Who are our academic staff?
Professor Rob Whelan
BSc Hons Flinders, PhD Western Australia
Professor Rob Whelan is the President at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. He was previously the Dean of Science at the University of Wollongong in Australia (2002-2008), and Head of the School of Biological Sciences (1993-2002), where he was a member of the academic staff from 1982.
During his career at the University of Wollongong, Professor Whelan established the University as one of the leading centers for research, internationally, for fire ecology and for the ecology and genetics of threatened plant and animal species. He is the author of a major research monograph “The Ecology of Fire”, published by Cambridge University Press in 1995 (with 6 re-printings), has published over 100 scientific papers, and has attracted over A$2.8 million in competitive research funding. He has supervised over 40 Masters and PhD research students. He has been Vice President of the Ecological Society of Australia and editor of its professional journal, The Australian Journal of Ecology (now called Austral Ecology).
As a result of the impact of his research work, Professor Whelan has been invited to serve on many State and Federal Government committees in Australia; chair of the New South Wales National Parks Advisory Council, chair of a panel conducting a statutory review of the Nature Conservation Trust Act for the NSW State Government; panel-member of the National Inquiry into Bushfire Mitigation and Management (Council of Australian Governments); member of the Biological Sciences and Biotechnology Expert Advisory Committee and of the Research, Training and Careers Committee of the Australian Research Council (ARC); and member of the Working Group on Climate Change Adaptation for the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council.
Please click here for a recent article on Professor Rob Whelan.
Professor Mohamed Khalifa
B. Informatics, Institut Superieur de Gestion, Tunis,
MA, PhD, The Wharton Business School, Pennsylvania
Professor Mohamed Khalifa is the Vice-President (Academic) at UOWD. He received the degrees of Bachelor in Informatics from the Institut Superieur de Gestion de Tunis in 1983, M.A. in Decision Sciences from the Wharton Business School (University of Pennsylvania) in 1986, and PhD in Management Information Systems from the Wharton Business School in 1991.
Professor Khalifa has gained extensive professional and academic experience in several countries including the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, China, Sweden and the United Arab Emirates. He started his academic career in 1989 in the Department of Decision Sciences at Concordia University (Montreal, Canada) and subsequently moved to City University of Hong Kong where he served for over 11 years. In 2006, he was appointed Dean of the College of Business Administration at Abu Dhabi University, where he also served as a Provost. The professional experience of Professor Khalifa includes the positions of Senior Consultant for the Institute of Research on Higher Education in the USA, Senior Consultant in Electronic Business and Knowledge Management for the Hong Kong Productivity Council and Senior Consultant in Business Process Reengineering for the Hong Kong Government.
Professor Khalifa has received the Teaching Excellence Award twice for his distinguished teaching. He has conducted extensive research in the areas of innovation adoption, electronic commerce, IT-enabled learning and knowledge management. He has published over 90 refereed articles. His work appeared in journals such as Decision Sciences, Information and Management, Communications of the ACM, OMEGA, Journal of the Association of Information Systems, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Organizational Computing and Electronic Commerce, IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics, IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, International Journal of Human Computer Interaction, and Data Base.
Professor Khalifa is currently serving as Senior Editor for the AIS Transaction on HCI and Associate Editor for the European Journal of Information Systems.
Dr. Mohamed-Vall M. Salem
BSc Jeddah, MSc, PhD Montreal
Dr. Mohamed-Vall M. Salem is the Dean, Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering. He received a Master of Science and PhD in Computer Science from the University of Montreal (Canada). While a postgraduate student, he received the IBM Centre for Advanced Studies Ph.D. fellowship for three consecutive years and the "Bourse d’excellence de la Francophonie" from the Canadian International Development Agency.
Dr Salem previously worked as a software engineer for several years, undertaking collaborative research with the IBM Center of Advanced Studies (Toronto) and HP Protocol Test Center (Montreal), and worked for some time as a product analyst for a start-up software company in Canada. His areas of interest and expertise are in both technical and non-technical aspects of computing including software engineering, performance analysis and scalability, innovation and ethics in information technologies. He was appointed in 2005 as Faculty Fellow with the IBM Toronto Laboratory Centre for Advanced Studies and is a member of the steering committee of the North African and Middle East ACM Programming contest.
Dr. Mufeed Rawashdeh
BBA Yarmouk, MBA, PhD St Louis, CMA, CFM
Dr. Mufeed Rawashdeh is the Dean, Faulty of Finance & Accounting at UOWD.
