DEFENCE TRAILBLAZER - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology
- Professor
Professor Anton Middelberg is an internationally-recognised research and thought leader in the fields of rapid vaccine scale-up, soft condensed matter and bio-nanotechnology. He has published, patented and licensed innovations in these fields. With broad research, senior executive, international and commercialisation experience, Anton now has University-wide responsibility for the Research and Innovation portfolio at the University of Adelaide.
Anton is an elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering and the US National Academy of Inventors. He earned his Bachelor and PhD degrees in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from the University of Adelaide.
Professor Bruce Northcote is Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research Operations), a senior management position within the Division of Research and Innovation (DRI) responsible for providing leadership in achieving the University's strategic goals in relation to research infrastructure and building of research capacity. He is also Chief Security Officer, with the responsibility of ensuring the University complies with essential regulatory requirements and best practice in relation to defence, national security and foreign influence and interference regulations and guidelines.
Previously he was CEO of TelAri Analytics - a commercial spin out from research in his prior roles as Director of the Teletraffic Research Centre and the Centre for Defence Communications Information Networking, within the Faculty of Sciences, Engineering & Technology (SET). In those SET roles he brought his considerable private industry communications engineering consulting experience to the Commercial and Defence sectors. For 2 terms he was an Associate Member representative on the RPDE Board, primarily focused on improving the engagement between RPDE and the academic community.
From 1994 until 1996 he worked at Bellcore (NJ, USA) as their lead consultant in Signalling System Number 7 and Advanced Intelligent Network congestion control research and Personal Communications Services performance analysis. In 1996 he joined Ascom Nexion to develop for them a coordinated performance benchmark test plan for multi-service switching platforms. After acquisition and promotion he became a Consulting Engineer in Fujitsu Nexion, working on broadband technology assessment, product definition and standardization activities for the Fujitsu broadband product range, actively participating in various standards forums (IETF, ATMF, ANSI T1S1 & ITU-T SG13).
Between returning to Australia in December 1999 and his current employment, he was a consultant for BSN Consulting Pty Ltd and Telic Australia Pty Ltd, working on projects for customers ranging from Vodafone Australia, Telstra, Telcordia (USA), Viridien (USA), to the Victorian Department of Justice. He has published over 20 refereed journal and conference papers, written numerous technical contributions for a variety of international standards bodies, is a senior member of IEEE and was an acreditted ATM Forum Ambassador for several years.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Governing Board
- Chief Executive Officer / Silentium Defence Pty Ltd
- Chief Executive Officer and Cofounder of Silentium Defence Pty
Dr James Palmer is the Chief Executive Officer and cofounder of Silentium Defence Pty Ltd. James is an internationally recognised subject matter expert on Passive Radar signal processing and system development.
James graduated from a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical and Electronic) and Bachelor of Arts (double major in Japanese) degree in 2002 from the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He received his Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from the same institution in 2007. In 2017 James was awarded the inaugural Stanford Australia Foundation - CSIRO ON Accelerate Scholarship to attend an executive course at Stanford University on Growing Companies.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- General Manager, Technology Development & Commercialisation
Dr Margaret Law has had an outstanding career in the defence sector. She has over 20 years of industry experience in innovation, science and technology. Margaret joined the Defence Trailblazer team from Naval Group Pacific where she was the CEO and had been the CTO. Prior to that she was Innovation and Research Manager at Naval Group Australia and has had senior executive roles at ASC and its subsidiary Deep Blue Tech. In these roles, Margaret had oversight of the R&D portfolio, relationships with DST Group and academia, and internal capability development.
Job Titles:
- Board Director
- Chief Executive
- Executive Director
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
Dr Sanjay Mazumdar is a proven chief executive and board director who has 30 years of experience in the defence, national security and ICT sectors. He has had senior roles in general management, engineering management, business development and project management. He combines his extensive management experience with a strong understanding of AI/machine learning, systems engineering, data analytics and cybersecurity.
Sanjay most recently was a Technology and Defence Industry Partner at KPMG Australia. He was also the inaugural Chief Data Officer for the firm, specialising in data and AI consulting and solutions. Prior to joining KPMG, Sanjay was the CEO of the Data to Decisions Cooperative Research Centre (D2D CRC Ltd) and founding Board Director of the D2D CRC's spinout companies - Fivecast and NQRY.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Pro Vice - Chancellor ( Industry & Innovation )
Stephen's professional career has focused on technology commercialisation, corporate governance, executive leadership and investment portfolio management.
He's played an active role in supporting hundreds of technology licensing deals, the formation and financing of dozens of companies and securing well in excess of $500 million in investments, grants and other funding.
His experience as Director or Chief Executive of companies commercialising technologies at various stages of development has given Stephen a unique breadth of expertise in driving outcomes for technologies and companies with high-growth potential and across a range of industry sectors.
As a Non-Executive Director and Chair of companies such as Myriota Pty Ltd, BiomeBank and Ferronova Pty Ltd, he has built management teams, raised capital and supported expansion into global markets.
With a proven record in investment portfolio management and for structuring and negotiating a variety of deals types, Stephen has a truly international outlook with an established and demonstrated network of executive-level contacts across a variety of academic, government, commercial and investment groups in Asia, Europe, North America, New Zealand and Australia.
