Program

Glenn is an influential leader with an international reputation in the energy, clean technology and R&D sectors. As Executive Director – Strategy and Innovation, Glenn is tasked with identifying how Emergent Group’s world-class engineering and science expertise can be brought to solve the biggest challenges of Australia’s industries.

He has 20 years in the renewable energy and clean-technology sectors, on topics ranging from grid operations, to energy storage, energy efficiency, microgrids and solar energy. He has held executive positions and advisory roles for several technology and engineering firms, and has founded multiple start-up companies involved in the development of new energy technologies.

Glenn has led project teams from engineers to economists and provided a broad range of advice and technology solutions, leading many Australian clean technology firsts – including first virtual power station, first flow battery deployment, and first vehicle-to-grid project.

Through his leadership, advisory roles and development of new energy technologies, Glenn has made significant contributions to governments and businesses around the world. Throughout his career, Glenn has received multiple awards including Australia’s Mission Innovation Champion, Australian Financial Review Young Executive of the Year as well as medals for Entrepreneurship and Environmental Achievement.

Mariane is a theatre maker turned psychologist, who’s big audacious goal is to see all unnecessary emotional pain and suffering eliminated within her lifetime. Her obsession with all things related to human potential and meaningful living translates across her research, speaking, coaching and consulting, with clients including Microsoft, UN Youth, NSW Health, Singularity U, BPAY, Lend Lease and Serenity collective. 

In 2018 she co-founded  The Posify Group, a socially conscious education company that’s equipping Gen Z with a sense of purpose, along with the critical life and career skills and mindsets they’ll need to thrive in a rapidly evolving world and workforce. Off the back of being awarded WorldClass Education Innovation by Deloitte and The World Economic Forum, The Posify Group are scaling their trilogy series of youth development programs, that seek to close the gap between education and industry, particularly for the million plus neurodivergent and gifted youth in Australia. 

Mariane’s lived experience of raising two twice-exceptional (gifted and neurodivergent) kids, and her own recent diagnosis of the same unique profile, makes her a sought after speaker, educator and coach on all things related to inclusive learning, work and leadership practices that enable neruodivergent people to uncover and deliver their full potential. She’s the host of podcast Classroom 5.0, and the author of the IMPACT framework, a theoretical model supporting individuals and companies to learn the scientific strategies that help them put their purpose into motion for their own and the collective good. 

Mariane brings a dynamic combination of intellect, creativity and human heart in all that she does, and her commitment to sharing the science of purpose, potential and impact equips others with the clarity and confidence they need to bring to life their most meaningful aspirations, for themselves, our planet and its people.

Kate has 20 years recruitment consulting and executive search experience – with significant experience within Cyber Security and IT. She has worked for MNC’s across Australia, Hong Kong and China, Singapore and the UAE. Kate’s passion is to see a more equitable workforce within cyber security, technology, and STEM more broadly.

She is invested in creating diverse teams for clients, and provides guidance on how to proactively build out diverse teams in a sustainable way. Her role at Mercer is to provide strategic talent advice and solutions, ensuring DEI is at the forefront of all client solutions.

Kate joined the Tech Girls Movement Foundation as a Board Member, where she assists across a range of functions, including Recruitment / HR and Industry Engagement – to help bridge the gap between enterprise, community, and future female talent. With a focus on tech entrepreneurial skills needed by the workforce of the future, the Tech Girls Movement Foundation has the vision to create a society in which girls confidently lead in STEM entrepreneurship and contribute to their community and the economy.

Rod Henderson is the Managing Director and CEO of Ampcontrol, one of Australia’s largest and most successful electrical engineering and manufacturing  companies operating across 30 sites around the world.

Rod Henderson’s career with Ampcontrol spans 26 years, starting with the company in 1991 managing the development and release of new electronics products.

Rod has held various positions with the company, including Group Manager for Electronics and Chief Operating Officer of Australian Operations, prior to being  appointed Chief Executive Officer in June 2014.

