Leadership team

Investigators

Name  Position  Research area  Email 
Amir Aryani Associate Professor Data structures aaryani@swinburne.edu.au
Tracy De Cotta Research Assistant, Social Innovation Research Institute Social innovation tdecotta@swinburne.edu.au
Jane Farmer Director, Social Innovation Research Institute Social innovation jcfarmer@swinburne.edu.au
Terry Healy
Swinburne Adjunct 
CSIRO History Project 
thealy@swinburne.edu.au
Sarah Hegarty
Data Scientist 
Economics of innovation 
shegarty@swinburne.edu.au
Trevor Kollmann
Research Fellow 
Economics of innovation 
tkollmann@swinburne.edu.au
Eva Kyndt Professorial Fellow Networked innovation ekyndt@swinburne.edu.au
Dean Lusher
Professor, Innovation Studies 
Networked innovation 
dlusher@swinburne.edu.au
Ngoc Dieu Le Nguyen Postgraduate Fellow Economics of innovation ndnguyen@swinburne.edu.au
Bopha Roden Research Fellow Network innovation broden@swinburne.edu.au
Milovan Savic Research Fellow, Social Innovation Research Institute Social innovation msavic@swinburne.edu.au
Thomas Spurling
Professorial Fellow 
CSIRO History Project 
tspurling@swinburne.edu.au
Russell Thomson
Professorial Fellow 
Economics of innovation 
russellthomson@swinburne.edu.au
Helen Wolff Research Assistant  CSIRO History Project helenwolff@swinburne.edu.au
Zhuochen Wu Data Scientist Social data analytics zhuochenwu@swinburne.edu.au
Hui Yin Postdoctoral Research Fellow Social data analytics huiyin@swinburne.edu.au

Adjunct fellows

Name Research area Email
Sahar Araghi Economics of innovation saraghi@swinburne.edu.au
Jocelyn Bardot Australian Encyclopaedia of History and Science jbardot@swinburne.edu.au
Julien Brailly Networked innovation jbrailly@swinburne.edu.au
Julia Brennecke Networked innovation jbrennecke@swinburne.edu.au
Phil Casey CSIRO History Project  pcasey@swinburne.edu.au
Helen Cohn Australian Encyclopaedia of History and Science hcohn@swinburne.edu.au
Ian Elsum Networked innovation ielsum@swinburne.edu.au
Michael Gilding Networked innovation mgilding@swinburne.edu.au
Dan Hunter Intellectual property law  dhunter@swinburne.edu.au
Paul Jensen Economics of innovation pauljensen@swinburne.edu.au
Francesco Lissoni Economics of innovation  francesco.lissoni@u-bordeaux.fr
Libo Liu Economics of innovation liboliu@swinburne.edu.au
Gavan McCarthy Australian Encyclopaedia of History and Science gavanmccarthy@swinburne.edu.au
Ken McInnes Australian Encyclopaedia of History and Science kmcinnes@swinburne.edu.au
David Paynter Economics of innovation dpaynter@swinburne.edu.au
Garry Robbins Networked innovation garrylr@unimelb.edu.au
Howard Upstill CSIRO History Project hupstill@swinburne.edu.au
John Webb Networked innovation jmwebb@swinburne.edu.au
Nobu Yamashita Economics of innovation nyamashita@swinburne.edu.au

PhD candidates 

Name  Research area 
Federico Bignone Economics of Innovation
Luan Cheng Social Data Analytics
Mohammad Danish Economics of Innovation
Herath Mudiyanselage Koswatta Economics of Innovation
Fatima Satter Lekhe Economics of Innovation
William Scales Economics of Innovation
Chelsey Taylor Networked Innovation
Harry Toukalas Social Network Analysis
Teresa Walton Career Diversity
Neelam Yousaf Networked Innovation

Affiliates

Name  Position  Research area  Email 
Mitchell Adams Lecturer, Law  Intellectual property  madams@swinburne.edu.au
Timothy Bednall Senior Lecturer, Management  Networked innovation  tbednall@swinburne.edu.au
Roberto Chavez Clavijo Lecturer, Supply Chain Management  Supply chain management, sustainability and lean manufacturing  rchavezclavijo@swinburne.edu.au
Mardy Chiah Lecturer, Finance  Economics of innovation and finance  cchiah@swinburne.edu.au
Alex Codoreanu Data Scientist  Economics of innovation  acodoreanu@swinburne.edu.au
Christine Jubb Professor of Accounting  Enterprise governance  cjubb@swinburne.edu.au
Adam Karg    Senior Research Fellow  Networked innovation  akarg@swinburne.edu.au
Timothy Marjoribanks Associate Dean (Research and Engagement)  Organisations and leadership  tmarjoribanks@swinburne.edu.au
Amir Moradi Motlagh Lecturer, Accounting  Economics of innovation  amoradi@swinburne.edu.au
Jeremy Nguyen Lecturer, Economics  Applied economics  jdnguyen@swinburne.edu.au
Grainne Oates Senior Lecturer, Accounting and Finance  Enterprise governance  goates@swinburne.edu.au
Kai Qin Associate Professor, School of Software and Electrical Engineering  Machine learning  kqin@swinburne.edu.au
Amanda Scardamaglia Department Chair, Law  Intellectual property  ascardamaglia@swinburne.edu.au
Mile Terziovski Chair, Department of Business Technology and Entrepreneurship  Entrepreneurship and innovation  mterziovski@swinburne.edu.au
Abbas Valadkhani Professor, Economics  Economics of innovation  abbas@swinburne.edu.au

Advisory board

As founding director of Invetech, Dr Gosling has been working in the field of process and product development and related R&D for clients ranging from high-tech start-ups to “smoke-stack” industry global companies for nearly 40 years.