Stephen was educated at the University of Adelaide gaining a first-class Honours degree, a PhD in Biochemistry and was awarded the University Medal. Subsequently he was awarded the prestigious CJ Martin and Arthritis Foundation fellowships for post-doctoral training at Harvard University. He holds an MBA, is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and has trained at the Harvard Business School.
Professor Emily Hilder is responsible for leading research and development supporting science and technology capability for crewed, uncrewed and autonomous platforms across all domains. She is also currently Executive Chair of the Maritime Systems Group for the Technical Cooperation Program (TTCP) and Co-chair of the Science and Technology Steering Group within the USN-RAN Strategic Dialogue.
She is a graduate of the University of Tasmania where she completed her PhD in analytical chemistry. Emily is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering (ATSE) and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI) and has been recognised by a number of awards including the Eureka Prize for Outstanding Science in Safeguarding Australia, RACI Doreen Clarke Analytical Medal, and UTAS Foundation Graduate Award. She is an Associate Editor of Analytical Chemistry (ACS) and a member of the Advisory Board of the Australian Maritime College (University of Tasmania).
Professor Michael Webb joined the University of Adelaide in July 2008 where he is currently Executive Director of the Defence & Security Institute and Coordinator for University's Digi+ FAME Strategy. Michael has a PhD in physics from the University of St Andrews, a Masters' degree in mathematical psychology, and Bachelors' degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Adelaide. Prior to working in academia, Michael worked in the Defence Science and Technology Group, for over 20 years. Michael is passionate about bringing academic, industry and Defence capability together to enhance our collective ability to secure Australia's future.
Job Titles:
- Architect
- Member of the Governing Board
- Director and Chief Technology Officer / Greenroom Robotics Pty Ltd
Harry Hubbert is a Naval Architect, ADF veteran, Director, and Chief Technology Officer. Passionate about Robotics and Maritime Autonomy, Harry graduated from the Australian Maritime College in 2014 with a Bachelor of Engineering (Honours) in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering, specialising in subsea systems and robotics.
Harry co-founded Greenroom Robotics, a small and thriving Australian technology company with the mission to revolutionise the maritime sectors through the ethical application of robotics and artificial intelligence. As a Director and Chief Technology Officer of Greenroom Robotics, Harry and his team work with SMEs, government bodies, commercial organisations and private entities in Australia and worldwide, to deliver innovative solutions and game-changing products.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Governing Board
- General Manager, Asia Pacific Region
- Leader in Australia
Christine Zeitz is a leader in Australia's defence industry, with over 30 years' experience delivering world-class solutions and services across the Asia Pacific region to Defence, security, ICT and intelligence customers.
Christine was appointed General Manager, Asia Pacific region, at Northrop Grumman in July 2020 with responsibility for all aspects of growth, program awards and financial performance in Australia, and responsibility for Japan and Korea market development.
With a diverse background in program management, operations, strategy, business development, contracts and finance, Christine has a proven track record of building high-performing teams and programs, and achieving business growth in the Asia Pacific region.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Senior Leadership Team
- General Manager, Workforce, Innovation and Culture
Heather Nicoll is a graduate of the Australian Defence Force Academy and Royal Military College, serving in Signals Corps for 15 years. Other past roles include at the University of Queensland and Australian National University, experience as a consultant to government, industry and higher education clients and, most recently, Manager of the UNSW Defence Research Institute.
Professor Nicholas Fisk, AM FAHMS FRCOG FRSN, provides strategic leadership and support to the Vice-Chancellor and President in the generation of external research income and improving UNSW's overall research performance, and in attracting and retaining outstanding academic staff, research only staff and higher degree research students to UNSW.
His research is in the fields of developmental biology and maternal-fetal medicine, and he is the author of more than 400 publications. He graduated MBBS from the University of Sydney, obtained his PhD from University College London and an MBA from Imperial College, London. He was elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2014. In 2020 he was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to tertiary education, and to maternal-fetal medicine. He is currently a Board Member of Research Australia.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Practice at UNSW
Paul Maddison is a Professor of Practice at UNSW and the Director of the Defence Research Institute. Paul is responsible for enabling, facilitating, and integrating UNSW's ground-breaking defence research capacity across the whole of the University in both Sydney and Canberra. With a mandate to build deeper relationships and increased collaboration with Commonwealth, State, industry and international partners, the Defence Research Institute aims to strengthen UNSW's position among Australia's leading defence universities, and to play a defining role in accelerating the delivery of capability for the Australian Defence Force. Formerly, Paul served as Canada's High Commissioner to Australia, and commanded the Royal Canadian Navy.
Air Vice-Marshal Robert Denney was born in Wollongong, New South Wales. He joined the Royal Australian Air Force in 1991 as a cadet at the Australian Defence Force Academy studying Aeronautical Engineering. Transferring to University of Sydney in 1993, he completed his studies before graduating from Number 168 Pilots Course and completing Lead-In Fighter training on Macchi aircraft.
Air Vice-Marshal Denney was posted to the Operational Requirements section of the New Air Combat Capability in Canberra in 2008, then attended the Joint Command and Staff Program at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto, Canada. On return to Australia in 2010, he was promoted to Wing Commander and posted as the Executive Officer at No 82 Wing at Amberley before taking Command of No 6 Squadron (Super Hornets) in December of that year.