School of Information Sciences
& Engineering
http://www.canberra.edu.au/schools/ise
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The School of Information Sciences and Engineering (ISE) serves the community, its
students, and employers in information and communication technology (ICT) and allied
areas through the cognate Disciplines of Information Systems, Mathematics & Statistics,
and Software Engineering.
Head of School, A/Prof
Dharmendra Sharma
We have established ourselves as a highly regarded provider of ICT higher education
responsive to the community and industry needs and differentiate ourselves well from
other universities for our professional focus. Our underlying theme is to provide education
on ICT, its creation and use to empower people in all walks of life to take knowledgeable,
well-informed and responsible actions. We aim to provide good quality undergraduate
education for people wishing to enter the ICT professions, and aim to provide a good
quality postgraduate education for those wishing to advance in the professions. The
School also aims to be widely known for high-quality research which responds to
community and industry needs.
Our School uses modern, industry strength environments (including .NET, Linux and mainframe) in its courses.
The courses have been quite successful in providing students with skills needed in IT professions. This is
demonstrated by the high employment rates for our graduates – we continue to receive 5* status (from the Good
Universities Guide) on the employability of our graduates. Most of our graduates get a job before they graduate
and have high starting salaries in the sector.
The School values its strong engagement with the industry. Our courses are particularly responsive to the skills
needs of the industry. The next few years are critical for ICT industry as the skills shortage crisis looms. The
School has been monitoring the demand trends and has been proactive in adopting an appropriate direction for
the future. We have recently done a major review of our courses and have revamped/re-focused them with
consultation from the industry. This ensures that our courses are responsive to current and emerging needs and
meet industry expectations. We have recently added courses covering two themes requested by the industry in
the niche demand areas of Business Informatics and Mainframe Computing. A strong component of work based
learning is now also included in all courses. The Mainframe Computing courses have been designed based on an
innovative work based model combining online, intensive and traditional face to face delivery. The students for the
undergraduate version of this course are employed by the industry and are fully sponsored for the course. This
model has been applauded by the industry and responds well to the skills shortage. Some work-integrated
scholarships have also been set up in partnership with the industry for the other courses as an attempt to provide
the industry with urgently needed skills and giving our students a head start in employment with work ready skills
and experience.
The School has 26 academic staff and enjoys a nice profile mix of junior and senior academic staff with expertise
spanning most areas of ICT. 20 staff members have a PhD and 5 are currently enrolled. The School’s expertise
base and engagement is enhanced by its 21 adjunct staff who comprise eminent academics and senior IT
practitioners from the industry.
Our research profile is strengthened significantly in the last 5 years. There has been a significant increase also in
the number of students joining us for higher degrees by research. There has been an average of 8 HDR
completions over the last few years and currently, there are 32 HDR students in the system. The number of
research grants has continued to increase (2 external and 11 internal in the last 2yrs). The publication record has
also improved from 42 in 2005 to 76 in 2006.
The accreditation process for all our courses by the Australian Computer Society (except the very recently
approved Mainframe Courses) is close to completion. A written report is being awaited but in the feedback to the
School at the conclusion of the exercise, the accreditation panel spoke highly of the courses, the quality assurance
processes and our future directions. The School is currently responding to their feedback.
For the future, the School has adopted to focus on new teaching and research initiatives in new applied areas
including games and creative technology, security, computer forensics, health informatics, education informatics,
