Our Team

Dr. Florin Vladica
Florin operated Learning Synergy in Canada and now in Dubai. He is a self – starter with twenty plus years of experience in business practice, executive management and corporate training. He has taken his set of skills, knowledge and education, and a natural ability to interact with people from different cultures, to build a successful career in sales, higher education and project management. All in all, Florin has rolled up his sleeves and gotten his hands dirty by doing the job in the field. He knows that businesses want an expert who understands people and technology, someone who can motivate teams to learn and grow, and whom they can relate to and respect. Florin provided quality services and quickly gained client’s confidence for several training projects. He has served major brands such as Marlboro, Chesterfield, L&M, Ballantines and Jim Beam, Milka, Lafarge, Lysol, Calgon and Wuerth.

As sales consultant and trainer, Florin brings strong project management skills with the ability to deliver within deadlines and as agreed. He provided relevant knowledge and expertise to a range of projects: regarding efforts to maximize return from marketing and sales efforts at the point of sale in the Balkans for one of largest FMCG marketer in the world; regarding key initiatives to build effective sales teams and activities in Iraq, Jordan, Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, China and Canada, for the largest producer of cement in the world; and regarding how can small and big organizations use the Internet and information systems to collect, structure, analyze, and disseminate sales and market data. Florin is the one-stop-shop whether one needs help with assessing training opportunities, with choosing the best people for the team, for customizing a training program for managers and front end employees, and for enhancing sales force with a sales information system. The track of successes, while employed by Philip Morris, includes courses delivered in Romania, Serbia, Macedonia, Slovenia and Croatia. He was Project Manager for sales information systems, nationwide retail census in Romania, and for L&M American Cinema and Marlboro Music Tour.

On the academic side, Florin was involved in educational projects and programs in Universities in New Brunswick and Ontario,in Canada, in Dubai and now in the United Kingdom. For example, as (Acting) Director Partnerships & Innovation he taught and helped the oldest English speaking University in Canada to develop and sustain a network of government, corporate, and institutional contacts and partners both nationally and internationally. This assignment included the management of a business undergraduate program overseas, in Beijing China. More recently, as Corporate Training Director, he helped establishing the foundation of non-credit, short courses and certificate programs at Canadian University of Dubai. As educational consultant, he helped a private Canadian University to design and obtain the accreditation for a Bachelor’s Business Program (BBA). At Portsmouth Business School Florin will be actively involved in courses development, teaching and management of sales programmes. He is Course Leader for Sales Management unit and will teach Sales Management and Professional Selling. Florin is also supporting the growth of the MA Sales Management course.

Dr. Florin Vladica holds a PhD in Communication from Ryerson-York Universities in Toronto, an MBA in e-business from the University of New Brunswick (Canada), and Executive MBA from University of Washington at Seattle & ASEBUSS Bucharest. Florin published as first author and co-authored scientific papers about opportunities for business innovation and development of new media practices in creative industries: public broadcasting, documentary film, interactive entertainment, children programming. He presented at conferences in Vienna, Vancouver, Lisbon, Bogota, Akron, and Barcelona about media management and business innovation.

Dr. Henryk Sterniczuk
Henryk is the founder of Learning Synergy. Until recently he was Director of the MBA program at University of New Brunswick Saint John. Prior to this he was Director of International Programs and Executive Education, and held other various capacities since his arrival at UNBSJ in 1995 from Pennsylvania State University. He is also Chairman of the Board at Ukrainian Management Foundation in Kiev, of which he was a founder. He has also/ continues to act as an organizer for the Center for Market Economy at Graduate School of Business and Economics, Almaty, Kazakhstan. (an executive training center to enhance reforms in Kazakhstan), organizer and President, International Center of Privatization , Investment and Management, Kiev, Ukraine, organizer, Institute of Privatization and Management, Minsk, Belarus, organizer and President, Institute of Privatization and Management, Moscow, Russian Federation, organizer and President, International Foundation for Capital Market Development and Ownership Changes, School of Finance and Management, Warsaw, Poland.

Dr Sterniczuk is a noted lecturer worldwide and brings extensive knowledge and experience to the areas of strategic management, governance and economic development, and most of all in international trade and development. His exposure with economies in North America or Europe will provide unique perspectives in analyzing and recommending strategic approaches for economic, business or cultural growth of your operations. Henryk has a Ph.D. in Management from the Polish Academy of Science, and a Masters in Industrial and Organizational Sociology from Warsaw University.

Dr. Charles Davis
Charles has more than thirty years of professional experience in Canada and internationally in innovation policy and management, with a focus on small businesses, R&D management, development of innovation-intensive industries, and business development. He has developed a business-oriented graduate and undergraduate teaching program in innovation management with courses in IT management, electronic commerce, customer relationship management, new products management, enterprise integration, competitive strategy, and consumer behavior. Since September, 2011 Charles is also serving as Associate Dean for Scholarly Research and Creative Activities (SRC) in the Faculty of Communication & Design at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Charles’ current research interests have to do with product innovation, media audiences, customer value and experiential consumption of media products, innovation in digital experience goods, and labour and entrepreneurial startups in creative industries innovation clusters, work cultures, IT adoption, and product development. He is teaching, as Professor, in RTA School of Media (Faculty of Communication and Design) and holds the ES Rogers Sr Research Chair in Media Management and Entrepreneurship. Charles is the author of more than a hundred scientific publications and reports, and has received numerous research grants from federal scholarly granting agencies, international agencies, and private firms in Canada.

