Professor Michael Blumenstein is currently the Vice President and Executive Dean of the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University. He previously served as the Pro Vice Chancellor (Business Creation and Major Facilities) at the University of Technology Sydney where he also held earlier roles as the Acting Dean, Deputy Dean (Research and Innovation) and Head of School in the Faculty of Engineering & IT. Previously, Professor Blumenstein worked at Griffith University in Queensland where he accumulated over a decade of experience in leadership roles including portfolio Dean (Research) of the Sciences Group and Head of the School of ICT.

Over two decades, Professor Blumenstein has successfully led the growth of cutting-edge research at Universities, particularly in collaboration with industry and focusing on translational outcomes. He is a nationally and internationally recognised expert in the areas of automated Pattern Recognition and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Professor Blumenstein is passionate about developing technology that has a positive effect on society, focusing on AI for good. He has published his work widely, particularly AI applications with multi-disciplinary teams for solving global problems. Among the many projects he has led in collaboration with industry, Professor Blumenstein's team developed the award-winning SharkSpotter – a world-first AI-based technology for detecting Sharks in the ocean from Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) to enhance beach safety and for saving lives.

Professor Blumenstein has served in numerous leadership roles with industry and professional associations over two decades, including most recently as Chair of the Professional Credentialling and Future Leadership Taskforce of the Australian Computer Society (ACS).

Professor Giselle Rampersad is the Dean (Education) in the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University. She was named STEMM Educator of the Year in 2021 in the SA Science Excellence and Innovation Awards. 

She is a Professor in Innovation and Co-Director of the Centre for Defence Engineering Research and Training at Flinders University. She is also the Director for the award winning Diploma of Digital Technologies. Under her leadership, it received national recognition, winning the Australian Defence Industry Award for the Training and Mentorship Program of the Year in 2020, by Defence Connect. It also won the Industry Collaboration award at the SA Training Awards in 2021. The program is undertaken by employees from BAE Systems Australia and other defence primes, SMEs, STEM teachers and Wine/AgTech. This program has achieved over 50% participation by women. 

She leads various major defence research projects including with Defence Science and Technology Group on digital twins. She has an interdisciplinary educational background including a PhD in Innovation and Technology Management (Adelaide University, Australia) and an MSc in Internet Systems and e-Business (Durham University, UK, Computer Science Department). Her research focuses on innovation and technology management, digital transformation and human factors in the adoption of disruptive technologies.

Ingo is a physical chemist with a focus on the biological aspects of nanotechnology. His main interest is in the use and characterisation of model membrane systems with applications in areas such as developing sensors and studying drug-membrane interactions. Ingo also has a related interest in the synthesis and use of nanoparticles for drug delivery systems.

The main techniques used in his group are electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy and neutron scattering.

Ingo is also interested in science education and science outreach.

Ingo studied chemistry at the University of Dortmund and received his Diploma in 1998. In 1997 he spent six months at the university of Bordeaux, France, for an ERASMUS practical course in physical chemistry. In 2002 he received his PhD from the University of Paris VI for his work on neutron scattering experiments on the interactions between a sugar and a protein in the group of M.C. Bellissent-Funel at the Laboratoire Léon Brillouin, CEA-Saclay. In 2002 he joined the Materials Science Department at the Max Planck Institute for Polymer Research, Mainz, Germany. After one year as a post-doc, he became a project leader, leading an independent research team working on biofunctional surfaces, ion channels and single-channel recordings.

In September 2009, he followed a call to become a lecturer at Flinders University.

Since 2023, Ingo is the Associate Dean (Learning and Teaching) in the College of Science and Engineering and Head of the STEM Academy. 

Prof Mark Taylor is Dean (Research) for the College of Science and Engineering at Flinders University. Professor Taylor has over 25 years in experience in orthopaedic biomechanics and has spent time in both academia and industry. Prof Taylor’s main area of research is the applications of in silico medicine to orthopaedics, with research spanning diagnosis of osteoporosis to pre-clinical testing, in silico clinical trials and surgical planning of total hip and knee replacements.   Recently, he has focussed on assessing the ability of computational models to predict in vivo performance, which is an essential step to enabling the wider adoption of these tools in routine clinical practice.

Dr. Saeed Ur Rehman is Head of Information & Computing Technology and Associate Professor in Cybersecurity and Networking. Dr Rehman holds a Ph.D. in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Auckland, with research focusing on wireless network security. He is a Senior IEEE member and has served as a publication and local chair for EAI and IEEE conferences. He is on the conference program committee, a journal editorial member, and a reviewer for several journals and conferences relevant.