He received a Bachelor degree in Administrative Sciences from Yarmouk University (Jordan) and an MBA & PhD in Accounting & International Business from Saint Louis University (USA).
Dr. Rawashdeh joined UOWD as an Associate Professor of Accounting in September 2008, prior to that, he held similar positions at the American University in Dubai (UAE), Central Washington University (USA), Alakhawayn University (Morocco), UAE University (UAE), & Yarmouk University (Jordan).
Dr. Rawashdeh’s research interests are in international financial accounting, financial markets, disclosure, and use of accounting information in decision making. He has published his work in the Financial Review, Journal of American Academy of Business, Abhath Al-Yarmouk Journal, Journal of Economic Studies, Journal of Administration & Economics of Baghdad University, Applied Financial Economic Letters, & Management Accounting quarterly. He has presented his work at several international and regional conferences and is a recipient of two research awards.
Dr. Rawashdeh holds the professional designations of CMA and CFM from the Institute of Management Accountants (USA). He has served as a consultant & a trainer for both government & business entities. He has also served as General Manager and Director of Finance for a private company in Abu Dhabi.
Dr. Michael Willemyns
BAHons, PhD Queensland
Dr. Michael Willemyns is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business & Management. He has a PhD in Workplace Psychology, with a focus on manager-employee communication and leadership. He is an experienced professor in Organizational Behaviour, Business Communication, Human Resource Management, Cross-Cultural Management, and Strategic Management. He has presented courses and consulted internationally, including in the United States, Britain, Malaysia, UAE and Bahrain. He has also been Principal Consultant for a large Human Resource Management (HRM) consultancy.
His research has been published in numerous well-known Management, Psychology, and Communication publications, and has presented his research at various international conferences.
Dr. Melodena Stephens Balakrishnan
BSc Bombay, MBA Pune, PhD Bharati Vidyapeeth
Dr. Melodena Balakrishnan is an Associate Professor and Deputy Dean in the Faculty of Business and Management. She had approximately 8 years of work experience before she joined UOWD as an Assistant Professor in 2005. Her corporate experience spans from product management, facilitating joint ventures and organizational training. She worked in Citibank NA, Bajaj Electricals and Eureka Forbes Ltd, India’s largest direct sales company. She has lived in India, USA, Taiwan and now Dubai.
Dr. Balakrishnan won a gold medal for her PhD thesis. She is a National Talent Search Scholar, a scholarship funded by the government of India and offered to 1% of all national applicants.
Dr. Balakrishnan’s areas of research specialization range from branding, destination marketing, service management and customer relationship marketing and she has published articles in those areas. She has presented several research papers at conferences and seminars on these topics. Recently she won a research grant (A$ 12,500) for a project studying Place Brand Architecture. Her article “Dubai a Star in the East” which was published in March 2008, is one of the most downloaded cases on the Emerald Publishing Group having 8553 downloads on 14 October 2009. She is an ad hoc reviewer for the European Journal of Marketing. She is also the Chair of the Middle East North Africa Chapter of the Academy of International Business, a 50 year old reputed organization.
Dr. Balakrishnan teaches both undergraduate and postgraduate students covering topics such as Marketing Strategy, Service Marketing, Competitive Analysis and International Marketing. She is currently also the Programme Director for the MBA. She has written cases for texts such as Kotler and Armstrong and Lovelock and Wirx (Pearson Publishing). She has worked on research projects and written cases for many regional and international companies such as Dubai Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Jumeirah Group, JAFZA, New 7 Wonders and Yum! Restaurant International, (a Fortune 500 company).
Dr Arijit Sikdar
BTech, Indian School of Mines, PhD IIM Ahmedabad
Dr. Arijit Sikdar is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. Prior to this, he was a member of the faculty at the Indian Institute of Management in Indore (India).
Dr. Sikdar received his Ph.D. in 1997 from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (India) with a specialization in Business Policy. He obtained his Bachelor of Technology from the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad in 1987. Dr Sikdar has worked with industry for more than five years before shifting to academia. He brings with him a rich blend of industry practice and management theory.
Dr. Sikdar’s research interests include strategic management of technology and innovations, entrepreneurship and technology applications in supply chain management. He has presented papers in many international conferences and has published in reputed international journals. His publication was awarded the Best Research Paper award by UOWD in 2007.
