Let's Talk Robotics: Recent Episodes
Nicci Rossouw speaks with leading industry figures here in Australia
Exaptec CEO Nicci Rossouw takes the pulse of robotics in Australia with a series of interview with some of the industry’s leading lights.
Joining me today (eps 150) is Gail Chatziyakoumis.
Gail was born and schooled in Melbourne. After HSC at Kilbreda Ladies College, she went on to obtain a degree in Electrical/Electronics from Monash Uni Caulfield (then C.I.T).
Her first job was repairing computers peripherals and from there she was employed as an application Engineer for ASEA Robotics where she worked with several dedicated and capable people including Per Stigsson. During this time, she did a part time Diploma in Robotics also at Monash. ASEA changed to ABB just around the time of a recession in the early 1990s.
Gail was moved within ABB to the Capacitors division where she was responsible for the design of LV Capacitors that were made onsite. After about 4 years she took 10 months off to have her daughter and returned to the role of tendering for HV Capacitor banks.
After Robotics recovered, she moved back to the Robots division, this time in sales which had more fixed hours, so it was easier to be a working Mum. Some years later she was headhunted to be a project manager at a little company that manufactures Industrial Ultrasonic baths.
Gail had her son and stopped work, only returning to work when he was 18mths old, when ABB asked her to return to the Capacitor division, to project manage the manufacture of Harmonic banks to take over from a specialist who had died in a tragic parachuting accident.
Gail later returned to ABB Robots division, this time as a logistic and resources coordinator, managing the spare parts and service. ABB took the decision to close its engineering centres and downsize, she then moved on to being a technical consultant to an Automation company before teaching herself how to make websites. After doing that for a couple of years, Per, at Robot Spares, asked her to rebuild his website and after she finished he asked Gail to help in his business which he and his son Mik have steadily grown, even through the pandemic!
Joining me today (eps 149) is Chris Flatau. Chris is the CEO and founder of Servbotics. Servbotics was established in 2023 and headquartered in Adelaide, is at the forefront of revolutionising industries with cutting-edge robotic solutions. As the official distributor of Pudu Robotics, AOTINGBOTS, and other leading brands, Servbotics offers a diverse range of robots designed to enhance operational efficiency, reduce labour costs, and improve customer satisfaction. Their portfolio includes delivery robots, cleaning robots, cocktail machines, and fully automatic beer dispensers, catering to various sectors. Servbotics provides both outright purchase and Robots as a Service (RaaS) models, ensuring businesses can seamlessly integrate robotics into their workflows. For more information, visit the website at www.servbotics.au
Joining me today is Paris Cockinos. Paris is the CEO of Sphere Drones, a fast-paced, multi-disciplinary technology company delivering an end-to-end ecosystem across the commercial drone market.
Joining me today (eps 147) is Andrew Short! Andrew is the co-founder and Technical Director of Verbotics, where they create automatic programming software for welding robots. Their focus is to make complex industrial robot programming simple. Andrew is an expert in industrial robotics, motion planning, collision avoidance and automated programming. He has a PhD in robotics from the University of Wollongong, degrees in Mechatronic Engineering and Computer Science, and a background in software and web development.
Joining me today (eps 146) is Gregory Hunter and Michelle Keegan.
Gregory Mohamad Hunter is a young and strategic leader in the Australian space industry. He has served as Vice President of the National Space Society in Australia and actively engaged with committees of the US-based National Space Society. His leadership of the New Horizons Summit has been pivotal in the sector, attracting global attention and key stakeholders. As a past board member and Director of Innovation at the United Nations Association in Australia, and co-founder of Arbiter, a robotics company, Gregory has exhibited exceptional strategic skills. His contributions to various successful startups and his extensive consulting experience with top management firms, advising on technology and space, further underscore his significant impact on the industry.
Michelle has over 20 years of mining industry experience. Prior to joining AROSE, Michelle was Program Director Technology Development, and leader of the Next Generation Mine Innovation Program, at South 32. Michelle was responsible for leading the identification, design and delivery of new technology and innovation for all greenfield projects as well as translation into brownfield operations.
With a non-traditional technology background, Michelle brought her strong strategic and mining experience to deliver programs, and help drive the future competitiveness of the company. Her team monitored new developments in the industry and worked closely with technology partners and external institutes to develop, pilot and implement emerging technologies that could materially improve the outcomes of new projects and operations.
Michelle graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering in Mining (Hons) and a Master of Science (Mineral Economics) from Curtin University. In 2023, Michelle was awarded the Space Professional of the Year at the Australian Space Industry Awards, recognising her work connecting the resources and space industries together in Australia and with the US.
Joining me today (eps 145) is Bern Grush. Bern is the Executive Director of the Urban Robotics Foundation and project lead for the draft technical standard ISO 4448 (Public-area Mobile Robots and automated pathway devices). Since 2002, Bern has been involved with transportation-related innovation and regulatory research for road pricing, parking management, automated vehicles, and now the robots that will ply our sidewalks. Before that, he co-founded PCI Geomatics to develop AI for image analysis systems for earth-imaging satellites. He has degrees in Human Factors Psychology from the University of Toronto and Systems Design Engineering from the University of Waterloo.
Joining me today is Mark Pivac. Mark is the primary inventor of FBR’s automated bricklaying technology. He is an aeronautical and mechanical engineer with over 32 years’ experience working on the development of high-technology equipment ranging from lightweight aircraft to heavy off-road equipment. He has 27 years’ experience working with pro/engineer 3D CAD software as well as high-level mathematics, including matrix mathematics, robot transformations and vector mathematics for machine motion. Mark has also worked extensively with design, commissioning and fault finding on servo-controlled motion systems achieving very high dynamic performance.
Joining me today (eps 143) is Mark Setrakian. Mark is one of the world’s leading experts in animatronics and robotics. His career spans nearly four decades of innovation in film, television, theme park attractions, and the art world. Mark’s creations are evocative robotic beings that move with uncanny fluidity, existing at the nexus of sound, motion, form, and cutting-edge technology.
Joining me today is Daniel Milford. Daniel is the Founding CEO of Chironix, a Software and Robotics Engineering company which develops technology to support deployed workforces around the world, with specific interests in the Defence, Manufacturing, Resources and Utilities sectors.
Daniel has extensive experience in complex capability development, disruptive technologies, robotics, virtual and augmented reality, policy, strategy and cyber operations. His professional experience includes work for the Department of Defence and the Australian Army, as well as specialising in machine learning, robotics, emerging technology and augmented/virtual reality in the private sector.
Commencing employment with the Federal Government in 2010, Daniel served as the Project Manager for JP2008 Phase 3H (Wideband Global Satellite), completing Defence trials and developing the acquisition case for a range of terminals to utilise the constellation. Additionally, Daniel served for two years in the Navy Strategy Executive where he was Awarded a Finalist position in the Young ICT Professional of the Year 2015. In addition to his Public Service career, Daniel has served with the Army in a Reserve capacity since 2001 in a variety of roles, including coalition environments.
Since 2018, Daniel has grown Chironix from a small startup to a leading technology developer in applied Robotics and wearable systems, and continues to develop solutions that enhance human robot teaming capabilities. Daniel has also been instrumental in developing a range of applications for numerous robot types, enabling clients of Chironix to become more productive, effective and safer. Daniel draws upon his background in Defence to create innovative new solutions working with emerging technologies and industry leaders.
His academic background includes a Bachelor of Arts (History/Psychology Hons); a Postgraduate Diploma of Psychology, two Masters from The University of New South Wales in Capability and Technology Management and Systems Engineering, and a third Masters from the Australian National University in Defence and Strategic Studies. He is a graduate of the Royal Military College Duntroon; Capability and Technology Management College (Joint); and the Australian Command and Staff College (Joint). Daniel was also a research fellow with the Perth U.S. Asia centre, with a key focus on strategy and disruptive technology. He was also a Finalist in the Young ICT Professional of the Year Awards in 2015.