Rocco is Professor and Head of Engineering at the Flinders University of South Australia, a position that he took up on 1st July 2014. As a part of this leadership role, he manages numerous research projects and teaching programs at the undergraduate and postgraduate level. His research interests include the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for transportation applications. This research work has mainly involved the use of Intelligent Transport System technologies to improve the effectiveness of transport. He also has a background in the assessment and investigation of the environmental impacts of various transport policy initiatives, including the use of alternative fuels and vehicles. Rocco is currently also heavily involved in connected and autonomous vehicle research and trials.

Anthony Kittel is the owner, CEO and Managing Director of the REDARC Group.

Born in Port Augusta, Anthony graduated as a qualified Mechanical Engineer at the South Australian Institute of Technology (Now UniSA).  He also completed his MBA at the University of Adelaide.

In 2013, Anthony completed the three year Owners Presidents Management program at the prestigious Harvard Business School. 

Anthony is a National Vice President and Director of Australian Industry Group, Chair of the College of Science and Engineering Industry Advisory Board at Flinders University and a member of the Adelaide University Business School Industry Advisory Board.

Anthony is also a Director of privately owned technology businesses Coogee Metals Limited and DEWC Systems.

He is a Chartered Professional Engineer, a Fellow of the Institution of Engineers Australia and a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Murray has a coastal engineering background with a Bachelor of Engineering, Maritime (Hons), Australian Maritime College; a Master of Engineering Science (Civil), University of Melbourne; and a Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering), Monash University.  He is a member of Engineers Australia, a Fellow of the Royal Society of SA, and became a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors in 2009 and a Fellow of the Governor's Leadership Foundation in 2010. 

Murray previously managed the Coast Protection Branch within the SA Department for Environment and Water until late 2023.  He and his team provided leadership, advice and guidance on coastal policy, engineering and management and climate change adaptation, manage Adelaide's beaches and provide support to the Coast Protection Board's governance, engagement, policy development and application and its works and grants programs.  The branch is a specialist group of coastal engineers and scientists, urban and regional planners, surveyors, policy officers and administrative staff.  He is currently Assistant Director, Climate Adaptation Policy in the Australian Government's Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, engaged in developing a National Adaptation Plan.

Research interests include the reintroduction of tidal flows to restore coastal ecosystems, the interaction between sea level rise impacts, demographics and value-adding opportunities in climate change adaptation, and impacts of rising sea levels on coastal processes and hazard management.  Murray has co-supervised postgraduate research students and publishes and presents on coastal policy and management and climate change adaptation.

He was the South Australia representative on Engineers Australia's National Committee on Coastal and Ocean Engineering (NCCOE) from 2002 to 2017 and served two terms as Chair.   NCCOE released guidelines on climate change and sustainability on the coast in the 1990s, and a new guideline on adaptation in 2012.  These guidelines are periodically reviewed and contemporised.

From technical foundations in Engineering, Andrew has a passion for understanding the big picture strategy of how things fit together.  Andrew is also motivated by small tangible steps delivering short term value and how that contributes towards coordinated long term impact.

Operating from within BAE Systems Australia’s Maritime Innovation Program, Andrew is the custodian of our Technology Roadmaps.  The strategy of our Innovation program also seeks to capture the best from our collaborators and participants.

Andrew has strong recognition that deliverable value comes from the convergence of technology and industry.  As an author of a number of our strategies, Andrew seeks to bring this to life within our key Innovation focus areas.  Our focus on our Digital Strategy and Digital Reference Architectures gives the landscape of the technology, skills, workforce and supply chain that we require to deliver on our ambitions.

These enablers will ultimately deliver for the outcomes of our Maritime business unit: headlined by the Hunter Class Frigate, Anzac Class Frigate and Hobart Class Destroyer programs.  These long term Defence capabilities require harnessing the workforce, industrial base and infrastructure of our nation, spanning multiple generations of continuous excellence, adaptability and innovation.

Andrew seeks to coordinate the brightest minds of our teams, our academic and research collaborators and our supply chain partners to best mobilise value for our national endeavours.

Jan is an association management specialist, with expert level understanding of member driven organisations. Through numerous management roles, Jan is accustomed to interfacing with government at all levels, regularly interacting and liaising with industry groups, education providers, board-level and C-suite executives. Jan’s success as a connector and communicator who thrives on building and maintaining strong relationships with high level stakeholder groups, decision makers and individuals alike has provided many successful outcomes for those she represents.

Jan has a solid appreciation and understanding of the practice of engineering, the challenges, and the opportunities facing the profession having worked with businesses specialising in engineering, advisory and design for well over a decade.

Mr Suneel S. Randhawa is Chief of Information Sciences Division in the Defence Science and Technology Group within the Australian Department of Defence in Adelaide, Australia. He was previously Research Leader for Cyberwarfare Operations within Defence Science and Technology Group.

