Business Advisory Board

Peter Buckley

Director Shire Services, Wollondilly Shire Council

Peter is an experienced executive leader and company director who has operated across a wide range of sectors including Local Government, Manufacturing, Engineering Services, Private Health Insurance, Education and Aged Care. His current role is Director Shire Services for Wollondilly Shire Council and held previous executive and leadership roles as General Manager of NEPEAN Engineering & Innovation, Head of Strategy and Innovation for Peoplecare Health Insurance and General Manager of the then ASX listed Skilled and Programmed organisations.

Peter’s Non-executive directorships include current Chairman of The Macarthur Credit Union (The Mac) and was a previous director of Warrigal Aged Care and spent over 10 years as Vice President and Treasurer of The Illawarra Connection.

Beyond his professional endeavours, Peter is an active father of 4 children, involved in mentor programs, loves running and volunteering at Parkrun and is dedicated to fostering innovation, driving positive change and contributing to the betterment of the wider community.

Peter is an alumna of the University of Wollongong, graduating in 2011 with a Master of Business Administration with Distinction, and in 2007 with a Bachelor of Commerce. He is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Bryony Binns

Lawyer and Gadens Lawyers Partner

Bryony is a partner of Gadens Lawyers, and has been practicing labour law for over 20 years. Prior to this, she held partnership roles at global consulting and legal firms. Her expertise lies in labour and wage compliance, with a particular focus on managing personnel cost and risk in commercial transactions.

Bryony is an alumna of the University of Wollongong and her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Law and a Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice. She also holds a Master of Arts (International Relations) from the University of New South Wales (2008). She is a Graduate Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has been nominated by her peers for inclusion in Australia's Best Lawyers (Employment Law) since 2014.

Natalie Chapman

Managing Director, gemaker

Natalie co-founded and directs gemaker: a team of STEM commercialisation experts helping Australian researchers and innovators to impact global markets. She is also Corporate Communications Manager for ASX-listed Alkane Resources, and Chair of the Advisory Committee to the School of Chemistry at UNSW. Previously, Natalie was Leader of Business Development and Marketing at ANSTO, General Manager of Commercialisation at the Smart Services CRC, and a Director of Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia. She holds a BSc (Hons) from UNSW and a MCom (Marketing) and an MBA from UOW. In 2018, she received the UOW Alumni Award for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

Since 2011, Natalie has led the gemaker team to deliver more than 200 major projects for innovative businesses, research organisations and government. This includes training hundreds of researchers in industry engagement and helping clients secure $210M funding in grants and investment. In 2017, gemaker won a NSW Telstra Business Award. Recent highlights include developing the winning application for a NSW Government grant to deliver the National Space Industry Hub, and collaborating on the Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research, enabling benchmarking and informing policy and practices to enhance knowledge and technology transfer across Australia and New Zealand.

Bill Delves

CEO, South Bank Corporation

Bill Delves is the Chief Executive Officer at South Bank Corporation, an independent statutory authority to manage the development and management of the integrated South Bank Precinct in Brisbane. South Bank is a world class sub-tropical precinct of 42 hectares, with assets of over $1 billion, which continues to attract over 14million visitors annually. Bill was appointed by the Queensland State Government to this position in 2017 and has seen great success in the role.

Bill is a people oriented leader, he inspires teams to achieve. He balances the ability to generate growth and drive business development with a strong financial acumen. This has created sustainable change for a wide array of businesses. He is recognised in professional services for his experience in accounting, consulting, and business leadership. With over 30 years’ experience, he has provided tailored business advice and led large professional services teams locally and globally at both EY and KPMG. More recently he has stewarded the place management of the iconic South Bank Precinct in Brisbane.

Bill is also an Honorary Professorial Fellow at the University of Wollongong.

Arun A. Elias

Dean and Director of Rajagiri Business School

Professor Arun Elias became the Dean and Director of Rajagiri Business School (RBS), Kochi, Kerala, India in August 2023. 

Previously, he was associated with Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand for 22 years from May 1999 till Nov 2021. There he held positions like Associate Dean (International and Accreditation) of the triple crown accredited Business from 2017 to 2021; Director of MBA and Post Experience programmes for two terms; and Associate Professor in Management. He also serves as an AASCB mentor, EFMD and AMBA panel member for business schools seeking international accreditations. From November 2021 to August 2022, he was the Dean of the College of Business, Hospitality and Tourism Studies (CBHTS) at Fiji National University, Fiji. 

In addition to his PhD in Management from Victoria University of Wellington, Prof Elias has two Master’s degrees, one in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur and the other in Agricultural Engineering from Allahabad University, India. His main teaching and research interests are in the areas of systems thinking, stakeholder management, operations strategy, and sustainable supply chains.

Raychel Davis

Director Organisational Development and Wellbeing, Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District

Having worked in the public service (both Commonwealth and State) for her entire career, Raychel has a strong passion for improving the lives of people within her community.  For the past 10 years, she has held a variety of roles within the People and Culture field and is currently the Director Organisational Development and Wellbeing for the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District. During the COVID pandemic, she was the non-clinical lead for the COVID Vaccination program across the Illawarra and Shoalhaven regions – a challenging yet highly rewarding role. Prior to joining NSW Health, Raychel worked in the Disability Employment sector holding operational and national, strategic portfolios. A proud Allied Health professional, her qualifications include a Bachelor of Health Science (Rehabilitation Counselling), along with qualifications in Work Health and Safety, Human Resources and Business. She is an alumna of the Leadership Illawarra Program – run in partnership by RDA Illawarra, The Illawarra Connection and The Sydney Business School, University of Wollongong and is currently a member of the Australian Human Resources Institute.

