PROFILES OF SPEAKERS AND SESSION CHAIRS

Muhammed Asghar

Brigadier Muhammad Asghar has been working in Pakistan Army for last twenty six years. During his military career, he was deployed in various operational zones ranging from deserts, plains and mountains to Himalayan glaciers in the northern Pakistan. He also attended different professional courses inland and overseas, remaining actively involved in counter terrorism operations (commanded a brigade), before joining Pakistan High Commission in Canberra as Defence Advisor.

Asghar has rich experience of human resources development and management, de-radicalization and application of kinetic and non-kinetic means in the conflict zone, management and rehabilitation of internally displaced persons and UN peace keeping operations. Brigadier is a graduate of Australian Command and Staff College, Canberra, Pakistan Command and Staff College and National Defence University, Islamabad. He holds MS in Management in Defence Studies from University of Canberra, MSc in Art and Science of Warfare, MSc in Military Sciences and is currently pursuing M Phil in National Security. He has delivered talks at various forums and universities in Australia and New Zealand on counter terrorism, conflict management, security challenges in South Asia and de-radicalization.

Muhamad Najib Azca

Muhamad Najib Azca is a senior lecturer at the Department of Sociology, Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and currently Vice Dean for Research and Collaboration of the Faculty of Social and Political Science UGM. Graduated from the department of Sociology UGM in 1996, he finished his MA (with High Distinction) from the Faculty of Asian Studies, Australian National University (ANU) in 2003 with a thesis entitled The role of the security forces in communal conflict: the case of Ambon, Indonesia. He then defended his doctoral research at University of Amsterdam in May 2011 entitled After Jihad: A Biographical Approach to Passionate Politics in Indonesia.

He also works as a senior researcher at the Center for Security and Peace Studies (CSPS) of UGM and presently Director of the Youth Studies Centre (YouSure) UGM. He published many articles in both Indonesian and international publications, include “In between military and militia; the dynamics of the security forces in the communal conflict in Ambon” published in Asian Journal of Social Sciences, 34, 3, 2006, “Communal Violence in Indonesia and the Role of Foreign and Domestic Networks” in Conflict, Community and Criminality in Southeast Asia and Australia, edited by Arnaud de Borchgrave, Thomas Sanderson & David Gordon, Washington D.C.: CSIS, 2008, “Jihad” published in Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology Online, third update (2008), edited by George Ritzer, Oxford: Blackwell, and After the Communal War: Understanding and Addressing Post-Conflict Violence in Eastern Indonesia published by CSPS BOOKS, 2011 (co-author with Patrick Barron and Tri Susdinarjanti).

Zainab Hawa Bangura

On 22 June 2012, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced the appointment of Zainab Hawa Bangura of Sierra Leone as his Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict at the level of Under-Secretary-General. Ms. Bangura replaces Margot Wallström, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for her dedicated service and able leadership in achieving milestones within a challenging mandate.

Prior to this, Ms. Bangura was the Minister of Health and Sanitation for the Government of Sierra Leone, and brings to the position over 20 years of policy, diplomatic and practical experience in the field of governance, conflict resolution and reconciliation in Africa. She was previously the second female Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, including Chief Adviser and Spokesperson of the President on bilateral and international issues. Ms. Bangura has been instrumental in developing national programmes on affordable health, advocating for the elimination of genital mutilation, managing the country’s Peace Building Commission and contributing to the multilateral and bilateral relations with the international community. She is experienced in meeting with interlocutors in diverse situations, including rebel groups, and familiar in dealing with State and non-State actors relevant to issues of sexual violence while fighting corruption and impunity.

Ms. Bangura has on-the-ground experience with peacekeeping operations from within the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), where she was responsible for the management of the largest civilian component of the Mission, including promoting capacity-building of government institutions and community reconciliation. She is an experienced results-driven civil society, human and women’s rights campaigner and democracy activist, notably as Executive Director of the National Accountability Groups, Chair and Co-founder of the Movement for Progress Party of Sierra Leone, as well as Coordinator and Co-founder of the Campaign for Good Governance.

Ms. Bangura is a former fellow of the Chartered Insurance Institute of London, possessing Diplomas in Insurance Management from the City University Business

School of London and Nottingham University. She received her Bachelor of Arts from the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone.

