ACU researcher

Areas of expertise: computational intelligence; evolutionary optimisation; intelligent systems; artificial intelligence; eXplainable AI (XAI); quantum machine learning

Email: [email protected]

Location: ACU North Sydney Campus

HDR Supervisor accreditation status: HDR Supervisor (Full)

Professor Niusha Shafiabady is an internationally recognised expert and thought leader in artificial intelligence, with more than two decades of experience bridging academia and industry. She is Head of Discipline for Information Technology at Australian Catholic University (ACU) and founding Director of the Women in AI for Social Good Lab. Her expertise spans computational intelligence, machine learning, explainable AI, optimisation, quantum machine learning and AI-enabled decision support.

Professor Shafiabady is the inventor of a patented optimisation algorithm and has developed two AI tools, including Ai-Labz, a predictive analytics platform, and a secure AI question-and-answer tool. Through the Women in AI for Social Good Lab, she leads research applying advanced AI to real-world challenges across health, education and industry, with a strong emphasis on ethical, responsible and human-centred innovation, social empowerment and sustainable futures.

Professor Shafiabady is also a prominent media and policy commentator on artificial intelligence, regularly providing expert insights into AI governance, regulation, online safety, digital policy and the broader opportunities, risks and societal implications of emerging technologies. Her commentary contributes to public understanding and informed discussions on responsible AI development and its impact on society.

She welcomes HDR research applications focusing on computational intelligence theories and algorithms and industry and community applications of:

• Machine Learning
• Data Analytics
• Intelligent Modelling
• Expert System Design
• Computational Optimisation
• Explainable AI
• Quantum Machine Learning