Let's Talk Robotics

Tom Caska is the Co-Founder and CEO of Aerologix, an award-winning platform connecting drone pilots to customers leveraging the latest in Artificial intelligence, machine learning, web and mobile-based technologies.

Tom has worked in the Aviation/ unmanned aerial domain for the past 18 years, working for companies such as Qantas, Hawker Pacific, and Aerolens. (where he was Founder and CEO) He has a strong technical background with master degrees in Aviation and aeronautics and holds an Australian Airline Transport Licence (ATPL), and has logged over 3500 hrs on high capacity transport aircraft. Tom is also a co-inventor of an advanced 3D flight navigation algorithm for drones which is being utilised in new software applications for Aerologix.

Tom guest lecturers at one of Australia’s top universities – The University of New South Wales , teaching subject matter on Unmanned flight, he also holds a position on a government subcommittee dedicated to developing rules and regulations for unmanned aerial vehicles.

Tom’s passion for disruptive technology is infections, he is always looking for new challenges, especially drone tech and IoT. Tom has a very successful track record of establishing, executing and delivering large complex technical projects, Tom recently set up the largest drone network in Australia to monitor 1700 km of coastline to enhance swimmer safety.

Tom enjoys complex problem solving and welcomes the challenge of empowering team members and creating new innovative ways to solve real-world problems. He has a high passion for life and enjoys a healthy lifestyle, and loves adventure sports such as kitesurfing, mountain biking when time permits.

Joining me today is Professor Angie Abdilla. Angie is a palawa~trawlwoolway woman. She is the founder and CEO of Old Ways, New and works with Indigenous knowledges and systems in the design of places, experiences and deep technologies. As a consultant, she works as a designer, as a published researcher, she presents topics such as human technology interrelations and Indigenous design in the built environment. She is a member of the Global Futures Council on Artificial Intelligence for Humanity as part of the World Economic Forum, co-founded the Indigenous Protocols and Artificial Intelligence working group (IP//AI) and is a Professor of Practice for the UNSW Faculty of Art, Architecture and Design.

Joining me today is Peter Hook, General Manager of Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions. Peter has more than 35 number of years in manufacturing and automation solutions.

Peter has cross-functional, cross-industry and cross-cultural expertise, with many years of experience within Australia, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, and North America.

His diverse background equates to acquiring skills and knowledge across sales and marketing, financial management and planning, operations, manufacturing, mergers and acquisitions, and product development for start-up and growth organisations.

BAMS:

Established 65 years ago, Bosch Australia Manufacturing Solutions has been providing custom machine building, engineering, and manufacturing support to Bosch’s internal manufacturing cliental. In 2013, Bosch decided to provide their manufacturing, automation, and robotics expertise to external clients outside of the Bosch Group.

Based in Clayton, Victoria, Bosch has over 120 engineers and support staff servicing Bosch plants locally and around the world, as well as a range of external customers across various industries.

In 2019, it was announced that Bosch would further invest in the Australia Manufacturing Solutions team by constructing a new multimillion dollar, purpose-built facility at the Clayton headquarters, which is now fully operating in 2022.

BAMS is a team that develops innovative and bespoke solutions for customers ranging from start-ups to larger enterprises. They have vast experience in designing and building a range of reliable robotics and automation applications.

BAMS aims to provide solutions that focus on increasing accuracy, adaptability, whilst also minimising waste. The team also ensures that customers receive deliverables in a timely fashion that offer maximum efficiency.

Reach out to Peter on LinkedIn!

Joining me today is Natasha Fisher. Natasha is a mechatronics engineering student studying at the University of Melbourne and she is looking for opportunities in the Engineering Industry and Entertainment Industry.

As the Lead Mentor of the Melbourne RoboCats she has a passion for inspiring and encouraging young girls to purse STEM. Creating a space where high-school aged girls can grow in confidence, explore robotics and get hands on experience using hand and power tools.

As a member of the UniMelb Rover team on the robotic arm team at the University of Melbourne, she has designed camera mounts and an end-effector, developing her CAD and designing skills.

Natasha is also an accomplished circus trainer - just to keep a balance!