Dr. Sikdar is a professional member of the Academy of Management (USA) and Supply Chain Logistics Group (UAE). He has also reviewed submission for journals and conferences and has co-supervised two doctoral students.
Dr. Gwendolyn Rodrigues
BA, MA, DipResMeth TISS, PhD Bombay
Dr. Gwendolyn Rodrigues is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Finance and Accounting at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. Dr. Rodrigues was awarded the Teacher fellowship by the University Grants Commission - India for her Ph.D in Economics (International Trade). She has 29 years teaching experience at the undergraduate as well as postgraduate level.
Her administrative experience includes four years as Vice-Principal and two years as Principal of Mulund College of Commerce, University of Mumbai, India. The college was accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council as an ‘A’ Grade college under her stewardship. She was a member of Board of Studies in Business Economics - University of Mumbai, for two consecutive terms (10 years) during this period she was on the committee for developing the syllabus for Managerial Economics and Economics of Global Trade and Finance at the Masters degree in Commerce and for the new Bachelors of Business Administration introduced by the University. She has co-authored a number of books which include Business Economics –Paper I (Micro Economics), Business Economics Paper II (Macro Economics) and Indian Economic Problems. Her book on Economics of Global Trade and Finance is used as the official study material for the Master of Commerce by the Directorate of Distance Education - University of Mumbai, India.
In 2007, Dr. Rodrigues was awarded two grants under the University of Wollongong Research Grant Scheme to study (i) Factors affecting inflows of foreign direct investment: a study of two emirates and (ii) Development of the globalisation index for the GCC countries. She has been recently nominated as an expert to represent labour by ESMA at the ISO 26000 to be held in Vienna.
Dr. Sumit Mitra
BMechEng, PhD Indian Institute of Management
Dr. Sumit Mitra holds a PhD in Business Policy from the Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad, India. He has a number of years of teaching experience in premier management institutes in India handling MBA level teaching and administrative responsibility. Other responsibilities include Executive Training Programmes for state and private sector businesses and consultancy assignments. International assignments include teaching at the Manchester Business School (MBS) and Hull University Business School (HUBS) both in UK. Research and publication interests pertain to emerging global competitive structure in automobile, telecom and airlines industries particularly focussed on India, China and the GCC. Trained as a Mechanical Engineer, Dr. Mitra has worked in the industry for six years handling global tenders and corporate planning responsibilities.
Dr. Prakash Vel Kumar Shankar
BBA, MPhil, MBA, PhD Madurai Kamaraj
Dr. Prakash Vel is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Business and Management with 18 years of experience in industry and academia in Singapore, Bahrain, India, Malaysia, Kuwait and Dubai in the field of marketing.
He specialises in the areas of research, consulting and training, with a focus on Services Marketing, Applied Marketing Research, Consumer Behaviour, Marketing Communications, Sales Management, Marketing Management and Direct Marketing. He has trained and consulted for more than 14 corporate clients, has authored a book on Marketing Research and has been a freelance Marketing Researcher with Taylor Nelson Sofres (Dubai), Synovate Research (Malaysia) and YouGovSiraj (Dubai). He is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK).
Dr. Catherine Todd
BEngHons, PhD UOW
Dr. Catherine Todd is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering. Catherine received the B. Eng. (Electrical) degree with honors (Class I), followed by the PhD degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Wollongong, Australia. In 2002 she completed a cadetship in Electrical Engineering at the BHP Steelworks in Port Kembla, Australia. Prior to joining UOWD, Dr. Todd worked as a staff member at the School of Informatics, University of Wollongong in Australia. Her academic interests are in the areas of digital signal (image) processing and control systems, with particular focus on virtual manipulation and its applications in medical education. Dr. Todd’s research interest includes: Decision Support Systems for Mammogram and Prostate Cancer Diagnosis, Artificial Retinas, and Automated Segmentation and Manipulation of the Human Cochlea.
Dr. Peter Hosie
BEd WAIT, BAHons Murdoch, MBus Curtin, PhD UWA
Dr Peter Hosie is an Associate Professor in Management with the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. He has taught most aspects of Human Resource Management in Perth, Singapore, China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Austria and now Dubai.
Peter holds a Bachelor of Education from Western Australia Institute of Technology, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours from Murdoch University, a Master of Business with Distinction from Curtin University of Technology, and a PhD from The University of Western Australia.
