Official Event Advisory Panel
Quest Events would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank the official event advisory panel who contributed their valuable time and expertise to ensure the agenda for this event is timely and relevant for all professionals that are dealing with the self-driving and autonomous vehicles transformation.
Travis Brooks-Garrett
Partner
Freight & Trade Alliance
Travis joined Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) as a Partner in 2015 with responsibility for the overall growth of the organisation as well as supporting the membership in critical advocacy matters.
FTA is Australia’s leading representative body for border-related trade issues, representing a cross-section of 217 international freight logistics and import/export trade entities that are responsible for approximately 70% of inbound containerised trade into Australia. Whilst the bulk of the membership are freight forwarders / customs brokers, FTA is increasing its reach to major importers and members include Woolworths, Myer, Target, Pacific Brands, Super Retail Group, Toshiba, Origin, Pfizer, Novartis, Boehringer Ingleheim, ThyssenKrupp and the like.
Before joining FTA, Travis Brooks-Garrett has held Senior Management Roles in Training Organisations including as a General Manager of Real Institute, the Victorian Manager for Navitas Workforce Solutions and the National Sales & Marketing Manager for Futurum Australia
Travis has received honours for work in this area including the African Achievement Award by the Hon. Kate Lundy, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, for helping African Australian connect with education and employment opportunities
In this capacity Travis also worked extensively with the Freight & Logistics sector designing training solutions for organisations including North Queensland Stevedoring Solutions (NSS), BCR Freight and Qantas Freight. Travis was also involved in helping Indigenous Australians find employment in the logistics sector and for this work Real Institute was awarded the Keith Campbell Leadership in Logistics Mentoring Award by the Logistics Association of Australia (LAA) for designing and implementing a Certificate III in Warehousing & Distribution for 88 Indigenous employees.
Dean Economou
Technology Strategist
NICTA
Dean spans the research, commercial and government sectors, currently working on projects across the Transport, Infrastructure and Logistics and the Digital Economy. He joined NICTA reporting to the CEO to investigate using digital technology in urban environments and to develop Smart Infrastructure technology. He was part of the team which developed NICTA’s R & D services business.
He is a frequent keynote speaker and mentor in the Australian start-up community, with considerable experience in the Bay Area (Silicon Valley). He has advised the Australian government on the Internet, Built Environment, Broadband Technology, Smart Infrastructure, Cloud Computing and Digital Engagement. He is NICTA’s representative for Standards Australia and on the ISO Smart Cities Working Group.
Dean’s recent work includes Smart Motorway modelling of Sydney’s M4, developing the data strategy for a major transport agency, investigating alternative traffic models for CBD traffic, and being embedded as Business Development Director for NICTA’s cloud tools startup, Yuruware, which was sold to Unitrends USA (reported in the press as over $10m) in 2014.
Previously Dean was Director of CSIRO’s Networking Technology Lab where he co-founded of the Centre for Networking Technologies for the Information Economy and later, as Director, attracted an additional $25m in cash and in-kind investment. He joined the Smart Internet Technology CRC in 2005 as Director of Media and Health developing projects in clinical handover, adverse medical event prediction and immersive audio (later sold to Dolby). Dean developed the industry-relevant research program across 22 companies and universities in Media, Health, Government and Finance sectors for the successful $100m Smart Services CRC bid. Key organisations included Fairfax Media, Westpac, Telstra, SAP, Infosys, Sensis, and the NSW and QLD State Governments.
During his PhD he co-founded QPSX Communications, his work forming part the IEEE 802.6 standard for Metropolitan Area Networks. As system architect for QPSX and later, Jtec, he developed high speed telecommunications products which were sold to global markets by Alcatel and Siemens.
Dean has B.E and PhD degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Western Australia (1992) with further studies in High Technology Product Marketing at UC Berkeley (1998) and Customer Focused Innovation (d.school) at Stanford Graduate Business School (2007). He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (2006).
Out of hours Dean is a fitness boxing trainer, cyclist, paddle boarder and classical singer.
Arjan Rensen
Regional Manager NSW/ACT
ARRB Group - Australian Driverless Vehicle Initiative
David Wilson
Principal Transport Planner
Transport for NSW
David has extensive experience leading teams at senior levels of government in Australia, UK, USA, Africa, the Middle East and Europe including over ten years working in Australia for Transport for NSW and as an advisor to the NSW State Planning and Environment Department in Sydney, as well as Transport for London and English Partnerships in addition to significant transport and land use planning consulting experience in the private sector.
David is based in Sydney and has dual qualifications in urban planning and practical experience in integrated transport planning, strategic planning, and multi criteria assessments of projects. David is a leading strategic thinker interested in the planning implications of road vehicle automation technologies and their potential impact on the future design of cities. He will illustrate his research into Smart cities and Smart teams in Beijing, Sydney, Nevada, Eindhoven and Newcastle.