Our Sponsors

Professor Tania Broadley
University of Canberra

Professor Tania Broadley is the Pro Vice-Chancellor, Education at the University of Canberra. She joined UC in February 2022, after holding several roles at RMIT University in Melbourne including, DVC College of Design & Social Contexts, Dean School of Education and Associate DVC of Learning & Teaching. Tania has worked across four Australian universities and has extensive experience in university governance and academic leadership. Her research areas are concentrated in the field of educational technologies, teacher education, teacher resilience and professional development. Her most recent publication in the field of graduate employability was co-editing the SAGE Handbook of Graduate Employability which brings together the latest research on graduate employability into one authoritative volume.

Associate Professor Bonnie Dean
University of Wollongong

Associate Professor Bonnie Amelia Dean is the Head of Academic Development & Recognition at the University of Wollongong. Bonnie is Associate Editor for the International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning, previous Board Member of ACEN and contributes to strategic governance and scholarship in WIL and teaching & learning.

Reg Johnson
Cisco Australia & New Zealand

Reg leads the strategic industries practice at Cisco Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) and is a member of Cisco’s World-Wide Industry Solutions Group. Reg has over 25 years’ experience in the ICT industry in professional sales and marketing management and business and industry development. Reg has deep experience in brokering and sustaining partnerships at the intersection of industry, government and universities and is a passionate advocate for the role that secure technology platforms will play in Australia’s economic future.

Associate Professor Jason Lodge
The University of Queensland

Jason Lodge, PhD, PFHEA is Associate Professor of Educational Psychology and Director of the Learning, Instruction, and Technology Lab in the School of Education and is a Deputy Associate Dean (Academic) in the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences at The University of Queensland. Jason’s research with his lab focuses on the cognitive, metacognitive, and emotional mechanisms of learning, primarily in post-secondary settings and in digital learning environments. His most recent work has focused on learning and assessment with artificial intelligence.

Dr Judene Pretti
Cooperative Education and Work-Integrated Learning Canada

Dr Judene Pretti is Director of the Strategic Enablement Team for Co-operative and Experiential Education at the University of Waterloo. She is also a senior advisor to University of Waterloo’s Work-Learn Institute, associate editor for the International Journal of Work-Integrated Learning (https://www.ijwil.org/), co-editor of the recently published 3rd edition of the International Handbook on Work-Integrated Learning and president of Cooperative Education and Work-Integrated Learning (CEWIL) Canada (https://cewilcanada.ca/).

Anne Younger
Australian Industry Group

Anne Younger is a Senior Policy Consultant with the Australian Industry Group (Ai Group). She was previously the General Manager, Policy and Projects within the Centre for Education and Training at Ai Group where she was responsible for policy development and major projects addressing education and training issues for member companies. This included work on the initial National Strategy for WIL in University Education, encouragement of take-up by industry, ongoing monitoring of its impact, and work to refresh the Strategy.

At Ai Group, Anne has also worked as an Economist, managed a national team of skills advisers assisting with workforce development in companies, and managed a national team of business advisers charged with helping small–medium enterprises to improve productivity and innovation.

Before joining Ai Group, Anne worked for over 25 years within TAFE institutes and government agencies in the VET sector across a range of management roles involving policy, planning, research and continuous improvement.

Anne is a board member of the Manufacturing Industry Skills Alliance, an Australian Jobs and Skills Council. She holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Master of Education (Educational Leadership and Management).

Dr Nigel Palmer
Business NSW

Dr Nigel Palmer works at the intersection of education and industry through his role as Senior Policy Manager for skills and education with Business NSW. Nigel has substantial experience in higher education policy, research education and program development. He has authored many submissions to government inquiries, has appeared to give evidence before various federal parliamentary committees and has published widely on higher education quality assurance and research education policy and practice. Nigel holds a PhD from the Australian National University and is a Visiting Fellow with the Australian Studies Institute. Nigel’s mission is to contribute to the advancement of innovation in education and research in Australia and beyond.

Brigitte McKenna
Practera

I specialise in the design and development of cutting-edge learning solutions that drive measurable outcomes in complex, regulated environments across industry, commerce, and education sectors. My expertise lies in:

• Human-centred design for accessible, engaging, discoverable learning experiences
• Leveraging emerging technologies for end-to-end program development
• Optimising learning pathways in large organisations

With a passion for blending traditional methods and next-gen SaaS solutions, I create impactful learning journeys that resonate with diverse audiences. My approach combines audience engagement strategies with commercial acumen and public sector insights to deliver transformative results.

Marlene Henry
Western Sydney University

Marlene Henry is Head of Placements in the Office of Educational Partnerships and Quality at Western Sydney University, providing strategic service-led leadership stakeholder engagement via industry partnerships. Marlene leads and manages a centralised service driven team, promoting risk management, good governance and communities of practice adoption through policy and compliance.

Associate Professor Michael O’Connor
Australian Collaborative Education Network

Associate Professor Michael O’Connor is interested in using human stem cells to better understand normal human development and disease progression. His current research activity makes use of human pluripotent stem cells (i.e. cells that can produce any cell type of the body) to learn more about cataract, a variety of conditions that involve degradation of the ocular lens leading to blindness. Michael obtained his PhD from the University of Sydney in 2005, creating an animal-based culture system that can regenerate functional ocular lenses in the laboratory. Upon completing his PhD Michael undertook postdoctoral studies in Vancouver (Canada), where he identified new genes and mechanisms that help maintain the developmental potential of human pluripotent stem cells. Michael has received numerous awards for his work in both the lens and human pluripotent stem cell fields, and together these diverse areas of expertise provide a unique opportunity to understand lens and cataract development using human cells. Throughout his career, Michael has also maintained an interest in translating academic research findings into biotechnology or clinical applications, through interactions with both Australian and Canadian biotechnology companies.