Our team

Professor Tim Anderson is a mechanical engineer with more than 20 years of research and teaching experience. Tim completed his undergraduate and master's degrees at the University of New South Wales and his PhD at the University of Waikato in New Zealand. Tim works closely with industry looking to develop renewable energy technologies. He is a member of the joint Australia/New Zealand standards committee for solar water heating and a Standards NZ committee working on ‘High Temperature Heat Pumps’. He works extensively on solar energy, and has published numerous works in the field. He has also supervised over 15 PhD candidates to completion, on topics as varied as smart energy management systems for photovoltaics, building integrated photovoltaic/thermal concentrators and cooling towers for CSP systems.

Since studying civil engineering, Shara Cameron has spent 11 years living and working in Central West NSW. Shara specialises in water engineering and has brought her experience in flood studies, stormwater harvesting and reuse schemes, catchment and channel modelling, water balance assessments, hydraulic structures and subdivision design to projects for government and private clients.

She chose to pursue a career in engineering because of its ability to solve practical problems and produce results, and is looking forward to helping Charles Sturt students develop into confident engineers through their placements. Shara believes the hands-on focus of the course means students will already be well into their careers when they graduate, and have a positive impact on regional Australia.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 6309
Email: shacameron@csu.edu.au

Dr Nariman Saeed, joined as a Lecturer in Engineering at Charles Sturt University in July 2022. He obtained his Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Civil Engineering in 1997 and 1999. Dr Saeed Started his professional career as a Structural/Geotechnical Engineer in 2001 and had been involved in several projects in different engineering positions for 10 years. Receiving an industrial supported scholarship, he started his PhD at the University of Queensland and obtained his PhD in Civil/Structural Engineering in 2015.

Nariman Worked as a research fellow for 6 years at the Centre for Infrastructure Engineering at Western Sydney University where he led more than 50, CAT3 and CAT4 research projects and supervised more than 40 postgraduates and honours. Dr Saeed is a Chartered Structural Engineer and a Fellow of Engineers Australia. He has got more than 20 years of experience in academia and industry in Australia and Oversees.

Dr Miao Li's passion for engineering started as a little girl, following her dad as he built things as small as tables and chairs, and as big as residential buildings and ships. From there, her passion for engineering grew. Her tertiary and postgraduate education have also cultivated her passion in engineering to a more profound level. Dr Li is keen to demonstrate to students that the essence of engineering lies in creativity and innovative thinking.

Dr Li joins CSU after studying undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in geotechnical engineering in China and completing a PhD in coastal structural engineering through Griffith University in Australia, as well as conducting research, sessional teaching and thesis supervision.

Dr Li is excited about the unique nature of CSU Engineering, combining problem-focused topic teaching and four years of industry placement, which will enable students to get involved in engineering practice before they graduate. She is looking forward to giving back to the engineering community through teaching at CSU.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 6308
Email: mli@csu.edu.au

Dr Lalantha Senevirathna joins the CSU Engineering team with a wealth of international work and research experience. He studied at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka before working in the water industry as a civil engineer for five years. This was followed by postgraduate studies at the Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand and a PhD from Kyoto University, Japan in advanced wastewater treatment. Dr Senevirathna believes engineers can make the world a better, safer and happier place through the creative application of scientific principles to solve problems. He is looking forward to sharing his 15 years of field engineer, research and teaching experience with CSU students.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 6303
Email: lsenevirathna@csu.edu.au

Karen is a Chartered Principal Water Resources Engineer and a Fellow of Engineers Australia with more than seventeen years’ experience in surface water assessment and management, flood analysis, stormwater drainage and stormwater and floodplain management. Karen works for a large environmental and engineering consultancy called WSP (formerly Parsons Brinckerhoff). Karen has worked for WSP for over 12 years and 6 of those years remotely. During her career Karen has been involved in a range of projects from concept design through to detailed design. Some of the projects have been single lot projects and many have been large scale infrastructure projects, across NSW, QLD and ACT. Karen has been a team manager of a team of 16 with capabilities from undergraduate through to 17 years experience with doctorates. These days her roles include mentor, flood emergency management technical champion and flooding and drainage technical lead for major infrastructure projects.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 6313
Email: kbrakell@csu.edu.au

Dr Saeed Shaeri has a PhD degree in Coastal Engineering, a Master’s degree in Marine Structure Engineering and a Bachelor’s degree in Civil engineering. Before commencing his PhD research in 2012, Saeed was involved in projects dealing with study and construction of fishing, commercial and leisure ports and harbours (for their breakwater, dredging operation and logistic yard), and offshore structure (e.g. oil platforms and jackets), all of which encompassed computerised simulation (of wave, current, and sediment transport).