e-law and e-government. We are developing delivery models for our courses to appropriately respond to the
changing demography and work patterns. Hybrid models combining face to face, online, intensive and module
based approaches are being explored.
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ISE has evolved into a School of well-integrated disciplines. We have a harmonious group. Our course and
research themes are well-grounded in our collective expertise base and interests. The School has been dynamic
and forward looking is positioned well to continue servicing the changing ICT skills needs of the ACT region. The
following highlight our capabilities, achievements and future initiatives in each of the discipline areas, learning and
teaching, and research.
Discipline of Information Systems
Information Systems (or Informatics) studies the role of data, information and
knowledge in the well-being of human activity systems. In practice
Information Systems studies is concerned with understanding and formalising
areas of human activity and developing ICT-based systems that help people
to take knowledgeable, informed action in their organisational and social
settings. The benefits relate to improved 'metabolic' processes in the system
and better interaction between the system and the rest of the world.
Head, Information Systems
A/Prof Craig McDonald
Knowledge Scope
Foundation theories / paradigms:
Data, Information, Knowledge & communication theory, Applied Ontology,
human activity systems; virtuality; visualisation; ‘the sciences of the artificial’
Core subject matter
Data, information & knowledge modelling & use; systems analysis, design & evaluation; project & systems
management; enterprise architecture
Collaboration in UC
Intimate: Software Engineering (joint teaching, curriculum, research & graduate outcomes)
Other: Business, health informatics, knowledge management & internet communication, forensics,
Potential: NATSEM, Geographic information Systems, Design & Architecture, Professional Communication
Knowledge Creation – Research
Typical research methods: Soft systems methods, case studies, action research, design science, experiment,
interpretive.
Key journals: RQF Tier 1: Information Systems Research, Information Systems Journal, Communications
Journal of the Association of Information Systems; Tier 2 – Australasian Journal of Information Systems.
Key conferences: Assoc. of IS conferences (ACIS, PACIS, HICSS) Foundations of IS, ACMIDS, ASCILITE
Staff in Information Systems:
Lubna Alam (B) PhD candidate
John Campbell (D) PhD
Dave Davies (B) PhD
Dale Kleeman (C) PhD candidate
Neil Lynch (B) PhD candidate
Craig McDonald (D) PhD
Masoud Mohammadian (C) PhD
Charles Pfohl (C)
Avon Richards-Smith (B) PhD candidate
Mohammad Yamin (B) PhD
Research students:
Adikari, Sisira (McDonald/Collings/Lynch) submit 5/07
Alam, Lubna (Campbell/Fitzgerald) proposal 11/07
Bhattacharya, Partha (Xu/McDonald) proposal 3/07
Gobbin, Renzo (Mohammadian/McDonald) submit 11/07
Gurusamy, Kavitha (Campbell/McDonald) proposal 5/07
Kleeman, Dale (Campbell/McDonald) proposal 6/07
Larkman, Dean (Mohammadian)
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Lynch, Neil (McDonald/Campbell/Lewis(ADFA)) proposal 6/07
Main, Peter (Davies/McDonald) proposal 6/07
Mattocks, Glen (Campbell/McDonald) proposal 5/07
Palmer, Charles (McDonald/Campbell) proposal 11/07
Preston, Helen (McDonald/Campbell) proposal 11/07
Richards-Smith, Avon (McDonald/ /Hart(ANU) ) proposal 11/07
Srinivasaraghavan, Narayanan (McDonald/Kleeman) submit 2/08
Knowledge Transfer – Teaching
Units taught in 2007:
Information Systems in Organisations
Systems Analysis & Modelling
Designing Human Computer Interaction
Systems Project & Quality Management
Software Engineering Project
Document & Workflow Management
Information Technology Project
Business Informatics Internship
Information Systems Management
Requirements & Project Management
Business Intelligence Systems
IT & Business Alignment
Research Methods
Information Security
Research Proposal
Professional Practice in IT
Extension Studies
Database Design
Database Systems
System Testing
Knowledge Management Systems
Business Informatics Case Studies
Units taught for us:
Sociology of Technology and Work G
Information Law P
Other electives:
Advanced Information Modelling P
General Systems Theory P
Social Informatics P
Knowledge Use - The Profession
Professional body: Australian Computer Society
Professional roles of graduates: Business Analyst, Systems Analyst/Designer, ICT project manager, systems
evaluator / consultant.
Clients of the profession: organisations – aligning systems & IT with the organisation
Knowledge Development

