ROBOT MAGIC
Professor Mary-Anne Williams, p.8
BIG DATA
Dr Ian Oppermann, p.10 Professor Carolyn McGregor AM, p.16
CONFERENCE LEGACIES Sydney, Australia
SELF-DECLARED CHANGE AGENT AND STRAIGHT TALKING SUPER-PROBLEM-SOLVER, PROFESSOR MARY O’KANE AC
IEEE Edition
Professor Farzad Safaei, p.14
Lyn Lewis-Smith Chief Executive Officer, Business Events Sydney
HELLO. The changes we’re seeing today in the world of science, technology and engineering are as important as they are wideranging, and as exciting as they are challenging. From the power and potential of quantum computing and big data, to medical advances that can genuinely transform people’s quality of life, the breakthroughs being made today are truly revolutionary. They are pushing the boundaries of what’s possible and changing our world in ways once unimaginable. At Business Events Sydney (BESydney) we are privileged to work with amazing Sydneysiders, and other superstars around the world, who are responsible for some of these breakthroughs. We meet a few of those people in this special IEEE edition of Sydney Shines, and hear about the fantastic work they are doing. They are innovators, pioneers and dreamers. They are also champions of Sydney and
New South Wales who play an invaluable role in helping our team bring high — profile international events – many sponsored by IEEE — to these shores. These events bring the brightest and the best to Sydney. They fuel innovation and new ideas, spark international collaborations and provide a vital catalyst for change within industry. In an age where technology can do more than ever to bring us together, we believe there is still no substitute for the power of congregation. I hope the stories on the following pages inspire you to bring your conference to Sydney, and write another chapter of innovation and discovery in your own story. Welcome to Sydney Shines.
@lynbesydney
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Self-declared change agent and straight talking ‘super-problem-solver’, Professor Mary O’Kane AC, is an unstoppable force in her service to science, engineering and policy development.
Emeritus Professor Mary O’Kane AC 4
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INSPIRING FUTURE LEADERS CHALLENGING CONVENTION SCIENCE AND MATHS ANYONE?
IT STARTS FROM THE GROUND UP, INSPIRING STUDENTS IN NSW SCHOOLS TO DISCOVER THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF SCIENCE AND MATHS
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mong the sun-drenched picnics, barbecues, concerts, and waterfront festivities that mark our national day, Australia Day is also the day we honour outstanding achievement and merit of the highestdegree in service to Australia or humanity at large. In 2016, New South Wales (NSW) Chief Scientist and Engineer, Professor Mary O’Kane AC was awarded the Companion of the Order of Australia in recognition of her contributions as one of Australia’s leading scientific experts and consultants. It is certainly an honour that is representative of her lifelong passion, and exceptional career. Professor O’Kane’s love of science and mathematics sprouted from the family dinner table while growing up in country Queensland. With her father a chemistry and maths teacher, and her mother an accountant, maths was often the accompaniment to the evening meal. “At dinner, we would sit around the table doing maths problems,” says Professor O’Kane. During her PhD studies in the 1970s, Professor O’Kane was a pioneer in automatic speech recognition. In the early 1980s she was responsible for the design and establishment of a spoken Australian English database to provide a basis for recognising certain classes of sounds as they occur in naturally spoken continuous speech. From 1996 to 2001, Professor O’Kane was Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Adelaide — the first female
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Vice-Chancellor in the University’s 125year history. She has also been the Chair of the Australian Centre for Renewable Energy from 2010 to 2012, and is a former Member of the Australian Research Council and the Co-operative Research Centres Committee. She has also previously been on the board of FH Faulding & Co Ltd and the board of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). Today Professor O’Kane is NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer, consulting widely with academia, industry and government to ensure scientific knowledge and research can be adapted and used to benefit NSW. She is also a company director and Executive Chairman of Mary O’Kane & Associates Pty Ltd, a Sydneybased consulting practice specialising in innovation and major policy reviews. “Some of the best things I have achieved have been in policy work,” says Professor O’Kane. She is Chair of the NSW Medical Devices Fund, Chair of the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies Board for the University of Tasmania, Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information Board, and Chair of the Cooperative Research Centre for Space Environment Management Board. From 2013 – 2014, at the request of former NSW premier Barry O’Farrell, Professor O’Kane conducted an independent review of Coal Seam Gas activities in NSW, and presented her final recommendations to the government in September 2014. Professor O’Kane is also Director of the Centre for Medicinal Cannabis Research and Innovation, an advisory role
Professor Mary O’Kane AC New South Wales (NSW) Chief Scientist and Engineer
established to advance the understanding of medicinal cannabis, as well as monitor NSW funded clinical trials, and educate the community and stakeholders in regulatory processes and support innovation. Professor O’Kane believes universities can be the super-problem-solvers to crack some of the hard problems and drive innovative contributions to society. Researchers have the core capabilities for problem-solving. By their very nature, researchers embrace debate and challenge ideas and in fact, thrive on solving big, complex issues. Likewise, industry and government can be “intelligent posers of problems and intelligent absorbers of the results,” says Professor O’Kane.
