ABOUT US
behind any great innovation are the minds that make it possible, and the people willing to WORK hard to Enact change.
Meet the team at Postgraduate Transformations (PGx) —a collective of education experts who are the driving force behind Western’s Education Innovation. A powerhouse of innovation with learning designers, UX designers, developers, media creators and researchers.
The Postgraduate Transformation program is one of six strategic transformation initiatives at Western Sydney University. The Transformation initiatives collectively aim to create a more digitally enabled University with the capability to provide students with a richly interactive and personalised learning experience whoever they are and wherever they are located. Find out more: https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/transformation-program
PGx’s reputation is forged by creativity, a passion for pedagogical excellence and a collaborative ethos. Every challenge is seen as an opportunity to collaborate and partner with like-minded organisations and industry-leaders, to ultimately transform postgraduate learning.
Learn more about the team behind the scenes at Education Innovation and reach out if you can see any synergies and opportunities to partner.
Contact the team: pgx@westernsydney.edu.au
MEET THE TEAM
Cherie Diaz
Executive Director, Education Innovation
Cherie, our fearless leader, joined Western with a wealth of leadership experience across vocational, higher education and non-accredited educational institutions. Previously, as Managing Director (Australia) at OpenLearning, Cherie helped grow the platform into a truly lifelong learning space motivating and empowering more than 3 million learners across 165 countries and 200+ education providers globally. In addition to her role at Western, Cherie is a Non-Executive Director of the Digital Skills Organisation and MEGT.
Cherie brings a burning passion for education innovation and microcredentials, that will help transform Western’s postgraduate offerings, driven by learner centricity, outcomes, and industry partnerships.
In her downtime, Cherie enjoys exploring new things to do – be those events, exhibitions, movies, places to eat.
Lynnae Venaruzzo
Director, Postgraduate Transformations
Lynnae is an accomplished digital strategist with extensive leadership experience delivering and innovating in technology-enhanced-learning environments. Lynnae is curious about how technology enables deep engagement and how we can create learning experiences that intrinsically motivate learners. Her curiosity is being extended through her doctoral work on motivation and self-regulated learning practices of university students. Lynnae is also an Executive Member of ACODE, the peak Australasian council for leadership in technology-enabled-learning.
When Lynnae is not spending time with her ‘PGx’ family or working on her doctorate, she is always on the go: mountain biking with her boys, on the lookout for a perfect cup of coffee or in search of a meme that makes her laugh.
Iona Reid
Education Program Manager
Working in higher education for more than 24 years, Iona has wealth of expertise in learning and teaching, design and development, governance and business operations, and student experience, services, and support. With a unique combination of curriculum, research, strategic and operational leadership, and project management skills, Iona is the perfect Program Manager for PGx, capably steering the ship into exciting (and uncharted) educational oceans
Outside of work, Iona enjoys camping, gaming, reading, and her keen interest in all things science makes her an invaluable member of any trivia team.
Andrew Komoder
Senior Learning Experience Designer
Andrew is PGx’s expert in all things design, with over 25 years as a Graphic designer, User-Experience (UX) designer and Learning Experience (LX) designer. Andrew has a passion for creating innovative and engaging activities for learners, that leverage technology and motivational game-based learning principles. Andrew is well-researched in this field, having decades of gaming experience ranging from the Atari 2600 to the PlayStation 5.
Andrew’s impressive portfolio of work has received international recognition including a LearnX Award, ACODE Innovation in TEL Award and an International Serious Play Award, making him a leader in the LX field. Arguably even more impressive than this, is Andrew’s very healthy collection of heavy metal and rock guitars.
Jason He
Senior EdTech Developer
Jason is PGx’s highly skilled EdTech Developer, with over 10 years of experience in DevOps, data analysis, and cyber security. If there’s a tech problem, or creative solution required, Jason will have the answer, with expertise in an extensive suite of tools including JavaScript, NodeJs, React, Python, Angular, PHP, Splunk, AWS/Azure and much, much more. With a Master of IT & Web Engineering and a Master of IT in Networking, Jason as Technical Team Lead previously transformed Western’s entire cyber security posture.
Jason is equally as skilled on a wakeboard as he is behind the keyboard, and is currently ranked 4th in the Australian National Wakeboard rankings, and enjoys skiing, kite surfing, table tennis and music in his free time.
Matthew Bennet
Digital Learning Designer
Being an expert learning designer is one of Matt’s many and eclectic skills. With previous roles at Pearson and Smart Sparrow, Matt has worked extensively with universities and businesses to create online content. During COVID, Matt was able to innovate and create interactive simulated lab experiments, based on real-life problems, helping learners understand complex content.
In previous lives, Matt has used his undergraduate studies in Biotechnology and Russian to both work in research labs, and teach academic English in Melbourne, Russia and Kazakhstan.
Ashraf Ashraf
UX Design Assistant
As a game developer, Ashraf role involves reviewing academic content then conceptualising effective digital media. Ashraf conducts research into the latest trends in UX and LX designs and explores their applications within the course. Ashraf actively supports the Learning Design team in developing digital media assets for micro-credential courses. Ashraf conducts research utilizing AI-generated imagery (both static and motion) to enhance production efficiency while upholding control and quality standards.