Joining me today (eps 141) is Greg Peters. Greg is the Robotics and Automation Lead at Laing O’Rourke
Greg is an innovator, engineer and roboticist. He is the principal product engineer at the Laing O’Rourke Technology and Innovation group, leading the Robotics and Automation function.
His career spans disruptive innovation for enterprise, academic and industry partnerships, start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises. He has over 15 years covering product invention and innovation, field robotics in construction, equipment hire, environmental and sustainable technology innovation.
Greg has an honours degree in mechatronic engineering and a masters degree in engineering management from the University of Technology, Sydney.
Joining me today for eps 140 is Xavier Orr. Xavier is the CEO and co-founder of Advanced Navigation, an AI-based robotics and navigation technology company.
Xavier earned his mechatronic engineering and computer science degrees from the University of Western Australia where he completed his thesis on the application of neural network AI to inertial navigation. During this time, Xavier was head of research and development at Cyber Technology, a company specialising in autonomous systems.
Following the completion of his thesis, Xavier commercialised his research on AI-based inertial navigation systems, co-founding Advanced Navigation with business partner Chris Shaw. Since 2012, the company has experienced great success and has progressed into several deep technology fields, including underwater sonar, GNSS antennas and receivers, radio frequency systems, inertial sensors, robotics, and quantum-enhanced inertial navigation.
Joining me today for eps 139 is Dr David Cole. David has been actively involved in the drone industry for over 10 years. In 2013 he founded a drone services company to provide contract drone services before pivoting the company to focus on developing the FlyFreely drone management software platform in 2018. Dr Cole holds a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy from James Cook University. He is also a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His current interests center around airspace integration and automation of regulations in the uncrewed systems space.
Joining me today for episode 138 is Yotam Rosenbaum. Yotam is a Venture Partner at 77 Partners and a Partner at the US based Access Fund. As a successful Y-Combinator founder himself he draws on his remarkable international accomplishments to guide and mentor aspiring start-up founders through one of the most exciting yet toughest journeys they’ll make.
Joining me today for eps 137 is Lee Martin. Lee has been acknowledged for his visionary talent, abilities to take action that attains goals and to lead with an inclusive, positive, and a progressive attitude. It has been remarked that Lee has a “can do attitude”.
He enjoys assisting others by mentoring them to learn how to do things differently.
Through his experiences, Lee has a great level of confidence in making decisions in the time of crisis. Being involved in various military situations, fire, and flood emergencies, as well as the COVID pandemic has provided him the experiences to cope when and as things happen.
Lee has been involved in implementing a robotics program for the past four years introducing various robot to complete back of house tasks resulting in reduced WHS issues and increasing staff time to be spent with their residents.
He is the chairperson of the South Australian ACCPA Residential Care Advisory Committee and participates on the ACCPA Nation Member Advisory Committee. On a local level, is the chairperson of the Barossa & Districts Health Advisory Council.
Joining me today for eps 136 is Dr Clyde Webster. Clyde is the Founder and CEO of Crest Robotics who are on a mission to end workplace injury through the development of smart and dynamic robots that can perform the repetitive, strenuous, and dangerous components of laborious jobs. Clyde has a Bachelor of Engineering, and a PhD in Robotics from the University of Technology Sydney, where he developed the world’s first parrot-inspired climbing robot for maintaining high-voltage power transmission towers which is currently, due to cost and risk, a major roadblock in the transition to renewable energy. Clyde has previous experience in the space sector working as a technical lead with the Space Machines Company, and as a visiting research at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Clyde believes that robots are the tools of the future, and if pursued in the right way can create a more equitable, comfortable, and sustainable future for all.
Joining me today for the last episode (135) of 2023 is the hugely talented Stelarc! Stelarc is a performance artist who performs with prosthetics, robotics and online interactivity. His works explore human-machine interfaces. He has experimented with actual-virtual systems and incorporated genetic algorithms and machine learning in some of his performances.
He has performed and exhibited in major events and exhibitions in Australia, Japan, Europe, the USA and South America. He recently performed at the annual robotics and automation conference, ICRA 2023 in London.
His recent large commissions include the 2020 Adelaide Biennial of Australian Art at the Art Gallery of South Australia and for the SWARM exhibition at the Science Gallery Melbourne. He is presently being funded for a major robotics project by the NewArt Foundation in Barcelona.
In 1997 he was designated Honorary Professor of Art and Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh and in 2002 received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Monash University, Melbourne. And in 2017 her received an Honorary Doctorate from the Ionian University, Corfu.
Some of his awards include the Ars Electronica Golden Nica Hybrid Arts Prize in 2010 and the Australia Council’s Emerging and Experimental Arts Award in 2015.
In 2010 he was awarded the Ars Electronica Golden Nica Hybrid Arts Prize and in 2015 he received the Australia Council’s Emerging and Experimental Arts Award.
Joining me today (eps 134) is Heath May. Heath is the Vice President of International Markets and Managing Director of Australia for Innovation First International, the parent company to VEX Robotics and Rack Solutions. With a background in marketing, trend identification and “bring to market” solutions, he has identified trends across many consumer product fields, creating a national distribution network and global connections.
Prior to Innovation First, Heath built his company from the ground up. It became a multiple category award winner locally and international supply recognition for brand and market building.
Inspired by kids and the next generation, he has turned his enthusiasm and strategic abilities to the world of Educational Robotics, leading the Australian office of Innovation First International since 2017 and Hexbug global Toy Division prior to taking on the VEX Robotics VP International Markets role.
His journey in this field showcases his dedication to expanding global markets and fostering international relationships in the world of robotics and technology.
With his focus on government and key stakeholders VEX Robotics continues to establish itself as the STEM leader for teachers and students alike.
Joining me today (eps 133) is Kate Dunne. Kate is a robotics engineer who specialises in mission control and perception systems. She is passionate about the potential robots have to improve our lives at work and at home.
Joining me today is Georgina North. Georgina is a global technology and innovation executive with over 12 years of experience in construction, resources, manufacturing, and translational research. As the Head of Technology & Innovation at Laing O’Rourke, Georgina works to deliver high-value solutions to complex challenges in the construction sector. She oversees a team of industry experts providing solutions to the company across three work streams: robotics and automation, predictive analytics and low-carbon materials.
Georgina is a passionate driver of change towards sustainable and technology-driven futures; and
Joining me today (eps 131) is Oliver Gaunt. Oliver is a Principal at RSM’s Corporate Finance division and is based in Melbourne.
Oliver has extensive corporate finance experience across a variety of industries, helping his clients with mergers and acquisitions, financial modeling, IPO lead advisory and more.
Oliver has a broad network and wealth of experience which enables him to deliver great outcomes for clients.
Oliver is also known for his ability to strategise and problem-solve, and always offers a measured and pragmatic approach to any transaction.
Joining me today is Dario Valenza, the founder of Carbonix. He has a passion for design and design thinking. This is the common thread that has led him to build yachts, planes, and cars - As well as create the teams and company structures to turn vision into reality.
He spent the first decade of his career working on racing yachts as a boatbuilder, designer, construction manager, and later as campaign manager.
His treasured achievements include being part of several America's Cup teams and pioneering full hydrofoiling for World Championship winning catamarans.
He applied the resulting specialist knowledge in composite aeroelastic structures to other fields, from automotive to architectural to movie productions.
This trajectory diversified into aerospace applications including founding drone technology company and aerial data acquisition specialist Carbonix.
Joining me today (129) is Colonel Robin Smith, OBE CSC.