women in science and particularly in engineering, making sure they get to senior roles and increasing the numbers in the industry,” says Professor O’Kane.
It is on this premise that Professor O’Kane believes collaboration between university expertise, government, and industry is the critical way forward.
And it starts from the ground up, inspiring students in NSW schools to discover the wonderful world of science and maths.
“Universities, because of their research expertise, are good at posing and refining problems and working together with industry and government to ask and articulate what the issue is. And universities are great connectors with a strong international reach. Ask an academic to solve a hard problem and if they don’t know how, they know who will,” says Professor O’Kane.
“The vision I have is that every school child will love maths, and we will have lots more people go on to do science and engineering, so Australia will be an even better innovation player,” says Professor O’Kane. Professor O’Kane AC is a Business Events Sydney Board Member
Nurturing our next generation of superproblem-solvers is therefore just as critical. Professor O’Kane is without doubt a shining role model for young scientists and a strong advocate for women in science.
Universities, because of their research expertise, are good at posing and refining problems and working together with industry and government to ask and articulate what the issue is. And universities are great connectors with a strong international reach. Ask an academic to solve a hard problem and if they don’t know how, they know who will
okaneassociates.com.au
“We are working very hard to get more
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APPLE ATTRACTOR UNIVERSE CHANGER FRIEND TO ROBOTS
and her team of social robotics innovators. Their job is to give Chip social intelligence, so that (unlike what she calls “factory robots” that are used in mechanised production processes) Chip can interact with, and help, people be more productive.
Professor Mary-Anne Williams
“You watch a robot get beer from the fridge and it is simply following instructions. It has no representation of what a fridge is, what people are, what beer is for — just like a Coke dispensing machine works without knowing what Coke is.
Director of the Innovation and Enterprise Research Laboratory (The Magic Lab)
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ot long ago, Professor Mary-Anne Williams posted a photo on her Twitter account of a robot changing a baby’s nappy. There is another amusing video on YouTube, she says with a twinkle in her voice, of a robot fetching itself a cold beer from the fridge. How marvellous. They have a similar robot (a PR2 called GUTSY) — the only robot of its kind in Australia — in The Magic Lab which she founded at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) 15 years ago. If they wanted a robot to do the morning coffee run and be proactive enough to pick up a few of the staff’s favourite muffins as well, her team could certainly program it. Williams specialises in social robotics — the art of making a machine not just functionally intelligent, but emotionally and socially intelligent as well. Her Innovation and Enterprise Research Laboratory is so cutting edge, and so well regarded internationally, that Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and Peter Gardenfors — Sweden’s top cognitive scientist and a member of the Nobel Prize Committee for Economics — both visit Sydney to engage with her team. “We’re not looking to commercialise some little idea,” Williams — one of an incredibly small number of women working in robotics globally — says of what attracted such international names to her UTS lab. “We’re looking to put a dent in the Universe. We want to have a massive impact, so we’re only interested in fundamental research questions working to find insights that will enable us to pursue high-orbit innovation.”