Outside of work, Raychel volunteered with Camp Quality in the Illawarra for over 20 years and is a former Board member of a local boutique Residential Aged Care Provider.  She previously served on the Advisory Board for the Bachelor Health Sciences (Rehabilitation Counselling) program at the University of Sydney.

Kylie Gillett

Head of Performance Optimisation, Transurban

Kylie is the Head of Performance Optimisation for Transurban, one of the world’s largest toll-road operators that specialise in innovative engineering, safety, and technology solutions.

Previously, Kylie was the Director of Governance and Board Secretary for Infrastructure Australia, an independent statutory body with a mandate to advise on nationally significant infrastructure projects and policy.  Following changes to its legislation, Kylie was recruited to establish and lead all governance and operational requirements to support IA as an independent statutory authority. She was well placed to do so, after almost 8.5 years with Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, the peak body for the infrastructure sector. The organisation was established in FY06 with Kylie joining shortly after in July 2006. Kylie supported the CEO and Board to develop the organisation from infancy to a highly credible adviser and commentator on infrastructure related matters - through building strong relationships with industry and governments.

Kylie is an alumna of the University of Wollongong, graduating in 2013 with an Executive Master of Business Administration. She also holds a Bachelor of Business administration from Charles Sturt University.  

Patrick Jin (Chao Wei Jin)

CEO, DMFC Corporation & UOW School of Business Honorary Fellow

Patrick is the CEO of the DMFC Corporation, a global leader in renewable clean power with operations in the US and China. DMFC develops and manufactures direct methanol fuel cell based power systems that use methanol, combining a fuel cell and a traditional battery to provide a high-power solution that significantly reduces operating costs and greenhouse gas emissions in telecom, oil & gas, security & surveillance, personal portable and other off grid segments. 

Patrick is a venture partner with Cedarlake Capital, a leading Chinese private equity firm that manages USD 3 Billion investment portfolio with focus on new energy, new intelligence and consumer sector.  In addition to Patrick’s honorary fellowship with UOW to develop exchange programs between UOW and Chinese academic institutions, Patrick is also teaching on a part time basis at Shanghai Social and Science Academy to postgraduate students on applied finance. 

Previously, Patrick was the Managing Director in China of US Fortune 500 company Owens Corning and also had a lengthy and successful career with BlueScope Steel, Shanghai, China. He started as an intern at Port Kembla, and progressed to become the President at BlueScope Coated Steel in China. 

Prior to studying an MBA with UOW, he had a degree and a career in Medicine, but opted for a career change soon after, in Business where he has stayed ever since.

Debra Murphy

CEO, Regional Development Australia Illawarra

Debra Murphy is a Strategy and Advocacy Executive who led economic development projects for the Illawarra region.  Debra’s strategic breadth of vision has been a catalyst for change in the region and united education, industry, and all levels of government in a shared vision of sustainable growth and prosperity.  Previously, Debra held senior management roles with Regional Development Australia Illawarra, BHP Billiton, Thiess, and the Australian Industry Group. She also served as CEO of the Illawarra Business Chamber where she negotiated a merger with the NSW Business Chamber, developed the Illawarra First initiative and established a million-dollar research fund.

Debra has an MBA (with Merit) from the University of Wollongong and was awarded an Honorary Fellowship in 2019. She is a committed partner for the University, a long-standing member of the former UOW Community Reference Group and a former UniCentre board director.

Benjamin Stevenin

CEO and Co-founder of RimaOne

Benjamin Stevenin is CEO and a founder of RimaOne that produces ACADEM, a solution dedicated to Higher Education institutions that supports them in their qualitative processes. Building on his vast experience in research and development and process automation, Benjamin has been instrumental in producing solutions for higher education institutions to automate the collection and updating of all the variable data required to assess and manage quality of teaching, learning and research through many different statistical reporting for various internal and external purposes, including accreditations, rankings, and surveys.

Since creation of ACADEM, he has supported the implementation of the quality and accreditation processes within higher education institutions in more than 40 countries. His experience with more than 150 projects has given him an extensive vision of the problems facing higher education. Benjamin has also been involved in different projects with two of the international business accreditation organisations, the European Quality Improvement System (or EQUIS), managed by the Brussels-based European Foundation for Management Development (EFMD), and the US-based Association of Advanced Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB).

Lauren Wise

General Manager Corporate Services and Company Secretary, IMB Bank

Lauren has worked with the IMB Bank for over 18 years and is currently the General Manager Corporate Services and Company Secretary. Lauren’s extensive experience at IMB has included roles with responsibility for Legal Services, compliance and regulatory projects, as well as oversight of People and Culture and IMB’s Human Resources operations. Prior to joining IMB, Lauren practised as a solicitor in a local Illawarra law firm.

Outside of her work, Lauren enjoys her involvement as a committee member of Illawarra International Women’s Day Inc. Lauren is an alumna of the University of Wollongong, and her qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (English), Bachelor of Laws and a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice. Prior to joining the Advisory Board, Lauren served on the UOW Community reference Group from 2018 – 2021.