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Panelists:

Dr Jacqui McRae, Manager, ARC Graphene Research Hub

Jacqui is the Manager of the ARC Graphene Research Hub based at the University of Adelaide. She joined the team in 2019 after 10 years as a Research Scientist at the Australian Wine Research Institute, having completed a PhD in Organic Chemistry in 2008. She is actively involved in the business development and stakeholder engagement of the Hub’s research program as well as managing activities and project milestones in collaboration with teams across the 6 associated universities and 5 industry partners. She is passionate about translating research outcomes into industry solutions and is committed to the Hub’s ultimate goal of developing a sustainable graphene manufacturing industry in Australia.

Neil M. Armstrong, Commercial Manager, First Graphene

Neil is an effective and hands on problem solver, driven by innovation, sustainability, and the future. He played a critical role in the design and commissioning of First Graphene’s world leading production facility in Henderson WA, developing new equipment and processes focused on the commercial scale production of graphene and its industry applications. Neil has a strong Engineering background in the mining and resources sector, designing and implement innovative solutions aimed at increased efficiency and reduced down-time. As an example, after looking at a landfill in the north west filled with used conveyor belts. Neil invented a novel technology that can target, and repair accelerated wear locations across a conveyor belt surface, significantly increasing the life of the belt whilst reducing the associated waste and cost of replacement.

Michael Sharpe, National Director Industry, AMGC

Michael joined the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre in 2017 and is the National Director – Industry. Michael has vast industrial experience including nearly three decades at Sharpe Bros (Australia), one of the nation’s leading road companies. From 2004 -2014, he served as Managing Director of the family business. From 2012 – 2016, he was on the board of HunterNet, a successful industry clustering initiative in the Hunter and Central Coast region and served as Chairman for a one-year period.

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Panelists:

Alex Birrell, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer, Cleanspace

Dr Birrell joined CleanSpace in 2010 and has been the Chief Executive Officer of CleanSpace since 2014 and a director since 2015. Dr Birrell has worked in senior management roles in the healthcare and technology sector for over 20 years. Her previous roles include PricewaterhouseCoopers where she worked in the healthcare advisory practice and financial services (Technology); and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Dr Birrell was a member of the Board of Trustees of Museum of Applied Arts & Sciences, NSW from 2016 – 2019. Dr Birrell is a previous winner of AFR Women of Influence Awards, Chief Executive Women Scholarship and holds a PhD, MBA and Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine.

Sam Bucolo, Executive Chair, Australian Design Council

Dr Sam Bucolo is an Industrial Designer with 30 years spanning industry and academia and is currently the Executive Chair of the recently re-established Australian Design Council.  Sam has held various executive roles, embedding design practices to transform organisations and sectors.  Sam is the author of the book “Are We There Yet, Insights on how to lead by design”.  Sam is an elected Fellow of the Design Institute of Australia and is a Good Design Australia Ambassador.

Michael Sharpe, National Director Industry, AMGC

Michael joined the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre in 2017 and is the National Director – Industry. Michael has vast industrial experience including nearly three decades at Sharpe Bros (Australia), one of the nation’s leading road companies. From 2004 -2014, he served as Managing Director of the family business. From 2012 – 2016, he was on the board of HunterNet, a successful industry clustering initiative in the Hunter and Central Coast region and served as Chairman for a one-year period.

Panelists:

Michelle Shi-Verdaasdonk, Global Manufacturing and Procurement Director, Dyson

Michelle has 15 years’ industry experience and is currently Global Manufacturing and Procurement Director at Dyson. Prior to that, Michelle held various management positions at Philips Lighting, PepsiCo, Ford Motor Company and Electrolux, in Australia, Asia Pacific, Europe and USA. Michelle is a recognised thought leader in Industry 4.0. Michelle is an independent board member of AMGC.

Dr Damien Stringer, Operations Manager, Marinova 

Damien couples his technical expertise with his consultative approach to lead Marinova’s laboratory, processing and research teams. Damien is a former President of the Tasmanian Branch of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute and a graduate member of both the AICD and the prestigious Tasmanian Leaders Program.

Michael Sharpe, National Director Industry, AMGC

Michael joined the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre in 2017 and is the National Director – Industry. Michael has vast industrial experience including nearly three decades at Sharpe Bros (Australia), one of the nation’s leading road companies. From 2004 -2014, he served as Managing Director of the family business. From 2012 – 2016, he was on the board of HunterNet, a successful industry clustering initiative in the Hunter and Central Coast region and served as Chairman for a one-year period.

Panelists:

Kimberley Taylor, Co-Founder and CEO, Shingleback off Road

​Kimberley Taylor is Co-Founder and CEO of Shingleback Off Road. Shingleback Off Road develops products that help bridge the gap between time-poor families and the great outdoors. Shingleback Off Road is proudly 100% Australian owned and made with a commitment to supporting local manufacturing and local suppliers. Kimberley previously worked in the public sector in the human services field – in project development and management fields. Kimberley’s passion is people, bringing them together and with Shingleback Off Road, supporting them to get out there enjoying the great outdoors with less hassle.

