INNOVATION PROGRAM

Mr Tony Quick was the independent non-executive Chair of Quickstep Holdings Ltd from 2013 to 2020, the Director of the Enterprise Connect Defence Industry Innovation Centre 2009 to 2011, Director and General Manager of GKN Aerospace Engineering Services from 2001 to 2009.

He has actively led advocacy efforts to advance policy and regulatory settings for the emerging aviation sector, and currently serves as a member of the CASA Aviation Safety Advisory Panel and General Aviation Advisory Network. Prior to joining Boeing, Reece was a leading researcher in the area of safety and certification of autonomous systems and remains an Adjunct Associate Professor at RMIT University.

Andrew transitioned into SME advisory services funded by the Department of Defence through the Defence Industry Innovation Centre (DIIC), which later grew to be part of the Centre for Defence Industry Capability (CDIC), which Andrew ran.

Andrew has been a mentor on the Defence Industry Study Course and through all parts of his career has proudly found opportunities to guide hundreds of SMEs from a great idea to successfully delivering Defence capability and business outcomes.

She spent five (5) years as a post-doctoral scientist at the prestigious Copenhagen Muscle Research Centre, Denmark. For 13 years she worked as a Senior Defence Scientist in the Health and Human Performance and Biological Sciences groups at the Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG). She has held the position of Associate Director of the Defence Science Institute, where she helped to facilitate research and development in the defence and national security sector.

She has been the Associate Dean of Allied Health, School of Health and Biomedical Sciences, RMIT, where she led four health disciplines in both teaching and research. She is also the Director and Founder of AIR4, which aims to change the paradigm of STEM education in Australia by encouraging students to study Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) throughout their education to increase the talent pipeline for STEM industries. Currently she is the Head of Critical Technologies at the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade) where she enables Australian businesses to trade internationally while supporting important investment into Australia. In her spare time, she is a mother to five beautiful children.

She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, Chair of the Australian National Nanofabrication Facility Victoria Node and Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication, Chair of the Research Advisory Committee for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Green Electrochemical Transformation of CO2, former Chair of the ATSE Victorian Division, and Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

She is a former Director of AeHRC, NCEDA, VCSCM, and MSA. She is on the advisory boards of the AUSMURI Centre for Additive Manufacturing, the US DOE Energy Frontier Research Center for Materials for Water and Energy Systems, the MacDiarmid Institute, the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute (IPRI University of Wollongong), and the Centre for Transformative Innovation at Swinburne. She is a former member of advisory boards for The Australian Synchrotron (former Chair of the Science Advisory Board), Swinburne Industry Research Board, Monash University Faculty of Engineering, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN University of Queensland), the Institute for Frontier Materials (Deakin University), the School of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering (ITEE University of Queensland), and Journal of Polymer Science: Polymer Physics (editorial board).

Dr. Hill’s research is in materials and process engineering and, more specifically, in transport of atoms, ions and small molecules in condensed matter. Dr Hill was awarded a Bachelor of Engineering and a Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, USA.

In 1985, after 22 years in the RAN, Paul joined General Electric (USA) as the Australian Manager of Business Development, based in Canberra. In 1990, he was assigned to Singapore as the ASEAN countries Regional Director for Business Development. In 1994, Paul was promoted to regional President and remained in this position until 1998. During his time in Singapore, Paul established a new Joint Venture business (RLM) based in Melbourne.

In 1998 Paul moved back to Australia as Chief Executive Officer of the company, employing over 900 staff in four locations in Australia. In May 2003, Paul located to Canberra as Managing Director and CEO of the newly restructured business, Lockheed Martin Australia. From 2007 to 2011, Paul was the Chairman of the Australian Industry Group’s Defence Industry Executive.

Paul retired in July 2011 and has, since then, held a number of Board positions including the Kokoda Foundation, Air Force Board, the South Australian Govt Defence Advisory Board and Chairman of the Rail Manufacturing CRC. Paul is currently a Board member of AMDA Foundation and is an independent adviser to MINDI for innovation programs submitted through Defence’s Innovation hub.

He was awarded an MBE in 1980 in recognition of his contribution to the advancement of Naval Aircraft Engineering and is a Member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

He also led the engagement of DSTO with its Defence Department clients, and managed the development of the organisation’s strategic plan and its annually-developed program of science and technology. Prior to joining DSTO he was Chief of Division, CSIRO Manufacturing Science and Technology.

His Ph.D from the University of Adelaide was on Defence Industry Innovation and he has an Honours degree in Industrial Design (Transportation) from Coventry University in England.