MBAus Members and guest were able to hear from a panel of speakers who discussed the Value of an MBA, along with their personal experiences. Our panel included very special guest speakers:
Available free to MBAus Members, or for a small fee to students and non-members, we thank all who were able to attend.
Bhavna is a general management professional with a portfolio career spanning multiple geographies namely India, Middle East, and Australia. Driving strategic organisational growth, Bhavna over the past two decades, has worked with disparate industries like Automotive, Telecommunication, Retail, IT, Engineering, and Learning & Development.
A visionary, Bhavna brings strategic level leadership experience in Innovation, Strategy, Marketing, Planning, Operations, Project Management, and Business development. Her diverse experiences are coupled with knowledge of local and international markets, cross-cultural fluency, and relationship-building across borders.
Bhavna is the Founder-CEO of a startup that responds to ESG and shifts the needle on systemic issues. She is currently acting in advisory capacity for startups and SMEs that are driven by ESG principles.
Bhavna holds an Executive Masters in Leadership, Strategy, and Innovation from Murdoch University, and an MBA from the Curtin Business School, in Australia. Her former qualifications include Masters in Management and Undergraduate in Science from India as well as an MCSE from Kuwait.
She is a member of the CFI and AICD.
Bhavna embodies the values and purpose of MBAus. Serving as a board member, she hopes to create an ecosystem of collaborative forces to advance the value of MBA degrees in Australasia.
Dr Stefan Smith
Director
Dr Stefan Smith has more than 12 years of research and development experience covering fundamental science through to pilot projects. His research interest focused on separation science and the development of innovative materials and technologies for decarbonizing and improving the efficiency of the energy and oil and gas industries. After leaving the laboratory in 2017, Stefan has held senior operational leadership roles in a deep technology start-up, research institutes, and research-adjacent membership organizations.
Dr Smith holds an MBA from Monash University (2021), a Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD, Chemical Engineering) from Monash University (2017), and a Bachelor of Science and Technology (BScTech) from the University of Waikato. He is a current member of Monash MBA Alumni Committee and the AICD. He was previously the Vice President and Director of the Membrane Society of Australasia and has held several other positions in and around the university sector.
Stefan joined the Board of MBA Australasia to support MBA Students and Graduates through improved awareness, professional development opportunities, and the establishment of a cross-university network of MBA alumni.
Mridul Dutt has over 20 years of experience in non-executive director roles with a focus on business development, digitalization, and strategy. He is a founder of ecommerce business and has held senior executive roles with RPS Group, E7 and Turner & Townsend. He delivered strategy, governance and assurance transformation programs in the oil and gas, mining, and infrastructure sectors.
Mr. Dutt has participated in various not for profit organization offering strategic advice and acting as a mentor to inspire a diverse next generation of talent. Mr. Dutt is a big advocate of sustainability and involved in several net zero initiatives. Mr. Dutt is a founder of ecommerce business and has introduced sustainable eco-friendly fashion brand woven in pure Lotus silk with the sole focus on positively impacting the environment.
Mr. Dutt is an active committee member of Engineer Australia and has built strong partnerships across the various sector while delivering powerful results throughout his career. He is dedicated to using his experience in both the public and private sectors by supporting innovation, reducing barriers to entry, and building strong communities.
Mr. Dutt is a member of AICD, a registered civil engineer and holds an MBA from University of Queensland and Harvard University focused on leadership and strategy.
Brian Jones has forty-two years’ experience in corporate, professional accounting, taxation, audit and business advisory fields. He has been in practice as an accountant, business adviser and forensic accountant since 1989.
Prior to this he was with BP Australia and BP Finance Australia for six years in accounting policy and systems, corporate accounting and corporate treasury roles. Brian also worked for Touche Ross in London, Birmingham and Geneva. He also spent three years in brand management.
He now specialises in strategic planning, taxation, management and forensic accounting. Brian has worked in a wide variety of industries ranging from international to small business.
