Professor Clive Smallman

Clive is an experienced academic leader and executive, having worked in both public and private higher education in Europe, New Zealand and Australia. His PhD is from Bradford University School of Management, a triple crown accredited Business school. He also holds an MA in Management Learning from Lancaster University School of Management, also triple crown. A former Fellow of Hughes Hall and a Senior Research Associate at the Judge Business School, Cambridge University, Clive trained in principle-based negotiation at Harvard. He is a Chartered Fellow of the British Computer Society and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Clive is experienced in international education, strategy, academic leadership, the management of academic staff, and the supervision of postgraduate students. He is a widely published author with high impact journal articles in reputed and refereed publications as well as several book chapters. He has a thorough understanding of modern pedagogy and currently holds the position of Dean at Education Centre of Australia, one of Australia’s largest higher education providers. Clive’s expertise supports the development of strategy and its execution through operations, with a strong focus on developing strategic maps and efficient business models. Strategic risk management is a strong influence on Clive’s work, as well as facilitating growth through managed change.

Professor Craig Ellis

Professor Craig Ellis has over 20 years’ higher education industry experience with the last 10 in senior management and executive roles, including the positions of Associate Dean (Academic) and Acting Executive Dean, as well as Non-executive Director of Western Sydney University Enterprises (formerly UWS College). Prior to his appointment as Dean at Astra Institute of Higher Education, Craig was Dean at the Australian College of Applied Psychology. Craig additionally holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Western Sydney University.

Outside of his professed expertise in Finance, Craig is an expert in teaching and learning, quality assurance and enhancement in higher education, with a specific emphasis on tracking and analysing student progression and performance in higher education, and developing strategies in response to identified issues. He also led the development of university strategy in the TAFE/VET arena, growing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships through engagement with TAFE and VET partners. Craig has a passion for the transformative value of higher education to change lives and a vast experience in curriculum development and quality assurance processes.

Craig is an active researcher and has completed the supervision of several doctoral students. He has a rich history in research authoring more than 60 articles, as well as being an academic journal referee, textbook referee, and ERA Peer Reviewer.

Dr. Harjeet Khanna

Dr Khanna has a PhD in Molecular Microbiology from the University of Cambridge and Master of Science (Genetics). She is an Eminent Scientist, with more than 30 years’ experience in academics and research. She has taught at post-graduate and under-graduate levels and has previously led the training and development of staff at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) as a Senior Scientist, receiving the Vice-Chancellor Team Performance award for her work.

She has specialised in the development and implementation of strategies, policies, procedures, and guidelines to support strategic aspirations in relation to research conduct, research investment and research training. Dr Khanna has skills in development of R&D program structures and investment frameworks and has extensive experience in preparation and presentation of research proposals to state departments, federal government, and other industries for high impact transformational research outcomes. Dr Khanna is an active researcher, forming part of 3 patents and over 65 publications including refereed journal papers, conference papers, book chapters, and conference posters.

Pradeep Khanna

Pradeep is an acknowledged leader in Emerging Technologies, particularly virtual, augmented, mixed reality and EdTech, bringing over 30 years of experience to the Academic Board and facilitating strategic links to Industry. He has completed his Master’s in Business Administration from AGSM (UNSW), Masters in Science from UTS and B Tech from IIT Delhi.

He is the Global Co-chair of Education, Sydney Chapter President and Executive Director for the Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality Association (VRARA), a community of more than 37,000 professionals in the VR/AR ecosystem including Facebook, Google, Amazon and Intel. A passionate thought leader in providing virtual & global services insights, Pradeep is the convenor for Global Chapters & Emerging Technologies (including Immersive Technologies) for IIT Delhi Alumni Association (IITDAA), a worldwide community of more than 50,000 professionals. He is also an Adjunct Professor in Australia, Singapore & India, whilst regularly speaking at International conferences. In addition to his executive roles, Pradeep is a Founding member of Immersive Learning and Performance Augmentation Special Interest Group and the Founder of Global Mindset, both widely recognized hubs of Academia spearheading technology enabled innovations in Teaching and Learning.

Dr. Kevin Bell

Kevin is a leading digital innovation expert bringing in a wealth of research and experience to the ASTRA Academic Board. Beginning his teaching journey in the UK and Japan, he transitioned to ‘dot.com’ work in the United States before moving back to higher education through a number of academic leadership roles. Kevin now serves as Head of Higher Education and Research (ANZ) for Amazon Web Services (AWS) where he leads discussion on education strategy and the potential role of emergent technologies including Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Internet of Things (IoT).

