Accolades for UP Education staff

Program Leaders and Senior Lecturers, Dr Raja Kannusamy at Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors (AIPC), and Dr Nathan Crane at ICHM, have been recognised for their contributions to education and industry.  

Dr Raja Kannusamy

At the helm of higher education in business, Dr Raja Kannusamy, Program Leader and Senior Lecturer at the COLAB (part of Australian Institute of Professional Counsellors) has been presented with an illustrious academic award.

Dedicated to preparing learners and industry to evolve with the technological landscape, Dr Raja was presented with ‘The Brian Gibson Best Academic Paper Award’ by the Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand (SEAANZ) for his investigation into the future of work for small and medium-sized enterprises.

SEAANZ is a professional association dedicated to research, policy development and the dissemination of ideas relating to entrepreneurship and small business management for the small to medium enterprise (SME) sector in the Australasian region.

In this year’s SEAANZ symposium, he presented his findings to government officials, policymakers, industry and academics to pave the way for the upcoming generation of new breed thinkers in business.

Dr Kannusamy’s paper, co-written with Dr Nagarajan Venkatachalam from Queensland University of Technology, was selected by a panel of expert judges as the best research on digital technology applications in Small and Medium Enterprises for the award. The paper is titled:

Blockchain Use: A Conceptional Paper to Address the Question on “What Tools Can Help SME Practitioners, Policy Makers and Researchers Plan for an Uncertain Future?”

At COLAB, Dr Raja is leading and continuously developing the high education curriculum for students to seamlessly transition into the professional world with a breadth and depth of future-proofed skills.

Dr Nathan Crane

Dr Nathan Crane, Program Coordinator at ICHM has been elected as the incoming State Chair for South Australia/Northern Territory at the Design Institute of Australia (DIA) and a member of the DIA National Advisory Committee.

DIA is a peak body devoted to the design community’s recognition, success and growth. As the State Chair, Nathan will be the figurehead of the peak body for professional design across all disciplines including manufacturing, product, fashion, built environment and communications.

Dr Nathan Crane, Program Coordinator at ICHM, says a “learning forward” approach is crucial for students to attain the skills and networks to hit the ground running in hospitality, hotel management, business and beyond.

The South Australia/Northern Territory council will actively work with community, government, business, industry and education sectors within the creative industries. There are currently over 2,000 designers represented.

Part of the UP Education family, ICHM, prepares graduates to excel in leadership roles in the hospitality and hotel management industry – with focus on instilling a robust understanding of business skills needed to be future-ready.