Greg Barton

Greg is Research Professor in Global Islamic Politics in the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation where he leads research on social inclusion and pluralism, Islam and civil society, democratisation, and countering violent extremism. He is the co-director of the Australian Intervention Support Hub (AISH), a pioneering collaboration between Deakin, ANU, AGD, AFP and DFAT to work with community groups in developing responses to the challenge of violent extremism.

Greg is Deputy UNESCO Chair in Interreligious and Intercultural Relations Asia Pacific, is the co-editor of the journal Islam and Christian Muslim Relations and is a non-residential Senior Fellow with the UAE-based Hedayah Center in Abu Dhabi working on countering violent extremism. He is one of Australias leading scholars of both modern Indonesia and of terrorism and countering violent extremism. In August 2015 Greg returned to Deakin University where had previously worked from 1993 to 2005.

 From 2007 he was the Herb Feith Professor for the Study of Indonesia at Monash University where he taught politics and international relations and led research on radicalisation disengagement in the Global Terrorism Research Centre (GTReC). For more than 25 years he has undertaken extensive research on Indonesia politics and society, especially of the role of Islam as both a constructive and a disruptive force. He has been active in the inter-faith dialogue initiatives and has a deep commitment to building understanding of Islam and Muslim society. The central axis of his research interests is the way in which religious thought, individual believers and religious communities respond to modernity and to the modern nation state. He also has a strong general interest in international relations and comparative international politics. Since 2004 he has made a comparative study of progressive Islamic thought in Turkey and Indonesia with particular reference to Nahdlatul Ulama and Muhammadiyah in Indonesia and the transnational Hizmet movement inspired by Turkeys Fethullah Gulen.

Greg also has a general interest in security studies and human security and a particular interest in countering violent extremism. He continues to research the offshoots of Jemaah Islamiyah and related radical Islamist movements in Southeast Asia and is involved in teaching counter-terrorism courses at the Asia Pacific Centre for Security Studies (APCSS) in Honolulu and with other institutions and agencies.

Greg has written or edited seven books and published dozens of refereed articles and book chapters.

Hon Liz Behjat MLC

Member for North Metropolitan RegionLiberal Party

The Hon Liz Behjat MLC was born in England and arrived in Western Australia in 1966 with her parents and brother and sister.  Liz is married with one son who is currently in high school. Liz has had a varied career prior to her election to Parliament, working as a paralegal specialising in conveyancing and commercial law. She also worked in the racing industry and in the hospitality and gaming industry in Tasmania and Perth.  From 1998 until entering Parliament in 2009, Liz worked for a number of Federal MPs, including Senators Ian Campbell and Chris Ellison and House of Representatives Members, the late Don Randall and Hon. Michael Keenan. Liz’s interests are in the areas of multiculturalism, tourism and law and order. Liz is active in a number of Parliamentary committees and groups, particularly the Parliamentary Friends of India, of which Liz is co-founder, and the Parliamentary Friends of Tourism and Hospitality, which Liz founded in 2011.  Liz is also passionate about education issues and is Chair of the Ashdale Secondary College Board.  Her decision to become a Member of Parliament was driven by her desire to make a contribution to the community she is part of and to ensure that good governance is delivered to the people of Western Australia, whilst maintaining the ideals and beliefs of the Liberal Party she has belonged to since the age of 16.

Amina Rasul Bernardo

Amina Rasul Bernardo is President of the Philippine Center for Islam and Democracy (PCID) and Managing Trustee of the Magbassa Kita Foundation, Inc (MKFI).  She is a member of the Board of Regents of the Mindanao State University (MSU) and Board Member of the Mindanao Development Authority (MinDA).  She serves as a member of the National Independent Advisory and Monitoring Committee (NIAMC) Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Conditional Cash Transfer Program and also on the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) General Advisory Council.

A columnist with the Business World, she has written and edited several books on the Mindanao conflict, Islam and democracy. She has degrees in Economics (University of the Philippines), Masters in Business Administration (Asian Institute of Management) and Masters in Public Administration (Harvard Kennedy School for Government). She was a member of the Philippine Cabinet under former President Fidel V. Ramos, as Presidential Advisor on Youth Affairs, appointed

concurrently as the first Chair of the National Youth Commission (NYC), which she organized. 

She has served as Commissioner of the National Commission on the Role of Filipino Women representing Muslims, a member of the Board of Directors of the Philippine National Oil Corporation (PNOC), the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) and Founding Director of the Local Government Guarantee Corporation (LGGC).