Robin Smith is the inaugural Director of the Army’s Robotic & Autonomous Systems Implementation & Coordination Office (RICO) within Future Land Warfare Branch of the Australian Army HQ. RICO’s role is to inspire, innovate, educate and lead the exploration of the application of emerging and disruptive technology for Army, including autonomy and AI, Quantum Technologies and alternative power and energy. He has overseen Army’s exploration of autonomous systems since 2017 after he authored the first Australian Army Robotic and Autonomous Systems Strategy.
He is a logistician by background and served for over 30 years in the British Army before transferring to the Australian Army in 2017. He has commanded at all levels up to and including Regimental level and deployed a number of times. He was made an Officer of the Order of British Empire (OBE) in 2013 and awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross (CSC) in 2022. He has a background in Electronic Engineering and has fulfilled a number of roles in the Joint logistics domain at the tactical and operational levels.
Joining me today is Jonathan Cook. Jonathan is currently the Electrical Engineering Manager for Intelligent Robotics. He enjoys working with customers to understand their problems and create new industrial automation solutions to drive value for their business. His experience includes bringing together advanced sensing technologies, vision processing algorithms, robotics, and controls engineering to solve novel problems across multiple industries. Industries includes Food and Meat Processing, Mining, Manufacturing, and Defence. He possesses a Bachelor of Engineering (Infomechatronics) and a Master of Engineering Management from QUT, Australia.
Joining me today (eps 127) is Adam Stacey. Adam is a co-founder of Micromelon Robotics, an education company developing tools and resources to simplify the teaching of robotics, coding, and engineering. Adam leads the software engineering team developing the Micromelon Code Editor & Robot Simulator and is also part of Micromelon's school programs and curriculum development. Prior to co-founding Micromelon, Adam worked in computer vision research with light field cameras and teaching university engineering courses.
Founder of Sunshine Coast based robotics and engineering start-up, Royal Robotics and Red Dirt Robotics. Jameson has been travelling around Australia for the last two years, inspiring the next generation of tech savvy kids coming through by introducing them to robots. The robotics company, Micromelon, have been sponsoring him and he credits them for his start in his journey.
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2020 Generation Innovation Top 3 Finalist
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2019 Australian National FTC Robotics Championships winner
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2019 Second place Houston World Festival FLL Robotics Championships
Joining me today is James Rennie. James founded Australian UAV in early 2013 after a 17 year career in technical roles in consulting engineering companies. A keen aero modeller as a kid, James developed a lifelong passion for aviation that collided with his professional data and analytic skills. Before hanging up his transmitter and getting a desk job he completed over 2000 commercial drone flights that took took him around Australia and as far afield as Antarctica and Armenia. James is recognised as one of the leaders in drone service delivery in Australia and has presented internationally. AUAV has been listed in the top 20 drone companies globally for the past three years by Drone Industry Insights based out of Germany. As CEO and Chief Remote Pilot at AUAV his role is largely office-based now but he still has a passion for all things flight related.
Joining me today is Adam Amos. Adam is an Australian Mechatronics Engineer and the founder of Robotic Systems, an on-demand manufacturer based in Newcastle, NSW.
Adam specialises in accelerating the journey of initial idea to working prototype and into manufacturing of other business high value tech hardware products. Adam’s mission is to empower every tech hardware business with on-demand globally competitive scalability.
Adam has led Robotic Systems to be recognised by Deloitte as being in the top 100 fastest growing hardware businesses in APAC 2021 as well as Robotic Systems customers being awarded 4 patent’s for tech developed on their behalf. Adam is the host of the First Sale podcast sharing insights from international tech hardware designers about their journey from initial idea to their first sale.
Adam has spoken at The Institute of Instrumentation, Control and Automation, Hunter Innovation Festival, Advanced Manufacturing Growth Center, The University of Adelaide, FemPowered, AustMine, CoderGroup, Hunternet Events, Hunter Manufacturing Awards and been interview by outlets such as NewyTech People, BigSmoke, News.com.au and Ticker.
As a Mechatronics Engineer Adam is always looking to share insights about the development journey of modern hardware + software projects at universities, events and festivals. To organise for Adam to speak at your event please contact (02) 4967 1072 or email speaking@roboticsystems.com.au
Joining me today is Andrew Bate, Managing Director & CEO
Andrew is the creator and CEO of SwarmFarm Robotics. He is the chief visionary, leveraging his experience as a successful grain farmer to lead the 2015 launch of SwarmFarm Robotics. He grew up on a cropping and cattle farm south of Emerald in Queensland and studied Agronomy at university. He spent his earlier life as an agronomist in the grain and cotton industries, before returning to grain and cattle farming, and then co-founding SwarmFarm Robotics.
Today, SwarmFarm has grown to be a world leading agricultural robotics company, and one of the first to deliver commercial robots to farmers. To date, SwarmFarm has delivered 65 robots into commercial farming operations across Australia and autonomously farmed over 2 million acres of cropping land.
Joining me today (eps 122) is Ben Brayford. Ben is an executive director robotic technology entrepreneur with a blend of energy, skills and experience to translate innovative technologies to commercial success.
Joining met today (eps 121) is Louisa de Vries. Louisa is a Consulting Manager at Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions.
Joining me today (eps 120) is Tom Loefler. Tom is an inventor, industrial designer and tech innovator on a mission to use robots to improve ocean health
Joining me today (eps 119) is Saba Samiei. Saba is the founder and CEO of MACSO Technologies and Comfort.AI, companies that seek to realise the potential of AI and spread information about AI ethics.
Joining me today (eps 118) is Ellie Holmes. Ellie completed her honours degree in biomedical engineering at RMIT in the latter months of 2022, from then onwards they have worked with MEMKO.
Joining me today (eps 117) is Per Stigsson. Per qualified as an Electronics technician and started working with testing robotic at ASEA in Sweden in 1981.
Joining me today (eps 116) is Dr Fatma Al-widyan. She is a passionate educator and is currently the director of UTS Student Teams (FSAE Electric Car, FSAE Autonomous Car, The Rover Project, and The Rocketry Project).
Joining me today (eps 115) is Bernice Yeow. Bernice is an AI / Machine learning enthusiasts recently graduated from the University of Sydney. She loves applying statistics, technology, and management and applying them to projects and solving problems.
Joining me today is Assistant Professor Ray LC. RAY explores our own stories about the way we adapt to technologies. His interdisciplinary art-design-science practice creates interactions and narrative environments for building bonds between humans and machines. Taking a PhD from UCLA, and MFA from Parsons School of Design, RAY takes perspective from his previous research in neuroscience (Nature, J. Neurosci, Frontiers in Psych.) into his art-design and HCI practice, with recent work exhibited at New York Hall of Science, Ars Electronica Linz, Saari Residency, New Museum, NeurIPS, Angewandte Festival, Osage Gallery, Videotage, Goethe Institute, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Science Gallery Detroit, IEEE VISAP, SIGGRAPH Asia, Kyoto Design Lab; and published in venues like CHI, CSCW, DIS, HRI. RAY founded the Studio for Narrative Spaces: https://recfro.github.io/
Connect with Ray here:
instagram: https://www.instagram.com/studiofornarrativespaces/
website:https://recfro.github.io/
linkedin: linkedin.com/in/raylc/
Joining me today is Jack Hurley. Jack is the CEO of Firetail Robotics, a company focused on developing autonomous robots for air, land, and sea applications. Under his leadership, Firetail Robotics won a grant from the Pacific Humanitarian Challenge 2016, refining their UAS prototype for use in disaster situations. The company has expanded its scope, collaborating with major corporations such as Telstra, Transurban, and Boral on innovative projects in Robotics and AI technologies.
