Open Polytechnic employs a wide range of learning and teaching experts who provide academic and learning support to our distance learners.

We also use contractors, mostly off campus, who are subject matter experts in their fields who provide academic support and marking services. 

As a specialist provider of open flexible distance learning, we also employ highly skilled courseware design and development, and education technology professionals, administration and customer support staff, as well as library and learning centre staff who are all focused on helping Open Polytechnic learners achieve their educational goals. 

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    • 

      Dr Samuel Ekundayo

      Academic Staff Member - Information Technology

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Dr Samuel Ekundayo

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member in Information Technology. I possess over a decade experience in the IT industry as an Agile Business Analyst and Senior Technical Analyst with renowned New Zealand brands, I have practical experience in Payment technologies (E-commerce) and Software development (particularly Mobile and the Web). I am passionate about imparting knowledge from my industry experiences and education to help students become who they’re set out to be, and achieve their learning goals. 

      Relevant education

      I hold a Ph.D. in Business Information Systems from Auckland University of Technology (AUT); a Master of Science in Knowledge Management from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore and a Bachelor’s degree from Coventry University (CU), United Kingdom in Engineering Business Management.

      Relevant experience

      Prior to coming to the Open Polytechnic, I taught at Eastern Institute of Technology for more than 5 years, and I’ve had the opportunity of teaching at various institutions in New Zealand including Victoria University of Wellington and Auckland University of Technology. My teaching spans various topics including Cybersecurity, Advanced IT Project Management, Advanced Mobile and Wireless Technologies, Strategic IT Management and Management Information Systems. I have also supervised several Masters’ thesis to successful completion.

      Research interests and publications

      My research interests include: Cybersecurity practices in Small Medium Enterprises, Education Technology, Human Computer Interaction, Activity Theory, ICT in Education, Mobile Development, Open and Distant Learning and ICT for Development.

      I have authored six books as my contribution to knowledge and humanity, including my latest, “Your Problem is that you’re multi-talented”, all of which can be found on my personal website – SamuelEkundayo.com/books

      In 2019, I gave a TEDx talk titled, “Purpose, the ultimate cure to suicide”, which can be found on my website – https://youtu.be/G93nJgSYB_g

      My most recent research publications include:

      Aliyu, O. A., Arasanmi, C. N., & Ekundayo, S. (2020). Using Electronic Payment Programs as an Anti-Corruption Strategy in Africa. In Opati, T. Z., Gachukia, M. K. (Eds.), Impact of Mobile Payment Applications and Transfers on Business (pp. 153-172). IGI Global. DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-2398-8.ch007

      Ertuk, E., & Ekundayo, S. (2020). Designing the Emergency Online Study Bubble. International Journal of Inspired Education, Science and Technology (IJIEST), 2(1), 54-58.

      Ekundayo, S., Baker, O., & Zhou, J. (2020, November). QR Code and NFC-Based Information System for Southland Tourism Industry- New Zealand. 2020 IEEE International Conference on System Engineering and Technology (ICSET2020), Virtual Conference.

      Tabatabaee, S. M., Ekundayo, S., Thakur, L. & Sun, L (2020, October). ICT for Sustainable Development: A Human Capital Narrative of South Africa. Global Research Conference (GRaCe 2020). https://terengganu.uitm.edu.my/grace2020/index.php

      Aliyu, A. A., Arasanmi, C. & Ekundayo, S. (2019). Using Electronic Payment Programs as an Anti-Corruption Strategy in Africa In T.Z. Opati (Ed.), Impact of Mobile Payment Applications and Transfers on Business (Chapter 7 – soon to be published) Hershey, PA: IGI Global.