Expand IS curriculum & research: Enterprise Architecture

Systems Evaluation: cobit (possible graduate certificate in Systems Audit – systems evaluation, security,
information law, cybercrime)

Project work: Prince 2 (possible graduate certificate in PM)

The Virtual Organisation

Incorporate Masters of Knowledge Management & Internet Communications into IS

Integrate better with UC disciplines that use IS: e-learning, e-commerce, e-law, e-governance
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Discipline of Mathematics & Statistics
The Discipline of Mathematics and Statistics was established to provide for the
mathematical and statistical needs of the University from the earliest days of the
Canberra College of Advanced Education.
Head, Maths & Stats
Dr Peter Vassiliou
Its main functions are:
 To provide mathematical and statistical subjects for students who require maths
& stats as part of their undergraduate degree courses
 To provide mathematical and statistical consultation to staff and research
students of the University of Canberra at large
 To engage in the professions of mathematics and statistics at the national and
international level through research, publication, consultation and other scholarly
activity as well as through public service
Current Staff
Dr Judith Ascione (B)
Ms Mary Hewett (B)
Dr Ian Lisle (B)
Dr Shuangzhe Liu (C)
Dr Alice Richardson (B)
Dr Peter Vassiliou (C)
Teaching and Consultation
The mathematics and statistics staff delivers teaching that provides for the mathematical and statistical needs of
students within the School of Information Sciences and Engineering. In addition it provides mathematical and
statistical teaching to students in commerce and secondary education degrees. The current EFTSU to staff ratio
is 22.04 for the Discipline of Mathematics and Statistics.
Throughout semester Maths & Statistics staff engage in student consultation through the Student Resource
Centre. Attached to the Discipline of Mathematics and Statistics is the office of the University Statistical
Consultant. The person currently occupying that position is Dr David Pederson, a former member of the Discipline
and it is his job to provide statistical help to research students and staff of the University upon request.
Professional Engagement
Members are active in their professions. The Discipline is involved in the Board of Senior Secondary Studies and
in education projects within the University. A few years ago, for example, it designed and conducted a very
successful short course for primary teachers to enable them to teach mathematics in junior high school. The
Discipline is active in research. In 2006 the discipline published six papers in international refereed journals and
gave invited addresses at several international conferences. Over the last five years it has organised two
international research workshops at UC.
The Future
Over the next five years the Discipline would like to help decrease the amount of duplication of mathematics and
statistics teaching throughout the University and correspondingly increase its effectiveness to the University
community. One way to do this is by encouraging team teaching and collaboration between Mathematics and
Statistics and other Schools and Disciplines. We believe that mathematics and statistics should be taught by the
professional Discipline in that area and this is not currently the case at UC. The Discipline aims to improve its
performance in research and the procurement of external grants.
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Discipline of Software Engineering
Software engineering is the application of a systematic, disciplined, quantifiable
approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of software. The
discipline of software engineering encompasses knowledge, tools, and methods
for defining software requirements, and performing software design, software
construction, software testing, and software maintenance tasks. Software
engineering also draws on knowledge from fields such as computer engineering,
computer science, mathematics, project management, quality management, and
systems engineering.
Head, Software Engineering
Prof Michael Wagner
Knowledge Scope
Foundation theories / paradigms: Engineering design methodology, computer systems technology, programming
methodology, database technology, digital communication technology, distributed systems technology,
visualisation methodology, “artificial intelligence” paradigm, cryptography and computer security methodology,
user interface methodology.
Core subject matter: Programming languages, object-oriented programming, computer systems, operating
systems, database systems, mainframe system, computer networks, digital communications (wired, wireless,
optical), pattern recognition (image, sound), e-commerce technology, computer graphics, graphical user
interfaces, computer security, computer maintenance and support, web design and programming.
Collaboration in UC
Intimate: Information Systems (joint teaching, curriculum, research & graduate outcomes), Mathematics &
Statistics (coordinated teaching, curriculum, research & graduate outcomes), National Centre for Biometric Studies
(biometric pattern recognition);
Other: Forensics (pattern recognition), languages (forensic speaker identification), business and finance (financial
modelling), health informatics (software techniques), gaming and creative technologies;
Potential: Multimedia, NATSEM, Geographic information Systems.
Knowledge Creation - Research
Typical research methods: Engineering design/implementation/evaluation
Current research areas: Speech recognition, image recognition, biometric authentication, forensic identification,
agent technology, computer security, health informatics, Thinking Head project, NCBS, Australian audiovisual
speech data corpus collection;
Key journals: A+ Rank: IEEE Transactions on Computers, IEEE Transactions on Image Processing, IEEE
Transactions on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Pattern Recognition; A Rank: Computer Speech and
Language, Speech Communication
Key conferences: A Rank: Interspeech, B-Ranking: ACSC, SST, KES, WSEAS
Research students: List of research students attached
Current Staff
Bala Balachandran (B) PhD
Girija Chetty (B) PhD submitted
Chris Chlap (B)
David Clark (C) PhD
Robert Cox (B) PhD candidate
Dave Davies (B) PhD
Xu Huang (C) PhD
Kim Le (C) PhD
Wanli Ma (B) PhD
Charles Pfohl (C)
Dharmendra Sharma (D) PhD
Dat Tran (B) PhD
Michael Wagner (E) PhD
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Knowledge Transfer – Teaching