As Managing Director and CEO, Rod oversees the Ampcontrol Group of Companies, including 6 member companies and over 870 employees, with responsibility for strategic direction, profitability, group structure, and risk management. In 2022, Rod is leading the business with a strategic plan for sustainable growth in the energy, infrastructure, and resources sectors, as well as continued innovation and diversification of its capabilities in new and emerging markets.

Sarah Sivyer is the Founder of Just Been Laid Egg Subscription, the first egg subscription business in Australia. Sarah runs the pastured egg business in addition to the family’s fifth generation beef operation in Eccleston, NSW. Prior to moving back to the family farm Sarah worked for Rabobank as Senior Analyst, Food and Agribusiness Research and Advisory and then as Head of Operational Excellence. Sarah has also had roles with the World Bank Group (IFC), Syngenta, Arup and BHP Billiton. Sarah is a Nuffield Scholar and has a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering and Commerce from the University of Sydney and an MBA from the University of Oxford.

Lisa leads our PwC Private M&A team providing corporate finance, capital raising and growth strategy services to small and medium, privately and family owned and operated businesses.

Lisa has over 30 years of diverse experience providing corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions and transaction advisory services to large corporates, small enterprises and private and family companies.  Her capabilities cover a breadth of industries including telecom, media, technology, education, financial services, professional services and waste management.

Lisa has worked on a number of capital raisings, public market offerings, acquisitions and divestments in Australia, the US, UK and Asia.  She has worked in our PwC Sydney, San Jose (Silicon Valley) and Chicago offices and has also spent a number of years within the investment banking industry focused in the TMET sectors in Sydney, London and Seoul.

Aaron McEwan is a behavioral scientist, psychologist and futurist and was recently named a Top 100 Global HR Influencer and one of 5 HR Leaders to Follow in 2022. As VP, Research & Advisory for Gartner’s HR Practice, Aaron provides strategic advice to the world’s leading companies on the future of work and talent and helps leaders manage their most critical relationships across the c-suite and board. Alongside his current role, Aaron is a Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute, a Senior Industry Fellow of RMIT’s Center for Future Skills and Workforce Transformation and an Associate of Macquarie University’s Centre for Workforce Futures and was a member of Innovation Nation, a cross-industry initiative sponsored by the Office of the Prime Minister to elevate Australia’s reputation for entrepreneurship and innovation.

Radical Flexibility and The New Talent Landscape

In the midst of a global talent shortage and one of the most competitive employment markets in living memory, workers are in the driver’s seat and looking for something very different from work. 65% of employees say that the pandemic made them rethink the place that work should have in their life. Employees today don’t want to be seen as workers; they want to be seen as human beings with rich, complex lives. They want to work to live not live to work and are seeking much more autonomy over where they work, when they work, how they work, who they work with and what they work on. Whilst most employers have embraced hybrid and remote work, 70% of hybrid and remote workers say their expectations for working flexibly have increased. The most progressive employers are differentiating themselves by looking beyond hybrid and embracing “work from anywhere” or “borderless” models that give their employees the freedom to choose where they work — whether in the same region, in the same country or across borders.

This is great news for destinations that are looking to revive their flagging tourist economies and address chronic labour shortages. But they need to act fast. 130 cities across 41 countries (and counting ) now offer “digital nomad” or “freelancer” visas to specifically entice foreigners to contribute to their economies. But digital nomads and freelancers are just the beginning. The real opportunity for attracting the best talent in the word lies in understanding that everybody wants to work differently, not just foreign technology workers who are single, free of commitments and looking to sit on a beach working on their laptop. With its world class beaches, vineyards, history, arts scene, great schools and mature infrastructure, the Hunter Valley has all the ingredients to become a destination of choice for a whole new generation of workers looking for a better lifestyle and relationship to work. This session will focus on how destinations can attract not just digital nomads, but next gen expats, workcationers and adventurist performers by promoting themselves as a great place to work!