Steven Walsh, Co-Owner and Director, Glide

Steven Walsh is Co-Owner, and Director of Glide Pty Ltd, a wheelchair manufacturer in Balcatta  W.A. Steve is involved in all operational aspects of the business. This includes R&D, designing and manufacturing. Prior to Purchasing Glide in May 2019, Steven co-foundered SPG in 2006 a Mine Services company in W.A and before this spent 25 years in Senior Management positions in mining, mineral processing, process infrastructure and maintenance, holding positions such as Engineering Manager, Operations Manager, Production Consultant and Project Manager. His diverse career has allowed him to gain valuable experience working throughout Australia and overseas, in locations such as Argentina, Republic of Georgia, Ghana, Guinea, Cote D’Ivoire, Mexico, Fiji, Laos, Thailand and Jamaica.

Michael Sharpe, National Director Industry, AMGC

Michael joined the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre in 2017 and is the National Director – Industry. Michael has vast industrial experience including nearly three decades at Sharpe Bros (Australia), one of the nation’s leading road companies. From 2004 -2014, he served as Managing Director of the family business. From 2012 – 2016, he was on the board of HunterNet, a successful industry clustering initiative in the Hunter and Central Coast region and served as Chairman for a one-year period.

Panelists:

• Verton
• AMGC

Panelists:

Christelle Damiens, Managing Director, Exportia

Christelle Damiens is the Managing Director of Exportia, which provides an outsourced European Sales & Marketing team to Australian B2B manufacturing and technology companies. Christelle Damiens founded Exportia in 2006, shortly after Christelle migrated from France to Australia.

Based on her 20 years of sales experience internationally in a high tech environment, She found that small and medium sized businesses always face the same challenges. They often lack the time, financial and human resources to take the step. Following years working closely with more than hundred innovative small to medium sized companies, she now has a track record of taking businesses to their first million Euros in sales and beyond. Christelle has developed a 4-Step-framework and a set of tools tailored to the needs of technology companies that enable them to successfully scale in the European Market.

Charlie Eilbeck, Eilbeck Cranes

Eilbeck is much more than Australia’s leading crane company, Eilbeck have now pushed and invested hugely into becoming a key player in Australia’s Heavy Fabrication and Machining sector.

Charlie has the passion and drive to become an industry leader and Eilbeck will continually invest in making our business and Australian manufacturing stronger and stronger! We simply love what we do, and simply love building things!

Michael Sharpe, National Director Industry, AMGC

Michael joined the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre in 2017 and is the National Director – Industry. Michael has vast industrial experience including nearly three decades at Sharpe Bros (Australia), one of the nation’s leading road companies. From 2004 -2014, he served as Managing Director of the family business. From 2012 – 2016, he was on the board of HunterNet, a successful industry clustering initiative in the Hunter and Central Coast region and served as Chairman for a one-year period.

Panelists:

Sandra Duarte, CEO, Centrum Printing

Sandra is passionate, motivated and a strong believer in providing opportunities for young Australians to grow and expand their horizons by being educated, trained and being inspired to achieve. Sandra has thirty years’ experience in front facing jobs, from publishing through to her current role as CEO of Australia’s leading printing and manufacturing business. Sandra is the driving force in a Centrum Printing initiative “I Am Ready” that promotes and provides education, opportunity and growth for future generations in Australian manufacturing.

She is a volunteer with the government initiative ‘Inspiring the Future Australia’ where she mentors, educates and inspires students, and is a leading and inspirational voice in the Print and Manufacturing Industry. Sandra is an advocate for growing Australian Manufacturing and supporting local production while providing career opportunities

Brad Parsons, Movus

Brad is the CEO and Founder of MOVUS. Brad spent 25 years in a corporate career which spanned national and global positions. These included Aurizon, Flight Centre, News Limited and Multiplex. Prior to starting MOVUS he worked on automation projects for BHP and Aurizon where he worked on their automation blueprints. His inspiration for MOVUS came from a strategic condition monitoring program which he worked on for Sydney Trains.

MOVUS was started in January 2015 and has been successfully growing for the last 6 years. Their core product is the ‘FitMachine’, a machine condition monitoring solution that is powered by AI to enable the detection of machine failures in advance. The solution is sold as ‘machine monitoring as a service’. They recently reached a milestone of over 100M machine health samples processed. MOVUS is based in Brisbane and monitors machines over a dozen countries across the globe.

Michael Sharpe, National Director Industry, AMGC

Michael joined the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre in 2017 and is the National Director – Industry. Michael has vast industrial experience including nearly three decades at Sharpe Bros (Australia), one of the nation’s leading road companies. From 2004 -2014, he served as Managing Director of the family business. From 2012 – 2016, he was on the board of HunterNet, a successful industry clustering initiative in the Hunter and Central Coast region and served as Chairman for a one-year period.