Graham Brown

Graham Brown is Professor of International Development and Head of Social Sciences at the University of Western Australia. After completing his PhD at the University of Nottingham, UK, Prof Brown worked at the University of Oxford Department of International Development for five years before moving to the University of Bath, UK. He has been a visiting fellow at Stanford University and the National University of Singapore, and hold research associate status with the University of Oxford, Leuven University, and the University of Auckland.

Huma Akhtar Chughtai

Huma Akhtar Chughtai is a governance, gender & development, parliamentary & judicial reform specialist. She has a professional standing of over twenty six years of having worked as a Lawyer, and as an internationally trained Legislative Researcher, and as a Governance, Law, Human Rights and Gender Specialist. She has served at various key positions in the government as well as in the development sector. Most of her work in the government has been with the National Assembly of Pakistan where she served in a senior position for over a decade, and with the Ministry of Law, justice & Human Rights as well as with the Ministry of Women Development in the past. She is currently serving as Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights on a short term contractual position, assigned to do the country reports on international human rights conventions ratified by Pakistan.

In the Development Sector Ms. Chughtai has been working for over a decade in the realm of Legal, Judicial, Parliamentary, Gender and Police Reforms. Gender and Human Rights stand out as cross-cutting in all her work. Ms. Chughtai has, therefore, a unique firsthand experience in top

level government and parliamentary policy and decision making processes, and has also a rich experience of working in the development sector with some prestigious international organizations in the given areas of her work.

In addition to being proficient in English language, Ms. Chughtai can also speak French and Arabic languages. She has travelled extensively around the world for conferences, exposure visits and training courses. The countries she has visited for the purpose include Geneva, UK, USA, Canada, Germany, Turkey, Qatar, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Philippines.

Senator the Hon Concetta Fierravanti-Wells

Senator for New South WalesParliamentary Secretary to the Attorney-GeneralParliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services

Concetta was born in Wollongong, New South Wales, the daughter of Italian migrants. After completing her primary and secondary education in Wollongong, she attended the Australian National University in Canberra, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. Prior to entering the Senate, Concetta worked with the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS) for 20 years, including periods of secondment as a policy advisor to the Federal Opposition and Senior Private Secretary to former Premier John Fahey. For about 25 years before becoming a Senator in 2005, Concetta was involved in many community activities, including as a founding board director of a nursing home in Wollongong and on the Board of Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Streets, serving two years as Chairman. Concetta has had an involvement in multicultural activities since the early 1980s.  She was recognised for her community work in the Italian-Australian community by the Italian Government when she was made a Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic. Concetta became a Senator on 5 May 2005 and established her electorate office in Wollongong. In Opposition she served in various capacities including Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Citizenship and Shadow Minister for Ageing and for Mental Health.  After the 2013 Federal election, Concetta was appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Social Services, with special responsibility for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services. In May of this year, Senator Fierravanti-Wells was also appointed Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General.

Janine Freeman MLA

Labor Member for Mirrabooka

Janine Freeman was elected to Parliament at the September 2008 State Election as the local member for Nollamara, representing Alexander Heights, Nollamara, Mirrabooka, Koondoola, Westminster and parts of Dianella.

Following the redrawing of boundaries, the seat of Mirrabooka was created, which includes Balga, Westminster, Alexander Heights, Mirrabooka, Koondoola and parts of Ballajura.

Janine's working history is in representing the interests of working people.

Having worked for the Liquor Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (now United Voice), as a board member of HESTA superannuation fund and on the WA Workcover board, Janine has gained a good understanding of the issues that affect the residents of the Mirrabooka electorate.

As a community minded volunteer, Janine has worked for a number of community groups including the management committee of community legal centres.

Since being elected Janine has attended many community events and worked with residents in the electorate on their concerns.

Jessica Hazelwood

Utilizing her background in law and nursing, Jessica has worked for the International Committee of the Red Cross in complex humanitarian emergencies and conflict zones including Afghanistan, Pakistan and South Sudan. After completing a bachelor of nursing degree, Jessica moved to Europe where she undertook an LL.B (Hons.) and LL.M at University College Dublin, majoring in EU foreign policy and security law and international human rights law.

Inspired by her experiences in Kandahar, Afghanistan, she enrolled to undertake a PhD at King’s College London focusing on the role of non-State law in the regulation of armed non-state groups engaged in non-international armed conflict through the Durand Line. This involves analysis of the intersection between international human rights and humanitarian law, siyar and tribal law. She currently works as the international humanitarian law coordinator for the state of Victoria and volunteers as a humanitarian observer with Australian Red Cross’ Immigration, Detention and Monitoring Program.

