Ms Christine Tursky Gordon, Chair

Co-founder, SouthTech Systems

Masters of Marketing, Melbourne Business School, the University of Melbourne
Bachelor of Engineering (Hons), The University of Melbourne
Bachelor of Arts, The University of Melbourne

Christine has a range of corporate and entrepreneurial engineering experience with over a decade at Hewlett Packard / Agilent and subsequently as co-founder and co-owner of SouthTech Systems, a specialised Defence Engineering company. She has been involved with the Melbourne School of Engineering on a pro bono basis during her entire career.

Professor Hugh S. Bradlow

Chief Technology Officer, Telstra

PhD (Nuclear Physics), University of Oxford
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering, University of Cape Town
Fellow, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering

Hugh is Chief Technology Officer for Telstra and is responsible for investigating the future technologies that will impact Telstra’s business.

Prior to joining Telstra in September 1995, Hugh was Professor of Computer Engineering at the University of Wollongong in Australia and Professor of Electrical Engineering (Digital Systems) at the University of Cape Town.

Hugh is also an Emeritus Professor of the University of Wollongong, a Professorial Fellow of the University of Melbourne, and a recipient of a Centenary Medal from the Commonwealth of Australia. He was elected as the joint 2009 Australian Telecommunications Ambassador of the Year. He was listed in the 2010 Global Telecom Business Power 100 rankings (at number 32) and was named by Smart Company as one of the 12 most influential people in Australian ICT.

Mr Wayne Fitzsimmons

Partner, Mooroolbark Group

Management Development Program, Harvard Business School, 1982
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Communications), University of Queensland, 1964
Fellow, Engineers Australia

Wayne is an experienced executive who has worked extensively in the USA, UK as well as in his home country Australia. He has been Group Managing Director and Board Member at Datacraft Ltd, VP International for Banyan Systems, and VP International for Data General. In these latter two organisations, he was involved with the pioneering stages of electronic messaging and directory systems. In 1997 he founded OpenDirectory, an X500 software product start-up out of Melbourne, and successfully built an international customer base that allowed him to exit in 1998 to a large US multinational software vendor. Wayne was one of the founders in the late 1970s of the Australian Information Industry Association (AIIA) — formerly called the Australian Computer Equipment Suppliers Association (ACESA). He is now Chairman of the Pearcey Foundation, an organisation that promotes Australia’s local ICT capability through recognition of individuals in that industry. Currently, Wayne is a partner in the Mooroolbark Group, a small investment company based in Melbourne, with offices in Sydney and Washington, DC.

He and his three partners provide a broad range of professional advice to high technology ICT and Biotech companies in the area of management, business planning and legal services. Currently the Mooroolbark Group has some $A20+ Million under management. He is also a non-executive director for several small companies in Australia including QSR International Pty Ltd, Cohda Wireless Pty Ltd, Haliplex Pty Ltd, SpaceTime Research Pty Ltd, Inlink Tecnologies Pty Ltd, and nga.net Pty Ltd.

Mr Rod Laird

Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical), the University of Melbourne, 1977
Master of Engineering Science (Biomedical), University of Melbourne, 1979

Rod is a business architect with a career combining management consulting and technology. Rod’s initial career developed from his work in the first encoder for the Australian cochlear implant, from where he moved on to guide research and then direct Australia’s largest biomedical engineering organisation based at the RNS Hospital in Sydney. Rod then “jumped ship” to the corporate world, learning the rigours of management consulting with McKinsey & Company. His particular focus was on building his and McKinsey’s ability to assist clients in leveraging technology to create business value.

Rod worked in a wide range of leading technology businesses in Australia and Germany. His time as a partner highlighted the particular need to align strategy, organisation and technology architectures to have any chance of achieving great business outcomes. Rod subsequently worked with Accenture, pursuing this theme in building Accenture’s ability to deliver value to its clients from their very expensive technology investments. Rod established the largest joint venture service of that time in the southern hemisphere, and continued to strategically guide some of Australia’s leading technology innovators. Rod currently works with CEOs in technology, services and not-for-profit sectors to reshape their businesses to deliver outcomes that match

Mr Robert Slaviero

Managing Director, Analog Devices Australia Pty Ltd

Master of Business in Information Technology, Swinburne University
Post Graduate Diploma in Intellectual Property Law, Monash University
Post Graduate Diploma in Management Systems, Swinburne University
Post Graduate Diploma in Digital Computer Engineering, RMIT University
Bachelor of Engineering (Electronics), RMIT University
Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management (AIM)
Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Member of the International Neural Networks Society (INNS)
Member of the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers of Australia (APESMA)
Member of the Licensing Executives Society of Australia and New Zealand (LESANZ)
Member of the Australian & New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science (ANZAAS)

Robert Slaviero is the Managing Director of Analog Devices Australia Pty Ltd, which specialises in the development of embedded Digital Signal Processing (DSP) software. Robert has over 25 years of experience in the design and management of electronics, communications, computer and software projects.He has academic qualifications in engineering, business and law.

Robert has worked on the development of numerous commercial products, including telecommunications and multimedia products, data communications test equipment, modems, multiplexers, medical, security and avionics equipment. Previous positions include General Manager, Engineering R&D Manager, Software/Hardware R&D Engineer and Senior Design Engineer. Robert is a Committee Member of the Victorian Division of ANZAAS. He is also the Chapter Chair of the Victorian IEEE Signal Processing Society (02–11), past Chair of the IEEE Victorian Section (99–01) and previously served as Vice-Chair (96–98) and Secretary (95–98).

Robert has been on the organising committee and technical review committee of various local and international conferences. He also serves on a number of academic, government and industry advisory boards and committees. Robert recently received a Special Recognition Award from the Pearcey Foundation for “making a difference in the development of the Australian Information and Communications Technology industry”.

Mr Stuart Wilson

Chief Technology Officer, Endace

Stuart joined Endace Technology in December 2005 as Vice President Engineering before taking up the role as Chief Technology Officer in 2007. As CTO, Stuart is responsible for defining Endace’s strategic technology plan. Stuart has more than 20 years’ experience in a variety of senior engineering roles. Immediately prior to joining Endace, Stuart worked at Philips Radio Systems in the UK, as well as spending time at Hewlett Packard, and Agilent Technologies. During his career Stuart has helped to bring many successful products to market, including high speed systolic arrays for space based image processing, custom ASICs, and market leading SONET and PDH test equipment. In his role as CTO he spends much of his time with customers in overseas markets.

Mr Bill Wood

Founder, Daintree Networks

Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Communications), RMIT University
Advanced Management Program, Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania

Bill is the founder of Daintree Networks, and was CEO from 2003 until 2009. He has many years of international senior-level financial, marketing and technical experience in the data and telecommunications industries. Prior to founding Daintree, Bill was Vice President and General Manager of Agilent Technologies’ Communications Test Equipment Business Unit, and concurrent with this, Managing Director of Agilent Technologies Australia. Prior to that, he was with Hewlett-Packard Company and served in many roles including Vice President and General Manager of the Advanced Networks Division.