Connect with Natasha on LinkedIn and follow her journey!

Joining me today is Hunter Jay. Hunter is the co-founder and CEO of Ripe Robotics. Hunter has a varied and technical background, with experience as a software engineer focused on artificial intelligence. Ripe Robotics is a startup working on automation in agriculture, starting with the harvesting of apples, oranges, and stone fruit. Ripe designs, builds, and manages its own machines, and only charges growers for each bin of quality fruit picked!

Joining me today is Associate Professor Therese Keane. For over 25 years Therese has been a champion for empowering girls in STEM. Her passion and many achievements have been acknowledged by her peers in her receiving numerous national and state awards. Since late 2016, Therese is currently the Deputy Chair of the Department of Education at Swinburne University. She has worked in a variety of school settings where she has taught IT and lead in K-12 education as the Director of ICT. Her Doctorate in Education focused on ICT Leadership in schools. Therese has served on a number of State, National and International Boards; Chair of Australian Computer Society’s (ACS) ICT Educators Committee, Australian Council of Computers in Education (ACCE) and Australian Representative for the International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) Technical Committee on Education (TC3). Currently, she is the Vice Chair for TC3 - WG3.3 - "Research into Educational Applications of Information Technologies". Therese is an Assistant Editor for "Education and Information Technologies" - the official journal of the IFIP Technical Committee on Education. It covers the complex relationships between information and communication technologies and education. Throughout her career, Therese has also been an office holder in three professional teaching associations, the Victorian Information Technology Teachers Association (VITTA), Information and Communications Technology in Education Victoria (ICTEV) and the Digital Learning & Teaching Victoria (DLTV). Therese has presented numerous seminars and workshops for teachers involved in the teaching of IT. She has written 16 textbooks in all units of Senior IT in Victoria, VCE Information Technology since 1995 and has worked with the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) in the development of the VCE IT Study Design and various roles associated with VCE assessment over the past 25 years. Therese is involved in the provision of professional development to ICT teachers and research into the use of technology, gender inequalities in STEM based subjects, robotics in education and computers in schools for teaching and learning purposes. Therese has developed and delivered workshops in humanoid robot (NAO) for primary and secondary school students and was also involved with the FIRST LEGO League as Tournament Director for Victoria and lead mentor for the RoboCats – a school girl only robotics team that participated in the FIRST Robotic Competition from 2014-2020.

References in the podcast:

Journal paper

 Keane, T., Chalmers, C., Boden, M., & Williams, M. (2019). Humanoid robots: learning a programming language to learn a traditional language. Technology, Pedagogy and Education, 28(5), 533-546. doi:10.1080/1475939X.2019.1670248

Book chapter

Keane, T., Williams, M., Chalmers, C., & Boden, M. (2017). Involving everyone: coding and decoding languages. In A. Tatnall & M. Webb (Eds.), Tomorrow's Learning: Involving Everyone. Learning with and about Technologies and Computing (pp. 579-588). Cham: Springer Nature. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-74310-3_58

The Conversation

Keane, T., Chalmers, C., Boden, M., Williams, M., (July 23, 2019). How a robot called Pink helped teach school children an Aboriginal language. Retrieved from Australia: https://theconversation.com/how-a-robot-called-pink-helped-teach-school-children-an-aboriginal-language-119810

About the Project

https://www.ais.sa.edu.au/humanoid-robot-research-project/

Contact Therese on LinkedIn

Joining me today is Ken Chaddha, the founding director of YellowFIN Robotics - a Melbourne based Company which will be 6 years young this year. YellowFIN is using UAVs and bespoke robots within their Robotics-As-A-Service model and also going gung-ho in Research & Development.

Ken has had an interesting career path - he is a Sea-Captain, an entrepreneur, an experienced UAV pilot and soon to be a fixed wing pilot (PPL).

Ken has worked in a variety of industries around the world. He considers himself fortunate to represent a Japanese conglomerate - NYK Line - in their JV with an Indian Industrial Power house - TATA. The exposure to the Japanese way, KAIZEN and their industries gave him an invaluable exposure to Robotics used by Toyota in Japan. This stood him good stead when YellowFIN Robotics was founded. He describes the Company as a love child of his keen interest in Robotics and Flying and the maritime industry experience viewed through safety driven processes.