Ulrich Kropiunigg

Previously a University Professor at the Centre for Public Health at the Medical University of Vienna, Dr Kropiunigg’s studies have pursued psychology and psychotherapy with a strong awareness of social and political phenomena. Among other topics like psychoneuroimmunology and psychosocial factors in Alzheimer's disease, he has focussed on attitude changes and group dynamics in peace-camps, taboos in families of adolescents, the psychological determinants of radicalization and the early prevention of extremism.

As part of the latter study in five countries he co-designed the curricula for Women without Borders’ Mother Schools programme, which aims to encourage and educate family members, particularly mothers, to take an active role in safeguarding their families and communities.

Leila Ben Mcharek

Leila Ben Mcharek is Research Fellow at the Centre for Muslim States and Societies at the University of Western Australia specialising in developments in Africa, especially Tunisia, and radicalisation. Her research is currently focussed on jihadism in North Africa (Tunisia and Libya), including women jihadism. She obtained her PhD in Cultural Studies from the Sorbonne-Nouvelle University (France). She taught in two Tunisian universities before joining the British Embassy in Tunis as Political and Public Affairs Officer. Then she joined the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Tunis as Human Rights Officer. She has also tutored at the University of Western Australia.

Sara Mahmood

Sara Mahmood is a Research Analyst working with the International Centre for Political Violence & Terrorism Research (ICPVTR) at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Singapore. Mahmood is associated with the Pakistan Desk at ICPVTR, where she focuses on the threat of Islamist terror groups such as the Taliban and the Islamic State in Iraq & Syria (ISIS), and counter-terrorism responses of the state. Mahmood also covers the Informatics Desk where she examines the terrorist threat emanating from social media in the Pakistan-Afghanistan region, and is also the Assistant Editor for the Quarterly Reviews, a publication within ICPVTR that outlines and analyses the emerging trend of terrorism in specific conflict zones.

Mahmood did her Bachelors from Lahore School of Economics (LSE) in Political Science & Media Studies. During her undergraduate studies, her research concentrated on the effectiveness of negotiations with the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP). Mahmood was granted the Terrorism Analyst Study Award in 2014, which is a scholarship program in conjunction with Masters in International Relations, with a specialization in Terrorism Studies.

Mahmood has authored several commentaries for RSIS, which include ‘Female Fighters of Islamic State: Why More from the West?’ and ‘New Dimensions of Jihadism: The Rise of the Islamic State Affiliates in Afghanistan’. She has also written an article on ‘Decapitating the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan: An Effective Counter-Terrorism Strategy?’ in the Counter-Terrorist Trends & Analysis journal by ICPVTR.

Mahmood’s research interests comprise of the efficacy of kinetic means to counter Islamist terrorism, radicalization and counter-radicalization of women, the role of women in Islamist terrorism, with a particular emphasis on the present trends of increased recruitment of women by ISIS.

Sam Makinda

Samuel M. Makinda is the professor of international relations and security studies, and the Founding Chair of the Security, Terrorism and Counterterrorism Studies at Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. He has had extensive experience in the media and public policy. Professor Makinda was awarded the Order of Elder of the Burning Spear (EBS) by the then Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki in December 2011.

In August 2012, the Celebration of African Australians Inc named him one of the top 100 most influential African Australians. He was a member of the Australian Foreign Minister’s National Consultative Committee for International Security Issues 2001-2008. In 2007 and 2009, the Kenyan government invited Professor Makinda to serve as a resource person at the biennial Ambassadors’ Conference.He previously worked with the Foreign Affairs Section of the Parliamentary Research Service at the Australian Federal Parliament in 1985/86.

Professor Makinda has been a researcher at the Brookings Institution (Washington, DC); the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London); St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford; and the Global Security Programme, University of Cambridge. He was also the 2001 Distinguished Lecturer for the UN University’s Institute for Natural Resources in Africa. He has taught at the ANU, the University of Western Australia, Flinders University, and the University of Nairobi. He is a former editor of the Daily Nation and a political correspondent of The Weekly Review in Nairobi.

Between June 2007 and June 2012, he wrote a weekly column in the Nairobi-based Business Daily. He has published five books and over 100 book chapters and journal articles on global security, terrorism, sovereignty, knowledge and development, and governance in Africa.