This has provided him with an exceptional base of practical experience regarding what it takes to progress new technologies to commercial success. He was part of the management team that led Invetech firstly to public listing (as Vision Systems Ltd) and then to its acquisition by the US Danaher group for over $800 million. 

Dr Gosling is a Past National President of the Australasian Industrial Research Group, a Past National President of the Australia-Malaysia Business Council, a Fellow of the Academy of Technology and Engineering, and a Governor of the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering.
 

Mark Albert is the Managing Director of MtM Pty Ltd, an automotive components manufacturer in South Oakleigh, Melbourne. Founded in 1965 as Melbourne Tooling Co., MtM has quickly expanded to include manufacturing before moving onto component design – specialising in complex value-added automotive and non-automotive components.

MtM’s innovation is driven by the desire for comprehensive functionality embodied in simplicity. As a recognised supplier of high-quality components, MtM supplied the original five local customers of Ford, Holden, Toyota, Nissan and Mitsubishi for over 30 years.
 

Phillip Butler is a member of the Strategic Advisory Committee of CSIRO Manufacturing Division, a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering, and Chair of Textor Technologies. Textor is an example of a highly successful Australian textile company that manufactures components for nappies, feminine healthcare and incontinence products.

The company has been transformed through constant innovation into a state-of-the-art operation supplying multinationals operating throughout the world. The business is a family-owned SME that collaborates with Australian research institutes and takes world-class innovation into global supply chains. Currently, the business exports fabrics to 18 countries around the world. 

In addition to leading this transformation, Phillip has been the Chair of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Industries Innovation Council; a member of the Prime Minister’s Manufacturing Taskforce; a member of the National Placed Base Advisory Group (Department of Human Services); Deputy Chair of the National Precinct Board; and Chair of the Innovative Manufacturing CRC.

Jason is a successful leader of businesses that have innovation at their core with over 20 years of experience across research and development, intellectual property management, venture capital investment, commercialisation, operational and strategic leadership. With a wealth of executive leadership experience, Jason influences positive change through innovation.

Jason originally trained and worked as a medical researcher before transitioning to private intellectual property legal practice and then to intellectual property management, business development and executive leadership roles.

Throughout his career, he has operated at the intersection of science and business, leading the translation of high-quality research and development into commercial and social impact within a spectrum of industries including healthcare, advanced manufacturing and digital technology.

Jason is capable of developing and implementing corporate strategies to foster long-term growth, as well as managing day-to-day operations. Jason is astute at raising funds from industry and government and managing large operational budgets and investment portfolios. 

Jason holds a BSc (Hons), PhD, MIP Law and MBA, and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and Fellow of the Institute of Patent and Trade Mark Attorneys of Australia.

Tony Dunstan is a CEO with a demonstrated track record of achievement in both industry and commerce. Following eight years building a broad financial skillset at Price Waterhouse, he then moved into industry, holding a diverse range of roles within Olex Cables (later Nexans Olex), a power cable solutions business servicing the building, energy, infrastructure and resources sectors in Australia and New Zealand. 

Tony has led a number of major business transformation projects and turnarounds, including the closure of a major factory in Australia (and the establishment of resultant supply chains out of Asia and the USA) plus the complete redesign of the sales function into value streams to deliver customer service excellence.

Between 2001 and 2006, Tony was heavily involved as a shareholder in the private equity buyout of Olex Cables, leading both its acquisition from Pacific Dunlop and subsequent divestment to Nexans. At the time, this was the most successful private equity divestment in Australian history.
 

Michael Edwards joined the Boeing Company in August 2011 and is the Senior Director of Boeing Research and Technology (BR&T) - Asia Pacific. He carries executive responsibility for the delivery of the company’s research portfolio in the region (excluding China).

Michael oversees a highly collaborative research team focused on creating the future for the Boeing enterprise globally. In his capacity as Senior Director of BR&T - Asia Pacific, Michael is a member of the BR&T Global Technology Leadership Team, as well as the Boeing Australia Enterprise Leadership Team.

Prior to joining Boeing, Michael worked with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) for 11 years. At CSIRO, he held the position of General Manager, CSIRO Performance and Evaluation including Flagship Operations from 2008, as well as fulfilling an overseas posting as Senior Technical Advisor to Boeing based in Seattle, USA from 2005 to 2008.