Working with Transurban, Firetail Robotics has contributed to the development of mobile road safety robotics, enhancing transportation safety and efficiency. In collaboration with Boral, the company has been involved in AI vision technologies, optimizing onsite safety processes.
Additionally, Jack leads Surfbee Pty Ltd, an internal venture specializing in innovative unmanned marine and aquatic robotic solutions for the water sector. His strong background in technology innovation has made a significant impact in the world of unmanned robotic systems, not only assisting in disaster relief but also contributing to advancements in transportation safety and water management solutions worldwide.
Joining me today is Rossana Bianchi. Rossana is a Senior Manager in Accenture’s Applied Intelligence practice where she focuses on helping organisations in their data and AI-led innovation journey. As part of her day-to-day Rossana also leads Accenture’s responsible Artificial Intelligence practice which mission is to assist clients in developing solutions powered by data and AI that achieve not only business outcomes but also contribute to creating a more equitable society and fighting climate change.
In her previous roles at KPMG Australia and EY FSO UK she developed and launched new businesses and service offerings (i.e., data ethics; risk management innovation), worked closely with start-ups in South Africa and Jordan as part of EY’s Leadership Development program (Vantage) and contributed to shaping the firms’ D&I strategy and plan to attract and retain a diverse pool of data and AI talent.
Rossana is passionate about accelerating women’s careers in STEM, helping women navigate the opportunities and challenges associated with climate change and collaborating with the broader eco-system (accelerators, start-ups, non-for-profit) on climate tech and tech for good projects.
Rossana is originally Italian (from Rome) and spent the last 12 years living and working abroad across Europe, the U.K., South Africa and Australia and has shifted her professional journey starting as a compliance and internal audit consultant back in Rome to transitioning to the Robotics and AI practice at EY in London to developing and launching the Data ethics practice for KPMG Australia.
In her spare time, she enjoys being active, exploring the world and sharing the joy of parenthood - as the mum of an 8 months old baby – with her husband Daniel.
Joining me today is Brent Balinski, co-founder and editor of @AuManufacturing. Brent finished a journalism degree in 2006 and has had a passion for manufacturing since he began writing about it in 2012.
His work has appeared in titles including Engineers Australia’s create magazine, AMT Magazine, The Sydney Morning Herald and Manufacturers’ Monthly, where he was assistant editor. He has also served as a copywriter and media consultant for a collection of mainly industrial clients over the years.
Brent co-founded @AuManufacturing – a website, newsletter and community – in late-2018, and it has been his focus ever since.
@AuManufacturing aims to provide an honesty and comprehensiveness in its news coverage and analysis that simply isn’t available anywhere else. Based on website traffic and the size of its online community it is the number one title for Australian manufacturing.
Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers: A new campaign aimed at celebrating innovative companies and examining how they do it
A new campaign by @AuManufacturing – and sponsored by MYOB, SMC Corporation Australia, and Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions – aims to recognise, celebrate and improve understanding of the role of innovation among high-performing manufacturing businesses.
We’ve all heard that “innovation” is at the heart of successful companies, and that it is vital for manufacturers to prosper in Australia, with an open economy, and high labour and other costs.
But what does innovation even mean? What drives it? How is it understood and systematised within companies? And how does it express itself in new products and processes?
Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers will be accepting nominations for two months. It will unearth manufacturing innovators, answer the above questions and others, and provide lessons that everyone can use in their business.
Many of the nominees will feature in stories on the @AuManufacturing website, newsletter, and social mediachannels, as well as interviews on the @AuManufacturing Conversations podcast. You can learn about the first nominee, The Hygiene Co., here.
Are you part of a manufacturing company? Are you interested in sharing what makes you innovative? You can nominate at this link. Nominations close May 26.
Joining me today is Dr Lihong Zheng. Lihong is an Associate Professor and researcher in Computer Science at Charles Sturt University who is enthusiastic about the power of data in shaping the world.
She completed her undergraduate and postgraduate studies in electrical engineering in China before moving to Sydney and then Wagga Wagga. Her diverse range of projects includes developing number plate recognition technology for highway monitoring systems; building IoT-based solutions to support agriculture; making farms more cyber secure, etc.
As an educator, Lihong is committed to promoting lifelong learning and preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs to navigate the ever-changing world of technology.
Reach out to Lihong at email, lzheng@csu.edu.au, or connect with her on LinkedIn
Joining me today is Dr Christina Kleinau. Christina is experienced in data driven transformation and digitalisation including strategy, requirements definition, and delivery. She is passionate about ESG and financial services, in particular, but with cross-industry and government experience.
Christina has successfully founded a SaaS company for bike couriers in Germany to automate their dispatching and invoicing processes and enable receiving customer orders via online channels.
Christina has a Ph.D. qualification with a thesis applying ethical analysis to identify and manage conduct risk and emerging financial risk issues.
Joining me today is Dr Gunel Gulmammadova is an accomplished data scientist with a diverse background in academia and industry. She was born in Ukraine and has lived in various countries including Cuba, Azerbaijan and currently Australia. Gunel speaks 7 languages, including English, Azerbaijani, Ukrainian, Turkish, Russian, Spanish and beginner in German.
Gunel received her Bachelor's degree in Economic Cybernetics and Master's degree in Mathematics with distinction from Baku State University. She went on to complete her PhD in Mathematical Economics and another Master's degree in Applied Econometrics with distinction from Monash University.
With over 8 years of experience in academia and around 5 years in consulting across different industries such as telco, mining, financial services, retail, and more, Gunel has developed a profound understanding of the business and how data analytics can be applied. She currently works as a Senior Data Scientist with Transurban for the last 2 years, where she works on developing and implementing data-driven solutions that have a measurable impact on the company.
While studying at school, she received a scholarship from the FLEX program funded by the U.S. Department of State. She was awarded The Dean's Award for Excellence in Education and was the youngest PhD candidate. She then also received a full scholarship to study at Monash University. Gunel has over 10 published papers in various academic journals.
Outside of work, Gunel is a proud mother of two children and enjoys spending time with her family. She takes an active interest in helping her children develop and grow.
Gunel's goal is to not only stay up to date with the latest developments in data science, develop and implement data-driven solutions but also help organisations achieve their strategic goals by harnessing the power of data analytics to make informed decisions and foster growth. She is focused on enhancing her leadership and people management skills, as a successful data scientist must be proficient in both technical and soft skills to lead and motivate a team.
Joining me today is Dr Diana Benavides-Prado! Diana currently holds the position of Senior Research Fellow at the School of Computer Science, The University of Auckland, New Zealand. Her research focuses on continual machine learning, with a particular interest in exploring knowledge transfer for increasingly knowledgeable continual learning systems. In 2020, she proposed a method that enables 'backward transfer', a mechanism that refines existing knowledge in continual systems. Furthermore, she is interested in the application of cutting-edge AI technologies in high-impact domains, such as life sciences and social welfare.
Diana completed her PhD in Computer Science in 2019 at The University of Auckland. Prior to pursuing her doctoral studies, she gained extensive professional and research experience in her home country, Colombia. She worked on data analysis projects for scientific research, operations, and decision-making for various public organizations. After moving to New Zealand, she worked as a data scientist specializing in machine learning for social welfare. She has collaborated with public and private sectors across multiple countries, including Colombia, Chile, New Zealand, Australia, and the United States.
Throughout her career, Diana has mentored several junior data scientists and post-graduate computer science students, including females. She takes pride in being one of the few female 'Latinas' in the AI field.
Joining me today is Gek Huey Chua. Gek Huey is a data scientist who has made significant contributions in the fields of life science, healthcare, finance, and business. She obtained a Bachelor's degree and a Master’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering and from Nanyang Technological.
