To mark last week’s launch of the Macquarie Business School, we highlight some of the School’s outstanding business minds.

Collaboration key at new Macquarie Business School

Professor Stephen Brammer, Executive Dean of Macquarie Business School was featured in The Australian regarding the launch of the new Business School.

Climate wars: what you need to know before you vote on Saturday

Carbon pricing expert Stefan Trueck, Professor of Business Analytics, sits down for a Q&A on the differences between the major parties’ climate policies.

Can numbers be trusted? How annual reports could look in the future

Dr Andreas Hellman from the Department of Accounting and Corporate Governance addresses how new technology may soon replace questionnaires to delve deeper into our subconscious reactions to financial information, which could revolutionise the way annual reports are designed.

Meet Australia’s most diverse board

Associate Professor Lan Snell explains Macquarie University’s Business School has reimagined the MBA for a future, global workforce, advised by an industry board whose composition also leaves the past behind.

How Blockchain could change the way you buy your next house

Slashing the cost of real estate conveyancing is just one of the ways blockchain technology will transform commerce and affect our daily lives. Professor Tom Smith, Head of Macquarie’s Department of Applied Finance, explains.

Keep it local to help break third world poverty cycle

New research from Professor Aron O’Cass from the Department of Marketing will provide a road map for governments and manufacturers in developing countries to help end entrenched economic disadvantage.

Why is Australia still opening coal mines?

 While most countries see renewables as the way of the future, Australia is still obsessed with fossil-fuels. Macquarie Business School’s Professor Martina Linnenluecke examines the business case for coal.

Cashless society a foil for rogue banks

The potential for money laundering by rogue banks will diminish as Australia transitions to a cashless society, says Macquarie Business School’s Professor Tom Smith.

Macquarie Business School fully integrates all business and economics education and research at Macquarie into a comprehensive entity. It retains and celebrates the best of the Faculty of Business and Economics, the Macquarie Graduate School of Management (MGSM) and the Macquarie Applied Finance Centre (MAFC), ensuring that Macquarie remains a strong global competitor.

“The change positions us to be more impactful, sustainable and innovative on the world stage and will better meet the changing needs of our students, alumni, staff and business partners. As a business school that is part of a world-leading university, we are better positioned to draw upon knowledge from multiple disciplines, and connect with multiple global and local communities as part of our research and teaching,” said Executive Dean of Macquarie Business School, Professor Stephen Brammer.

“At Macquarie Business School we will continue to invest significantly in our programs, facilities, support services and alumni engagement activities and are committed to maintaining excellence in our global rankings.”

Macquarie Business School is looking to the future with its integrated and cross-disciplinary research and innovative programs, such as the fully online Global MBA and new appointments of directors of Alumni and Career Services to provide an even greater focus on career-enabling opportunities for students in multidisciplinary areas throughout their careers.

“Business education must shift to a focus on working together to create real world solutions rather than a focus on discrete disciplines operating in a traditional siloed way. In Australia for example, the Banking Royal Commission outcomes have shown what happens when businesses are too inward facing rather than focused on best practice and community engagement.

“Macquarie Business School has a modern approach to business education, to set ourselves up for future challenges and be competitive on the world stage in this globalised environment. We want our researchers, educators and students to be empowered to lead the changes they want to see in the world,” said Professor Brammer.

New online presence

To mark the launch, the Macquarie Business School has a new web presence within the Macquarie University site: mq.edu.au/business. We have also launched a new LinkedIn Showcase page – follow us to stay up to date with all the latest Macquarie Business School news.

Michael holds a PhD degree in Computer Science from the University of New South Wales and did his post-doc as a research scientist at CSIRO ICT Centre.

Earlier this year, Michael was recognised by AMiner as a Most Influential Scholar for his outstanding and vibrant contributions to the field of Internet of Things (IOT). He was ranked a very impressive 24 out of the top 100 researchers in IOT during 2007-2017.

1) In a nutshell, my job is to…
Motivate and support my colleagues to be better. My department has an ambitious agenda and I believe we can do it.

2) The question I hear most often in my work is…
“Why can’t I do…” Not surprising to hear such questions given my position. But also lots of “How can I achieve/improve….”, which is really encouraging and pleasing to hear.

