The Australian National University’s new deputy vice-chancellor (research and innovation) is Professor Lachlan Blackhall, who is the current head of its battery storage and grid integration program.
Professor Blackhall has been entrepreneurial fellow and head of the Australian National University’s (ANU) battery storage and grid integration program since it was founded in 2018. Prior to this, he was the chief technology officer and co-founder of Reposit Power, a firm delivering software for the control of grid-connected energy storage systems.
He was also the founding director of Covate, a Canberra-based innovation incubator and accelerator, between May 2011 and November 2013. During his time as a postgraduate student at ANU he also co-founded an entrepreneurship education program.
Professor Blackhall will replace the acting deputy vice-chancellor Professor Ann Evans, who is also the Dean for higher degree research. Professor Evans has been acting in the role since Professor Keith Nugent officially vacated the role in January.
Boeing Defence Australia’s new managing director will be Amy List, who brings with her 20 years of military and Defence industry experience, which included stints in the Royal Australian Air Force and Raytheon.
She replaces Scott Carpendale, who since 2022 has been vice-president and managing director of Boeing Defence Australia and vice-president of Government Services for the Asia-Pacific region. Mr Carpendale will now focus entirely on his later role.
The new commissioner of Jobs and Skills Australia (JSA) is Professor Barney Glover, the current vice-chancellor and president of Western Sydney University. He has also sat on the University Accords review panel since December 2022. Professor Glover begins his five-year term in April 2024, with JSA first assistant secretary David Turvey to continue to act in the role until then.
Silicon Quantum Computing has appointed former chief executive of British semiconductor and software design company Arm Holdings Simon Segars as its new chair. The federal government has also appointed Tyro Payments chair Fiona Pak-Poy as its representative on the board.
A statutory review of Australia’s Online Safety Act will be led by former Australian Consumer and Competition Commission deputy chair Delia Rickard, as reported by earlier in the week.
Technology services company DXC Technology has appointed former PwC partner for cybersecurity and digital trust Kylie Watson as its head of security for Australia and New Zealand. Ms Watson was at PwC for a year, previously holding positions at IBM, Deloitte, SAP, and HP.
Fleet Space Technologies has launched its Expert-in-Residence Program, with the appointment of former BHP vice-president for metals exploration Keenan Jennings. The program will serve as an internal group of industry experts advising on Fleet Space’s plan to support mineral exploration activity globally.
Mr Jennings has decades of mining sector experience, including senior roles at Rio Tinto and Anglo American.
Queensland-based manufacturing automation firm Products For Industry has appointed Professor Ian Mackinnon as the chief advisor of its membrane division. Professor Mackinnon is the former director of Queensland University of Technology’s Centre for Clean Energy Technologies and Practices.
He also sits on the Queensland Ministerial Energy Council and was formerly a member of the state’s Hydrogen Taskforce between 2021 and 2023. Between 2006 and 2009 Professor Mackinnon also served as the Australian Research Council’s executive director engineering and environmental sciences.
In the Australian Public Service, the Productivity Commission’s Catie Bradbear has been promoted assistant commissioner for inquiry and research while Defence’s Edward Louis has been promoted within the military systems division and enterprise systems division – defence digital group.
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