Michael also held the role of Business Development Manager for CSIRO Atmospheric Research based in Melbourne, Australia from 2000 to 2005.

Prior to his experience with CSIRO, Michael also worked for 15 years in the plastics, chemicals and petrochemicals industries in Australia, including 12 years with Orica Australia Ltd. Michael has a Bachelor of Science with a major in chemistry from Monash University, as well as a Graduate Certificate in Business Administration (Executive) from Monash Business School.

Michael was awarded Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) in 2014 and recognised with a Distinguished Leadership Award by Aviation / Aerospace Australia in 2022.

Michael is a highly experienced Commercial Scientific Director, qualified in electro-optics with multinational achievements with MNCs, SMEs, start-ups and government in industrial research, innovative collaboration, business development and management.

Michael Gilding is currently the Vice President and Executive Dean, College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University. He is also on the National Education Advisory Committee of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a former President of the Australian Sociological Association. Michael's current research interests include the creation of new markets, family offices, entrepreneurial ecosystems and national innovation systems.
 

Penelope Lane has held leadership positions in Australian and international biotechnology and healthcare companies for over 20 years. In addition, she has held positions within the Victorian State Government as the Lead of Global Health Melbourne for the Department of Health and as the Senior Investment Manager (Healthcare, MedTech and Pharmaceuticals) for Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources. 

Penelope’s career has focused on the development of healthcare, biomedical and technology strategies for global organisations, investment communities and rapidly growing young technology companies. Her experiences include technology commercialisation, international expansion strategies, capital raising and acquisitions, the development of global healthcare programs, and the facilitation of advanced government and large investor projects. 

Penelope is currently the CEO of Optix Advisory, a provider of detailed strategic advice, innovation and commercialisation for the biomedical and healthcare industries. She holds several board positions, is actively involved in Melbourne and SCALE Angel networks, and has worked for international and global projects including BlueStar (across South East Asia), Marie Stopes International Women’s Health, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
 

Kathie is an experienced research leader with a demonstrated history of working in the research industry – skilled in research and development, electrochemistry, chemical engineering, science, analytical chemistry and materials science. Kathie is also a strong operations professional with a PhD focused in chemistry from University of Melbourne.

Dr Benjamin Mitra-Kahn has been the Chief Economist at IP Australia since November 2012, where he provides evidence-based policy advice on intellectual property. IP Australia is responsible for legislation, enforcement, international negotiation and granting of patents, trademarks, designs and plant breeders rights.

Previously, he was the senior economist at the UK Intellectual Property Office, where he covered areas as diverse as the EU patent, patent funds, thickets, backlogs, business performance and IP rights. He also led on economics for the UK’s Hargreaves Review of intellectual property. Dr Mitra-Kahn’s background includes time as an academic, consultant and company director, and a number of expert panels with the OECD and other organisations.
 

Julie Toth heads the Australian Industry (Ai) Group’s economics team, producing economics research, comment and policy advice for Ai Group and its members. Julie oversees Ai Group’s highly regarded monthly ‘performance of industry’ surveys and its economics research program. She is an active participant in Australia’s national business, industry and economic policy conversations and consultation processes.

In addition to her role at Ai Group, Julie is an Adjunct Professor of Economics for the MBA program at Deakin University’s Business School. She is an advisory board member for the economics faculty at Deakin University and a panel member of the Melbourne Economic Forum, hosted by the University of Melbourne.

Julie has more than two decades of experience in Australian economic policy and research, working across the public and private sectors. Prior to joining Ai Group in 2012, Julie held senior economics roles with the ANZ Bank, the Productivity Commission, the Bureau of Immigration and Population Research and other federal government agencies. Julie holds a Master of Industrial Relations and Labour Economics (Monash University), a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) (University of Melbourne) and a Bachelor of Arts (University of Melbourne).
 

Paul Wright is currently a Non-Executive Director of ASX-listed product development company Hydrix and bio-separations company Memphasys. He is also a member of the advisory board for digital water solutions provider Waterwerx. 

In his executive career, Paul spent 18 years as CEO of three of Australia’s leading international technology companies. At ASX-listed Universal Biosensors (UBI), Paul built long-term partnerships with global diagnostics leaders Siemens Healthcare and Johnson & Johnson, and led the company through a period of strong international sales growth and new product development.

Before UBI, Paul was CEO of Invetech (1999–2007), an internationally renowned product design and development company and Vision BioSystems (2007–2008), the major subsidiary of ASX-listed Vision Systems Limited that developed, manufactured and marketed diagnostic instruments and consumables to pathology laboratories worldwide. 

Prior to this, Paul spent over eight years working in Europe, North America and Asia with corporate strategy consultants Bain & Company, advising multinational clients on growth strategy, mergers and acquisitions, and operations improvement. As General Manager of Corporate Development at TNT Logistics, Paul played a key role in the development of a major contract logistics business in Asia establishing business infrastructure in China, Malaysia and Indonesia. 

Paul has a Masters of Engineering from the University of Cambridge, has studied corporate finance at the London Business School, and is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
 

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