He has published 42 refereed articles, 10 books and chapters, and 24 conference refereed papers, as well as a host of practitioner articles and consultancy reports which are internationally widely cited.
His research interests include the relationships between managers’ job related affective wellbeing, and performance, crisis and security management in tourism, and Technologically–Mediated Learning.
Dr. Hosie is the lead author (with Peter P. Sevastos and Cary L. Cooper) for a book, Happy-Performing Managers: The Impact of Affective Wellbeing and Intrinsic Job Satisfaction in the Workplace published in 2006 by Edward Elgar. A peer review process selected it as one of the ‘most promising management books of the future’ for an invited keynote presentation in the high-profile book track at the 2006 European Academy of Management conference.
He is also the Web Editor for the journal Research and Practice in Human Resource Management.
Dr. Farhad Keissarian
BSc Sussex, MSc, PhD Nottingham
Dr. Keissarian received his B.Sc. from the University of Sussex, UK, and an M.Sc. and PhD from the University of Nottingham, UK, all in Electronic Engineering. Prior to teaching at UOWD, he served on the faculties of the University of Nottingham in UK, and the United Arab Emirates University in UAE, where he served as faculty member for seven years.
Dr. Keissarian’s functions as a faculty member have been diverse, ranging from course development and research to administrative activities. He has taught several courses at different levels in the fields of Electronic / Computer Engineering and Information Technology. He has also carried out a number of funded research projects in the field of Industrial Applications of Digital Image Processing in recent years.
His research interests are in the area of Digital Image Processing with a focus on image / video coding and watermarking.
Dr. Swapna Koshy
BA, MA, PhD Kerala, TESOL
Assistant Professor Swapna Koshy has over sixteen years of tertiary teaching experience in subjects ranging from English Language and Literature to Business Communication. She has been with UOWD for five years now and had the opportunity to develop and implement ARTS subjects including Introduction to University Life. Other contributions include a two year stint as working paper series co-ordinator and academic advisor and PELT faculty for UG and PG students. Dr Koshy is actively involved with various student clubs and serves as faculty co-ordinator for inter university public speaking, debate, quiz and drama competitions. She also helps to organise The Wollongong Cup - an annual national public speaking competition.
Dr. Koshy was awarded her doctoral degree for studies in Indian Aesthetics. She has published articles in the field and also edited a book titled ‘Indian Poetics and Modern Texts’. She is on the editorial board of Littcrit – a literary journal which has been in circulation for over 25 years. Her current research interests include assessment methods and the issue of plagiarism and she has presented papers at international conferences and won research grants for the same. Dr. Koshy’s papers have been published in books and journals and she won the ‘Best Paper Award’ at the International Multi-Conference on Society, Cybernetics and Informatics, 2008. She is also engaged in creative writing and has published poems, short stories and plays.
Dr Koshy was a student of English Language and Literature and was awarded top ranks and scholarships at the tertiary and higher education levels.
Dr. Kamal Jaafar
BS, MPhil, MBA, PhD Cambridge
Dr Kamal Jaafar is an Associate Professor in Engineering Management with the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering. He holds a B.S, MPhil and PhD Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Cambridge, and an MBA degree from Ashcroft International Business School in Cambridge. He also attained studies in international relations from Harvard University. In 2004, he was honoured by Prince Charles as a Fellow of the Cambridge Overseas Trust. In 2005 his research won first prize at the Royal College of Physicists in London organised by KRSF. Recently he has been honoured by the Lebanese government for his academic achievements.
His research interests focuses on seismic design and safety implementations for concrete structures. His research has been published in well known engineering journals such as the ACI Journal, Canadian Journal for Civil Engineers, and Magazine of Concrete Research. He has presented his research at various international conferences in UK, USA, Greece and Italy. Dr. Jaafar is a corporate consultant and a trainer in Project Management.
Dr Payyazhi Jayashree
BA Hons, MA, PhD Delhi
Dr. Payyazhi Jayashree is an Associate Professor in Management with the Faculty of Business and Management and Head, Centre for Academic Staff Professional Development (CASPD) at UOWD. Dr. Jayashree’s areas of specialization include Organizational Behaviour, Organizational Development, Change Management and Training & Development and she has a proven track record of excellence in teaching and related duties. Dr Jayashree is also a Certified Trainer and Facilitator, and has strong operational experience in designing, delivering and leading several human resource development and training initiatives aimed at driving business results. As a trainer Dr Jayashree has initiated, lead and implemented a range of management development programs for managers, from reputed organizations that include multinationals based in the UAE.