Charles earned his Ph.D. from the Université de Montréal in Science and Technology Policy and Management in 1983. His list of consulting clients includes the World Bank, UNESCO, Industry Canada, Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency, other national governmental agencies, and various private firms. Charles teaches in the Faculties of Communication & Design and Business at Ryerson University in Toronto.

Dr. Muhammed Kabir
Dr. Muhammed Kabir is a Professor of Applied Economics and Finance at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), Saint John, Canada. He served there as a Vice President from 2001-2010. He then served as Executive VP at the Canadian University of Dubai (CUD) for a two year period from 2010-2012.

As Vice-President at UNB, Dr. Kabir was directly responsible for providing organizational and managerial leadership to International Affairs (recruitment of international students, study abroad, bidding for CIDA and multilateral agency projects), students services (employment, athletics, writing center, counselling, and financial aid), Saint John College (an ESL and university preparatory feeder college), Advancement (community relations, development, marketing, recognition, recruitment), Partnerships (entrepreneurial arm of the campus which develops revenue-generating activities and strategic alliances with national and international institutions), and offshore delivery of the BBA degree in Beijing. Working closely with the President and other Vice-Presidents, Dr. Kabir played a leadership role in developing and implementing the vision for internationalization at the University of New Brunswick. Building a team that encompasses planning, infrastructure, and instructional activities, he has led initiatives that have transformed the campus, generated significant new revenue, and strengthened the strategic position of the University.

At the Canadian University of Dubai (CUD), Dr. Kabir played a significant leadership role in developing and implementing the vision of CUD which is to offer education of highest standard in the Middle Eastern region. Working closely with the President and the Board, Dr. Kabir introduced new degree programs, developed corporate training, built lasting partnerships with Canadian, American and European institutions and strengthened relationships with the government.

As an academic, Kabir specializes in financial institutions and markets. He obtained his Ph.D. in Economics from McMaster University in 1981. In addition to research and teaching conducted at UNB and CUD, Dr. Kabir has taught and done research at the University of Dhaka, Yale University, Mount Allison, the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, and Indonesian School of Economics. Dr.Kabir has published numerous articles in scholarly journals, and has presented a large number of papers to international conferences. He has served as a consultant to several agencies, includingthe United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), and the Governments of Canada, Bangladesh and Vietnam.

Dr. Rahman Habib
Dr. Rahman Habib is an academic professional with over two decades of experience in higher education administration, institution building, strategic planning, and accreditation standards development in international settings. He has held a number of senior executive positions at academic institutions in regions such as Central Asia, the Arabian Gulf, South East Asia and Africa, where he helped to establish and develop academic institutions and programs in business and information technology. Rahman was the President and CEO of Emirates College for Management and Information Technology(ECMIT) in Dubai. In Bahrain, he was a faculty member and researcher at the University of Bahrain, where he took part in the development of credit-based academic programs and regulations in collaboration with Ryerson International Development Center of the Ryerson Polytechnical University, Toronto, Canada. Actually, Rahman was awarded certificates of distinguished services by the University of Bahrain, and recognition by the late Emir of Bahrain for taking part in the development of the Bahrain Astronomical Society.

Dr. Rahman served as the Executive Vice President and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs at Kazakhstan Institute of Management, Economics and Strategic Research (KIMEP). At KIMEP, he spent almost 11 years playing a key role in planning and developing its six constituent colleges such as business, social sciences, continuing education, law, liberal arts & language studies, as well as an executive training center. He also developed here partnerships with a network of European, American and South Korean Universities and donor agencies such as USAID, Soros Foundation, TACIS of the EU and Korea Foundation. Furthermore, he received a plaque of honor from the Yale Center for International and Area Studies of Yale University, USA, for his contributions towards developing collaboration between YALE and Central Asian academic institutions.

Rahman was an international development consultantand president of an Ottawa based consulting agency in which his primary role was to assist developing countries in building western-style academic institutions, management structure, academic programs and accreditation standards. Dr. Rahman received his Ph.D. from Brunel, the University of West London, UK, in Experimental Solid State Physics. He is the author of a number of research articles published in journals of international repute and conference papers used in conference proceedings. He has been a correspondent member of the International Center for Theoretical Physics, Trieste, Italy, an elected member of the American Physical Society, Washington and a full member of the Canadian and Indian Physics Associations, Ottawa and Mumbai, respectively.

Dr. Jamal Stephan
Dr. Jamal Stephan has more than 35 years’ experience as strategic advisor to various organizations. He is an analytical, innovative, and results-oriented executive, with deep expertise and knowledge about strategic corporate planning and performance management. He lead successfully execution of corporate strategies and business plans, and supported management teams and Boards of Directors. Jamal started his workin career with International Telephone and Telecommunication (ITT) Company in Leeds, UK, as a Senior Development Engineer. In 1982 he joined Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) as Senior Instrument Engineer, later on as Financial and Management Information Controller, and finally as in-house consultant until 2017 . Jamals also spent three years with the Abu Dhabi Emiratization Council (ADEC), as a Senior Advisor for Strategic Planning and Performance Management, working closely with the General Secretariat of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council. His contribution was related to KPIs, monitoring and reporting on the strategy implementation progress. Actually, the KPI Institute certifies Jamal and KPI Professional.

During the last 40 years of Jamal’s professional career he developed a passion for lecturing and transfer of knowledge. He designed and conducted business seminars and workshops, and brings that energy into the lecture room, encouraging his audience to see each step of the process as a dynamic way to develop their ideas and to express their individual strengths. Jamal studied at Manchester, Salford and Exeter Universities for his M.Sc., Ph.D. and for post Doctoral research, and has a number of articles published in various scientific journals.