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It must feel a long way from the rural lifestyle she grew up in, as the daughter of a third generation publican in the New South Wales (NSW) town of Glen Innes. Certainly, her parents likely never imagined where her early academic ambition would lead. “My great-grandfather owned and built 16 hotels across the country, the hotel I grew up in was built in 1906 and held for 100 years. I got into science at the University of Sydney but my parents wanted me to stay in the hotel business. My father insisted I work at the hotel and consider the life of a publican. An avid horse rider, she decided instead to join the NSW Mounted Police. Much to her surprise, and horror, women were not allowed to apply. “That was 1979, can you believe it? In my lifetime! But I discovered I could go to Canada and join the Mounties, so I was making all these plans until one of my cousins, who was training to be a priest, heard my father had put the kybosh on me going to university and convinced him to let me go to University of New England, as long as I came back to the hotel on Friday nights to work. “I learned to program in Chemistry while having to compute the location of electrons around a Hydrogen atom.” But Williams went on to do a PhD in Computer Science, worked for MLC computerising the way they manage superannuation funds, and became increasingly interested in artificial intelligence. “At the time people were thinking that chess was the benchmark artificial intelligence problem. Making a robot play chess was thought to be the pinnacle,” she says with a hint of irony. Talking to Williams, it soon becomes clear the pinnacle is far more breathtaking than that. In August this year, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Stockland Group announced they would begin exploring the disruptive potential of social robots. It’s a game-changer in Australia. ‘Chip’, as it is known, has been programmed by Williams
Transposing that to a home or office environment will not work, she says. They need to be able to interact, communicate, cooperate and collaborate. That is what makes Williams’ work so special. “Knowing what people know is critical to communication working in any social setting,” she says. “So if robots can have some model of what people know, and their intentions, then the robot will be a lot more enjoyable to work with. “From a research perspective it’s absolutely fascinating because we had to study people. People are proof of concept for artificial intelligence.” Modern day robotics, she says, is the future. “When we can build a capability in a robot, we have understood and mastered it.” Williams, who is also attached to the CODEX Centre at Stanford University in the United States doing work on the ethics and issues of privacy with robotics, says it’s good to have a healthy scepticism about the potential. “Robots collect a lot of data, so what if someone hacks your robot, can they download images of you? And if your robot is helping you in your home, should it turn away when you drop your towel to go in to the shower?” They are unanswered questions, but it shouldn’t stop people like Williams exploring the science behind giving robots common sense reasoning, as children learn it, or to predict how people behave using programmable algorithms. After all, wouldn’t it be nice if your robot knew that you needed a cold beer from the fridge even before you did? Professor Mary-Anne Williams is a Business Events Sydney Ambassador
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Data analyser, global entrepreneur and IEEE Fellow, Dr Ian Oppermann is on a mission to change the way government thinks.
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s New South Wales (NSW)’ first Chief Data Scientist and CEO of the Government’s Data Analytics Centre (DAC), Dr Ian Oppermann is a man on a mission.
He and his team are using data to help government agencies reimagine social and cultural problems, and look at the world in new ways. “We want to change how government thinks”, he explains. We meet over an early Friday breakfast at Bambini Trust on the edge of Sydney’s Hyde Park. It’s one of his favourite haunts, although he believes Sydneysiders are spoiled for choice when it comes to good places and good coffee. Dr Oppermann grew up in Sydney and it very much remains home, although his time working and studying in Europe has given him a very international outlook. “I’m a 6th generation Australian, but I also love the idea of being a global citizen.” Old problems, new perspectives The NSW Government was the first and, to date, still the only government in Australia to appoint a Chief Data Scientist. Created in 2015 by the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation, the role underlines the state’s commitment to being a world leader in the application of whole of government data analytics. The DAC itself is also unique in terms of its remit. “There are teams in the US, the UK and Canada doing similar things in terms of linking and visualising data to create insights”, says Dr Oppermann, “but we’re taking it a step further.” As well as showing what the data reveals, the team are using that data to benchmark, make predictions and create ‘what if?’ scenarios that can help improve decision-making. “Our primary goal is to bring new perspectives to what are known as ‘wicked challenges’”, explains Dr Oppermann. “These are subtle, complex challenges with people’s behaviour at the heart, and they range from domestic violence and childhood obesity, to optimisation of public services and transport.” A feature of ‘wicked challenges’ is that they have multiple, interconnected issues that span a number of agencies, even if ultimate responsibility sits with a single agency. So they require an integrated approach and response.