After completing her MSc, Gek Huey developed an interest in bioinformatics and went on to pursue a second Master's degree in this field from the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. She began her career in the life science and healthcare industry, working at the Bioinformatics Institute, AStar from 2003 to 2004 and the Research Lab at NUS Yong Lu Lin School of Medicine from 2005 to 2007. She then moved on to work at Eli Lily Drug Discovery Center from 2008 to 2010 and the Research Lab at China Academy of Science (CAS) from 2011 to 2016. During this time, she authored 18 publications and was awarded a patent.
In 2011, Gek Huey pivoted to the finance industry, working as an insurance and equities trader at Phillip Securities from 2011 to 2014 while she further pursue a Master’s degree in Financial Engineering at National University of Singapore. She then joined LedCap, a commodity futures trading firm, where she specialized in commodities trading and market making from 2015 to 2016.
She then moved on to work at the Government Technology Agency from 2016 to 2017, contributing her skills in Data Science to the public sector. In 2017, Gek Huey made a move to the business and marketing field and began working at Roche Diagnostics. She spent two years at Roche Diagnostics before moving on to Dell Technologies in 2019, where she currently works.
Throughout her career, Gek Huey has been recognized for her contributions in various fields. She received a Global Award for Data and Analytics category in the 2022 CASE Circle of Excellence Awards and a Best of Asia-Pacific Award.
Gek Huey's diverse educational and professional background has equipped her with a broad range of skills and expertise, making her a valuable asset in any field she chooses to work in. She continues to be a role model and an inspiration to many aspiring professionals in various industries.
Aim Sinpeng is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Sydney. An award-winning author and educator, her research focuses on the intersection of tech and politics with a regional focus on Southeast Asia. Her current projects include 'AI and Gender Bias in STEM education in Asia,' a collaboration with Google and 'Cyber repression in Thailand,' a 3-year project funded by the Australian Research Council that looks at how state agencies employ AI and surveillance software to repress and manage dissent.
W: sydney.edu.au/arts/government_international_relations/staff/profiles/aim.sinpeng.php
Latest books: Opposing Democracy in the Digital Age: The Yellow Shirts in Thailand (open access), University of Michigan Press// "From Grassroots Activism to Disinformation: Social Media in Southeast Asia, ISEAS
Latest articles: "Crowdsourcing Dictatorship in Thailand" (2022) Asian Journal of Comparative Politics//"Journalism in the Age of Digital Autocracy: A Comparative ASEAN Perspective" (2022) Journal of ASEAN Studies//"Digital Activism as a Pathway to Trade Union Revitalization" (2022) International Journal of Labour Research
Latest reports: Disinformation on Democracy in Asia, Brookings (2022)//Women's Political Leadership in ASEAN, Westminster Foundation for Democracy (2022).
Dr Wenjuan Chen is a data scientist and a data science people leader at Capgemini. In her role as a consultant, she is assisting a client in optimizing their marketing campaign through the application of data science. As a people leader, she is dedicated to building an inclusive, supportive, innovative, and high-performing data science team at Capgemini.
Dr Chen began her career as an intern reporter, but soon transitioned to sustainable development. She has a PhD in Ecosystem Science and Management. Her dissertation explored the impacts of climate change and environmental degradation on agricultural outputs and rural livelihood. She is both passionate about sustainability and AI.
Her experiences across diverse countries and cultures have broadened her perspectives and made her a strong advocate for diversity - the four members of her small family each have unique nationalities: Chinese (Wenjuan), Indian (her husband), American (her son) and Australian (her daughter).
Joining me today is Ragja Palakkadavath. Ragja is a second-year PhD student at Deakin University’s Applied Artificial Intelligence Institute (A2I2) where she is working on creating AI systems that can perform out-of-distribution generalization.
Undertaking fundamental research in AI, Ragja is investigating how to create more efficient and practical artificial intelligence systems. As she explains, AI systems don’t do well when they encounter data they weren’t trained to recognise; for example an autonomous car crashing because it failed to recognize a kangaroo on an Australian road, having been trained to recognize deer, or being able to recognise and read road signs in the USA but not in New Zealand. In another example, AI is increasingly being used to scan and detect disease in medical imaging, however the huge variation in data provided by patients and even how difference hospitals carry out imaging makes these systems less effective. Imagine if there was a single model that could work for all patients, and all doctors in all hospitals. Developing more robust AI models holds to promise of solving these all too real challenges.
Ragja says none of this feels like work and she is never bored. When she can turn her mind away from the world of AI, she enjoys reading, cooking and travelling.
It has been quite a journey so far. At age 10, Ragja left behind village life in Kerala, India, when her family moved to Muscat in Oman. The international multicultural community of the Middle East nation was a big change but one that ultimately gave her the confidence and independence to move to Australia in 2022.
Discovering a love of coding at high school, Ragja had made up her mind at age 12 that she would have a career as a computer science engineer. Returning to Kerala, Ragja studied at the National Institute of Technology Calicut, and began working for one of the leading travel technology companies, Amadeus. Using machine learning to track passenger movements through airports she became fascinated with why some models were more effective than others and undertook her Masters, producing the thesisBayesian Generative Adversarial Nets with Dropout Inferencein 2020.
She says the beautiful beaches, scenery and welcoming people of Australia remind her of Oman.
Reach out to Ragja at s222101652@deakin.edu.au or connect with her on LinkedIn!
Joining me today is Dr Elahe Abdi. Elahe is a Lecturer at the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Monash University. She is the Director of Robotics in Medicine and Interaction Laboratory and the Robotics Education Liaison Representative at the Australian Robotics and Automation Association.
Dr Abdi received her PhD in Robotics in 2017, from EPFL, Switzerland. She then moved to Australia to establish her research team active in human-robot interaction, shared autonomy and haptic, with application in medicine, construction and service robotics. Elahe has received numerous recognitions for her leadership and efforts for encouraging diversity in Engineering including being selected as a Finalist for the Women’s Agenda Award “Emerging Leader in STEM” in 2021. Most recently, she was named as one of Science and Technology Australia's Superstars of STEM 2023.
Joining me today is Dr Kulari Lokuge. She is the Director Knox Innovation Opportunity and Sustainability Centre (KIOSC) at Swinburne University of Technology based at Wantirna.
As a leader in the education sector, she inspires, enables and empowers educators to be innovative and help them to motivate the world to learn!
As a lecturer and an e-learning expert, she has worked in both Higher Education and VET sectors using a variety of educational technologies and learning designs. With a strong background in educational design, she has undertaken a variety of responsibilities advising academic staff on pedagogical and theoretical methodologies, designing and implementing teaching and learning programs. With her information technology background, she has used technology in innovative ways to enhance students’ learning experiences. She has an excellent track record of working with academic staff developing learning programs using numerous educational technologies.
Joining me today is Deanna Hood. Ever wondered how ROS developers get there, or the innovation behind a medical robot in a startup, and how it compares to designing an educational robot in academia? When Deanna Hood started uni aged 15 years old, she admits not knowing much about her career goals except that she was good at maths. This led her to “add on” electrical engineering to her maths degree, receiving academic and leadership medals for topping the class despite her age. After a stint developing a low-cost USB stethoscope for diagnosing pneumonia in developing countries (check out the TED Talk), she went on to get her M.Sc. in Robotics and Computer Vision — living in four European countries over the two years as the first Australian to receive a full scholarship to the VIBOT Erasmus Mundus programme. For her Masters thesis she developed, in collaboration with teachers, the first robotic partner for children with handwriting difficulties, which in an innovative twist on educational robotics is designed to intentionally write badly so that through the act of correcting it children can benefit from “learning by teaching”.
