Closing Ceremony

Thursday, 3rd December 12.00PM AEST | Plenary session

Speaker

Dr Cathy Foley became Australia’s ninth Chief Scientist in January 2021 after a lengthy career at Australia’s national science agency, the CSIRO, where she was appointed as the agency’s Chief Scientist in August 2018. While working at CSIRO, Dr Foley made significant contributions to the understanding of nitride semiconductors and superconducting electronics. Dr Foley and her team’s most successful application is the LANDTEM sensor system used to locate valuable deposits of minerals deep underground, such as nickel sulphide, silver and gold. Dr Foley is committed to helping Australia realise the transformative potential of critical technologies and meet the climate challenge. She is an inspiration to women in STEM across the globe and focused strongly on equality and diversity in the science sector. 

Speaker

Michael Arentoft is the Head of Unit of Open Science, in the Directorate-General Research and Innovation (R&I) at the European Commission. He was previously Deputy Head of International R&I Cooperation Strategy, Innovation Union policy officer, Acting Head of Strategy for ICT R&I, Sector Head of ICT R&I Work Programme and Planning, coordinator of ICT Essential Technologies and Infrastructures, and project officer in High Performance Computing and Networking. 

Speaker

Andrew Powell is the Minister for the Environment and Tourism and the Minister for Science and Innovation for the Queensland Government. He is also a proud father of five, and the local Member for Glass House, an electorate that covers the hinterland of the Sunshine Coast and Moreton Bay. He worked with the Defence Department in Canberra, and after working overseas returned to Queensland where he worked for the Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Child Safety. He was elected as the Member for Glass House in 2009 and was appointed Minister for the Environment from 2012 to 2015. He’s served in a range of positions since, including as Manager of Opposition Business from 2022 – 2024. Andrew was appointed Minister in November 2024. Mr Powell is passionate about nature-based tourism and encouraging Queenslanders to see our great State, so they become ambassadors for all we have to offer. Having studied science, he knows the invaluable contribution of the scientific community to our everyday lives, and the incredible potential for innovation to transform the way we work, live and play. 

Speaker

Dr Alexander Cooke is the Executive Director for the Australian Government’s Strategic Examination of R&D (SERD) in the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and leading delivery of the International Conference on Research Infrastructure (ICRI) 2024. Prior to this, Dr Cooke was Director of Strategic Delivery in CSIRO, where he led the CSIRO Missions Program and the ON Innovation Program. Dr Cooke has worked across the public sector on science, research and innovation matters over the last 20 years, including representing Australia on these matters including research infrastructure issues in Europe from 2017-2020.