As well as holding an MBA, Brian has an Honours degree in Economics from University College London, is an FCA (Fellow of CAANZ) and an Accredited Business Valuer and Accredited Forensic Accounting Specialist.
Brian has been involved with MBAus (and GMAA) for over 20 years becoming National President. He became President of the Victorian Chapter in 2004.
Masud is a professional Mining Engineer with over 16 years of technical and operational experience, dealing with complex mineral deposits in multiple commodities with both Underground and Open pit environment. His Career to date has focused in resources engineering, operations management, consulting, productivity improvement, process simulations and optimisation, strategic planning, business analysis and business development. Masud is a Member of AusIMM (Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy) and a Member of TOCICO (Theory of Constraints International Certification Organization).
Masud holds an MBA from The University of Queensland, a Master of Engineering M.Eng (Mining) from The University of Ballarat, and a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) from The University of Ballarat.
Other than his Mining career, Masud has been heavily involved in the Not for Profit (NFP) sector with experience in multiple board advisory and project roles. He is also a start-up coach and enjoys coaching entrepreneurs in shaping and developing business ventures.
Masud upholds the vision and values of MBAus, he has recently joined MBAus as a director of the board with a passion to improve the value and awareness of the MBA degrees in Australasia.
Ross Barclay is an MBA graduate from the Queensland University of Technology and founded the MBA Success podcast with fellow board member Chris Jacko. Ross has been working in finance for close to a decade and is currently in the role of a Customer Design Specialist. He is passionate about people and receives energy from creating amazing customer experiences.
Ross also completed a Bachelor of Business (majoring in finance and economics) from QUT and now continues to run the QUT MBA alumni social group.
Dr Brendan Markey-Towler is a Senior Advisor at Evidn (formerly Behavior Innovation), a behavioral science startup based in Fortitude Valley with global operations in population-level behavior change. Prior to joining Evidn, he held various academic postings as a behavioral, institutional and evolutionary economist at the University of Queensland and the RMIT Blockchain Innovation Hub. His first book “An Architecture of the Mind” was published by Routledge in 2018, and his second book, co-authored with Nicholas Johnson of the World Economic Forum, entitled “Internet, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain” will be published by Routledge in late 2019. He has published and spoken extensively on behavioral, institutional and evolutionary economics, particularly in relation to technology adoption. He holds a PhD and a Bachelor of Economics with First Class Honours and a University Medal from the University of Queensland.
University of Queensland
Jake has been instrumental in working with University of Queensland researchers to create innovative and cutting edge research computing infrastructure to allow UQ researchers to stay ahead of the curve. Jake was recently recognised for this work with a UQ Award for Excellence.
Economic Development Queensland
Dr Michael Kane is the Director Innovation at Economic Development Queensland, a state government commercialised business unit for residential, urban and industrial development through property and infrastructure partnerships. Dr Kane’s role is to lead innovative approaches to planning and development for EDQ and the state of Queensland
Digital Lab, GHD Digital
With over 20 years’ experience delivering innovation and consulting programs, projects and services with multi-sectoral clients from higher education, industry, start-ups, accelerator hubs, government and research agencies, Jacyl is the Global and Australian Practice Director, Digital Lab at GHD Digital, a global professional services firm with 10,000+ people and 200 offices worldwide. Jacyl has a BA, LLB and LLM and a Masters of Enterprise and sits on several boards. She is the 2018 recipient of a scholarship from Chief Executive Women and the Harvard Club of Australia to participate in an executive education program about ‘The Future of Work in the Digital Age’, delivered by Harvard Business School.
Jacyl creates and delivers new value creation initiatives and ways to foster “innovative and creative” thinking and doing. At GHD Digital, she executes upon a corporate digital innovation strategy that includes Smart Seeds an award-winning global innovation program for clients, stakeholders and communities across 15 + cities worldwide.Prior to GHD Digital, Jacyl was Director Engagement at Melbourne Connect- a capital and cultural transformation project creating an innovation district on the former Royal Women’s Hospital site. She has been a corporate lawyer, Supreme Court Judges Associate, worked abroad and founded several start-ups.