List of Units Taught in 2007:
Analogue and Digital Communications
Aspects of Industrial Control Part A
Computer and Network Security PG
Computers and Programming G
Game Programming Techniques
Information Sciences Extension Studies 1
Introduction to Information Technology
Introduction to Software Technology G
Object Oriented Software Design
Soft Computing
Software Technology 1
Biometric Person Authentication PG
Computer Engineering Project Part B
Computers and Programming G
Electronic Commerce – Technical Issues
Graphics Visualisation Techniques PG
Introduction to Software Technology G
Programming Graphical User Interfaces PG
Software Engineering 4B
Software Technology 1
Visual and Interactive Computing
Aspects of Industrial Control Part B
Client Server Computing PG
Computer Engineering Project Part A
Electronic Engineering Project Part A
High Speed Networks PG
Information Technology Project
Introduction to Software Engineering
Microwave Communications
Real Time Computing and Control
Software Engineering Project Part A
System Software
Computer Engineering 4
Computer Structures and Networks G
Distributed Systems Technology
Electronic Engineering Project Part B
Introduction to Information Technology
Optical Communications
Security and Support in IT
Software Engineering Project Part B
System Engineering Studies
Web Design and Programming
Knowledge Use - The Profession
Professional body : Australian Computer Society, Engineers Australia, Australian Speech Science and Technology
Association
Professional roles of graduates: Software Engineer, Programmer, Systems Analyst/Designer, ICT project
manager, software consultant
Clients of the profession: Computer industry, software industry, public service agencies
Knowledge Development
Expand Software Engineering and IT curricula & research: New research project “Thinking Head” with UWS,
Macquarie and Flinders; fingerprint and iris research in NCBS
New GC/GD/Master in computer security, biometrics and forensics, new BIT/MIT specialisations in mainframe
systems
Recent Higher-Degree-by-Research Graduates:
Brittliff, Neil (Sharma)
A provider Architecture for Computer Language Portability between Java and the .NET Platforms
Gopinathan, Ligon (Bala/Sharma)
Intelligent Search based on semantics
Grewal, Sandeep (McDonald/Le)
The Role of IT Governance and IT Service Management - a study of their adoption in Australian universities.
Kraal, Ben (Collings/Wagner/Dugdale)
Users Mental Models of Speech Recognition Systems
Matus, Abel (Mohammadian/Sharma)
Time Series Database Server
Nguyen, Phu-Nhan (Tran/Sharma)
Smart Clients for Small Business in Australia
Sharma, Naveen (Sharma/Balachanchran)
Incorporation of a Multi-agent Framework to .NET
Shadabi, Fariba (Sharma/Petrovsky)
Data Mining for Medical Analysis
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Current Higher-Degree-by-Research Students
Achuthan, Manoj (Sharma/Petrovsky/Balachandran)
Intelligent Agent System for Decision Support in Health Care
Al-Hashel, Ebrahim (Sharma/Balachandran/Ma) proposal 7/07
Agent Software Engineering processes
Al-Kabir, Zul (Le/Sharma) submitted
AI and Medical Advice Systems
Butler, Paul (Le/Xu) LoA
CAIT processor
Chetty, Girija (Wagner/Tran) submitted
Investigation of Issues in Voice and Face Recognition and Authentication
Churchill, Tania (Sharma/Balachandran/Martin-AIS) proposal 9/07
ANN and Sports Performance
Cox, Robert (David Clark/Balachandran) LoA
Artificial Intelligence for Computer War Games
Crowther, Patricia (Clark/Sharma) LoA
Error characteristics of neural network classifiers
Farooq, Nazni (Xu/Sharma) confirmed
Secruity Frameworks
Lau, Eikle (Wagner/Tran)
Automatic Person Authentication Based on Face-Voice Recognition Hidden Markov Models
Le, Son (Xu/Sharma) proposal 6/07
RFID
Main, Peter (Davies/McDonald) proposal 6/07
Medical Knowledge transfer
Mathur, Abishek (Sharma/WanLi) submit 6/07
Intelligent agents in Heterogeneous Operating Environments
Peiris, Chris (Sharma/Balachandran) proposal 6607
Security in web services
Ridgewell, Alex (Xu/Sharma) submit 4/07
Technology for Requesting Systems
Sulaiman, Rossilawati (Sharma/Ma) proposal 5/07
Agent systems
Wijesekera (Palit/Xu) proposal 3/07
Software Development for Secure Free-Space Ultra Broadband Optical Communication Systems
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Learning & Teaching, Quality Assurance, Engagement and Leadership
The School has a strong Learning and Teaching focus evidenced by
the following activities, which reflect strategies included in our 2007
Learning & Teaching Plan.
Deputy Head of School
Ms Mary Hewett
Organisational Plan
University Level:
Representation on University Education Committee; Learning and Academic Success Network (LASNet);
School Level:
 Thorough review of all Unit Outlines prior to dissemination;
 The development of a Unit Design template. Unit designs accompany Unit Outlines and provide for comment
on scholarship, relevance, etc of unit content as well as how generic skills, graduate attributes and learning
outcomes are linked to teaching material and assessment items;
 Thorough review of all final results prior to submission to Examiner’s Board;
Student Support
Early intervention through the ISE week 7 student feedback facility. Follow up provided by the Head of School;
Continued development of the ISE Student Resource Centre (SRC) – highly regarded as a drop-in learning
support centre;
Professional practice and communication skills provided by core units in ISE degrees. Writing and academic
integrity workshops in the SRC.
Feedback
Investigating feedback from Unit Satisfaction, First Year Experience and Course Experience Surveys to provide a
focus for L&T planning days and other opportunities for discussion.
Scholarship
Staff participation in teaching projects and teaching grant applications:
eg: Learning & Teaching Performance Fund 2006 grant:- Improving Staff-Student Engagement and Feedback in
ISE Courses;
UC Teaching Grants 2007:
 The Missing Link: introducing a developmental step into the UC Academic Integrity Policy;
 A cross-disciplinary approach to language support for first year students in Statistics;
 Student Feedback on the Learning Experience in BLIS.
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Research
Research in Information Sciences and Engineering
Our vision is of a society whose capability to act in a knowledgeable and
responsible way is continually enhanced by its sophisticated use of information
technologies. ISE brings together core research capabilities in the areas:

