Robotics expert Dr Sue Keay has left Queensland to head up the UNSW AI institute, making the move to Sydney after two decades of research and advocacy for the robotics sector.
Dr Keay is regarded as one of the most influential voices in robotics, having championed the fledgling industry for many years before governments came to the party with a national strategy.
She makes the move south to spearhead UNSW’s flagship research institute for AI, data science and machine learning, which counts Professor Toby Walsh as its chief scientist. The UNSW AI institute’s last director was Professor Michael Thielscher.
Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh will retire from the banking lobby midway through this year.
The former Queensland Premier spent eight years in the role, which included the banking Royal Commission and the pandemic, and departs amid the sector’s scams stoush with digital platforms.
“Australia’s banks have thoughtful people committed to their customers and it’s been a pleasure to work with them,” she said in a statement.
As the former politician departs banking, another one enters. Former Coalition Cabinet minister Simon Birmingham announced this week he is joining Big Four bank ANZ as its head of Asia Pacific engagement and South Australian chair.
The former Senator announced a surprise resignation from federal politics last November after 17 years in the Senate and five as head of the Liberal Party’s wilting moderate faction.
The Victorian government on Monday appointed two new departmental secretaries. Matt Carrick will lead the Department of Jobs, Skills, Industry and Regions and Jenny Atta to lead the Department of Health.
AusTrade official and former Australian trade commissioner in New York and San Francisco, Rachelle Jackson, has been appointed Consul-General and Trade and Investment Commissioner in Toronto, Canada.
She was appointed by Minister for Trade and Tourism Don Farrell to replace Josh Riley and lead the Australian diplomatic post in Canada as the Trump administration disrupts global trade.
Queensland needle-free vaccine hopeful Vaxxas this week added experienced vaccine industry experts to advise on product development and strategy as it accelerates a commercialisation drive.
Dr Emilio Emini (Pfizer, Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute), Dr Nathalie Garcon (GSK Biologicals), and Professor Paul Young (The University of Queensland), based in the US, Europe, and Australia, respectively, will also help Vaxxas to get its pain free vaccines into new markets.
Former spy chief Nick Warner has been appointed as a non-executive director of PsiQuantum, the tech startup that will stage its attempts to build the world’s first utility-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer in Australia.
Technology lawyer James Patto has joined Helios Salinger to lead its multi-disciplinary practice of legal, consulting, training, resources and incident response.
Legal outfit HPX Group acquired Salinger Privacy last year on the expectation the privacy sector will boom on the rise of AI and other data technologies. Salinger Privacy had been operating for 20 years and was founded by former deputy privacy commissioner for NSW Anna Johnston.
Meta has promoted its ANZ communications head Gina Murphy to head of policy communications for the APAC region, as the social media giant enters a new era of content moderation and faces tougher regulation in Australia.
Superloop this week announced that Jason Ashton will join its leadership team from March in a newly formed role as group executive, corporate development & smart communities.
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