Saeed’s specialist expertise is the hydro-sedimentological evolution of small tidal inlets, including establishment of numerical models capable of predicating the change of inlet entrance as a result of changes in environmental forcing and physical constraints.

Dr Altarawneh has a PhD degree in civil engineering from the University of Newcastle, Australia. He has substantial experience in higher education teaching (face to face and online) at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. He developed and delivered several programs and courses in civil engineering during his work at several academic institutions in Australia (University of South Australia and Western Sydney University) and overseas (Yarmouk University and Philadelphia University).

Dr Altarawneh has worked on several research projects. The projects involve field, pilot-scale, experimental and computer modelling work. The projects focus primarily on the experimental geotechnical, soft soil, numerical modelling and other interrelated geotechnical, water and environmental engineering issues. In these projects, he has supervised several research, capstone, master and undergraduate engineering projects. The outcome of the research projects has been published in several journal and conference articles.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 4408
Email: kaltarawneh@csu.edu.au

Ken currently contributes to the Charles Sturt University Engineering school in the valued role of Engineer in Residence at Bathurst.

Ken has worked in construction for most of his working life. He started his career constructing a major harbour in the Middle East and upon completion of the project moved to Malaysia to work at an onshore gas terminal. An interesting 3 years as he describes it, where he gained a varied construction experience.

Ken then moved to Canada to work with an engineering consultancy firm on projects such as roads, commercial buildings and housing. Since moving to Australia Ken joined the NSW Railway delivering construction projects, working in Asset Management roles and in senior management roles for organisations such as State Rail Authority, Australian Rail Track Corporation and John Holland.

Ken retired in 2017 and worked part time in various specialist roles in tender preparation, mentoring and compliance reviews for large organisations.

Ken enjoys travelling and does some voluntary work for a Heritage Railway.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 4409
Email: klingabala@csu.edu.au

Dr Reza Mahinroosta came to Charles Sturt University with extensive teaching, research and industry experience and a specialty in fundamental and applied geomechanics. He has more than 40 publications to his name and has supervised more than 20 master's theses. This background suits Charles Sturt University's engineering model, which has a strong workplace focus and subjects specifically tailored to solving industry challenges. Reza believes engineers have an exciting opportunity to create tangible solutions that can make a difference and improve life for their communities.

Professor Jim Morgan moved to Bathurst to join the Charles Sturt Engineering team in April 2015 as the Inaugural Course Director. He moved from Texas A&M University, USA where in addition to his teaching in engineering, Jim served several years as the Director of Aggie STEM, and previously as Co-Director of the Eisenhower Leadership Development Program in the Centre for Public Leadership at the George Bush School of Government and Public Service. His research includes highway safety, structural dynamics, earthquake engineering and engineering education. Jim has enjoyed putting 25 years of research in engineering education into practice as he helped to establish a truly unique civil engineering program, and looks forward to a bright future as our program evolves to meet the challenges faced by Australia and the world.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 6301
Email: jmorgan@csu.edu.au

With more than 10 years of engineering experience at councils across NSW, Joshua Devitt comes to CSU prepared to give students great insights into industry standards and practices. His main areas of expertise are in civil design, construction and project management. Josh is excited about joining the CSU team and ensuring graduates are equipped for ethical practice and to serve their communities.

Josh believes engineering is all about problem-solving and using engineering skills to make real change to the world. The program is unique in that it offers the opportunity to graduate with significant industry experience - something Josh sees as a huge benefit to CSU graduates.

Contact details:

Phone: +61 2 6338 6306
Email: jdevitt@csu.edu.au