Ken and YellowFIN are active contributors to Australian Robotics Roadmap 2022. Through R&D YellowFIn wants to challenge both clients and suppliers to think out-of-the-box and also engage wider community into Robotics.

His moto - the process is as important as the product.

Joining me today is Petrea Redmond. Petrea is a Professor in Digital Pedagogies in the School of Education at the University of Southern Queensland. Her research is situated in interrelated fields of educational technology including: Online engagement; Online presence; Teaching presence; Cognitive presence; Using technology to keep seriously ill learners connected to school; Cyberbullying; Critical thinking; Mobile learning; Online collaboration; Online communities of practice; Gender and STEM; Teacher development; ICT integration (P - 12); ICT integration (higher education and vocational education); ICT professional development; Online mentoring; eLearning; Blended learning and teaching; Online learning and teaching; Teaching and learning in higher education; Teacher Education; Pre-service teacher training and development; Makerspaces; TPACK; and Community of Inquiry.

She has published and co-published in several international refereed books, journals and conference proceedings. Petrea has received outstanding conference paper awards at international conferences; along with faculty, university and national awards for research and teaching. She has been a lead editor and associate editor for Australasian Journal of Educational Technology (AJET). This year she will take over the role of the Chair of the Consultative Council, Society for Information Technology and Teacher Education (SITE) and is on the Executive committee for Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE).

Contact Petrea at [email protected]

Joining me today is Michael Larkin. Michael is the Managing Director of Fulcrum Robotics based in Tasmania Australia.
Prior to establishing Fulcrum in 2014 Michael had held several CEO, Executive and Board Director roles spanning 30+ years in the industrial, utilities, aquaculture, sporting and disability services. Michael also had stints as Executive Project Director roles in for Water, energy generation and distribution companies nationally.

Michael is a technology and robotics specialist, experienced in using robotic technology as an aid to re-building and rejuvenating legacy business practices across multiple industries whilst developing services and technologies that improve safety, promote efficiency and reduce costs. Responsible for aligning and driving Fulcrum’s national commercial and technology strategies, using technology as a disruptor to the status quo setting and exceeding benchmarks in organisational effectiveness, and business performance, cost and risk management.

Michael has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to blend technical, operational and commercial strategy to deliver business objectives, whilst transforming the performance and culture of large and small complex organisations.

Contact Michael here.

Joining me today are two inspirational ladies! Sophie Jarivs, Finance Director of ADDE and co-owner and Victoria Hogan, Mechanical Design Engineer at ADDE.

Sophie is the Finance Director of ADDE and has been a part of the business for over 20 years.

At ADDE we integrate the right combinations of robotics, custom machinery, tooling, sensors and control systems to deliver manufacturing solutions to our customers unique requirements.

Joining the company at the age of 17, Sophie has been involved in the management of suppliers and accounts in several different roles. In 2013 Sophie along with joint Director Barry Hendy purchased the business and has taken the lead role in managing the company’s financial activities.

Sophie is a people person and passionate about bringing the right people and skillset together to ensure a cohesive and enjoyable work place environment. One of the company’s core values is ‘having fun’ which is displayed in Sophies management style and interactions with staff.

She has built a team of engineers, machinists, fitters and electricians who design and build some of the largest and most sophisticated automation projects for the pharmaceutical, food and general manufacturing industries.

Victoria Hogan is a member of the engineering team at ADDE in the role of Mechanical Design Engineer.

At ADDE we integrate the right combinations of robotics, custom machinery, tooling, sensors and control systems to deliver manufacturing solutions to our customers unique requirements.

A recent graduate of Monash University, Victoria holds a double bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design and Mechanical Engineering (honours) and also made the Dean’s honours list for engineering.

Victoria specialises in problem solving and design thinking and enjoys working collaboratively with a team to achieve a successful outcome. She believes there is always more to learn and continues to engage with new software, technology, and ideas.

Contact Sophie and Victoria through ADDE’s website or email Sophie at [email protected] and Victoria at [email protected]