Mr Randhawa’s expertise and research interests lie in Cyber Security and Cyber Warfare, with an emphasis in the intersection with Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Autonomy. Mr Randhawa began his career with Defence Science and Technology Group in 1995, commencing in the Advanced Computer Capabilities group. He successfully received the prestigious Defence Science Fellowship in 2002 facilitating a secondment to SRI International in the USA.

Mr Randhawa has received several commendations including for his work on the Situation Awareness Common Operating Picture (SA-COP) for Headquarters Joint Operations Command in 2012 and in 2017 for his steerage of the Mission Assurance Research Collaboration (MARC) between the United States and Australia. Both awards highlighting Mr Randhawa’s longstanding productive relationships with international partners in Cyber Research.

Mr Randhawa holds: an Honours degree in Electrical and Electronics and a Masters in Engineering (Biomedical Engineering) with a research focus in Automatic Speech Recognition.

As a mechanical engineer, Anthony has over 23 years’ experience leading advanced technology product development and commercialisation of products in a wide range of sectors, including telecoms, IT, UHV, food, consumer durables, security and medical sectors. At Micro-X, he established the technology and commercialisation strategy for the start up, assisted with private capital raising and the public listing and has grown the team of over 85 staff. He currently leads all research and engineering operations as well as running the innovative CT business unit.

Anthony believes strongly in customer focused design and has delivered a number of award winning products including the MDS Sciex Cellkey™ Coca-Cola FreestyleTM, Philips VisaPure™ and the Caresteam DRX Revolution Nano™.

Jeremiah Mulcahy is a senior strategy, sustainability and innovation leader with extensive experience across the water, resources and infrastructure sectors.

As Senior Manager Strategy and Sustainability at SA Water, he leads the corporate strategy, business planning, sustainability, research and development and innovation teams which support the long-term delivery of essential water and wastewater services to South Australians.

Prior to joining SA Water, Jeremiah held a range of leadership roles with BHP, working across multiple commodities, functions and global locations. His international experience has provided him with a broad perspective on organisational performance, technology adoption, workforce capability, asset-intensive industries and the challenges associated with delivering sustainable outcomes in complex operating environments.

Jeremiah is passionate about the intersection of industry, innovation and education and is committed to strengthening collaboration between universities, industry and government. He brings expertise in strategic foresight, mergers and acquisitions, major capital projects, sustainability, and organisational transformation, helping organisations prepare for future challenges while creating long-term value for customers, communities and stakeholders. He is also a strong advocate for Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI), and is a member of SA Water’s DEI council.

With decades of leadership in science, technology and engineering, Kylie is a senior strategic advisor to Australian leaders with an interest in the power of science to transform.

Kylie is Chair of Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA), driving evidence-based quality care for older Australians, and a Professorial Fellow at Flinders University with a focus on real-world impacts of R&D. As former CEO of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and Science & Technology Australia, she catalysed crucial national conversations to solve complex challenges and crafted impactful national interventions to ensure a thriving, diverse workforce with future-ready skills. A former Chair of Australia’s National Commission for UNESCO, she’s been recognised with an honorary doctorate from Charles Sturt University and, in 2026, she was appointed as a Member of the Order of Australia.

Andrew is the Director of Industry Engagement and Training at the South Australian Department for Education, where he leads initiatives that strengthen career education, vocational education and industry engagement aligned with south Australia’s workforce priorities.

By building strategic partnerships between employers and Government schools. Andrew helps students access meaningful career education, real-world industry experiences and clear post-school pathways, while supporting employers to develop the skilled workforce they need.

With extensive experience in stakeholder engagement, strategy and policy development, Andrew is committed to ensuring the next generation is equipped with the capabilities, dispositions and opportunities to thrive and prosper in the economy of tomorrow.

Neil leads ASC’s Nuclear, WHSE, Quality & Assurance, and SubSafe teams, supporting the company's transformation into a nuclear-capable organisation.

He joined ASC in January 2025, bringing 30 years' experience across the nuclear industry managing complex projects, programs and strategic delivery partnerships.

Prior to joining ASC, Neil served as Executive Site Director for the UK's Sellafield site, where he led the nation's most complex nuclear facilities through significant operational and strategic transformation.

His leadership at Sellafield spanned major decommissioning and infrastructure programs, with a strong focus on improving asset condition, reducing risks and hazards, and delivering safe, efficient outcomes.

Neil is recognised for his ability to lead and develop high-performing teams, fostering a culture of continuous improvement, safety and collaboration.

He is a Fellow and Chartered Member of the Association for Project Management (UK), reflecting his commitment to excellence in project leadership and governance.