Dr Nnenna Ike is an aviation professional whose work spans aviation and airport planning, strategic urban development, and international aviation research. She is recognised for her evidence-based approach to advancing safety, efficiency, and sustainability within the global aviation sector, and for her commitment to shaping more inclusive and resilient aviation systems. She recently got funding to conduct research with partners across 32 airports based in Australia and Thailand to address airport sustainability and community engagement in large scale infrastructure projects.
Dr Ike’s professional experience includes key planning roles at Brisbane Airport and at Blacktown City Council in Sydney. In these positions, she played a central role in major infrastructure and policy initiatives, including evaluating the community and operational impacts of the Western Sydney Airport (Nancy-Bird Walton) development. Her work involved assessing noise, traffic, population growth, and other critical factors to support long-term regional planning and aviation readiness.
Recently, Dr Ike together with a team of female aviation colleagues completed a landmark transnational study examining gender equity, inclusivity, and the attraction and retention of women in aviation academia across Australia and New Zealand. This never-before-done research reveal the aviation sector’s persistent gender imbalance and highlight how disciplinary characteristics, workforce pipeline challenges, and institutional structures intersect to produce entrenched inequities. Her work is contributing to important conversations about gender imbalance, diversity, and the future of the aviation workforce.
In academia, Dr Ike has taught and mentored emerging aviation professionals for more than five years in the Aviation Program at Griffith University. She later undertook a prestigious two-year international postdoctoral fellowship at Lund University in Sweden, contributing to a European Union–funded research project investigating how automation and emerging technologies shape resilience and safety in Air Traffic Management systems. This work continues to inform her research agenda. Her research interests span advanced air mobility, air traffic control, emerging aviation technologies and automation, and human factors in aviation. Across these domains, she maintains a strong focus on improving system safety, human performance, and operational resilience in increasingly complex operational environments.
Dr Ike is currently a lecturer in the aviation program at Adelaide University where she continues to develop and inspire the next generation of aviation professionals.