      Lopez, D., Erturk, E., Ikarath, S., & Ekundayo, S. (2019). Support staff perceptions of a student peer mentoring programme. In E. Erturk (Ed.), Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference of Computing and Information Technology Education and Research in New Zealand Incorporating the 32nd Annual Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications, Nelson, New Zealand, 9th - 11th October 2019 (pp. 97-102). https://www.citrenz.ac.nz/conferences/2019/pdf/2019CITRENZPACITN.pdf

      Balakrishnan, S., & Ekundayo, S. (2019). Pathway to 5G – Challenges at a cellular level. In E. Erturk (Ed.), Proceedings of the 10th Annual Conference of Computing and Information Technology Education and Research in New Zealand Incorporating the 32nd Annual Conference of the National Advisory Committee on Computing Qualifications, Nelson, New Zealand, 9th - 11th October 2019 (pp. 81-85). Retrieved from https://www.citrenz.ac.nz/conferences/2019/pdf/2019CITRENZPACITN.pdf

       

    • 

      Ibrahim Rahman

      Academic Staff Member - Information Technology

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Ibrahim Rahman

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member in  Information Technology,  delivering and facilitating various courses in IT to the learners enrolled in the bachelor, diploma, and certificate programs. 

      Relevant education

      • Bachelor of Engineering in Computer Systems from NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan
      • Master of Science in Computer Networks from SSUET, Pakistan
      • Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering with specialization in computer vision and machine learning from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.
      • Post-doctorate in computer graphics and computer vision from The Computational Media Innovation Centre (CMIC), Victoria University of Wellington

      Relevant work experience

      I have more than 15 years of teaching and research experience at reputed universities and educational institutes in New Zealand and overseas.

      Research interests and publications

      My research interest sand various areas on computer science and engineering including but not limited to computer vision, visual attention, machine learning, image and signal processing, information security, data science, computer communication/networks and artificial intelligence.

      Selected publications can be found here:

      • https://scholar.google.co.nz/citations?user=4991O6UAAAAJ&hl=en
      • https://www.researchgate.net/scientific-contributions/Ibrahim-M-H-Rahman-2091974852
    • 

      Marina Nairne

      Academic Staff Member - Information and Communications Technology

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Marina Nairne

      I am an Academic Staff Member facilitating Levels 2 (Foundation User), 3 & 4 certificates in Information and Communications Technology over several courses. 

      The qualifications I have that are relevant to my role as an academic staff member include, advanced qualification in adult teaching, adult literacy and numeracy education as well as other computing qualifications.

      I have been in the education sector facilitating ākonga for 23 years and have taught certificate level papers in the areas of both Business and Information Technology.

    • 

      Rodrigo de Oliveira Costa

      Academic Staff Member - Information Technology

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Rodrigo de Oliveira Costa

      My role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member in Information Technology.

      Relevant education/work experience 

      Bachelor in Internet Systems (Completed)
      Bachelor in IT with a double major in Programming and Software Engineering (Completed)
      Masters in Information Technology (Currently Studying)
      Teaching Experience at Wellington Institute of Technology – Weltec
      Industry experience in System Development
      Industry experience in Internet Systems Development

      Research interests/publications

      Linked Data Research Management System - KEOD 2017 - 9th International Conference on Knowledge Engineering and Ontology Development

      Research Interests include Data Science, Application of Artificial Intelligence to Programming, Artificial Intelligence to disaster prevention, Data analysis and prediction with data mining.

       

    • 

      Sandra Cleland

      Academic Staff Member - Information Technology

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Sandra Cleland

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am an Academic Staff Member supporting the students on the Information Technology certificate, diploma, and degree.

      Relevant education and work experience 

      My undergraduate degree is in Information Systems, I have a Masters in Philosophy (Science Education) and 20+ years experience teaching on Bachelors level information technology courses. My main skill areas are in Software Engineering (Full stack development), Mobile Application Development, Team development using SCRUM, Systems Analysis, Technical Support, and Networking. 

      Research interests

      My Masters thesis examined the effectiveness of a real-life, team-based development project that I facilitated for my third-year Software Engineering students. This has led to a research passion in learning environments and bridging the gap between IT academic courses and real-world industry practice. 

