Mrs Gordana Collier

Head of School

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics

Role

Gordana Collier is a senior academic leader who is strategic, adaptable and future oriented on behalf of students and staff, with a proven track record of strategic leadership in teaching with industry engagement. Collaborative, capable of ‘connecting people’, placing considerable emphasis on partnership work with a style that fosters collegiate environments.

Areas of expertise

  • Electric vehicles
  • Embedded systems modelling, simulation and implementation
  • Electronic rapid prototyping

Teaching and supervision

Gordana has a strong interest in embedding entrepreneurship and employability into curriculum, leading successful particpation in competitions such as:

  • Santander activities
  • Formula Student

Supervision

Strong interest in mechatronics and its modelling approach extends to biomechanics, which was the case in the successfully completed supervision of a Master by Research student (Director of Studies), "A biomechanical approach to analyse the kinematics and dynamics of the tennis serve".

Research

  • Mechatronic and embedded systems
  • Pedagogy of teaching science and engineering

Gordana is passionate about higher education and pursues research into innovative teaching methods in the Science and Engineering fields. For this work she received recognition from the major international industrial corporation National Instruments: “Award for contribution to Graphical Programming in the classroom”, which was published as a case study at the National Instruments Developer Zone.

Research grants and awards

  • Improvement of accuracy of Chess Dynamics tracking systems, TSB, KTP Award with Chess-Dynamics Ltd, A. Ordys and G Collier, value £200,000.
  • Design and build of bespoke Unmanned Aerial Vehicles suitable for specialist civilian applications, TSB, KTP Award with McGregor Ltd, A. Ordys and G Collier, £105,000.

Groups

Publications

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Professional information

Memberships of professional bodies

  • Member of the IET UK Academic Accreditation Commitee and an academic Accreditor for the IET
  • Formual Student UK judge
  • Founding member of the National Instruments Research Academic Council UK
  • Associate Editor for The International Journal of Technology, Knowledge and Society
  • Reviewer for the IEEE Transactions on Learning Technologies

Further details

Gordana believes in the creation of a vibrant, inclusive cross-campus environment and broader opportunities within the university community, to support and inspire students to develop their professional, managerial and entrepreneurial skills. To facilitate this in the past she created and supported a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities that included Robot, Lunabotics project, Kingston University Female Engineering Network (KUFEN) and Electric Formula Student Club.

She mentored and supported students to achieving prestigious awards such as 'Leaders of tomorrow'. For her work on campus, she has been nominated for a national Women in Science and Engineering (WISE) Advisor Award.

Her work with Formula Student project is in its 10th year, as the Principal Academic Adviser for Oxford Brookes Racing.

Previous experience

Gordana Collier graduated from the Electrical and Electronic Engineering Faculty at the University of Nis, Yugoslavia. She was Yu DoD Scholar then worked for the Yugoslav Department of Defence prior to her arrival to the UK, where she continued her education at the University of Southampton.

Gordana has held senior R&D and management roles in UK companies, including the position of Technical Manager for European Operations of a stock exchange-listed Singaporean company until 1999, when she moved to academia. She spent 8 years at Kingston University London, contributing to a range of academic and industry-related developments. In addition to introducing innovative teaching methods, her enthusiasm and commitment to providing an exceptional student experience resulted in starting up a range of extra-curricular activities, including the Kingston University Robot Club, a Female Engineering Network and the Formula Student e-racing team. Gordana was a member of the University Industrial Control Research Group and Educational Research Group. She also served on the University Academic Board and was a member of the IT Strategy Group and the School Senior Management Team. She was an Associate Professor and the Course Director for MSc Mechatronic Systems and MSc Automotive Engineering (Hybrid and Electric) at Kingston University until 2014, when she moved to the Mechanical and Mathematics department at Oxford Brookes to take on the role of the Programme Lead for Postgraduate Taught provision in Mechanical Engineering. In the summer of 2019, she was promoted to the Head of School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics.