Andy divides his time between two main roles, working as a Charge Anaesthetic Technician in the Cardiothoracic and ORL Theatres  at Te Toka Tumai Auckland and as a Simulation Educator across that organisation. Andy has a keen interest in teamwork, communication and wellbeing which has led to him being part of a team developing a workshop providing training on how to run hot debriefs.

Iris is a Consultant Health Psychologist with extensive experience in developing mental and physical health wellbeing programs to patients, their whānau, staff/kaimahi, and communities for over 20 years. She is a pioneer in her clinical field as one of the first New Zealand trained Health Psychologists and is a highly sought- after subject matter expert in a myriad of health psychology related mahi. Iris is an Honorary Clinical Lecturer, Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland.

She is a respected leader at Te Toka Tumai Auckland Te Whatu Ora Health New Zealand and is the Clinical Lead for a team of dedicated Health Psychologists in Cardiovascular and Critical Care Medicine Departments to improve health outcomes and equity for Māori, Pacific, Whaikaha, and other minority groups. Iris has significant experience in governance. She is the newly appointed President-Elect of the New Zealand Psychological Society (NZPsS) and has previously held Executive positions within the NZPsS. Iris also developed the Institute of Health Psychology for which she is the Chair.

Erica Hinojosa is currently the Simulation Technology Manager at the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) College of Nursing and Health Innovation (CONHI) Smart Hospital Facilities ™. She graduated from UTA with a Bachelor of Science in Exercise Science and the University of Alabama at Birmingham with a Master of Science in Healthcare Simulation. Her background allows her to understand the medical and educational aspects of the simulation healthcare field. In December of 2018, she became a Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist (CHSOS) and in March of 2021 she became a Certified Healthcare Simulation Operations Specialist-Advanced (CHSOS-A) through the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH). 

Erica is currently a member of Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSH), Gathering of Healthcare Simulation Technology Specialist (SimGHOSTS), Simulation Professionals of Texas (SPOT), and Simulation User Network (SUN). Erica has active roles in SimGHOSTS by being a Board Member, President, Mentor, and Ambassador as well as in SPOT as the Oversight Planning Committee and Communication liaison. 

A qualified anaesthetist specialising in neuroanaesthesia, Sarah started as National Chief, Quality and Patient Safety on 1^st July 2024 and is responsible for providing professional leadership for quality and patient safety in Te Whatu Ora. Sarah has been interested in clinical governance her entire career, being involved in audit, research, teaching (including simulation training) and quality and patient safety leadership. She has led changes to models of care and has established clinical governance boards at the district and regional level. She was the anaesthetic representative on the Cancer Services Planning – Surgical Services team, a group set up by Te Aho o Te Kahu, Cancer Control Agency, to look at how best to deliver surgical services to cancer patients in Aotearoa. Her previous research includes contributing to a study on ethnic disparities in postoperative mortality, with a specific focus on outcomes for Māori and non-Māori.

Dr. Marian Luctkar-Flude is an Associate Professor at Queen’s University, School of Nursing in Canada and Co-Founder and Co-President of the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation (CAN-Sim). She has extensive simulation experience and has received numerous awards for her innovations. Her current program of research focuses on virtual simulation game design and faculty development. Highlights include virtual simulations about addressing racism in the classroom and clinical settings.

Maggie Meeks Paediatric Career began in the UK Royal Air Force (RAF), stimulating my interest in Education, Human Factors and Simulation. I came to New Zealand in 2008 and I worked as a Neonatal Consultant Paediatrician for Canterbury District Health Board (CDHB) until November 2021. I continue to work as an Educational Supervisor, Coach and Medical Lead for In Situ Simulation Based Learning and I am currently studying a Masters in Counselling.

Brad Peckler after a chief resident year in 1999 at Beth Israel Medical Center became a core faculty member of the Cornell University EM Residency.   In 2004 he become a core faculty member in the EM Residency at the University of South Florida where he was the director of simulation.  He has been working in New Zealand since 2009 at Wellington Hospital and is the medical lead for the simulation program.  He is the current chair of the New Zealand association for Simulation in Healthcare. Simulation and educational process has been his main focus of teaching and research (>60 publications) and has traveled the globe presenting and giving courses in trauma, simulation, and ultrasound. 

MichaelSheedy has been supporting simulation at the Otago University and Health NZ - Waitaha for the last 14 years. Michael currently leads the Bioengineering team which supports innovation in the simulation space, providing tools to allow simulation education. As part of this service, 3D printing is used as a tool to enable ideas and simulate anatomy. This has lead to many devices that allow for learning opportunities in the clinical space.

Anina van der Walt is the Technical and Education Services Specialist for Laerdal New Zealand. Anina brings a diverse range of expertise to her role, with a background as a rural paramedic for St John Ambulance, as well as experience in pharmacology and clinical trials. Having undergone extensive simulation training with Laerdal simulators during her paramedic training, she has firsthand appreciation of the participant perspective. Anina's passion lies in empowering customers to maximise the potential of their equipment, to optimally attain learning outcomes and create a simulation environment where participants are eager to come back for more.