    • 

      Scott Smeets

      Academic Staff Member - Information Technology

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Scott Smeets

      Role at Open Polytechnic

      I am facilitating IT related courses within the L2, L3 and L4 spaces.

      Relevant work experience

      I have industry experience previously working as an IT Support Specialist, managing the IT-related activities of the NZ side of the business. I handled basic troubleshooting and asset management tasks right through to designing server room plans and coordinating critical maintenance activities in our server room for onsite storage, UPS, networking equipment and security systems.

       

    • 

      Simon Park

      Senior Academic Staff Member - Information Technology

      Open Polytechnic

      Read more about Simon Park

      I am a Senior Academic Staff Member in Information Technology.

      I have had over 20 years' experience both in the IT industry as an analyst programmer and in the tertiary education sector as a lecturer and manager.

      My experience allows me to think outside the square, and enabled me to develop “Ignite Potential”, an innovative way to recruit tutors and train them to be confident tutors for first-year courses. I received Ako Aotearoa’s Good Practice, Publication Grant, to create a multimedia project to share this.

      Education

      • Executive Master of Business Administration (USA)  
      • Master of Knowledge Management (Australia)
      • Bachelor of Engineering (South Korea)
      • Diploma in Business Computing (NZ)
      • NZ Certificate in Adult &Tertiary Teaching (NZ)

      Work experience

      • Lectured at Te Wangana o Aotearoa: Bachelor and Postgraduate Diploma level
      • Lectured at Victoria University of Wellington: Awarded a Staff Excellence Award from Vice Chancellor of VUW (https://rebrand.ly/SimonPark)
      • Lectured at Wellington Institute of Technology: Working Group Leader for Data Science Major for a new Bachelor of IT degree which was approved by NZQA.

      Publications

      Rehman, O., Farrukh, Z., Al-Busaidi, A., Cha, K., Park, S.J., and Rahman, I. (2021) IoT powered cancer observation system. In Proceedings of the ACM International Conference on Smart Media and Applications (SMA 2020), Jeju, Republic of Korea, September 2021, (pp. 313 – 318)  https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3426020.3426111

      Park, S. (April 14, 2015). NZ needs to recognise the people who can act as a catalyst to drive New Zealand’s engagement with Asia. http://www.interest.co.nz/business/74972/simon-park-says-nz-needs-recognise-people-who-can-act-catalyst-drive-new-zealand%E2%80%99s-en

      Cha, K.J., Kim, Park, S. J., & Cha, J.S. (2014). Socio-material view on information technology value literature. Proceedings of SMA2014 (Best Paper Award).

      Park, S. J. (2013). Teaching materials for 2nd NZ edition of Using MIS, Pearson, New Zealand

      Hooper, A. S. C., Park, S. J., & Gerondis, G. A. K. (2011). Promoting student participation and collaborative learning: Using Web 2.0. Proceedings of The 5th Joint Conference on Information and Communication Technology and the 1st Yellow Sea International Conference on ubiquitous Computing, CHINA (YES-ICUC 2011)

      Cha, J.S., Kim, M.S., & Park, S. J. (2011). Designing Packaging Mechanism for Mobile Contents Protection. Proceedings of the 5th Joint Conference on Information and Communication Technology and the 1st Yellow Sea International Conference on ubiquitous Computing, CHINA (YES-ICUC 2011)

      Hooper, A. S. C., Park, S. J., & Gerondis, G. A. K. (2011). Promoting student participation and collaborative learning in a large INFO 101 class: student perceptions of PeerWise Web 2.0 technology. Proceedings of Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australasia International Conference (HERDSA 2011).

      Park, S. J. (2011). Teaching materials for 1st NZ edition of Using MIS, Pearson, New Zealand

      Park, S. J. (2010). Ignite Potential: Motivating Tutors to Light up the Learning Environment, https://youtu.be/hbsyaLzHuB8

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