Graduate Researcher Profiles
Naomi Bury
Naomi Bury is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Melbourne. Her engineering education PhD is on the topic of sustainable development in the chemical engineering curriculum, and is supervised by Prof. David Shallcross and Prof. Sally Male. Naomi has been teaching since 2019 as both a tutor and Assistant Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Claire Dixon
Claire Dixon is a facilitator, educator and researcher with a disciplinary background in engineering and industry experience in the built environment sector. Before moving into higher education in 2019, Claire spent over 15 years working across the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, gaining diverse experience grounded in common themes of sustainability, innovation and education. Building on her ongoing interest in reconciliation and Indigenous knowledges, both personally and through her involvement with Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Australia and her work at a global consultancy, in 2021 Claire commenced a PhD. Supported through a scholarship with the Indigenous Knowledge Institute, Claire’s PhD focuses on how universities build institutional commitment and educator capacity to successfully integrate Indigenous knowledges and perspectives into engineering education. Claire also teaches innovation and intrapreneurship with the Innovation Practice Program at the university.
Ruby Heard
Ruby Heard is a descendant of the Jaru people of the Kimberley, an electrical engineer and founding director of Alinga Energy Consulting. Alinga provides energy research, feasibility and design services with a focus on affordable and sustainable off-grid systems which improve livelihoods for Indigenous communities. In 2020 Alinga Energy Consulting received a Commonwealth Government grant to conduct energy feasibility studies for remote First Nations communities in the Kimberley. Ruby brings a diverse background which includes 7 years as a consultant with Arup working in both Melbourne and San Francisco in the building services and energy space. She has designed electrical and lighting systems for iconic buildings in Melbourne and worked on complex solar arrays and microgrid concepts for Google campuses in California. In 2018 Ruby spent 6 months volunteering in Ethiopia through Engineers Without Borders, supporting the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees (UNHCR) energy team. In 2019 she was awarded as Young Professional Engineer of the Year – Victoria by Engineers Australia and was also featured in their top 100 Engineers Making a Difference list. Ruby currently sits on the RAP committee for Engineers Without Borders and GHD.
Ruby is undertaking a PhD with Melbourne University to address energy access and affordability for remote Indigenous communities. She hopes to investigate and address the barriers to achieving energy justice for first nations people and communities. Ruby will be working closely with Woorabinda Community in Queensland to explore the energy affordability issues, specifically following on from research that the Queensland Council of Social Services completed in 2019.
Marzieh Parvaneh Akhteh Khaneh
Marzieh Parvaneh is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology. She holds a Bachelor of Research in Social Science and a Masters of IT and Social Media Education. In her PhD, under the supervision of Prof. Sally Male, Eduardo Oliveira, and Andrew Valentine she is researching and developing innovative approaches and strategies for designing online learning environments that effectively integrate peer feedback, self-regulation, and motivation. Her research work involves leveraging technology, AI and pedagogical principles to create engaging and interactive online platforms that promote active learning, collaboration, and knowledge sharing among students. Furthermore, Marzieh has a keen interest in studying gender differences in learning, particularly in the context of online education. She aims to investigate how gender impacts learning processes and outcomes. She also enjoys tutoring and is interested in implementing active learning methods in her teaching.
Brice Shen
Brice Shen is a Graduate Researcher and a Teaching Fellow with the Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology at the University of Melbourne. He graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering and a Bachelor of Computer Science from the University of Melbourne in 1999. After working in industry as a programmer for 8 years, Brice joined the University of Melbourne to begin a career in teaching in 2008. Since then, he has been involved in teaching first-year students, managing educational programs and most recently he has been coordinating an Engineering Internship subject. His research focus is professional skill development.
Brice’s PhD is on investigating the communication skills gap in graduate engineers as reported by industry with the goal of improving educational practice. In his research he has been interviewing both industry and academia from around Australia. He is jointly supervised by Prof. Andrew Ooi from the Faculty of Engineering and IT, and Prof. Sophie Arkoudis from the Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education.
Yige Song
Yige Song commenced his PhD in February 2023 with supervision by Professor Michael Kirley and Dr Eduardo Oliveira. Yige’s project is titled, “Student profile modelling using XAI algorithms”.
Yige completed his Bachelor of Science and Master of Computer Science at the University of Melbourne. His master's thesis was titled "Bias and Decision-making in Social Dilemmas". Yige enjoys tutoring, and his teaching experience in COMP10001 in the past two years inspired his PhD research.
Maharti Triharta
Maharti Triharta is a PhD candidate with a cross-disciplinary research topic that aims to bring the concept of sustainability to a career perspective of female engineers focusing on the social implications of differences in the reproductive system between sexes that require different needs and timing. Prior to her candidature, she graduated with a double degree in Petroleum Engineering and Commerce from The University of Western Australia and started her career with the largest global oilfield services company. She was working globally as a petroleum engineer for 10 years, working in oil and gas upstream projects in various locations including remote areas in East African countries, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, France, and Australia; from field engineer to field and project management, and training instructor.
After her international assignment Maharti completed a Master of Environmental Engineering at The University of Melbourne in 2019. She has been teaching within the Department of Infrastructure Engineering and started a PhD in 2022. Her research topic is personal as she has extensive experience as a female in a male-dominated workforce, and though she has never felt unsupported by colleagues and the company, she identified opportunities to improve the career longevity of females in the male-dominated profession of engineering and create sustainable career pathways that consider inborn reproductive biological inequity for female engineers.