Dr Jayashree’s research interests and contributions are in the field of Performance Management, specifically the application of Balanced Scorecard Framework, Organizational Socialization, Job Satisfaction, Value congruence, and Sociodemographic factors associated with Happiness and Subjective well-being. Dr Jayashree was recently Highly Commended in recognition of Excellence in Teaching and Related Duties by the ITC Group of Companies, a University of Wollongong Enterprise (November 2008). Other recent awards include a Research Grant under the UOWD Research Grant Scheme (2008-2009), Certificate of Merit in Recognition of Outstanding Contribution to Research (First International Business Conference, 2008, Michigan, USA) and endorsement by Internationally Acclaimed Network of Social Scientists, The World Values Survey Network for proposed research in the area of Gross National Happiness in the United Arab Emirates (December 2008).
Dr. Abdellatif Tchantchane
BSc Case Western Reserve, MA Arizona State, PhD Setif
Dr. Abdellatif Tchantchane earned a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Computer Engineering from Case Western Reserve University, Ohio, USA, a Masters degree in Mathematics with high honors from Arizona State University, USA, and a State Doctorate in Nuclear Physics from Ferhat-Abbas University, Algeria, with the highest honors.
During the priod 1984-1997, Dr. Tchantchane worked extensively toward the development of a number of nuclear analysis techniques applied to environmental studies and quality of life. He represented his institution in various international technical workshops and conferences. Prior to joining the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering at UOWD in 2006, Dr. Tchantchane lectured at the United Arab Emirates University.
Dr. Tchantchane has published articles in the area of modelisation of nuclear applications. His current research interests include Computational Mathematics and Software Development.
Dr. Jawahitha Sarabdeen
LL.BHons, MCL, PhD, Malaysia
Dr. Jawahitha Sarabdeen is an Associate Professor at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. She was previously Head of the Law Unit, Faculty of Management and Chairperson at the Center of Excellence for Cyberlaw at Multimedia University, Malaysia.
Dr. Sarabdeen has 11 years experience in teaching, research, training and consultancy in Malaysia and Saudi Arabia. She has been an invited speaker, moderator, reviewer, and panelist in a number of international forums and conferences, including the ITU Telecom Asia Forum 2002, International Telecommunication Union. She was the trainer of various training programs on ICT & IP Law, Corporate Governance, and Islamic Banking and Finance run by international institutions, including the Basic Human Needs Organization, Japan, Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), and the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications (KTAK), Malaysia.
Dr Sarabdeen has presented research papers at international conferences and seminars and has more than 30 publications in international refereed journals and conference proceedings. She contributed to drafting legal policies for international organizations on Data Privacy and IP laws while having completed various research projects funded by both government and non-governmental bodies.
Dr Sarabdeen’s research interest includes legal and ethical issues of Information, Communication Technology and Human Resource Management, adoption of e-government and comparative analysis of Islamic banking and financial products.
Dr. Halim Khelalfa
Ingeniorat Algiers, MS American University, PhD Illinois
Institute of Technology
Dr Khelalfa is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. He is also an Executive member of the Information Technology Subgroup of the Dubai Quality Group. He received his Master of Science degree in Computer Sciences from The American University in Washington D.C. in 1980, and a PhD from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1985.
From 1988 to 2002, Dr. Khelalfa directed the Basic Software Laboratory at the Centre of Research on Scientific and Technical Information (CERIST), Algeria. During the same period, he supervised seven Masters’ theses, was an external examiner in more than twenty Master’s theses, and established the very first graduate one-year certificate program in information security in Algeria.
Prior to this, as a Member of Technical Staff at AT&T Bells Laboratories, Dr. Khelalfa was one of the three founders of the Computer Performance and Analysis Group of the Software Development Systems in Naperville, Illinois, USA. His current research interests include performance evaluation of servers and networks, anonymity and privacy, inference control in multilevel secure databases, software obfuscation, and intrusion prevention. Dr Khelalfa has more than eighteen articles in refereed publications and edited books in topics such as Expert Systems, Information Security, Web Caching, Performance Analysis of Networks and Servers
Dr. Farhad Oroumchian
BSc Shahid Beheshti, MSc Sharif, PhD Syracuse
Dr. Farhad Oroumchian is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering. His research specialty is in Artificial Intelligence and Search Engines. Dr. Oroumchian has developed an intelligent search engine which uses Human like reasoning. He is also a prominent researcher on Persian text processing and retrieval. He has been supervisor or co-supervisor of many PhD and MSc students. Dr. Oroumchian has published more than 77 journal/conference and book chapters on his research findings. He serves on technical/program committees of many international journals and conferences. Dr. Oroumchian is also a member of several Centres of Excellence and Research groups.