In her most recent position as the Senior Robotics Engineer on the Ligō skin-printing robot, Deanna's engineering team worked with Prof. Fiona Wood (2005 Australian of the Year) and biomaterials experts to deliver regenerative cell therapy using a patient’s own skin cells bioprinted directly onto their wound. This work is based in Inventia’s precision bioprinting technology that has been developed for RASTRUM, a 3D bioprinter used by medical researchers to create replica micro-tumours for cancer research and personalised medicine. Deanna previously worked in Silicon Valley as a core developer of the Robot Operating System (ROS 2), used by roboticists around the world, including penguin conservation robots in Antarctica, search and rescue robots after nuclear disasters, and now used by NASA in the VIPER mission!
Eps 99: Joining me today is Dr Mark Micire. Mark is a research scientist, business leader, program manager, and firefighter with a distinctive career record of innovation and pushing the leading edge of advanced robotic systems and technologies.
Eps 98: Joining me today is Professor Virginia Kilborn. Virginia is Swinburne's inaugural Chief Scientist, working to further education, research, policy and equity at Swinburne and beyond. Virginia is a radio astronomer and her research interests include tracing galaxy evolution by studying the neutral hydrogen gas in galaxies.
Eps 97: Joining me today is Daniel Milford, Founding CEO of Chironix, a Software and Robotics Engineering company which develops technology to support deployed workforces around the world, with specific interests in the Defence, Manufacturing, Resources and Utilities sectors.
Eps 96: Joining me today is Associate Professor Damith Herath at the University of Canberra.
Eps 95: Joining me today is Senior Professor Gursel Alici. Gursel (Senior Member, IEEE) received the Ph.D. degree in robotics from the Department of Engineering Science, Oxford University, Oxford, U.K., in 1994.
Eps 94: Joining me today is Deirdre Diamante. Deirdre is the founder and principal of Mia Consulting Services, a government advisory firm specialising in enhancing government and industry commercial interactions.
Eps 94: Joining me today is CEO/Managing Director Ashley Jensen of Smarta Industrial. Entrepreneurial and industrious, Ashley has a passion for developing and commercialising specific technologies in support of more efficient, intelligent agriculture and logistics operations; particularly where users, machines, technology, and AI converge.
Eps 93: Joining me today is Dr Helen Frazer! Helen is an Adjunct Associate Professor and is the Clinical Director of St Vincent’s BreastScreen and BreastScreen Victoria.
Eps 92: Joining me today is Dr Catriona Wallace. An entrepreneur in the artificial intelligence field and specialist in the metaverse, an adjunct professor and an expert in digital transformation, the future of work, responsible technology and women in leadership.
Eps 91: Joining me today is Dr Cori Stewart. Cori is the Founder and CEO of the ARM Hub, a not-for-profit company on a mission to digitally transform industry.
Eps 90: Joining me today is Professor Flora Salim. Flora is the CISCO Chair in Digital Transport, UNSW Sydney. Her research is in the intersection of human-centred computing and machine learning for behaviour intelligence with multimodal sensor data, with applications in intelligent assistants, health monitoring, smart cities, spatio-temporal recommendation systems, and AI on the edge.
Eps 89: Let’s talk robotics with Dr Denis Bauer. Denis Joining me today is Dr Denis Bauer. Denis is a government research scientist, adjunct professor at Macquarie University and an AWS Hero.
Eps 88: Let’s talk robotics with Dr Ramona Vijeyarasa. Ramona is the Chief Investigator behind the Gender Legislative Index (GLI), a tool designed to promote laws that advance women’s rights and gender equality. She is the head of the Juris Doctor Program in the Faculty of Law at the University of Technology Sydney and a Senior Lecturer.
Eps 87: Joining me today is Dr Simona Mihaita, Senior Lecturer University of Technology Sydney, Founder - Future Mobility Lab (fmlab.org), Simona is an industry-focused academic delivering value for people living in smart cities via her strong engagement with the government and several industry partners.
Eps 86: Joining me today is Dr Melanie Zeppel. Melanie is a senior data scientist and researcher. She was awarded 2022 Women in AI: Agribusiness, for carbon modelling using Machine Learning, as well as 2019 Scopus Researcher of the year, in sustainability, for her research in climate change.
Eps 85: Joining me today is Garrett Place. Garrett has been with ifm for 28 years. Since 2008 he has concentrated on 3D imaging in both mobile and fixed arm robotics, most recently targeting use cases in the Logistics Automation market.
Eps 84: Joining me today is Elena Sitnikova, Associate Professor of Cybersecurity and Networking, College of Science and Engineering, Flinders University. A Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional, Elena leads cutting-edge research in Critical Infrastructure protection, focusing on intrusion detection for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition systems cybersecurity and the Industrial Internet of Things.
Eps 83: Joining me today is Professor Alan Duffy. An astronomer at Swinburne University of Technology, Alan is the inaugural Director of the Space Technology and Industry Institute at Swinburne, finding ways to use space to help companies and communities on Earth.
Eps 82: Dr Camille Goldstone-Henry is a wildlife scientist, Kamilaroi woman and CEO & founder of biodiversity tech start-up, Xylo Systems. She has been lucky enough to work with endangered species around the world in her wildlife conservation career, including Tasmanian devils and Sumatran tigers.
Eps 81: Tom Caska is the Co-Founder and CEO of Aerologix, an award-winning platform connecting drone pilots to customers leveraging the latest in Artificial intelligence, machine learning, web and mobile-based technologies.
Eps 80: Joining me today in a series of talks with the winners of the Women in AI Australia and New Zealand 2022, is my first guest, Professor Angie Abdilla. She is the founder and CEO of Old Ways, New and works with Indigenous knowledges and systems in the design of places, experiences and deep technologies.
Eps 79: Joining me today is Peter Hook, General Manager of Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions. Peter has more than 35 number of years in manufacturing and automation solutions.
Eps 78: Joining me today is Natasha Fisher. Natasha is a mechatronics engineering student studying at the University of Melbourne and she is looking for opportunities in the Engineering Industry and Entertainment Industry.
Eps 77: Joining me today is Hunter Jay. Hunter is the co-founder and CEO of Ripe Robotics. Hunter has a varied and technical background, with experience as a software engineer focused on artificial intelligence
Eps 76: Joining me today is Associate Professor Therese Keane. Therese is the Deputy Chair (Strategic Initiatives & Partnerships), Department of Education based in the Faculty of Health, Arts and Design at Swinburne University.
Eps 75: Joining me today is Ken Chaddha, the founding director of YellowFIN Robotics - a Melbourne based Company which will be 6 years young this year. YellowFIN is using UAVs and bespoke robots within their Robotics-As-A-Service model and also going gung-ho in Research & Development.
Eps 74: Joining me today is Petrea Redmond. Petrea is a Professor in Digital Pedagogies in the School of Education at the University of Southern Queensland.
Eps 73: Joining me today is Michael Larkin, co-founder and Managing Director of Fulcrum Robotics in Tasmania
Eps 72: Joining me today are two inspirational ladies! Sophie Jarivs, Finace Director of ADDE and co-owner and Victoria Hogan, Mechanical Design Engineer at ADDE.
Eps 71: Joining me today is the Pat Boland! Pat is the founder and joint Managing Director of ANCA, a world leading Australian manufacturer of CNC tool grinders. Founded in 1974 in Melbourne, ANCA also has manufacturing sites in Thailand, Germany, the US, UK and Taiwan and 900 employees globally.
Eps 70: Joining me today is Laura Mabikafola. Laura is the Laura is the Executive General Manager with Skills Lab.
Eps 69: Joining me today is Dan White, CEO and founder of Filament Games. Dan believes that good gameplay and good learning are complementary rather than oppositional forces.