David Mickler

David Mickler joined the Political Science and International Relations program in the School of Social Sciences at UWA in 2014 as Assistant Professor, Foreign Policy and International Relations. David has a PhD in International Relations from Murdoch University, Perth, and from 2010-13 was a Lecturer in International Relations in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. At Melbourne, David was also the Deputy Coordinator of the Master of International Relations program in the Melbourne School of Government, and Chair of the Faculty of Arts Africa Regional Strategy Group. He also designed, coordinated and taught annually into an international MA unit in Delhi, India, as part of a Universitas21 network collaboration between the University of Melbourne, the University of Birmingham and the University of Delhi. In early 2013 David was a Visiting Scholar at the Institute for Peace and Security Studies at Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia, while conducting field research at the African Union.

Tahmina Rashid

Dr Tahmina Rashid is an Associate Professor of International Studies, Faculty of Arts & Design, University of Canberra Australia. She has received her PhD and MA from the University of Melbourne, Australia; and a Master’s degree in Political Science from University of the Punjab, Pakistan. She has previously served as Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at College of Arts & Sciences, Qatar University; Program Director International Development, RMIT University, Australia; and as Assistant Professor, Political Science in Pakistan. She was a Fulbright scholar in 1996 and was also awarded ‘Asia Fellow Award’, Ford Foundation in 2004-05 to work in urban slums in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Her previous work includes “Contested Representations: Punjabi Women in Feminist Debates in Pakistan” and “ International Development: Linking Academia with Development Aid & Effectiveness”. She is a development consultant & field researcher with a keen interest in South Asian region. Her academic interests include feminist movements in South Asia; radical Islamic Movements; urban/rural poverty; migration & identity; sustainable development & human rights; Micro-credit and women’s empowerment; Conflict and Post-Conflict Humanitarian Assistance; Religious Extremism and Politics of Migration, Identity and Citizenship.

Amin Saikal

Amin Saikal is Distinguished Professor of Political Science and Director of the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies (The Middle East and Central Asia) at the Australian National University.Professor Saikal is a specialist in the politics, history, political economy and international relations of the Middle East and Central Asia. He has been a Visiting Fellow at Princeton University, Cambridge University and the Institute of Development Studies (University of Sussex), as well as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow in International Relations (1983-1988).

In April 2006, he was appointed Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for service to the international community and to education, and as an author and adviser. In 2015 he was appointed to level of ANU Distinguished Professor, the highest level for a university academic. He had previously received the ANU Chancellor’s Award for Distinguished Contribution to the University in 2011. He is also a member of many national and international academic organisations, and the author of numerous works on the Middle East, Central Asia, and Russia.

His books include: Modern Afghanistan: A History of Struggle and Survival (London: I.B. Tauris, 2012); The Rise and Fall of the Shah: Iran from Autocracy to Religious Rule (Princeton University Press, 2009);  (editor) The Afghanistan Conflict: Australia’s Role (Melbourne: Melbourne University Press, June  2011); Islam and the West: Conflict or Co-operation? (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2003); (co-author) Regime Change in Afghanistan: Foreign Intervention and the Politics of Legitimacy (Westview Press, 1991); (co-editor) Islamic Perspectives on the New Millennium (Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, 2004); (co-editor) Democratization in the Middle East: Experiences, Struggles, Challenges (New York: United Nations University Press, 2003); (co-editor) The Soviet Withdrawal from Afghanistan (Cambridge University Press, 1989); (co-editor) Russia: In Search of its Future (Cambridge University Press, 1995).

Minako Sakai

Dr Minako Sakai is the Discipline Head of Southeast Social Inquiry at School of Humanities and Social Sciences UNSW Canberra. She has specialised in anthropology of social transformation, development and Islam with a focus on Indonesia.  She has published widely on the impact of Islamisation in contemporary Indonesia, particularly Islamic microfinancing, civil society and Muslim women. She is a co-editor of Agency in Asia Pacific Disaster Relief: Connectivity, Conflict and Community Resilience. Routledge, (2014).Her website is http://hass.unsw.adfa.edu.au/staff/profiles/sakai.html

Rabia Siddique

Rabia Siddique is an Australian criminal and human rights lawyer, retired British Army officer, former terrorism and war crimes prosecutor, international humanitarian, hostage survivor, professional speaker, facilitator, coach and published author.In 2006 Rabia was awarded a Queen’s commendation for her human rights work in Iraq, in 2009 was the Runner Up for Australian Woman of the Year UK and in 2014 was selected as a Telstra Business Woman of the Year Finalist and was named as one of the Westpac/Australian Financial Review’s Top 100 Women of Influence. In October last year Rabia received a standing ovation from 1700 people at her TEDx talk entitled “Courage Under Fire” where she spoke about the power we all have as individuals to create the change we wish to see in this world.

