UCC | School of Applied Technologies

Payman Ghorbani is a lecturer in Information Technology and teaches modules/skills in Computer Architecture. Payman is a member of the British Computer Society.

Following a navigation and management career in the Iranian Navy, Payman relocated to the UK to study Information Technology. He has taught in a variety of educational settings, including Colne Community School, Colchester Institute and University Centre Colchester.

Payman’s expertise is in network administration and web development and scripting languages. Payman’s current research project is focused on a cyber security penetration test training platform. The aim of the research is to development a cost effective and secured platform for cyber security penetration test practices and training.

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Marzieh Farahani is Programme Leader, BSc (Hons) IT Applications and Systems. She has worked as research assistant for The University of Manchester, teaching assistant in Manchester Metropolitan University, lecturer in INTO University of East Anglia, lecturer in INTO City, University of London and IT and Computing lecturer in UCC since 2011.

Marzieh has considerable industry experience, having worked as a freelance programmer, a web and database designer, and programming in Java, Python, .NET languages, ASP, JavaServlet and JavaScript.

Marzieh is a member of the UK Higher Education Academy, the Association for Learning Technology (ALT), and the National Association of Programmers (NAP).

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Philip Cheung a lecturer in Information Technology and teaches the following modules:
Cisco Networking Academy courses, IT Infrastructure, Penetration Testing, Secure System, Advanced Server Technology, Computer Architecture, Programming.

While working as the Manager of the Toshiba Electronics Design Centre in Hong Kong (1986-95), Philip started to work as a part-time lecturer for the Open University of Hong Kong. In 1995 he was appointed as Senior lecturer to the Vocational Training Council in Hong Kong, a post he held until 2008. In 2009 he joined the University of Essex before taking up his present appointment in 2012 at the University Centre Colchester.

Philip’s expertise is in electronic and IT system development, especially in cloud based E-commerce and Internet of Things framework.

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Kylie Baalham is a lecturer in Business and teaches modules in Conference and Event Management, Work Based Learning, Business Accounting, Small Business Management and Business Resources. Kylie joined Colchester Institute and University Centre Colchester in 2016.

Kylie began her professional career working within the hospitality industry, including seven years working in Amsterdam in 5 star hotels such as the Hilton. She has over 10 years’ experience of various management positions, an expertise that is very pertinent to her lecturing work.

Kylie’s research interests are connected to developing her professional practice by understanding her students’ experience of university training.

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Marwan Mahassen is workshop supervisor for IT Systems and Cisco Networking and Lecturer in Information Technology. Marwan teaches the System Support module and practical tasks in workshops.

Marwan supports degree students in IT classes and manages the Local Area Network, renews software, upgrades hardware and software in computer networks. He also delivers some lectures in IT.

His main professional interests lie in computer networks and new technologies, and he spends much of his spare time keeping in touch with current developments. Marwan’s research interest is the continuation of a project started for his MSc. It is concerned with Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) and its impact on network performance.

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Brenda Rich is a lecturer in Construction and teaches the following modules: Construction Management Dissertation; Corporate Management and Finance; Health, Safety and Welfare; Information and Communication Skills; Principles of Management; Procurement, Tendering & Estimating; Production of Buildings; Project Appraisal & Analysis; Project Management; Research Skills; Supply Chain Management and Sustainable Building Design.

After training as a surveyor, Brenda’s business background gave her the ability to progress into commercial management, working in the Construction & FM industry since 2005.

Her portfolio of work has consisted of large-scale projects to the value of at least £500m. Projects have included The Queen Elizabeth II Olympic Park and the Ministry of Defence site of Colchester Garrison.

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Michael Alston is Course leader for Engineering programmes in Higher Education. Michael has been a member of the Institute of Acoustics (MIOA) for 37 years and is currently an education committee member, having held positions of Chairman, Secretary and Council Member for the Eastern Region.

Michael is a multi-disciplined qualified engineer specializing in acoustic and vibration. Born in Colchester, he has had an industrial engineering career of 27 years at two major Colchester-based international companies. This was followed by a lectureship at Colchester Institute and University Centre Colchester.

President of The Colchester Engineering Society, he is passionate about promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics within the local engineering community.

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Graham Meek is a lecturer Engineering and Business, teaching modules in Business Start-up Skills; Project Management; Continuous Improvement and Lean Leadership; Business Management for Engineers and Dissertation Supervision.

After completing his first degree and employment as a scientific officer for the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI), he started to work for the UK arm of a Japanese robot company (Fanuc). Graham formed a private consultancy business and has since started other small businesses, focusing on management, business improvement, technical training and consultancy.

Clients he has delivered consultancy and training services to include; Ford, Nissan, Heinz, Rolls-Royce plc, Durr Ltd, Shell and SMEs in the wholesale and manufacturing sectors.

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Dominic Onimowo is a lecturer in Engineering, teaching Engineering Science and Mechatronics. Dominic is a member of the Institution of Gas Engineers and Managers, Society of Petroleum Engineers and Institution of Engineering and Technology.

Dominic is an active researcher in the field of mechanical engineering and has experience in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), Heat transfer Enhancement, Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computer Aided Design (CAD). Dominic has worked as a research assistant carrying out computer based fluid dynamics simulations on a 3D printer in order to create a digital twin and connect this to the Internet of Things (IoT).

Dominic’s PhD involved the analysis of fluid flow geometries and the effects on the physics of flow using computational fluid dynamics.

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