Advances in Autonomous Technology

Sue is the CEO of Queensland AI Hub following her role as Research Director for Cyber-Physical Systems at CSIRO’s Data61. She is responsible for bringing the Grace Hopper Celebration to Australia and led the development of Australia’s first Robotics roadmap, outlining how robotics and automation will impact on every sector of the Australian economy.  Sue was formerly the Chief Operating Officer for the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision and has an MBA from The University of Queensland Business School and a PhD in Earth Science from ANU. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, chairs the Boards of Robotics Australia Group and the Australia AI Collective and is an Adjunct Professor at QUT.

Ross McAree is the Head of the School of Mechanical and Mining Engineering and Professor of Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Queensland. He leads a research group that works in the area of field robotics focussing mining equipment autonomy. Over the past 20 years this team has partnered with mining companies and equipment manufactures to automate a range of mining equipment including excavators, trucks, and bulldozers as well as progress frameworks for fleet interaction.  Ross obtained his PhD from the University of Melbourne and prior to joining UQ was an lecturer at Oxford University. He has published widely on the topic of mining automation and is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

John’s career spans 35 years with 20+ years at senior Managing Director levels in international Minerals and Mining roles; living and working across a wide range of countries and cultures. A Chemical Engineer, he served as President of the International Professional Body, the Institution of Chemical Engineers. During his career he has demonstrated the ability to successfully bridge the gap between the identification and the delivery of sustainable business value in-line with social requirements and norms. As Rio Tinto MD/Head of Innovation he led the Innovation effort which delivered industrial implementation of significant innovative change. This included the successful, industrial-scale implementation of industry first Autonomous Haulage, Blast Hole Drilling Systems, Remote Support and Analytics plus a range of contemporary, digitally enabled, technologies.  He has much experience in dealing with Political, Commercial and other Representative bodies across a wide of countries and cultures. John is a passionate advocate for safety and pursuit of the principles of Sustainable Development. He is a Fellow of ATSE and remains very active across a range of pro-bono activities.