3) The thing I find most rewarding in my role is…
Celebrating the amazing achievements of my colleagues and the department.

4) This year I want to…
Secure sufficient resources to deliver high quality education to our quickly-growing computing students. The University has made more than 550 international admission offers to Master of Data Science and Master of IT programs so far in 2019 – almost triple the offers made in 2018.

5) The bravest thing I’ve done is…
Resigned from my senior software engineer position and flew to Sydney with $400 in 1999.

6) A place that’s special to me is…
Hong Kong. Five years ago, I managed to find some time and took my mum for a holiday there and she absolutely loved it. On our first day in Hong Kong, my mum left her handbag in a taxi but only realised this quite late. We reported it to a nearby police station and went back to the hotel with little hope. Amazingly, only two hours later, my mum got her bag back!

7) My mother always told me…
My mum would always ask me to have a bit of rest. I miss her voice so much!

8) I’m scared of…
If I have to mention one, it would be snakes and the like.

9) My hidden talent is…
Running. When I did my undergraduate in Beijing, I represented my university to compete with professionals.

10) A moment I’ll always remember is…
The time with my mum in Hong Kong. Lots of precious memories!

As the faculty’s Executive Dean, Professor Simon Handley oversees a unique combination of teaching and research designed to investigate and answer some of the big questions about what makes us human.

Simon’s secret passion is running… very long distances.

Simon began running around 15 years ago in his native England. “I was living a pretty unhealthy lifestyle that included a number of vices and saw running as a way out of that,” he says. While he declined to go into detail about the vices, Simon did say the first trophy he ever won was for drinking a yard glass of ale…

As an indication of the seriousness of his lifestyle turnaround, Simon’s second trophy was for running – 52 kilometres up and down the hills of Devon in a race called the Dartmoor Discovery. He was fourth overall and the first local runner across the line.

Simon says he began the sport with a “small” run of just ten kilometres before progressing to half (21ks) and full (42ks) marathons, then to ultra-marathons; races measured either in distance (50 to 160 kilometres being the most common) or time (eg 24 hour and multi-day races). Either way, Simon’s done both:

• the London to Brighton race – 88ks in a little over seven hours and placed 19th
• a 160k race in which he raised £5,000 for a cancer charity for his dad
• 22 hours running around an army training ground that he describes as brutal – “I couldn’t walk for a week”
• The Endurancelife Classic Quarter – 72ks along the cliff tops and down into the coves of England’s spectacular Cornish coast, from Lizard Point to Land’s End (he came 5th)
• A 24 hour race, running with “20 other crazy people” around a 400 metre track for more than 220 kilometres. “Every four hours you got to change direction, which was something to look forward to,” he says.

Of all his running highlights, Simon says his most special was finishing second in a 160 kilometre run at a rugged venue called Caesar’s Camp. “My dad was there to see me finish and toast him with a swig from a bottle of champagne,” he said pensively, voice edged slightly with emotion.

Now settled in Australia, Simon says he’s about to reignite his passion for running, possibly starting in September by taking on the Great North Walk, the 250 kilometre track stretching from the Sydney CBD, through suburban streets, national parks and bush to central Newcastle.

Asked how his passion helps in his work, Simon warms quickly to the theme saying running’s taught him some fundamental things about his and other people’s capabilities.

“When you’re running, you get to the point where you think you can’t move another metre; that your body’s breaking down,” he says. “You learn you can hit that wall five to ten times in a long race but if you keep going you can get through it.”

“It’s about resilience; seeing what you and others are capable of and it’s quite a powerful lesson.”

Simon says it’s the same in life and work. “Runners aren’t special people; it just takes commitment, motivation and training,” he says.

“Whatever the adversity or no matter how terrible you feel physically or emotionally, if you persevere it will go away. You can find new energy to keep moving forward.”

“There are also important applications for today’s students who can expect to have many more careers and job changes than their parents,” he says.

“The ability to shift, to find the confidence and resilience to apply their skills to different challenges will be very important to them throughout their lives.”

150 of Macquarie’s senior academic and professional staff have met to review progress of the vision outlined in the strategic framework, Our University: A Framing of Futures.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor S Bruce Dowton welcomed the leaders with a presentation on the value of effective, shared leadership and importance of strategic thinking. The presentation included a brief history of the University and formulation of the strategic framework, including an explanation of its key priorities, purpose, vision and values. Attendees were also invited to engage with each other as a broader, distributed leadership team for the University.