Eps 68: Joining me today is Dr Sarika Kewelramani. Sarika is an Early Childhood/Primary STEM Lecturer at Monash University, Melbourne.
Eps 67 : Joining me today is legend Professor Salah Sukkerieh. Salah is passionate about robotics and the environment. He is the founder and CEO of Agerris, a new Agtech startup company developing autonomous robotic solutions to improve agricultural productivity and environmental sustainability, and is the Professor of Robotics and Intelligent Systems at the University of Sydney.
Eps 66: Joining me today is Amelia Luu. Amelia is a Robotics Field Engineer and is part of the Wildcat Technologies Team in CSIRO Data61’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Group.
Eps 65: Joining me today is the wonderful Dr John Flackett! John is the co-founder and head of AiLab (Artificial Intelligence Laboratory); a global company headquartered in Australia providing Artificial Intelligence education programs and research
Eps 64: Joining me today is Rosanne Jessop. Rosanne is the Managing Director of Pilz for Australia and New Zealand.
Eps 63: Joining me today is Dr Navinda Kottege! Navinda is a Principal Research Scientist and the Group Leader at CSIRO's Robotics and Autonomous Systems Group of nearly 50 staff members and 30 affiliates!
Epi 62: Joining me today is Sofie Pringle. Sofie established Align Robotics , an automated construction technology company, to help create a world where good-quality construction is easier, cheaper and more affordable for everyone.
Joining me in episode 61 is Steve Nouri. Steve is a data science leader who has evolved the way people look at AI and innovations.
Joining me in episode 60 is Associate Professor Teresa Vidal Calleja! Teresa is Associate Professor at the UTS Robotics Institute and Deputy Head of School (Research) of the School of Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering at UTS.
Joining me in episode 59 today is Paris Cockinos. Paris is the founder and CEO of Sphere Drones. We talk about this journey, the Sphere companies, mentors and of course, sport!
Joining me in episode 58 today is the very lovely Kalpana Suraj Prajapati. We chat about her journey, work she is doing and her insights about AI.
Joining me in episode 57 is Professor Jonathan Roberts. Jonathan is a Professor in Robotics at Queensland University of Technology, Technical Director at ARM Hub, and Director of the recently established Australian Cobotics Centre!
Joining me in episode 56 is Jeannie Marie Paterson, Professor of Law, Co-Director of the Centre for AI and Digital Ethics, The University of Melbourne. Jeannie specialises in the areas of contracts and consumer protection, along with the law of emerging technologies.
Joining me today in episode 55 is Michael Evans. Michael is an AI Strategist, and Principal at Evans AI, providing AI strategy, policy and governance advice to industry and government.
Joining me today in episode 54 is Dr Heba Khamis, CEO and co-founder of Contactile. Contactile is a Sydney-based start-up, making tactile sensors that give robots a human sense of touch to enable them to perform difficult material handling tasks.
Eps: 53 My guest today is Dr Nicholas Nadeau. Nicholas is the CTO of Halodi Robotics, leading their engineering and worldwide expansion with the mission of bringing safe and capable humanoid robots to everyone.
Joining me in today’s episode is Dr Sue Keay. Sue was my first guest on the podcast and I thought it only fitting that she kicks off the next 50 episodes!
Let’s talk robotics today is a celebration of the milestone episode 50 released! A huge thank you to all my guests who have been so gracious when contacted to be on the show. Your willingness to share your expertise, your work and in some cases personal information with our audience has been so appreciated by our listeners. My guests are always willing to share their contact details, and I know some of you have taken up this offer to connect with them.
Eps 50: Joining me in today’s episode is Dr Michael Lucas! Michael is an Engineering leader with a passion for sustainability and creative problem solving. Comfortable working from factory (or warehouse) floor through to the board room, he automates and optimises manufacturing processes, material flows and supply chains.
Eps 49: Joining me today is Professor Hind Benbya. Hind is the Head of Information Systems and Business Analytics at Deakin University, Melbourne (Australia) and a visiting fellow at the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford (UK).
Joining me in today’s episode (48) is Alan Jones! Alan is a startup founder coach and tech startup angel investor based in Sydney. He has advised hundreds of Australian startups and invested in many of the best.
Eps 47: Joining me in today’s episode is Leonore Ryan. Leonore has over 15 years’ experience in taking research based technologies to market, from both the research organisation and startup perspective. Organisations Leonore has worked for include CSIRO, Starfish Ventures and Monash University.
Eps 46: Joining me today is Dr Ian Oppermann. Ian is the NSW Government’s Chief Data Scientist working within the Department of Customer Service, and Industry Professor at University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Ian has 27 years’ experience in the ICT sector and, has led organizations with more than 300 people, delivering products and outcomes that have impacted hundreds of millions of people globally.
Eps 44: Joining me today is Andrew Davies, founder and CEO of TazDrones. We chat about Andrew’s journey, starting a drone company in Tasmania and the work he is doing.
Eps 43: Joining me in today’s episode is Associate Professor Cori Stewart. Cori is the founder and CEO of ARM Hub - an Australian first, independent university and industry collaboration company. They focus on ai & robotics, within wider Industry 4.0 &5.0 services. ARM Hub partners with over 15 research institutions in Australia to make the best expertise available in the most agile way to suit industry’s needs.
Eps 42: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Gal Goren. Gal is the CEO and co-founder of temi. Since its release in 2019, this telepresence robot has been a game changer and has been hugely successful. If you have ever wondered about starting a business in China, worth a listen!
Eps 41: In today’s episode I have the honour of speaking with Associate Professor Yolande Strengers. Yolande, amongst her many accolades and achievements, was the winner of the award in the category AI in Innovation for Women in AI in Australia and New Zealand awards 2021 earlier this year!
Eps 40: Joining me today is Dr Mark Whitty! Mark is a Senior Lecturer in the Mechatronics discipline within the School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering at the University of NSW. His expertise is in Digital viticulture, horticultural sensing, image processing, autonomous systems, 3D mapping, unmanned ground vehicles, robotics.
Eps 39: Joining me today is Squadron Leader Kate Yaxley! Kate, amongst her many achievements is the winner of the Women in Defence category in the inaugural AI in Australia and New Zealand for women held in Sydney earlier in April 2021.
Eps 38: Joining me today is Scott Hansen who is the co-founder and head of engineering at Corematic Engineering. A world leader in certain aspects of engineering, he brings extensive experience in control systems and robotic welding systems predominantly relating to automation.
Joining me in episode 37 is Associate Professor Lina Yao! She is currently a Scientia Associate Professor at the School of Computer Science and Engineering. She is a member of the Faculty of Engineering Research Committee.
Eps 36: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Dr Morteza Saberi. Morteza is currently a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) at the School of Information, Systems and Modelling, UTS, Sydney. He has an outstanding research record and significant capabilities in the area of business intelligence, data mining and applied machine learning.
Eps 35: Today Andra Muller and Angela Kim join me to discuss the inaugural Women in AI Awards event that was held earlier this year. They have just confirmed next year’s event which will be held in Melbourne!
Eps 34: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Mark Pivac. Mark is the Executive Director & Chief Technical Officer and also the primary inventor of FBR's automated bricklaying technology.
Eps 33: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Dr Nicole Hartley. Nicole is a research academic with the UQ Business School. Nicole's career as an academic has spanned 14 years at institutions in both Sydney and Queensland.
Eps 32: Joining me today in “Let’s talk robotics” is the very talented Mick Liubinskas. Mick Liubinskas is a high-energy, technology builder, investor, author, speaker and industry leader. He is now focused on supporting, growing and investing in climate-related technology to help the world get to and beyond net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Eps 31: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is the fantastic Dr Sharna Glover! Such a pleasure to speak with her about her amazing career and work in automation and robotics!