In March this year Rabia was nominated for the WA Women Lawyer of the Year Award, was used as a case study at the most recent UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York and was nominated as the National Speakers Association of Australia Keynote Speaker of the Year. 

Rabia’s best selling memoir “Equal Justice” was published in 2013 and is currently in it’s fifth reprint. She has appeared in various Australian, UK, South East Asian and Middle Eastern media and print publications and has appeared as a guest at several Australian Writers Festivals. She has earned an international reputation as a powerful, transformative and unforgettable inspirational/motivational speaker, as well as a committed and passionate human rights advocate. 

Rabia speaks English, French, Spanish and Arabic, has run the London marathon for charity, undertaken human rights and community aid work in the Middle East, South America, United Kingdom and Australia, and is a mother to young triplet boys, her biggest and most rewarding challenge yet! 

Katja Theodorakis

Katja Theodorakis is a PhD candidate at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University in Canberra. Her research explores the appeal of the idea of a transnational, revolutionary Islamic State as a counter-narrative and challenge to Western modernity. Katja holds a Bachelor of Development Studies (First Class Honours) from the ANU, with her thesis concentrating on the dynamics of knowledge production about the Middle East. She has previously lived in Syria, where she has been involved in NGO work and educational projects.

James Trevelyan

Professor in the School of Mechanical and Chemical Engineering, UWA. He is an elected member of the Council of the International Federation for the Theory of Machines and Mechanism (IFToMM). He chairs the Engineers Australia National Panel on Mechatronic Engineering.

He is well known internationally for pioneering research that resulted in sheep shearing robots (1975-1993).

He and his students produced the first industrial robot that can be remotely operated via the internet in 1994. The robot has been controlled by a conservatively estimated 500,000 people in dozens of countries. He was presented with the 1993 Engelberger Science and Technology Award in Tokyo in recognition of his work, and has twice been presented with the Japan Industrial Robot Association award for best papers at ISIR conferences.

His teaching has also been well recognised: he was presented with the ASME Award for Mechanical and Mechatronics Teaching at the 2003 AAEE Conference in Melbourne. He has earned four distinguished teaching awards at UWA, and received a further best paper award at the 2004 International Conference on Engineering Education Research conference in the Czech Republic.

Since 1996 he has researched landmine clearance methods and his web site is an internationally respected reference point for information on landmines. He was awarded with honorary membership of the Society of Counter Ordnance Technology in 2002 for his efforts, and was also elected a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia.

His most recent work is research on engineering practice that aims to understand how engineering work is actually performed, an aspect of engineering that has not been researched before. This work is helping to explain why engineering and process-oriented companies can typically lose 30% of their turnover from engineering, maintenance and operation mistakes. It also helps to explain why engineering services in the developed world seem to cost much more than they should, often much more than in industrialised countries.

Samina Yasmeen

Samina Yasmeen is Director of the Centre for Muslim States and Societies, and lectures in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Western Australia (UWA), Perth. She is a specialist in political and strategic developments in South Asia especially Pakistan, the role of Islam in world politics, and citizenship among Australian immigrant women. Her current research focuses on the role of Islamic militant groups in Pakistan’s foreign policy.

Professor Yasmeen was a member of the National Consultative Committee of International Security Issues (2005–2008); a member of the Australian Multicultural Advisory Council (AMAC) 2009-2011; and member of the Council for Immigration Services and Status Resolution (2009-2011).

She was a member of the Australian Multicultural Council (AMC) until 2014 and is currently a member of the National Australia Day Council (NADC) and the Australia Strategic Policy Institute . She also serves as a member of the National Consultative Committee of the National Centre of Excellence for Islamic Studies, University of Melbourne, a Vice-President of the Australian Institute for International Affairs (WA Branch), and a member of the Red Cross WA International Humanitarian Law Committee. Samina Yasmeen is the recipient of the 2011 WA Citizenship Sir Ronald Wilson Leadership Award, and was inducted into the WA Women’s Hall of Fame on 8 March 2012. She was elected as a Fellow

of the Australian Institute of International Affairs in November 2012. She was appointed to the ASPI Council in April 2009.