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Having started with 10 priority projects in 2015, the team now has 25 currently in play. Once they started getting results, and demonstrating the art of the possible, they had Ministers knocking on their door. These Ministers are now asking the team to help explore questions such as: ‘What are the drivers of contact with the juvenile justice system?’ and ‘How big a role does mental health play in domestic violence?’ The team at the DAC are providing new tools for analysing agencies’ existing data, and working with those agencies to identify what additional data would be useful to help shape a response or a new policy. Together they establish which questions they should ask of that data to better understand the problem and lead them to potential new solutions. Entrepreneurial spirit Dr Oppermann was approached to head up the DAC in 2015, when he was working for the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australia’s national science agency. As one of the organisation’s Entrepreneurs in Residence, he was responsible for bringing digital technologies to market through new ventures, external investment and partnerships. In between two spells at CSIRO, he was CEO at global data analytics company RoZetta Technology, and prior to that spent eight years in Finland working with Nokia and a self-funded wireless research centre (the CWC). All this after running his own telecoms consulting and software company for six years. Such a varied resume means he brings a unique perspective on the link between research and industry. “Australia has no shortage of good ideas or funding for research, but we’re not seeing that translate often enough into new commercial products and technologies that can move the needle for our economy.” Here he sees a potential opportunity for IEEE. A long-term member and Fellow of the Institute, he is a staunch advocate. “People expect to get value from the associations they belong to, and IEEE has always provided that. It has successfully adapted and continued to add value as many members have switched their area of focus and expertise from hardware to software and, subsequently, to data.” But now he sees a chance for IEEE to help forge closer ties between those who
study data and those who benefit from its application. “The beauty of data is that is can be used in so many different ways by different groups, and can be valuable to all of them. The creative industries use it. Marketers use it. Cinematographers use it. Those people would never see themselves as engineers or data scientists but they are heavily involved in using data and understand more of the terms that we as ‘experts’ use to talk about it.”
DATA AFICIONADO GLOBAL CITIZEN CONTEMPLATOR OF STARS Dr Ian Oppermann Chief Data Scientist, NSW Data Analytics Centre
“IEEE is doing some fantastic work in the area of big data, as part of its ‘Future Directions’ initiative. I think it now has a chance to look at how it can provide value to that broader group who use data, rather than just those with a specific qualification who understand the deeper fundamentals of that data.” Setting new standards Of course, a fundamental challenge for anyone working with data is how to protect that data. “Security and privacy are two things we have to get right”, Dr Oppermann says emphatically. “These are equally important but fundamentally different challenges. Security is about making sure the data can’t fall into the wrong hands. It underpins everything we do, and the DAC has no future without it. Privacy is a much more complex issue, and one that is the subject of much debate in the data world right now.”
to avoid getting to that cohort size of one, or detail how to manage the situation should it happen.
When combined, data sets can help uncover new insights, reveal connections and highlight cause and effect relationships. But this can also create difficulties when it comes to keeping that data anonymous. Out of a number of seemingly innocuous data sets, you can potentially create personal information.
Changes are happening so fast, he says, that legislation has not kept up with what is now technically possible. As the Institute is responsible for around one-third of the world’s standards, he believes it is ideally-placed to create new trust and privacy-preserving frameworks that allow data scientists and analysts to manage the information created from the vast number of data sets they can source.
Nowhere is this issue more prevalent than the Internet of Things (IOT), which is ultimately about connecting everything through data. This creates both incredible opportunities, but also a new set of challenges that those working with data have never faced before.
The power of congregation
The fundamental question is whether data analysts will ever be able to guarantee that combining a series of data sets won’t leave them with a cohort size of one, and so reveal personal information. “Personally, I’m not sure we will”, says Dr Oppermann.
As if the day job wasn’t big enough, Dr Oppermann has also spent the past 12 months as honorary chair of the organising committee for the 2017 IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference, which took place in Sydney in early June. “It was a great four days, and very rewarding to see everything come together”.