Ashraf sketches and develops lo-fi concepts and simple storyboards for digital assets. Ashraf's ability to stay updated on the latest trends in course subject matter and marketing material makes him a valuable resource for the team. Ashraf's creative prowess, combined with his proficiency in digital media, creative drawing, Adobe Express, and AI technology, empowers him to bring any idea to life, akin to a superpower.
Botong Cheng
Lead Learning Designer
As Lead Digital Designer, Botong loves exploring the endless possibilities and challenges the Internet offers to educate in novel and innovative ways. Botong developed his entrepreneurial spirit previously working for an EdTech start-up called Smart Sparrow, creating new generation learning experiences for universities, corporate organisations, and charities.
Not only does Botong mentally grapple with complex learning scenarios, but he also has physical grappling skills, enjoying his Brazilian Jujitsu outside of work hours (mostly).
Yasmine Tolentino
Digital Learning Designer
Yas has worked for over 10 years in the higher education sector in change management and learning design. As a Practice Adoption Advisor, Yas helped integrate Western’s new University-wide Student Management System with large-scale digital and face-to-face campaigns.
As a Learning Designer, Yas has worked closely with academics and experts, and transformed hundreds of courses and thousands of online learning activities with modern technology and engaging pedagogy.
Yas is deeply passionate about learning design, teaching her children Tagalog words, and buying house plants (that her husband ends up caring for).
Kelvin Leen
Project Support Officer
Kelvin considers himself as a "jack of all trades" having been involved in various responsibilities ranging from customer service to office management, security and even enforcement work. He has work experience in administration and project support for more than 18 years in various organisations in both Singapore and Australia, ranging from tertiary education to government services. Prior to joining the PGx team as a Project Support Officer, he was involved in the implementation of the university’s Student Management System (SMS) in the capacity of project support, functional testing and managing post-implementation staff and students' enquiries.
Outside of work, Kelvin enjoys watching movies and gaming, travelling with family, sharing his passion for Lego with his son.
Kevin Reyes
Data Science Assistant
Kevin works in the field of data science within Education Innovation, where he passionately explores the world of machine learning models and the exciting advancements in Artificial Intelligence. Kevin is an avid problem solver, equipped with strong skills in mathematics and programming (Python and R), as well as a passion for tackling puzzles. He is a high achiever, earning a spot on the Computing, Data and Mathematical Sciences Dean's merit list for both the 2021 and 2022 academic years.
In his leisure time, Kevin indulges in gaming on his PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch. He is an enthusiastic gamer, enjoys reading Manga, watching anime, and challenging himself with puzzles like Sudoku and Rubik's cubes.
Sam Dessen
Senior XR Creative Developer
During the week, you can find Sam behind a lens or screen on campus, tinkering with the latest software or tools, to create fresh, engaging educational content.
With a background in traditional 2D video, TV and film production, Sam fell down the virtual ‘rabbit hole’ of XR, as an early adopter of 360 video and immersive content creation. With a core focus on the student experience, and improving learning outcomes, Sam uses a tech-agnostic approach to create multimedia media and mixed-reality experiences that engage and inspire.
On weekends, you can usually find Sam surfing, or scaling a mountainside somewhere...
Emily Collins
Digital Learning Designer
Emily is PGx’s ‘triple threat’… ready at any moment to bust out some incredible singing, dancing, or learning design. With a Bachelor in Computational Design, and a Masters in Teaching, Emily brings a wealth of expertise in UX/UI design and digital content creation. Emily is skilled and passionate about leveraging technology to improve both learning outcomes, and immersing learners with differentiated learning experiences.
Emily has an equally impressive dancing career, performing around the world, and with a Cert IV and Diploma in Dance, she continues to teach dance as a side-passion
Cynara-Jan
Digital Learning Designer
Always ready to deep dive into new topics, Cynara-Jan is a curious digital learning designer. With a background in interactive design and art tutoring, she takes a creative and explorative mindset into the academic world and PGx team. Away from the design world, Cynara-Jan can be found studying different languages, including Tagalog, Korean, Japanese, Spanish (and apparently on the way to learning more!).
Kiyohiro Kambayashi
Full-Stack Developer Assistant
Kiyohiro serves as the lead research assistant at PGx Edutech, where his responsibilities encompass data analysis, data collection, and ethics applications for research. With a background in health science and Health and Physical Education (HPE), Kiyohiro has recently completed his Master of Research, focusing on mental wellbeing in secondary schools. At PGx, his primary tasks involve writing journal articles.
When he's out of work, you can find Kiyohiro learning technology in front of computer. Kiyohiro is a highly motivative learner who is willing to spare his time to learn technology. He always keeps in mind that the world is constantly changing, and we never know what exactly this world is, that is why we keep learning as our ancestors did.
We co-design beautiful learning experiences that are technology rich, learner centred and develop the skills for tomorrow’s workforce.
Learn more about the team behind the scenes at Education Innovation and reach out to connect with opportunities to partner.
Contact the team: pgx@westernsydney.edu.au
