Social scientist and engineer, advocate for innovation and entrepreneurship, author and university professor, program director, strategic advisor and expert dedicated to solving social complexities with creativity and humanity.

25 years of international work experience in engineering, strategy consulting, and academia has made me acutely aware of the conditions that support sustainable and strategic transformation for individuals, organizations and society.

From researching creative collaboration to growing corporate innovation capabilities, from volunteering in my community to developing future of work skills for federal and state governments, from planning scholarly conferences and student pitch events to giving executive leadership training, from crowdsourcing ideas for climate adaptation to evaluating on-demand transport solutions, from developing social entrepreneurship policy to peer-reviewed publishing.

I like shaking up how we think and do so that new ways and possible futures or surprising partnerships can emerge.

My teaching, research and consulting is in strategy, innovation and entrepreneurship with a special interest is design thinking, data science, urban planning and open innovation.  I work at the Business School of the University of Technology Sydney where I am Associate Professor and Director Entrepreneurship. I look after the MBA Entrepreneurship  and the Bachelor of Entrepreneurship (Hons) degrees. I am also the Founder of U.lab, a platform for innovation projects and research.

I have always been curious about how things work and how to make them better: taking things apart, asking lots of questions, fixing and building stuff in the family workshop. From being fascinated with function and technology, I went on to study context and behaviour to understand the role that humans have in making innovation happen.

Collaborative human ingenuity is what interests me most.

I collaborate broadly and have published my work in academic journals and books. I have been granted numerous research and teaching grants as well as honours for my innovative and practice oriented approach including an Australian national recognition with the B/HERT Entrepreneurship Educator of the year award.

I provide insight into emerging trends, alternate perspectives and fresh ideas to a number of private and government organisations including the City of Sydney, Business Events Sydney, Transport for NSW,  the Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade and many others.

I always enjoy meeting people and making new connections. While I spend the most time in Sydney, I enjoy regular visits to other favourite places including Berlin, Vancouver and New York.

@be_syd

• Corporate design innovation initiatives – A case study of an ASX listed company and its innovation journey (2017-)
• Sydney School of Entrepreneurship – Academic guidance for a new statewide initiative. Development of courses in collaboration with other partner institutions (2017-2019)
• Bachelor of Entrepreneurship (Hons) – Reimagination of the Honours degree as a pan-university pathway to student entrepreneurship (2017-2019)
• Creating customer-centric organisations: The value of design artefacts – Thesis supervision and research support (2014-2019)
• Engaging SMEs in sustainable urban strategies to build their innovation capacity: comparing two cities (CBSI) – A study and exchange between Sydney and Rotterdam supported by a European Union ERSAMUS+ Mobility grant (2018-2021)
• Organisations in times of disruption: Towards a data-driven framework for sustained competitive advantage – A study of how emerging technologies like AI, blockchain and big data affect strategic decision making and organisational governance (2016-2018)
• MBA in Entrepreneurship – Development and management of an innovative and immersive study experience for budding entrepreneurs and change makers (2015-)
• Innovation and Design Thinking Mindset – A study of behaviours and attitudes that underlie human centred innovation (2015-2018)
• Social Entrepreneurship and Financing Strategy Interventions – A study of the Indo pacific start-up support system and new tools and methods to support aid and development in the region (2016-2017)
• Climate Adapted People Shelter – A design competition and smart open city innovation experiment using an open and human centered approach (2015-2016)
• CityLife UDIA – A study of urban connectivity (2016)
• Innovation Report – A study of Australian boards and executive teams (2015-2016)
• Design Leadership – A global study of design thinking mindset and leadership capabilities (2014-2017)
• Entrepreneurial work spaces – A study of co-working and creative spaces for innovation (2012-2017)
• U.lab – An innovation space and design thinking education and research program  (2011-2014)
• Groundbreaker – A study of open innovation and collaborative creativity in partnership with the Australian Design Centre (2012)
• NFC Futures – An industry enabled student project to imagine and prototype new future applications for NFC (2012)
• BikeTank – A series of 13 public workshops for urban design thinking and entrepreneurship (2011-2013)
• Soft Lines – An exhibition of serendipity in spaces of innovation and creativity (2012)
• Creative Minds – A design thinking teaching program for undergraduate students and a video case study (2011-2012)
• Skateistan – A real case teaching student project and case study of a non-for profit skateboarding school in Afghanistan (2010-2011)
• Powerhouse Museum –  A real case teaching student project and case study of a major Australian museum (2010)
• Sydney Cove Oyster Bar – A real case teaching student project and case study of am iconic Sydney restaurant (2009)
• Dynamic Innovation Capabilities – An empirical study of service innovation capabilities in Australia (2009)
• StrategyTube – A collection of 13 video case studies of leading Australian corporate strategy managers (2008)
• Modulbox – A real case teaching student project and case study of a innovative German design company (2008)
• Collaboration for New Product Development – An empirical study of new product development capabilities in strategic business alliances (2009)
• Alliance Governance & Leadership – A study of governance and leadership and their performance implications in strategic alliances (2006-2008)
• Transdisciplinary Innovation – A conceptual study of transdiscilplinnary innovation capabilities in Australia (2007)