What he does believe can — and must — be done is to create a series of frameworks
A long-time advocate and regular attendee of conferences, he doesn’t subscribe to
the view that they no longer have a place in today’s digital world — where virtual meetings and collaboration online are so prominent. “There is just no substitute for bringing people together. What people sometimes forget is that a lot of the value of conferences comes from what happens outside the formal sessions. The networking; the conversations over dinner. That’s something that can’t be replicated in a digital format, however sophisticated. After all, it’s no fun having a beer with someone in the same chat room or at the other end of a conference call!” Given his recent experience, we asked what he believes makes a successful conference. “Plan early and never take your eyes off the ball. The best conferences focus on the detail, as much as the high-level theme, ideas and approach.” With those final words of wisdom, he drains the last of his coffee and bids us goodbye. Moments later he is on his way to his next
appointment. It will be another day full of meetings for a man much in demand. He has, however, managed to carve out time over the weekend to indulge two of his other passions — camping and stargazing. He assures us that once the stars come out, he goes off the grid and swaps contemplating the secrets in the data with contemplating the ‘deeper secrets of the universe.’ If enough data becomes available, you wouldn’t bet against him unlocking them! Dr Ian Oppermann is a Business Events Sydney Ambassador
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with Professor Farzad Safaei
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arzad Safaei is Professor of Telecommunications Engineering at the University of Wollongong and an Ambassador for Business Events Sydney. He also chaired the organising committee for one of the most successful conferences held in Sydney in recent years: the IEEE International Conference on Communications (ICC), in June 2014. The ICC is one of the two flagship conferences run by IEEE’s Communications Society, and represents one of the largest gatherings of researchers and industry professionals within the field of ICT anywhere in the world. The 2014 conference had a great attendance, with over 1,500 delegates making the trip to the harbour city. Three years after the event, we talked to Professor Safaei about the conference’s legacy, what he personally gained from the experience, and why he believes Sydney is such a compelling destination for business events. How do you think hosting the conference has benefited the ICT community in Sydney, and Australia more widely?
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Professor Farzad Safaei
Without a doubt, it has raised our profile with the international research community and helped to generate connections that will lead to important collaborations. We have a very active and productive research community in Sydney, and Australia as a whole, and we saw good participation from them at the conference. We also had exhibition spaces where Australian companies showcased their wares to the rest of the world. This created greater awareness of the important, ground-breaking work being done by researchers and businesses here in Australia. The conference also helped attendees identify where the opportunities for international collaboration exist. We had over 2,600 technical papers submitted from 72 countries, with approximately onethird presented at the event. This gave delegates fantastic exposure to the latest and most important research happening right now — and how it might enhance the value of their own work. Have you seen significant progress since 2014 in any areas presented and discussed at the event?
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The best example is 5G, which is an area that has gained real momentum in recent years. We had keynotes and dedicated sessions on this area in 2014, specifically on millimetre wave technology, and these have been a real stepping-stone in terms of moving the conversation on and generating further collaboration in this vital area. The next generation of wireless technology has been on the radar for some time, but we now see the potential of 5G technology appearing in some form as early as 2020. ICC and other IEEE conferences play an essential part in the preliminary stages of research that need to happen before a new type of technology can be commercialised. This phase cannot happen in isolation, and conferences provide a vital opportunity for collaboration. So conferences definitely still have a place in today’s digitally-connected world? I don’t think we should ever look at it as one or other. It’s not a competition. Experience shows that introducing new channels increases co-operation and collaboration. So the physical and the digital should work together to create maximum value for delegates. For example, a collaboration started at a physical event can then be continued and built upon using digital channels. That, in turn, can generate ideas and challenges to be further explored the next time those collaborators meet up in person. We can also use the digital space to help delegates prepare for conferences that they would otherwise be coming to cold. That will help the attendees get more out of the conference and generate more informed dialogue and debate about the key topics. And why is Sydney such a great place to bring people together? Sydney ticks so many boxes, and I know it was a real attraction for our delegates in 2014. It is one of the prime pieces of real estate in the world. Not only does it have a wealth of instantly-recognisable landmarks, but it also has some of the most beautiful natural settings in the world. Speaking from experience, it enhances the overall conference experience so much if you have a location that you want to explore before and after the conference
