Participants & Presentations

IEEE Fellow Prof. Rod Tucker

Centre for Ultra-Broadband Information Networks

University of Melbourne

Biography: Rod Tucker is a Laureate Professor and Director of the University of Melbourne’s Centre for Ultra-Broadband Information Networks (CUBIN) and Institute for a Broadband-Enabled Society (IBES).  He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the IEEE, and the Optical Society of America. He was awarded the Australia Prize in 1997 for his contributions to telecommunications and the IEEE LEOS Aron Kressel Award in 2007 for his contributions to semiconductor optoelectronics.  Professor Tucker’s leads a group of students undertaking research on broadband access technologies and energy efficiency in telecommunications.

A Green Internet

Abstract: The average annual global Internet protocol (IP) traffic growth rate is currently around 50%, and new broadband initiatives such as Australia’s National Broadband Network are likely to accelerate this growth.  As IP traffic increases, the power consumption of equipment required to route this traffic also grows. This raises the issue of whether the Internet may ultimately be constrained not by the capacity of optical fiber transmission systems and the speed of routers and affiliated electronics, but rather by their power consumption.

In this talk, I will present models of energy consumption in the Internet and show how network-based models of the power consumption in the Internet can be used to assist in network planning.  The Internet in Australia currently uses approximately 1% of the nation’s electricity supply.  This energy might not seem large, but a significant proportion of it is consumed in a few key bottlenecks.  I will identify some of these energy bottlenecks in the network and will propose some directions for future work aimed at delivering a green Internet.

Biography: For the past eight years, Chris has worked for Sun Microsystems focusing Java and Java related products. In recent years, Chris has taken on the role of a presales Solution Architect in the Software Practice educating the field on the Open Source movement and the monetization of Open Source at sun. He has worked in Sun’s support organization, both as a technical support engineer and as a back-line support engineer working with Sun’s Asia Pacific customers using Java and Java related products.

Chris has also acted as a sustaining engineer and product engineer for Sun’s Java products. Checking in source code and Q/A’ing bugs logged by customers and other back-line support engineers. Between the years of 2004-2006, Chris worked for Sun in the Professional Services organization helping sell, position, architect and lead large Java based projects, such as CDS for Telecom NZ.

In recent years, Chris has worked in the Software Practice as a Principal Field Technologist, as well as a Software and Java Ambassador, prior to that Chris was a Senior Solutions Architect, specializing in all things middleware infrastructure software from Sun. He has helped capture Sun's Open Source movement and has rallied the Sales folk to monetize Sun's open source model. He is part of Sun's global evangelism groups for projects OpenESB, GlassFish, Web synergy, Project Metro and NetBeans.

Open Source Strategies from SUN Microsystems

Talk Outline: Chris Fleischmann, Principal Field Technologist at Sun Microsystems will present his respective on Sun's open source strategies, recent acquisitions and product development. He will also provide examples of business usage of some of their open source offerings.

Robert Slaviero

Managing Director

Analog Devices Australia Pty Ltd.

Biography: Robert Slaviero is the Managing Director of Analog Devices Australia (ADA) Pty Ltd which specializes in the development of embedded DSP software. Robert has over 25 years of experience on topics including DSP, speech compression and videoconferencing, data communications, neural networks, technology trends, intellectual property, project and business management, the electronics engineering industry and career enhancement.  He has academic qualifications in engineering, business and law.  He is a senior member of the IEEE and a member of the International Neural Networks Society (INNS), the Australian Institute of Management (AIM), the Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers of Australia (APESMA) and the Licensing Executives Society of Australia and New Zealand (LESANZ).  He is presently the Chapter Chair of the Victorian IEEE Signal Processing Society (02-09) and is the past Chair of the IEEE Victorian Section (99-01) and previously served as Vice-Chair (96-98) and Secretary (95-98).  Robert has been on the organizing committee and technical review committee of various local and international conferences. He also serves on a number of academic, government and industry advisory boards and committees.

Engineering Your Future Career

Talk Outline: Robert has reviewed hundreds of resumes and interviewed & appointed many engineers throughout his career.  He will give advice on the current job market, the application process, preparation, interview skills and what employers typically look for.  He will also provide advice on how to enhance your career once you are employed, how to improve your employability into the future, and how to make your chosen career a rewarding personal experience.

John Jenkins

Victorian Manager

IP Australia

Biography: John Jenkins was born in Brisbane in 1951. After completing a Bachelor of Economics degree in 1970, John took up a position with the Australian Bureau of Statistics in Canberra. Following a short stint with the University of Queensland, he joined the then Department of Administrative Services in 1980. In 1981, he moved to the Department of Social Security, Melbourne (now Centrelink) where he worked in various areas of DSS, including finance, office services and the regional network. His last position was manager of the North Melbourne office. John commenced with IP Australia in 1995 as the Victorian manager. IP Australia is the Australian Government agency responsible for administering patents, trade marks, designs and plant breeder’s rights. During this period he has gained an extensive knowledge of lodgement and customer service functions in relation to the four registered rights. Using this knowledge he has assisted many small to medium enterprises with their intellectual property issues. He has also gained a thorough knowledge of the SME service provider network in Victoria and consequently been able to refer many people to the appropriate service provider. More recently, he has been developing alliances with a range of service providers to inform them about IP and the role of IP Australia and to collaborate with them to help educate SMEs about the critical role of IP in building sustainable businesses. John is a member of the Intellectual Property Society of Australia & New Zealand as well as the Australian Government Leadership Network.

Intellectual Property – The Most Valuable Business Asset

Talk Outline: Intellectual Property (IP) at the most fundamental level represents the property of your mind or intellect. Relating this definition to a typical business, IP can be thought of as the collection of ideas created by the owner that are unique and essential to the business. Because it is an intangible asset, business owners are sometimes unaware that they own valuable IP. This can prove disastrous particularly if the business is using IP owned by someone else.

In this talk, the basics of IP will be outlined, including the different ways that IP can be protected. The presentation will also outline the pivotal role played by IP Australia in the administration of Australia’s IP system and what products and services are available to help people understand the process of obtaining registered IP rights.