Prem is active in the Hunter ecosystem for regional development and business start-ups. He is Chair for the Board of Directors for Hunter Angels Limited and a director of Hunter IF Limited, organiser of the Hunter Innovation Festival. He is involved as an advisor to several start-ups and mentors starts-up through I2N Integrated Innovation Network at Newcastle University.

Prem, moved to Newcastle in October 2018 after a successful career as an International Business Leader with Nokia Corporation and then as a start-up founder in Hong Kong. He has recently joined PWC as Managing Director in their Advisory practice assisting business to develop and implement growth strategy.

He started his career with PricewaterhouseCoopers having worked with them in Sydney and London assisting clients with market entry strategy and shareholder value creation in their Corporate Advisory Practice.

After PWC, Prem was member of Nokia’s leadership team and helped establish and lead Nokia in new markets across Asia and Middle East. During his time at Nokia, it became the Global market leader holding more than 75% market share. He has extensive experience in opening new markets, bringing new services and products to market as well leading transformational changes with his ability to develop and implement strategies to achieve business growth.

Prem is passionate about creating the next generation of leaders and innovators and mentors in the Dalyell Mentoring Program at Sydney University and New Zealand Business Mentors Program.

Vivian was appointed to the role of NRMA Executive General Manager, Strategy & Investments in June 2021. She is responsible for the NRMA Group’s corporate and portfolio strategies, corporate development, investments, ESG, sustainability, legal, company secretariat, brand and corporate affairs functions. She sets the strategic direction of the NRMA group and pursues opportunities that delivers shared value – Member value, economic value and societal value.

Vivian has extensive experience in strategy consulting in Australia, the United States, New Zealand, China and South East Asia. In her previous role with Booz & Company / PwC Strategy&, she advised a range of organisations in areas including growth strategy, portfolio strategy, operating model design, organisation and culture transformation. Prior to this, she worked at Deutsche Bank investment banking, and in carbon markets with GreenCollar.

Simon is the Port of Newcastle’s Chief Commercial Officer. He is responsible for overseeing all commercial, planning, corporate governance, company secretarial and compliance management.

Simon joined the Port of Newcastle in February 2019 and brings a broad range of legal and commercial expertise gained from working on some of Australia’s largest infrastructure projects. He has always had a passion for transport and has worked in strategic roles for Government, and the private sector, across the road, rail, aviation and marine industries.

Prior to joining the Port of Newcastle, Simon was most recently the Executive General Manager Aeronautical Business, General Counsel and Company Secretary at Hobart Airport which involved managing a multi-disciplinary team responsible for aeronautical revenues, legal, governance and risk management. Prior to that, Simon was a Special Counsel in the Major Projects and Construction Group at Clayton Utz.

Simon holds degrees in Commerce (Finance) and Laws from UNSW and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

During Joanne’s tenure as CEO, she has overseen the company double in size and diversify to include the 4AI Systems companies into the group.   Joanne aims to see 4Tel become a household name with a reputation for being a great place to work and delivering interesting innovations to transport operators across the world.  Joanne brings expertise in corporate communications, international relations (specifically Asian relations) and marketing from her previous government, entertainment and technology positions.  She holds a Bachelor of Communications, is a company director and is undertaking her MBA in her spare time.

Justin is a clean tech advocate, business leader and CEO of 3ME Technology. After taking the reins in 2018, Justin has inspired the transformation of the rapidly growing team at 3ME Technology from a boutique systems integrator into a global-facing company delivering cutting-edge battery systems for a range of mobile platforms in off-highway applications, primarily mining and defence.

In a few short years, 3ME Technology has won a coveted Australian Financial Review (AFR) Most Innovative Company award and was the winner of the Charge On Innovation Challenge, a global competition focused on the decarbonisation of large mining fleets.