Staff who’ve joined since the strategy’s publication particularly appreciated the opportunity to understand the context in which it was formed and to talk with colleagues who provided more background and detail.

As well, the Vice-Chancellor revealed results from this year’s leadership group survey that show a team excited about our potential and ready to advance the University’s goals, but keen for more clarity around the prioritisation and application of the values to decision-making. The results also suggest leaders are eager to learn more about how we differentiate ourselves in a largely homogenous Australian sector, and about areas of focus for distinctiveness in the future.

For their part, attendees were encouraged to provide frank feedback on the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced by the University, both externally and from within. The results were illuminating and will inform planning and resource allocation as we progress throughout the next year. This, underpinned by the start of a collective shift to a more shared approach to leadership, will strengthen the links to and responsibilities for delivering A Framing of Futures.

In closing the forum, the Vice-Chancellor asked staff to continue working together to find innovative ways to meet current and future challenges. “I encourage you to consider projects or challenges in your area that a colleague you met today could help you with, and to share your thoughts about the help you could offer someone else,” Professor Dowton said.

A key theme that seemed to resonate throughout the day involved the importance of ‘us’ rather than ‘me’ or ‘they’; recognition that a shared approach makes for a much more sustainable and optimised future for the University.

A second, follow-up retreat will happen later this year.

For more information or if you have questions about the event, please contact your manager or head of department.

More than 150 staff and international and domestic students gathered on Thursday 11 May for Macquarie International’s annual Macquarie Scholars Connect reception to welcome to campus new international arrivals as well as returning exchange students.

Vice-Chancellor Professor S Bruce Dowton addressed the assembled scholars and encouraged them to get involved at Macquarie University in developing skills and experiences to contribute to society when they graduate.

Scholars Connect provides the scholarly community with an interactive platform to innovatively incubate ideas to transform the world. A prize was awarded to New Colombo Plan student from 2016, Emma Jackson, for her stunning photo of her travels in Cambodia.

Check out our students’ experience on exchange at #MQexchange.

Macquarie University Executives attending the event along with the Vice-Chancellor included:

• Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Corporate Engagement and Advancement) Professor David Wilkinson
• Interim Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Registrar Professor Kevin Jameson
• Pro Vice-Chancellor (Learning and Teaching) Professor Sherman Young
• Pro Vice-Chancellor (Programs and Pathways) Professor Sean Brawley and
• Pro Vice-Chancellor (International) Nicole Brigg.

Pro Vice-Chancellor Brigg said the evening was an outstanding success.

“It is absolutely wonderful to see students across all faculties, domestic and international, networking in such a fun environment,” Ms Brigg said.

“Most of these students have joined the Macquarie University scholarly community from very different backgrounds or have been to experience other cultural journeys.”

“However, they will be sharing the university journey together and make friends for life during their studies here.”

Highlights of the evening included the Vice-Chancellor’s address, a red carpet, scrumptious dessert bar, gifts and prizes.

Check out the photos of the evening by using  #MQSC and #MyMQ on Instagram and the Macquarie Scholars Connect Page.

Macquarie University’s FIRST* Robotics Team 3132, aka Thunder Down Under, is a group of high school students and mentors who share a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM).

The students, from years 8-12, come from more than 40 high schools across Sydney.

They are advised and guided by mentors from industry and academia as they design and build robots from gears, motors, metal and electronics, with the aim of competing in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC): the annual ‘Olympics’ for young people competing to build and program robots to perform tasks.

This year’s challenge began in the summer with an intensive six-week robot ‘build session’. In April, team members joined around 15,000 students from around the world in the US city of Houston to compete with their robot in the FRC.

For their efforts, Thunder Down Under won the competition’s highest honour, the Chairman’s Award for the team best representing a model for other teams to emulate and that best embodies the FIRST purpose and goals for inspiration and recognition of science and technology.

The award is a huge achievement for Team 3132, being the first winner from outside North America and the first to win so quickly after its formation.

Click here to see the team’s competition submission.