Dr. Oroumchian has worked as project manager and consultant for many years in U.S.A and Iran. His previous posts include Chair of the Department of Software Engineering at the University of Tehran, Manager of IT Services in the Faculty of Engineering, University of Tehran, and Senior Research Engineer TextWise LLC., in Syracuse New York. Check out his personal website at: http://uowd-clef09.synthasite.com/farhad-page.php
Dr. Kathy Ning Shen
BS, MS Peking, MPhil, PhD Hong Kong
Dr. Kathy Ning Shen is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. She received the Outstanding Research Thesis Award twice for her MPhil and PhD degrees and graduated from the City University of Hong Kong with two Outstanding Academic Performance Awards. Before she joined UOWD, she was an Assistant Professor and the Chairperson of the Management Information Systems Department at Abu Dhabi University, where she received the “Researcher of the Year Award” three times for her distinguished research performance.
Her research interests include human-computer interaction; virtual communities, knowledge management, IT investment and enterprise applications. Her work has been published in journals such as Communications of the ACM, Journal of Computer Information Systems, Behaviour & Information Technology, International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction, AIS Transaction on Human-Computer Interaction, Journal of Enterprise Information Management, and Journal of Knowledge Management. Currently, she is also serving as the Associate Editor for Information Systems Journal (ISI impact factor: 2.375)
Dr. Mohamed Watfa
BSc Beirut, MSc Ohio, PhDOklahoma
Dr. Mohamed K. Watfa is currently an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. Prior to this, he was an Assistant Professor at the American University of Beirut.
Dr. Watfa received his Ph.D. in 2006 from the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma, USA. He obtained his BS in Computer Science from the American University of Beirut in 2002 and his Masters degree in Engineering Science from the University of Toledo, Ohio, USA in 2003. At the age of 23, Dr. Watfa was one of the youngest PhD holders to graduate from his university. He was also on the Dean’s Honors list and received a number of prestigious awards and scholarships.
Dr. Watfa’s research interests include wireless sensor networks, intelligent systems, wireless networking, resource management, energy issues, tracking, routing, and performance measures. He is the author of a number of books, the guest editor of a number of international journals, and the organizer of a number of international conferences. He also held a position as a lead network engineer at different networking companies. He is a professional member of the ACM and IEEE. He has more than 40 journal and conference publications ranked among the top in his research domain. He has also supervised a number of graduate students.
For more information on Dr. Watfa, please visit his personal website at: http://mohamedwatfa.synthasite.com
Dr. Soly Mathew Biju
BCS, MCS Pune, PhD Banasthali, PGradDip (Bioinformatics) BII, ISTQB (Foundation), CITP.
Dr. Soly Mathew Biju is an Assistant Professor in the College of Computer Science and Engineering with over ten years of experience in teaching, training, network administration and software development. Before joining UOWD, Dr Mathew worked for various universities including University of Wales, Robert Kennedy College and Champlain College. She is a certified online instructor and has worked extensively on online teaching methods and online material design and development.
As a system administrator, Dr. Mathew was responsible for leading two teams (Windows NT and Lotus Notes) for British Airways at Heathrow U.K. and Pune, India. In addition, she was also an online trainer responsible for organizing and provided training sessions for professionals at British Airways, Pune branch (1999-2001). She is an ISTQB (Foundation) certified software testing professional and has also worked in the software testing field.
Dr. Mathew is also experienced conducting e-learning sessions and WebCT workshops as a part of the University’s learning and teaching program (2008) at UOWD. She has been actively involved in coordinating and coaching students participating in programming contests.
Dr. Mathew holds a PhD in Computer Science from Banasthali University, Jaipur, and a Master and Bachelor degrees in Computer Science from the University of Pune. She was awarded a postgraduate diploma in Bioinformatics, and a Diploma in Windows NT and Customized Sun Solaris. She has recently been awarded the Chartered IT Professional status by British Computer Society. She is a lifetime member of Computer Society of India, a member of ACM and British Computer Society.
