Dr. Sunny Vinnakota is a distinguished academic leader with over 22 years of experience in higher education, curriculum development, and institutional leadership. Currently serving as Academic Dean at Academies Australasia Polytechnic, he excels in teaching, research, and academic administration, with expertise in business, digital marketing, hospitality, psychology, and management. His focus areas include digital transformation, innovation, and quality assurance in education. Dr. Vinnakota holds a PhD (Management & Marketing) (2018), with a dissertation on “Digital Marketing Adoption in an Emerging Economy: Consumer’s Perspective”, and is pursuing a Postdoctoral Fellowship in Global Business Innovation, along with ongoing studies in Master of Applied Artificial Intelligence and Master of Autism and Neurodivergent Studies. His qualifications include a Master of Education (E-Learning & Digital Pedagogies) (2024), focusing on digital technologies and AI in education, a Master of Tertiary Education (Management) (2022), specialising in quality assurance and institutional leadership, and a Master of Business Administration (Innovation & R&D) (2011), with expertise in strategic marketing and change management. He also holds a Master of Business Hospitality Management (2009), a Master of Arts in Psychology (2012), a Master of Arts in Tourism Psychology (2004), and a Master of Marketing Management (2002), along with multiple diplomas and certificates in community services, early childhood education, marketing, and hospitality management.
Dr. Vinnakota has held leadership roles such as Associate Dean (Education) (2020–2024) and Program and Technology Enhanced Learning Director (2018–2019) at Academies Australasia Polytechnic, driving curriculum innovation and digital learning integration. He has also served as Course Coordinator at various universities in Australia (2015–2018) and Change Management Project Leader at Public Transport Victoria (2008–2010). With over two decades of teaching experience, he has delivered programs like Bachelor of Business and MBA at RMIT University, Charles Darwin University, Charles Sturt University, Federation University, University of Canberra, University of Sunshine Coast, and Victoria University, emphasising innovative pedagogy and digital tools. An active member of professional organisations, including Certified Practising Marketer (CPM) and Academy of Management, Dr. Vinnakota has completed advanced professional development programs, such as Executive Coaching at the University of Cambridge. His expertise includes educational technologies (Moodle, Canvas, Adobe Suite), data analysis (SPSS, NVivo), and project management (PRINCE2, Six Sigma).
Dr. Vinnakota’s research focuses on digital transformation in business, tourism and hospitality innovation and quality assurance in higher education, exploring Digital Learning Technologies, AI in Education, and Digital Pedagogy to enhance teaching and learning through technology-driven solutions.
PhD, Deakin University; MBA, University of East Asia, Macau; BA(Hons), University of Science, Malaysia; GradCertEd (Tertiary), Federation University Australia, Digital Skills & Digital Marketing, Accenture, Online Teaching, University of New South Wales
Responsible for Academic Integrity & Quality. Former Academic Dean, AAPoly. Served in several key public and private sector managerial roles, namely the State Economic Development Authority, Malaysia and HR Manager of an US MultiNational Company. Later served in academia as Deputy Vice President, Deakin University Programs, Malaysia, and Program Director for the Masters of Management at Swinburne University, Melbourne. Experience and expertise in public and private sector management, the promotion of international academia, relationship & management, international partnership development, and academic program evaluation and consultation. Member of Malaysia Australia Business Council and editor board member of International Journal. Areas of research cover international business; change management; marketing; international HR; talent management; and, contemporary teaching and learning.
Master of Arts (Tourism Management), Kakatiya University
Responsible for the coordination of the BTHM program and assisting enrolment and subject planning. Responsible for monitoring student course progression and managing early intervention, providing academic counselling to students, and overseeing assessment processes. Extensive experience teaching a range of subjects including Work Integrated Project, Work Integrated Learning, Accommodation Management, Food and Beverage Management and Introduction to Tourism and Hospitality at Academies Australasia Polytechnic and Workplace Internship Project at Boxhill Institute.
Doctor of Philosophy, Computer and Security Science, ECU; MS Computer Engineering; BS Computer Engineering (with Hons), University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan
Hira is a distinguished academic and researcher with a PhD in Computer and Security Science from Edith Cowan University (ECU), Australia. Her research focuses on immersive technologies, digital aesthetics, and interdisciplinary methods in game design and computational systems. She has contributed to projects in machine learning, data visualization, and digital twin dashboards, and her work is published in prestigious conferences. She has served as a Research Fellow at CSIRO and as a lecturer and unit coordinator at ECU, where she has taught programming fundamentals, scripting languages, and Data Analysis and visualisation using R. She has also contributed to curriculum development at the Australian Data and Cyber Institute and Radiation Training to create training resources under compliance with the AEIC. She is deeply committed to community engagement, having volunteered with the Girls Programming Network in Perth (2019–2022), showcased VR/AR technologies during ECU Open Days and also participated in the WA Health Hackathon 2021, where she contributed to the development of an indoor navigation system for hospitals. Her dedication to innovation, teaching, and research makes her a valuable contributor to the advancement of technology and education.
Abbass Ghanbary has completed his PhD (with full scholarship) from the University of Western Sydney (UWS), focusing on the issues and challenges in incorporating emerging technologies in business integration. This research was concluded by creating a model for Collaborative Business Process Engineering (CBPE). Abbass has numerous publications in Journals, Conferences, Book Chapters, and a Book in the area of Information and Communication Technology including business process engineering and service collaboration as a framework for organisation integration.
Abbass Ghanbary has been actively involved with academic institutions since 1993 with more than 20 years of industrial experience working on very complex projects in the public and private sector. Therefore, he has two principal guidelines for his academic philosophy: “bringing knowledge to life” meaning that teaching can only come to fruition when readily applying the contents in practice. And “student-centered learning” ensures that the students are in the centre of the learning process.
