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PRESENTS | Industry networking
Presents industry networking
SPACE AS A NATIONAL MISSION: INDUSTRY COLLABORATION AND CURRENT Launch Capabilities in Australia
- Technology Safeguards Agreement
- AUKUS
- UK Space Bridge
- QUAD
- Thursday 4 July
- 5:30pm-8:30pm
Griffith University South Bank Campus – Queensland College of Art
QCA Lecture Theatre and Gallery Building, Gallery Foyer (S05_2.04 & 2.03)
In Collaboration with
KEYNOTE
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF SPACE
Ben Sorensen
ELO2 Consortium Director - EPE Oceania
INSIGHT SESSIONS
Craig James
Principal Research Engineer | Integrated Mining team | CSIRO Sustainable Mining Technology Program
David Matrai
Committee Chair - Indo-Pacific Space and Earth Conference | Joint Managing Director | Australia in Space
PANEL SESSION
NATIONAL CAPABILITIES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOVEREIGN LAUNCH
Dr Joni Sytsma
Chief Technology Officer – iLAuNCH Trailblazer
AARON CUNNINGHAM
Founder, Sonic Sky | Co-Founder Western Australia Spaceport
Peter Williams
General Manager of Sales – Southern Launch
Andrew Uscinski
CEO / Co-founder - Valiant Space
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
UNDERSTANDING THE IMPORTANCE OF SPACE
Ben Sorensen
ELO2 Consortium Director - EPE Oceania
Ben Sorensen joined EPE in August 2022 and brings over 26 years of commercial experience to EPE. Ben leads EPE Innovation and is focused on delivering game-changing capabilities and competitive advantage for Australia.
Ben has led commercial R&D activities for CSIRO’s Data61, with responsibility for enterprise, defence and national security collaborations. He has worked extensively with defence research and development, including with the ADF, DSTG, DARPA, US Army and defence and aerospace Primes to develop and commercialise capabilities in robotics, autonomous systems, cyber security, data, AI and analytics. Most recently Ben was an executive and board director of the $100 million Cyber Security Cooperative Research Centre.Â
Earlier, Ben established and operated the Queensland Innovation Hub with PwC and the Queensland Government, and taught corporate venturing and disruptive innovation leadership at the QUT Graduate School of Business. He has been a member of public company executive teams (ASX:AAC, ASX:GOW), and has consulted to investment funds and investee companies. Ben has established and run intellectual property and manufacturing businesses, raised capital, and has been commercial manager for a global technology business.
Outside of EPE, Ben advises boards, invests in impact-focused technology start-ups, and has been a judge for innovation for the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Business Awards since 2015.
Ben is an author and a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. Â
INSIGHT SESSIONS
New manufacturing capabilities available and plans for using a new mobile mission operations centre for NATIONAL outreach and engagement
Craig James
Principal Research Engineer | Integrated Mining team | CSIRO Sustainable Mining Technology Program
Craig is a Principal Research Engineer in the Integrated Mining team for the CSIRO Sustainable Mining Technology Program and has been involved in software/electronics research and development for the last 30 years in the resources and computer games industry. Â
For over a third of that time he has been working with the CSIRO where he has focused on remote operations, human-machine interfaces, and eXtended Reality (XR).  Craig is currently part of CSIRO’s Space Future Science Platform investigating In-Situ Resource Utilisation technologies to support humanity’s return to the Moon and on to Mars, with primary interests in ultra-remote operations, lunar analogue testing facilities, status and operations-oriented digital twins, and next-gen user interfaces utilising XR.
EVENT BRIEFING: 2ND INDO-PACIFIC SPACE AND EARTH CONFERENCE & JOINT EXHIBITION WITH 30TH ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL SPACE AGENCY FORUM
David Matrai
Committee Chair - Indo-Pacific Space and Earth Conference | Joint Managing Director | Australia in Space
The countdown is on for the 2nd Indo-Pacific Space and Earth Conference and three day Exhibition; set to capitalise on its impressive, inaugural exploration of cross-sector space and earth technologies and their far-reaching impact on everyday life.
Supported by the Government of Western Australia, the full day conference and three day exhibition is scheduled for Tuesday 26-28 November at the Crown, Perth and is an officially approved side event to the 30th Asia Pacific Regional Space Agency Forum, promising to capture how ground-breaking space technology meets limitless trade opportunities, commercialisation prospects, networking and collaboration.  Â
Over eighty national and international speakers, from twelve countries, will come together, with expertise across space, mining, energy, government, agriculture, robotics, cybersecurity government and AI.
PANEL SESSION
NATIONAL CAPABILITIES & OPPORTUNITIES FOR SOVEREIGN LAUNCH
Peter Williams
General Manager of Sales – Southern Launch
Peter has over 30 years’ experience in the space and satellite industry. As General Manager of Sales at Southern Launch, Peter works closely with launch vehicle providers and space return customers to manage all aspects of their space mission.
Prior to joining Southern Launch Peter was an experienced and successful satellite executive and has developed an exceptional understanding of the satellite and space sectors. Peter has developed deep and strong business relationships, understanding both the commercial and technical drivers of customer’s requirements.
In a previous life, Peter was Chief Engineer of a short-wave radio station in the Seychelles.
Dr Joni Sytsma
Chief Technology Officer – iLAuNCH Trailblazer
Dr Joni Sytsma is an aerospace engineer hailing from the USA who, as a recent citizen of Australia, is committed to building innovative technologies within our country. Dr Sytsma has over 16 years’ experience in the research, development and commercialisation of extremely complex aerospace systems where combined interactions of hardware, software and physics are the defining value-add.
As the Chief Technology Officer (iLAuNCH), Dr Sytsma leads the program’s research portfolio in space, satellites, rockets, hypersonics and advanced manufacturing and materials. Joni was most recently Chief Technology Officer at Department 13 in the counter unmanned aerial systems field. Joni began her career with a decade of developing cutting edge aerospace systems at the United States Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL). In her time at AFRL, Dr Sytsma led research and development teams to design and optimise aerospace technologies and develop academic concepts into fully tested systems.
Dr Sytsma moved to Australia to join the Hypersonic International Flight Research Experiment (HIFiRE) program with Defence Science and Technology (DST) group. She then joined Gilmour Space Technologies as Head of GNC to work on software stack development, performance simulations and design optimisations.
AARON CUNNINGHAM
Founder - Sonic Sky | Co-Founder - Western Australia Spaceport
Aaron is a mechanical engineer with over two decades of experience in project delivery. He graduated from The University of Queensland (UQ) with a mechanical and aerospace degree in 1999. He founded Sonic Sky, a low-cost rocket engine company, in 2018, and later joined WA Spaceport as co-founder. He is currently midway through a PhD in magnetohydrodynamic aerobraking and attitude control of hypersonic vehicles at UQ, which is leading cutting edge research that could solve one of space’s stubborn remaining problems – surviving re-entry with re-usable heat shields. Aaron has intricate knowledge of the inner workings of scram jets, hypersonic shock tunnels and, of course, rocket engines and all things launch. Â
Andrew Uscinski
CEO / Co-founder | Valiant Space
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