Her research interests and publications are in the areas of software testing, cryptography, e-learning and programming techniques.
Dr. Naeem Muhammad
BSc, MSc, Karachi, MA, PhD Simon Fraser
Dr. Muhammad is an Associate Professor of Finance in the Faculty of Finance and Accounting. He earned his Masters and Ph.D. from Simon Fraser University, Canada with a specialization in Financial Economics. He has more than ten years of teaching experience. Before joining UOWD in 2005, he taught Finance and Economics related courses at Simon Fraser University, Canada, Kwantlen University College, Canada, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Institute of Business Administration, Karachi and College of Business Management, Karachi.
Dr. Muhammad has published several articles and presented research papers at international conferences. He is a co-author of a book “Financial Management in Pakistan” published by the Oxford University Press in 2005. His current research interests are in the field of Applied Finance (stock markets in particular). Dr. Muhammad has conducted training sessions for executives in the areas of Finance and Economics.
Dr. Jenny Knowles Morrison
BA Texas, MPA Texas-Arlington, PhD New York
Dr. Jenny Knowles Morrison completed her PhD in Public Administration from New York University in May 2008. She spent 2004-2008 in Cambodia, completing her dissertation field work and analysis, and working as an independent development policy and management consultant to the United Nations, Royal Government of Cambodia, Cambodia Development Resource Institute, and GTZ (German Agency for Technical Cooperation). Dr. Knowles Morrison also holds a master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas (Political Science and Latin American Studies).
Dr. Knowles Morrison’s research specializations are in public management, qualitative and survey research methods, and international public policy. To date, her research has been primarily focused on the management processes associated with international development policy implementation. Her dissertation focuses on exploring understandings of development, specifically the sense made of the principles underlying participatory development policies as held by local and international staff working on the ground in Cambodia.
At UOWD, Dr. Knowles Morrison teaches Managing People in Organizations, Organizational Analysis, Human Resource Management, and Human Resource Development. Her current research interests include emotional intelligence, reflective management practices, and Middle Eastern women’s sensemaking within organizational cultures.
Dr. Shafiz Affendi Mohd Yusof
BInfoTechHons, Utara Malaysia, MPhil, MSc, PhD, Syracuse
Dr Shafiz is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. He received a Ph.D. in Information Science and Technology, a MPhil. in Information Transfer and a MSc. in Telecommunications and Network Management from the School of Information Studies, Syracuse University, USA, while he received his Bachelor of Information Technology from the School of Information Technology at the Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Dr. Shafiz has 11 years of teaching experience at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He worked as a Senior Lecturer at the Graduate Department of Information Technology, Universiti Utara Malaysia and also the Deputy Director of Cooperative and Entrepreneurship Development Institute (CEDI) (2007-2009). He was previously the Director of International Telecommunication Union - Universiti Utara Malaysia Asia Pacific Centre of Excellence (ITU-UUM ASP CoE) for Rural Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) Development (2006-2007) and also a certified professional trainer (Train of Trainers’ Programme) under the Ministry of Human Resource, Malaysia. He has conducted several workshops on computers and ICT.
Before joining UOWD, Dr Shafiz was awarded the “Excellence Service Award 2008” for his teaching, research and administrative contributions to his university. He was also awarded several research grants under national and international bodies such as the Windows on Science (WOS) Program from the Asian Office of Aerospace Research & Development (AOARD) Japan; Ministry of Energy, Water and Communication (MEWC) Malaysia; and Malaysian Commission of Multimedia and Communications (MCMC). He was chosen to represent Malaysia at the Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Workshop on Embedding Entrepreneurship at University Curriculum in Hanoi, Vietnam (2008) to present a paper on Malaysia’s initiatives on developing entrepreneurship programmes at institutes of higher learning.
Dr. Shafiz’s research interests focus on the social impact of Information Technology - information behaviour, virtual/e-community, e-government, teleworking, community networks, rural ICT, technopreneurship and open source. He has published his research in refereed journals, conference papers, encyclopaedias, and book chapters. Currently, Dr Shafiz is supervising five PhD students in Malaysia examining various Information Systems and ICT issues.
