila Khanjaninejad (she/her) is a Lecturer in Creative Intelligence and Innovation in Transdisciplinary (TD) School, UTS. Her research is focused on gender equity and inclusion in male dominated sectors and the impact of organisational policies on diversity and inclusion. Leila’s expertise lies in development studies and social sustainability. In the past 10 years she has conducted and contributed to research projects on women in management and leadership, gender equity in sport, and women and girls’ attraction and retention in male-dominated higher education, STEM. She is a mixed methods researcher with experience in conducting quantitative and qualitative research towards understanding and addressing complex social problems. 

Leila supports flexible learning mode in her teaching and strives to create an inclusive and positive learning environment for students. Prior to joining the TD School, she worked as an educator at Macquarie University, UTS Business School and Centre for Business and Social Innovation. Before that, she worked as educator, researcher, and consultant in different universities and industries. Leila holds a PhD in Management from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Masters of Research in Development Management and Bachelor’s in Social Sciences.