itself. And I think it actually helps you get more out of the content itself, as you come to sessions refreshed and inspired by what you’ve seen in between them. Sydney is also a hub of innovation with world-class facilities. It provides a really vibrant environment for the best in their field to come together and share groundbreaking ideas and research. What did you gain from your experience chairing the organising committee for ICC? Personally, I found being on the organising committee extremely rewarding. These conferences rely on volunteers to get involved, outside of their day jobs, and take on different aspects of the planning and organisation. So it was very gratifying to see everyone coming together and playing an active role in making the conference such a success. I also increased my own network and made many new connections as part of the process. And I realised I could be quite persuasive when I really put my mind to it! Finally, what value have you seen from working with Business Events Sydney (BESydney), both to secure ICC 2014 and subsequently as an Ambassador? BESydney provided us with essential support for ICC that was critical to Sydney securing the conference and its successful delivery. They brought expertise, knowledge and contacts that complemented what the committee brought to the process, and it made for the perfect partnership. More broadly, being a BESydney Ambassador gives me a chance to play a role in securing other events for Sydney and New South Wales and to continue building on Sydney’s reputation as a conference destination of choice. Professor Farzad Safaei is a Business Events Sydney Ambassador
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ach year around 15 million babies are born prematurely, and over one million of these lose their fight for life*. Now there’s a real prospect of reducing that number, thanks to the research of Australian innovator and computer scientist, Professor Carolyn McGregor AM. As Canada Research Chair in Health Informatics at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT), Professor McGregor is at the forefront of today’s neonatal research. But that’s just one area benefitting from her gift for uncovering critical patterns in unfathomable amounts of data. She is also working with the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems, the Canadian Space Agency and NASA to monitor the health of astronauts and cosmonauts on the space program to Mars — as well as helping police and front line response teams take control of their mental health. Growing up in Sydney in the 1970s and 80s, Professor McGregor had a love of maths and logic puzzles from early childhood. “Maths is just something I really enjoyed. I could read a scenario, see just what kind of a maths puzzle it was and then solve the puzzle,” she says. By 1987, she was enrolling in computer science at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). One of only a few female students enrolled in computer science that year. “As the first one in my family to go to university, that felt pretty trailblazing at the time,” she says. At the point of joining UTS, Professor McGregor was taking part in a cadetship program with St George Bank, developing information systems to analyse customer behaviour. This was at a time when businesses were only beginning to
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understand the commercial value of customer data. “I was helping the bank to better understand people’s savings and spending behaviour, by analysing patterns in the data,” she explains. While completing her PhD in 1999, Professor McGregor was approached by Dr Mark Tracy, a neonatologist keen to discover how to use data from bedside monitors for better healthcare. “It was much more complex data than what I had worked with before”, she explains, “but ultimately it was still trying to identify patterns in people.”
Artemis analyses over 1,200 points of data per second, per patient — generating critical insights into patient care.
In the same year, Professor McGregor suffered her own tragedy — her first child was born prematurely with a rare chromosomal disorder and passed away. Her loss, she says, serves as a constant reminder as to how real the problem is. By 2005, Professor McGregor had established the health informatics research program at the University of Western Sydney, and built the precursor of her health analytics platform, Artemis. Named after the Greek goddess of childbearing, Artemis enables real-time analysis of multiple data streams.
PUZZLE SOLVER LIFE SAVER PROTECTOR OF ASTRONAUTS Professor Carolyn McGregor AM Canada Research Chair, Health Informatics, University of Ontario Institute of Technology; Chair of IEEE Life Sciences Technical Committee
Because a newborn’s life can change in a single heartbeat, the key was to develop a tool to continuously monitor every breath and every heartbeat in real-time.
really interesting from a psychological perspective as well as a health point of view,” says Professor McGregor. Psychology and mental health are also the focus of her team’s latest project, Athena, which has been designed to help police and SWAT teams combat depression and PostTraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). It does this by monitoring and regulating emotive triggers to events in training environments.
In 2007, Professor McGregor took up her appointment at UOIT. It was here, through a multi-million dollar strategic partnership with IBM, where she created — and has since enhanced — the Artemis platform. Now cloud-based, it analyses over 1,200 points of data per second, per patient — generating critical insights into patient care and offering accessibility to hospitals in rural and remote regions.
“If we can look at a structured approach to training that can help them build resilience we believe we have the potential to prevent the onset of PTSD, she says.”