Information Systems

Mathematics and Statistics

Software Engineering
Research Director
Dr John Campbell
The aims of Research in Information Science and Engineering

Create technological advances by the development of new technologies and new methods of their
deployment;

Improve research in collaborating disciplines by developing improved ICT support of research in education,
health, environment and other informatics-using disciplines;

Create economic benefits through innovation and the smarter use of ICT by government, business and the
community;

Create social capital by enhancing society's capabilities to critically evaluate ICT's impacts and implications.
Research Areas

Biometric Authentication

Informatics

Intelligent Agents

Mathematics and Statistics

Gaming and Creative Multimedia

Security and Forensics

AI application to sports science

Speech and Language Processing
Research Activities

Research Training

National and international research linkages (UK, USA, New Zealand, Japan)
o Australian Leadership Award Fellowship for Multiagents in IT Security Project Research Collaboration

Engagement with discipline professions (ACS, IEEE, CPAA)

Collaboration with business and government sectors (IBM, Sun Microsystems, Microsoft, InTact, AGIMO,
ActewAGL, Transact, Australian Customs, Australian Institute of Sport)

National Centre for Biometric Studies (NCBS)

Research Funding
o ARC funded Thinking Head Project
o Carrick Institute Grant on Digital Learning Communities
o CPA Australia funded Project on Telework Practice
o Interdisciplinary grants (3) – with education, health and finance
Future Research Objectives

Research Quality Framework (RQF)

Research Training – completions

Grants and Consultancies

Publication Quality
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School’s Adjunct Staff
ADJUNCTS
Adjunct Professors
Dr Brian O’Keeffe, AO
Dr Clive Summerfield
Mr John Growder
Mr Robin Eckermann
Mr Jonathan Palmer
Dr Graham Williams
Dr Peter Morgan
Dr John Rayner
Mr Michael Vanderheide
Dr Leoni Warne
Prof John Fulcher
Prof Robert Bartnik
Adjunct Associate Professor
Ms Penny Collings
Adjunct Senior Lecturers
Mrs Jo Baskett
Dr Peter Brown
Adjunct Research Associates
Dr Ken Noble
Mr Phillip Williams
Adjunct Professional Associates
Mr Robert Brookes
Mr Charles Palmer
Dr David Walker
Dr Arun Dua
Visiting Lecturer
Dr Xiaobing Wu
Visiting Research Associate
Ms Mireia Farrus
We are the Microsoft Imagine Cup champions again
The University of Canberra has won the top two places in the
Microsoft Imagine Cup Innovation Challenge 2007 for the
second year running, and the winning team will compete at the
international final to be held in Seoul, Korea in August.
The winning team of Philip Haines, Miss Ngoc Thuy Duong
Khuu, Thi Vinh and Ping Li, mentored by Dr Dat Tran,
developed technology that gives people who are vision impaired
better web access and an easy way to program in programming
language C#.
The second-placed team included Shafquat Zaman Khan,
Jagdish Mehra, and Muhammad Meherban Arif, who developed a system to convert lecture notes into audio files.
Students can play the notes back on their MP3 player in a choice of languages with the system, which also
incorporates a study scheduler.
The School of Information Sciences and Engineering is proud of this great achievement. As a tertiary first, the
School incorporated the Imagine Cup competition into its curriculum and the opportunity served as a good
challenge for students to showcase their talents.
School Website: http://www.canberra.edu.au/schools/ise
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