Originally attracted to 3ME Technology by the challenge and opportunity to make an impact in the energy revolution, Justin recognized the powerful benefits and strong business case of providing innovative, sustainable battery technology to tough industries.

Before 3ME Technology, Justin excelled in numerous operations and leadership positions within the Australian Defence Force, planning and leading teams and capabilities both domestically and abroad. A graduate of the Royal Military College (Duntroon), Justin’s leadership and technical foundations were developed as a Signals Officer (Communications Information Systems and Electronic Warfare) and later in Executive and Specialist roles focused on strategy, technology and operations. Justin also fulfils the role of Managing Director of the 3ME Technology board.

Arden Jarrett is the Business Development Officer at MGA Thermal, a Newcastle-based renewable energy company where she has worked since the company’s founding in 2019. She holds degrees in Commerce (Economics) and Business (Innovation & Entrepreneurship) from the University of Newcastle.

Arden is passionate about sustainability and inclusion. She has led the development of MGA Thermal’s Diversity and Inclusion Plan and established the company’s diversity committee which actively seeks to place the company as a leader in diversity in the tech sector. She is a board member for the Hunter Diversity and Inclusion Collective (HDIC) and recently founded Newcastle Women and Gender Diverse People in Tech.

Arden is also a founding member of the HDIC Neurodiversity Committee which aims to help educate and encourage conversations about neurodiversity in the workplace. In her spare time, Arden embraces the creativity her neurodiversity brings through endeavours such as painting, sewing, tapestry weaving and writing her murder mystery novel.

As Managing Partner at Black Nova Group and Black Nova Venture Capital, Matt oversees the qualification, proposal and selection of all startups entering the Black Nova portfolio, as well as ensuring our continued growth by leveraging his extensive network, experience and determination to make a positive impact through partnerships in the Australian and international startup ecosystem.

Matt was formerly the CEO & Co-Founder of Donesafe, a market leading global EHS SaaS startup with 1.5million+ paying users at exit. Matt took the business from launch in 2013 to exit with the acquisition by HSI in 2020.

He is Co-Founder and Advisor of Whispli, a Y-combinator alumni SaaS startup for safe and secure anonymous whistleblowing with clients including Westpac, Qantas, EY, Oxfam and Fairfax Media.

He is a Venture Partner at Antler and has mentored 100s of startups through the Founders Institute, BNG Nebula and Antler programs.

Over the past decade Matt has experienced every stage of the startup entrepreneur lifecycle from inception and launch, to funding and exit. Matt is on a mission to build greater technology literacy and drive change in the way in which Australia exports. Matt dreams of a day when tech export revenue exceeds that of minerals and also holds a passion for ensuring that minorities don’t get left behind through his investment in Goanna Solutions, an indigenous-owned technology company with a social mission of providing technical literacy to indigenous Australians and minorities.

David leads the Sustainable Wastewater team at Hunter Water where he and his team spend their time tackling complex issues like how to transform into a circular economy business, how to respond to the risks and opportunities presented by climate change, and how we work with others to improve the waterways of the region.

David has been working in the water industry for over 15 years in roles spanning strategic planning through to operations.

Dr Andrew Mears is an engineer and entrepreneur with more than 20 years of experience in renewable energy and innovation management, covering APAC, Africa and Australia.

He was a Chief Technical Advisor for Renewable Energy and Climate Change for the United Nations in Southern Africa and SE Asia, delivering more than 40 major assignments in 18 countries directly mobilising investment in excess of $200 million. Andrew is the founder and CEO of SwitchDin, an energy software company that bridges the gap between energy companies, equipment manufacturers and distributed energy asset owners to help create a cleaner, more distributed electricity system.

Simon Currie has over 30 years’ experience in the energy sector. He is the Co-founder and Chief Projects Officer of Energy Estate, a developer and accelerator of renewable energy, storage, and green hydrogen projects. Prior to founding Energy Estate, he was the global head of energy at the international law firm Norton Rose Fulbright based in London and Sydney.