_{FIRST® (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science & Technology) Robotics is an internationally acclaimed robotics program that inspires a passion for Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths in young people.
FIRST® Australia was established at Macquarie University in 2006 and has partnered with schools and universities across Australia with teams and competitions held in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth.}

Sharing our collective teaching knowledge and experience can help achieve this goal, and upcoming improvements to iLearn will allow staff to share and access this knowledge more easily.

An integral part of the Learning Commons Project, Opening iLearn will see parts of iLearn units being made available for viewing by internal academic and professional staff from December.

This change will offer benefits to a wide range of staff. Program leaders will be able to find interdisciplinary examples to help students connect the dots between their units and other units. Unit convenors will have a wealth of fresh ideas and inspiration at their fingertips, and be able to find better ways of working that don’t require reinventing the wheel. And professional staff members will have a greater understanding of our learning environment and be better able to answer student enquiries.

Professor Sherman Young, Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning and Teaching, says Opening iLearn is all about enabling colleagues to connect.

“There’s a tremendous amount of fantastic learning material created and delivered by Macquarie staff,” he says. “In improving our sharing of best practice, we are finding new ways to learn from each other and finding more opportunities for collaboration.”

What will you be able to access in iLearn?
From December, staff will be able to see the main content in iLearn units, such as topics, Powerpoint slides and instructions to students. In other words, you’ll get a good idea of the content that is being covered in each unit and what tasks students are required to do.

The content will be read-only and you won’t be able to see any student contributions, such as responses to forum questions and assignments, or any other information related to students.

What does this mean for unit convenors?
Unit convenors aren’t required to take any additional action. Faculties will circulate detailed information about how Opening iLearn will work, including FAQs. In the meantime, faculty staff can contact their Associate Dean of Learning and Teaching if they have any questions:

• Faculty of Arts: Dr. Peter Keegan, peter.keegan@mq.edu.au, W6A 236, Ext. 8819
• Faculty of Business and Economics: Dr Leigh Wood, leigh.wood@mq.edu.au, E4A 714, Ext. 4756
• Faculty of Human Sciences: Dr. Mitch Parsell, mitch.parsell@mq.edu.au, W6A 701, Ext. 1040
• Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences: Professor Cath Dean, catherine.dean@mq.edu.au F10, Ext. 6620
• Faculty of Science and Engineering: Dr James Downes, james.downes@mq.edu.au, E6B 710, Ext. 8900

Macquarie University’s LEAP – Macquarie Mentoring (Refugee Mentoring) Program has been recognised with the NSW Humanitarian Award 2016 in Education.

The awards were presented by New South Wales Premier Mike Baird at the NSW launch of Refugee Week 2016 at the Inner West Refugee Centre on Friday.

The Humanitarian Awards are held each year as an opportunity to acknowledge those who have made an exceptional positive contribution towards refugee issues in New South Wales.

“I can think of few things that are more appropriate for our university of service and engagement than supporting refugees,” said Professor John Simons, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic).

The LEAP Macquarie Mentoring (Refugee Mentoring) program is a unique mentoring program for high school students from refugee backgrounds.

The program provides a friendly atmosphere for students from refugee backgrounds (mentees) to explore and navigate future education and career pathways with the support of Macquarie University student volunteers (mentors).

“We are so proud to receive this award on behalf of all our fabulous Macquarie student mentors who have volunteered on the LEAP program over the past six years, and for our partner school students from refugee backgrounds who have worked tirelessly with their mentors to realise their dreams of a new life through educational success,” said Ruth Tregale, Director of Widening Participation.

Congratulations are in order for Emma Lawler of Macquarie University Library, who was recently announced as the 2016 winner of the Jean Arnot Memorial Fellowship at the 24th Annual Memorial Luncheon at NSW Parliament House.

The fellowship is awarded to a female librarian for an outstanding original paper on any aspect of librarianship. Emma’s winning paper discussed providing a culture of transformative learning in a research-enriched environment. In particular, the paper highlighted supporting staff to build their skills in new media literacy. It also focused on capability building for the profession, ensuring that staff can adapt to the constantly changing digital information environment and continue to contribute to the University’s research and teaching missions.

The fellowship is named in honour of the late Jean Fleming Arnot, MBE, FLAA, a former head cataloguer at the State Library of New South Wales, who was active in women’s organisations and a pioneer in the campaign for equal pay for women.