A chance encounter in 2010 then uncovered an opportunity to use the technology in a new and unexpected way. While at an innovation conference, she met former astronaut Dave Williams, now president and CEO of Southlake Regional Health Centre, Toronto. Williams was speaking about the need for real-time monitoring environments on earth and in space. “We need to talk,” she told him.
In 2015, Professor McGregor was recognised with the Advance Global Australian Award for Technology Innovation, which reconnected her with UTS almost 30 years after she started her studies. She is now collaborating with the university to help build its excellence in data analytics. This reunion is important to her, she says, because it’s giving her a chance to give something back. “My primary focus is to improve healthcare in Australia and Canada. I always hoped that what I started in Australia and took to Canada, I could bring back.”
Their collaboration introduced Professor McGregor to the Canadian Space Agency, NASA and scientists working on the Russian Space Program at the Russian Institute for Biomedical Problems. Artemis is now being used in the planning for the 2030 mission to Mars. The technology is monitoring astronauts’ body reactions while they are in simulated isolation chambers, and providing data to help develop counter measures to conditions such as bone density loss and fluctuations in body fluid.
“Maybe because I’m a woman, a mother, someone who has lost a child, whatever it is, that’s me. I have to make sure that what I do benefits the countries who have helped me to do what I’ve done.” Professor Carolyn McGregor AM is a Business Events Sydney Ambassador
“We’re working in partnership with Russia, and NASA and Japan are now involved because they believe it will be a multi-cultural team going to Mars. When you consider the scenario of a multicultural team on a 500-day mission, it’s
@CP_McGregor *Source: http://www.lilaussieprems.com.au/survival-rate-for-premature-babies/
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POWER OF PARTNERSHIP In partnership with IEEE members here in Australia we’ve secured 13 events for Sydney in just five years. That experience of hosting successful events in this sector, combined with our flourishing STEM industry and strong government support, makes Sydney the perfect location to host your next conference.
2017 • IEEE Panel of Conference Organizers POCO • IEEE Vehicular Technology Conference • IEEE Sections Congress • IEEE International Symposium on Technology and Society
2016 • IEEE International Conference on Power System Technology • IEEE International Conference on Smart Grid Communications
• IEEE Multi-Conference on Systems and Control
An independent not-for-profit company, we are funded through a partnership between the NSW Government and the private sector, including more than 200 leading hotels, venues, attractions, event suppliers and conference organisers. We have over 40 years’ experience working with leaders across the public and private sectors to secure events that bring the world’s best and brightest to the state to work, play and connect. Our team’s core focus and expertise is within sectors that the NSW Government have highlighted as a key priority. The STEM sector is one of those priority sectors, so we are ideally-placed to help IEEE members bring their events to Australia’s business and innovation capital.
We will explore your ambition for the event, what legacy you want it to leave, and how that legacy supports your association’s longer-term vision. Then we’ll connect you to key stakeholders across government, industry, nonprofit and academia to help make sure that your bid has the support it needs at all levels — and that the event offers delegates the best possible experience. With our professional and personalised service, your association will also benefit from unbiased expert advice, contacts and time-saving assistance. And you won’t pay a cent because our services are completely free of charge.
Contact Virginia Loyola on +61 2 9332 5227 or vloyola@besydney.com.au to find out more about how we can help you bring your next international event to Sydney.
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2015 • IEEE International Conference on Power Electronics and Drive Systems
The Business Events Sydney (BESydney) team are experts in competitively bidding for and securing international business events for Sydney and New South Wales (NSW).
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2014 • IEEE International Symposium on a World of Wireless, Mobile and Multimedia Networks • IEEE International Conference on Communications
2013 • IEEE TENCON • IEEE/ASME International Conference on Advanced Intelligent Mechatronics • IEEE International Conference on Computer Vision
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“When I look at my engagement with other cities, they’re looking to win my business for a specific event – it’s more tactical. Sydney is strategic, trying to think more long term. We can start building communities so that each time we rotate a conference here that community gets a little bigger and a little more engaged. You can really have an exciting event here.”
STRATEGIST Mary Ward-Callan CAE Managing Director, IEEE Technical Activities Building relationships today to cultivate tomorrow’s global community
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Sydney is the ideal place to connect, collaborate, innovate and create lasting outcomes from your event.