Dr. Norhayati Zakaria
BBA Malaysia, MSc Rensselaer, MPhil, PhD Syracuse
Dr. Norhayati Zakaria is currently an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. Previously, she was a Senior Lecturer in the Department of International Business at Universiti Utara Malaysia. During this period, she served as the Coordinator for the Graduate International Program, the University Internship Program, and the MSc. in International Business for three consecutive years.
Dr. Zakaria graduated with a Ph.D in Information Science & Technology from Syracuse University, USA and a MSc. in Management at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA. Since both schools focus on interdisciplinary programs, her area of expertise bridges two distinct fields - cross-cultural management and information communication technology. Her research program builds on a key question “what are the effective strategies to manage human resources in a virtual environment given the cultural and distance barriers?”
Dr. Norhayati has published more than 45 articles in international journals, book chapters, and conference proceedings related to her field of expertise. For the past 10 years she has established strong research networks and partners from USA, Canada, and Japan. She was a recipient of numerous awards and research grants from international bodies such as Window on Science Program from the Asian Office of Aerospace Research & Development (AOARD), Japan, National Science Foundation Summer Fellowship Recipient for Webshop, University of Maryland, USA, Phi Beta Delta Gamma Honour Society, Outstanding Award for International Student, Syracuse University, and the Fundamental Research Grant Scheme, Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia.
Dr. Balan Sundarakani
BEng M.S Univ Tirunelveli, MEng NIT Trichy, PhD IIT Roorkee
Dr. Balan Sundarakani is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Business and Management at the University of Wollongong in Dubai. He has 8 years of teaching and research experience in the area of Operations Management, Supply Chain Management, Network Optimization, Logistics Modelling & Simulation across the various universities including the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, IIT, Roorkee, Hindustan University, Chennai and the National University of Singapore, Singapore.
He earned a Bachelor of Engineering (Distinction) in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Engineering (Distinction) in Industrial Engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli and a PhD in Supply Chain Management from the Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee, India. He received the prestigious A*Star Fellowship, Singapore, MHRD Fellowship India, University Rank and College First Rank, India.
As a Program Manager and Senior Fellow with The Logistics Institute – Asia Pacific ( a joint venture between Georgia Institute of Technology and NUS Singapore), Dr.Sundarakani has completed research and consulting projects for the Economic Development Board, Singapore, IBM, DHL and the Ministry of Defence, Singapore. As a co-investigator at TLIAP he received project grants from Mindef, IBM and NOL Singapore organisations. The total worth of his research and consulting projects are around S$2 Million.
Dr. Sundarakani has published more than 50 research papers in refereed International Journals, National Journals and Conference Proceedings. His research outcomes have appeared in international Journals such as Omega: The International Journal of Management Science, International Journal of Technology Management, Journal of Advances in Management Research, International Journal of Value Chain Management, International Journal of Integrated Supply Management etc., and which are frequently cited worldwide. His article published in Omega was selected as a top article from the said Journal and Ranked No. 2 among the Science Directs Top 25 Hottest Articles from July to September 2008.
Dr. Sundarakani served with the editorial board of the International Journal of Agile Systems and Management, Inderscience, Switzerland. He also serves as a regular reviewer for the EJOR, IJPR, IJPE, JAMR and SCM Journals. He is a life member of the Operations Research Society of India, a Senior Member of the International Association of Computer Science (Singapore), the International Association of Engineers (Hong Kong), POMS (USA), and INFORMS (USA).
Dr. Leonie Jooste
NDip, BComHons South Africa, PhD Pretoria
Dr. Leonie Jooste is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Accounting and Finance at UOWD. She started her career as a schoolteacher in South Africa and left the teaching profession to join the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) as a lecturer in financial accounting. She lectures financial accounting to undergraduate and postgraduate students and promotes postgraduate students in accounting. She was appointed as an Associate Professor in 2008 at the NMMU. She is currently on sabbatical from NMMU and to further her research career, she joined UOWD in January 2009.
Dr. Jooste obtained her PhD in Financial Management Sciences in 2004 from the University of Pretoria in South Africa. She presents workshops in accounting and publishes articles in international accredited journals. Furthermore, she presented papers at international conferences where she chaired sessions, and reviewed and discussed papers delivered. She is a reviewer for an academic journal and published a chapter in an academic textbook.
Dr. Jooste consults with professionals in her field and acts as an expert witness on cash flows in High Courts. She completed a qualification in Property Valuation and is a member of the Property Valuators Association in South Africa.
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