Simon is recognised for his innovative and problem-solving approach. He is a passionate advocate of the need for improved systems thinking to achieve decarbonisation and net zero outcomes.

Product gun, founders’ go-to-guy. Wendell is a product-led-growth expert and multi-time start-up founder, armed with 20+ years of software engineering and product management experience. Whether you need to go deep in code, sound out an idea, get a reality check, or just talk through frustrations, Wendell’s unique thinking helps others to see the path forward. Formerly Atlassian, Broadsoft & Inference.

Adam Amos 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.

Born in Germany in 1941.

Migrated to Australia in 1954.

High school education at Liverpool High School for two years, and then Montero High School in Cooma, New South Wales for three years. We moved to Cooma early 1957. My father got a job on the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Joined BHP Steel Mount Kembla as a mechanical engineering trainee at the end of 1958 – my dream job at a time when it was very difficult for young people to get a job. Mechanical engineered diploma course, Wollongong Tech College.

After two years with the engineers, was transferred to operations, a blessing in disguise. As that opened up, many more opportunities. Progressed to Rolling Mill manager position by 1970 and transferred to Newcastle Steelworks 1981, family and all. After 10 years, managing number one and number two bar mills as well as some time in marketing was headhunted by Commsteel to manage their new rolling mill being installed.

After some serious disagreements with the CEO was sacked after 12 months and started up Mill Tech in February, 1992 – an engineering (or special) bar processor. The aim was to replace imported engineering bar, which was forever being delivered late. There were five other companies curing out one or more of the processes. Initially, the company was run by my wife and I, and all the processing was contract contracted out, i.e. Heat treatment bar, peeling, grinding and chrome plating. Over time we acquired the necessary processing equipment, and we were operating out of a BHP rented shed from which we were kicked out when the steelworks closed them down.

Commenced operations out our own premises at Tomago in August, 2001. Since then, have acquired world class continuous induction, heat treatment line, and continuous chrome plating lines, which run without people on night shift. Acquired the well-known Martin Bright steel operations from One Steel in

2008, doubling the size of Milltech and making the company a full integrated bar processor. We are the only surviving bar processor left in Australia, employing 800 plus people and producing 400 tons of the last financial year out of three sites, we sold 850 tons in the first year.

Our success is largely due to having the right equipment and of course, talented people, particularly my two stepsons who greatly assisted in making the company into what it is today. I developed a serious interest in reducing our energy consumption and became an environmentally more responsible. When Julia Gillard introduced a carbon tax in 2013/2014, the carbon tax killed off the only serious advantage we had against cheap Asian imports energy, and very quickly mobilized me into serious action.

Andrew is an experienced data engineer with a track record of developing innovative and novel tech solutions. He has been the architect of several spatial and temporal analysis systems, including the software that formed the foundation for local spatial analytics company Anditi.

Andrew was based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada from 2011 to 2016. During this time, he was engaged to build a bespoke data collection and storage system for the Intensive Care Unit at a large children’s hospital. This system has since been used to collect over 1.5 million patient-hours of high frequency physiological signals from over 8000 critically ill children. The collected data has subsequently been used for numerous research projects, and the research group in Toronto have been successful in raising funds through several successful grant applications.

The timeseries database technology Andrew developed is now being trialled at several other children’s hospitals in Canada, Israel, the USA, and more recently at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead in NSW. Andrew lives in Newcastle and is currently nearing completion of a PhD where his research focuses on modelling data flow through clinical systems.

Tim Eckersley leads NSW Health Pathology’s architecture, integration and digital portfolios. Over the past 20 years he has had the privilege of building high performing teams across mining and heavy industry, inspection and compliance, bulk logistics and now healthcare. Working closely with his teams and stakeholders, Tim has delivered sustainable innovations at scale.