Kevin served four years at Northeastern University as the Executive Director and Senior Fellow for the Lowell Institute following time at Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) where he was Chief Academic Officer and academic lead of their first Innovation lab. Here he oversaw the growth of their online programmes and launched the first federally approved Competency-based, Direct Assessment degree; College for America. Kevin received his doctorate at the University of Pennsylvania with research into gameful design and student engagement in online courses.

In 2016 Kevin served as the first Pro Vice Chancellor of Digital Futures at Western Sydney University. Since leaving WSU, Kevin has served as Digital Futures (Education) Consultant for KPMG Australia, founded ‘Digital Education Analytics’ and supported both Florida State University and the University of Pennsylvania with their digital strategies during the COVID pandemic. Kevin received the Nofflet Williams Service Award from the National University Technology Network in recognition of his thought leadership in online education and within the distance learning community at large.

Kate Dennis

Kate is an experienced professional with a versatile and robust administrative support skill set, developed through experience as a business owner, client account director and client manager. As our Quality Assurance Manager, she has a high level of attention to detail and accuracy and is respected by all for her credibility.

Kate is committed to developing internal processes and excels in resolving challenges with innovative solutions. By combining technology, system and process implementation, Kate’s methods have proven to increase efficiency, client satisfaction and business success. She brings advanced knowledge in administrative skills, database management and in cloud-based systems.

Dhruv Sabharwal

Dhruv is an accomplished young executive and entrepreneur who is passionate about business and carries a track record of successful management. After concluding his Bachelor of Economics from University of Sydney, Dhruv has completed Business and Entrepreneurship courses from Harvard Business School and the University of Oxford. He is also the founder of Altera Vita, known for pioneering R&D in patentable technologies driven by Artificial Intelligence.

Through years of experience in leading several small and medium scale companies, Dhruv is a Fellow of the Institute of Managers and Leaders and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He currently holds an Executive position within Astra Institute of Higher Education and sits on the boards of companies in the health care, research, fashion and property development sectors.

Professor Craig Ellis

Professor Craig Ellis has over 20 years’ higher education industry experience with the last 10 in senior management and executive roles, including the positions of Associate Dean (Academic) and Acting Executive Dean, as well as Non-executive Director of Western Sydney University Enterprises (formerly UWS College). Prior to his appointment as Dean at Astra Institute of Higher Education, Craig was Dean at the Australian College of Applied Psychology. Craig additionally holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Western Sydney University.

Outside of his professed expertise in Finance, Craig is an expert in teaching and learning, quality assurance and enhancement in higher education, with a specific emphasis on tracking and analysing student progression and performance in higher education, and developing strategies in response to identified issues. He also led the development of university strategy in the TAFE/VET arena, growing and maintaining mutually beneficial relationships through engagement with TAFE and VET partners. Craig has a passion for the transformative value of higher education to change lives and a vast experience in curriculum development and quality assurance processes.

Craig is an active researcher and has completed the supervision of several doctoral students. He has a rich history in research authoring more than 60 articles, as well as being an academic journal referee, textbook referee, and ERA Peer Reviewer.

Kate Dennis

Kate is an experienced professional with a versatile and robust administrative support skill set, developed through experience as a business owner, client account director and client manager.

Kate is committed to developing internal processes and excels in resolving challenges with innovative solutions combined with technology, system and process implementation that have proven to increase efficiency, client satisfaction and business success. She brings advanced knowledge in administrative skills, database management and in cloud-based systems.

Emma Green

With a proven track record in marketing and a strong educational foundation, Emma is a marketing professional known for driving business success through strategic and innovative approaches. Emma holds a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Wollongong, majoring in Marketing and Advertising, and a minor in Professional Writing and Journalism.

Social media management, strategy execution and project management are among her key responsibilities and strengths, as Emma has previously held Senior Executive Marketing positions at Hastings People, Riversdale Group and more!

Vikas Khosla

Vikas is a passionate IT professional with extensive experience in project management and developing enterprise business systems. He has completed various programming and database courses, including a Graduate Diploma in IT from UWS. Vikas is our tech-wiz at Astra, bringing superior knowledge in computer hardware, mobile devices, software, installation, DNS, configuration, management, troubleshooting and support.

Amit Sabharwal

Amit is a conversant businessman, with over 30 years’ experience successfully founding and managing companies. He holds a Master in Business Administration from Deakin University and is a Chartered Accountant by profession. As a merit lister placing within Top 15 of Institute of Chartered Accountants of India in Accounting and Audit, Amit is highly regarded for his financial and accounting expertise. He is a Member of CPA Australia, a Fellow of ICAI and currently sits on an array of boards in the property and retail sectors.