Eps 30: Joining me in today’s episode of is Dr Tirthankar Bandyopadhyay! Tirtha loves working towards solving the mobility challenges for robots in cluttered, dynamic and complex 3-D environments.
Episode 29: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Dr Aida Nazarikhorram, co-founder of LuxAi. Today we chat about her journey and the QTRobot that helps children with autism.
Episode 28: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Professor Sarath Kodagoda. Sarath is the Acting Director of the UTS Robotics Institute, President of the Australian Robotics & Automation Association (ARAA) and ambassador to the NSW Smart Sensing Network (NSSN).
Eps 27: Joining me in today’s episode is Assistant Professor Wafa Johal. Wafa is a Lecturer at the School of Computer Science and Engineering at the University of New South Wales.
Previously Wafa was a researcher at the CHILI 🌶️ Lab and Mobots 🤖 Group at EPFL. She holds a PhD in Computer Sciences from the University of Grenoble Alps!
Eps 26: Joining me in today’s episode is Professor Dikai Liu! Dikai is a distinguished professor in Mechanical and Mechatronic Engineering and Director of the Robotics Institute (UTS:RI) at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. His current research interest is robotics, an interdisciplinary branch of engineering and science. His fundamental robotics research focuses on perception, motion planning, physical human-robot collaboration, multi-robot systems, bio-inspired robotics, design methodology and robotic systems.
Eps 25: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Johanna Austin, a very focussed and talented woman! Growing up as the youngest in a motorsporting family, Joh fell in love with race cars and aeroplanes from her early teens. Pursuing this passion enthusiastically, she received a scholarship to attend RMIT University as a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering student in 2007. While at RMIT, she truly found herself amongst her peers; enjoying high academic achievement because she loved the curriculum, and technical leadership on the RMIT Racing Team (where they design and build race cars). Joh graduated in 2010 with Honours First Class (thesis on Race Vehicle Dynamics and Suspension Design) and having won sixteen academic prizes and scholarships, including an institute prize.
Eps 24: Joining me in today’s episode is Professor Paul Bannon. Paul is an adult cardiothoracic surgeon of international standing with clinical appointments at Royal Prince Alfred, Concord, Strathfield Private and Macquarie University Hospitals.
Eps 23: Joining me today in Let’s talk robotics is Dr Amanda Caples. Amanda is the Lead Scientist for Victoria and was appointed to the role in mid-2016. Amanda brings broad experience in technology commercialisation, public policy development and governance of public and private entities.
Eps 22: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is John Fardoulis. John is a scientist, remote-sensing practitioner, and aerospace engineer. He specialises in innovation, methodology design, field deployment, capacity building, and applied research into the use of small drones for humanitarian purposes in hazardous environments.
Eps 21: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Professor Elizabeth Croft! Elizabeth is the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and Professor in the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at Monash University.
Eps 20: Joining me today to talk about robotics in Australia is Distinguished Professor Peter Corke at Queensland University of Technology, Director of the QUT Centre for Robotics, and Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Robotic Vision!
Eps: 19: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Dr Dana Rezazadegan. Dana is a Lecturer at the Faculty of Science, Engineering and Technology, Swinburne University of Technology.
Eps: 18: Joining me today is Professor Rob Sparrow for a very interesting chat about ethics in robotics!
Rob’s research interests are political philosophy and applied ethics; he is interested in philosophical arguments with real-world implications. More specifically, he is working in or has worked in: political philosophy, bioethics, environmental ethics, media ethics; just war theory; and the ethics of science and technology. He is currently focussing on war at sea and is writing a paper about this.
Eps 17: Joining me in today’s episode of “Let’s talk robotics” is Ruth Rocketwoman Harrison! Ruth is on a mission to helping technology businesses become more diverse through “Mature Age STEM Internships”! Ruth works with engineering companies to create opportunities and increase diversity by leveraging the experience of mature age candidates through internships and training opportunities.
Eps 16: Joining me today to talk about robotics in Australia is Dr Nathan Kirchner! Nathan’s accomplishments resulted in him being named as one of Australia’s Most Innovative Engineers by Australia’s peak engineering body Engineers Australia & as one of Australia's and the US' Top Ten Young Scientists by Popular Science magazine, along with seeing him receive a number of other international awards and recognitions.
Eps 15: Today I talk with Meg Tonkin, a PhD student studying Social Robotics at the University of Technology Sydney. Her research investigates socially responsible design for social robots in public spaces such as airports, shopping malls and hospitals.
Eps 14: Mirragin was founded by Robert Sutton, an Aviation Engineer and Project Manager, who was a formative member of the Australian Army’s drone program. Rob saw the incredible potential of drones to keep frontline personnel safe from harm and founded Mirragin to help to bring the power of this technology to other service organisations.
Eps 13: In today’s episode I talk with Professor Wendy Moyle. Wendy is Program Director, Healthcare Practice and Survivorship Program (HPS) (4 Research Groups) in the Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. She is also Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Griffith University.
Eps 12: In today’s episode I talk with Tim Michael. Tim is a highly respected Sydney journalist and public relations executive with more than 25 years experience in media and media-related industries.
Eps 11: In today’s episode I talk with Dr Catherine Ball! Catherine is an Associate Professor, scientific futurist, speaker, advisor, author, founder, executive producer, executive director, company director and charity patron working across global projects where emerging technologies meet humanitarian, education and environmental needs. Catherine also likes to create businesses and champion movements, collaborate with peers, and advise game-changers.
Eps 10: In today’s episode I talk with Professor Toby Walsh! Toby is a leading researcher in Artificial Intelligence. He is a Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of Artificial Intelligence at UNSW, and leads the Algorithmic Decision Theory group at Data61. He was named by the Australian newspaper as a "rock star" of Australia's digital revolution.
Eps 9: In today’s episode I talk with the director of Wyndham Tech School, Gail Bray. In her role Gail works with their partner secondary schools in Wyndham and Hobsons Bay to connect them with futuristic technologies and training that will prepare students for the jobs of the future.
Eps 8: In today’s episode I talk with Professor Michael Milford. Michael is a professor at Queensland University of Technology where he conducts interdisciplinary research at the boundary between robotics, neuroscience and computer vision. He is also a multi-award winning educational entrepreneur!
Eps 7: In today’s episode I talk with Professor Dana Kulić - a warm, funny and as down to earth as you can get person! Dana is a Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at Monash University.
Eps 6: In today’s episode I talk with Dr Damien Kee! He is a passionate Educational Technologies advocate, who specialises in bringing technology concepts to teachers and educators around the world. With a focus in Robotics, Programming and Electronics, he works to educate teachers on the benefits and relative ease with which technology can be embedded into their daily classroom activities.
Eps 5: In today’s episode I talk with Anne Elvin, a nurse in Townsville with a passion for robots! Anne was instrumental in the study of Pepper, the humanoid robot, in Townsville Hospital. T
Eps 4: In today’s episode I talk with Ashley van Krieken, Director of Yarra Ranges Tech School. Yarra Ranges Tech School is a shared learning hub which delivers leading-education programs using the latest technology in a real-world context to students from our 20 partner schools.
Eps 3: In today’s episode I talk with Maree Tims, a teacher in Wangaratta about teaching, how things have changed during her teaching tenure and best of all, getting the kids involved in the Vexx Robotics challenge and taking them to the USA! Listen and be inspired by what a teacher can do! If you would like to contact Maree, her email address is: Maree.Timms@galen.vic.edu.au! She would love to hear from you!
Eps: 2 In today’s episode I’m talking with Eric Peck, CEO of Swoop Aero, a drone company based in Port Melbourne! We discuss Eric’s journey and the life changing work they are doing in countries such as Vanuatu, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, getting medicine to those that need it most - safely, quickly and cost effectively!