YP Committee Members 2016 :
Dr. Thamani Wijesinghe, Chair, Victorian Young Professionals 2016. Thamani is an active volunteer of IEEE Victorian Section since 2010. She is the former vice chair of Victorian young professionals since 2014 to 2016 and former vice chair of Monash University IEEE student branch in 2012-2014. She has represented IEEE Victorian Section in several conferences (Anzcon 2014, R10 Congress 2013, Anzcon 2010). Thamani was an engineering researcher (Optics) at Monash University, and at present, she works as a network design engineer at Nextgen group, Melbourne.
Marcela Vecino, Vice Chair, Victorian Young Professionals 2016. Marcela is a passionate volunteer of IEEE Victorian Section. She is the secretary of WIE affinity group. Marcela was an IT System Engineer at Asta Ltd, Melbourne.
Nalika Damayanthi, Secretary, Victorian Young Professionals 2016. Nalika is an active volunteer of IEEE Victorian Section. She is the chair of WIE affinity group and former vice chair of IEEE Monash student branch. Nalika is a researcher at RMIT university, Melbourne.
Dr. Chamath Divaratne, Treasurer, Victorian Young Professionals 2016. Chamath is an active volunteer of IEEE Victorian Section. He is the former chair of IEEE Monash Student Branch. He is a design engineer at Unico Computer Systems Ltd, Melbourne.
Ko Wong, Event Manager, Victorian Young Professionals 2016. Wong is a techno entrepreneur with more than 10 years’ experience in science and technology education at various cultural institutions both nationally and internationally. Through his background in science and engineering, he has been working in both NGO and Global 500 technology and consulting firms, participated in many forums, conferences and exhibitions. He has established a wide network of communication in STEM and education contacts among the top private and public organisations, as well as with industry to develop and deliver public partnership programs. Wong has been a committee member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology, mentor for the University of Oxford Alumni Community, guru of Project Management at Project Management Institute and Member Advisory Group, and global ambassador of the Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering.
Our Mentors :
Dr. Leila Koushaeian, Industrial mentor and former Chair (2013-2016) of Victorian Young Professionals group. She is a passionate volunteer of IEEE since 2009. Leila is a telecommunication engineer at Ericsson Australia.
Dr. Eddie Custovic, Academic mentor of Victorian Young Professionals group and the Section Chair of IEEE Victorian Section 2016. Eddie is an academic and industry project manager in the School of Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University and is a member of the Centre for Technology Infusion which focuses on strategic and translational research and innovation through the integration of complementary research expertise. A highly active member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), he is currently serving on the global Publication Services and Products Board, Products & Services Committee, Strategic Planning Committee and Young Professionals executive leadership team . He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the IEEE Young Professionals publication IMPACT.
Speakers :
Claudio Insaurralde is the chair of IEEE Victorian Section’s Technology and Engineering Management Chapter and a Member of the IEEE Region 10 Industry Relations Committee for Asia and Pacific. He has over 10 years’ experience in maintenance and reliability engineering, management and project management. He worked in the defence aviation sector as Maintenance and Engineering Manager for United Nations and the Argentinian Air Force. Then, he moved to the manufacturing industry, working at Volkswagen group as Senior Reliability Engineer responsible for the design of the overall preventive maintenance strategy for the new stand-alone assembly plant producing the VW Amarok. Throughout his career, Claudio has led large teams of more than 80 technicians, successfully carried out many improvement projects and managed complex operations in high-pressure environments. He graduated from the Argentinian Air Force Officers Academy with honours in 1998 and holds a Bachelor degree in Electronics Engineering, a Certification in Project Management and a postgraduate program in management.
Mobeen Malik was a former associate manager and service consultant at Accenture Australia, and had been involved in numerous major IT projects related to Infrastructure Services and Data Center Technologies particularly in the Software-Defined DC and Cloud space. As a technically savvy IT professional with over ten years of experience in the ICT industry, he had expertise in planning, management and execution of highly strategic and complex transformation projects like Public Cloud Migration, Data Center Migration as well as new Infrastructure Builds for various clients in many different industries such as Public service, Telecommunications and Resources.
Satya Tanner had a 16-year career as a pilot and aerospace engineer in the Royal Australian Air Force, reaching the rank of Squadron Leader. During that time she was the 13th woman to become an Air Force pilot; and she studied and used empowering, authentic leadership principles to guide individuals, teams and organizations to fulfill their potential. She now works for people or organizations that are in search of strong leadership skills, innovative cultures and conscious business principles: particularly technical project.
Alistair Walsh is a Cognitive Neuroscientist working in the area of Brain-Computer Interfaces and uses Python daily in his work. He is a co-author of the Software Carpentry Python Lessons and Melbourne Uni’s representative on the Software Carpentry Advisory Committee.
Dr. Alan Zhang is one of the tech co-founders of xLabs. He completed his PhD at Monash University in computer vision and robotics focused on the applications of appearance based computer vision algorithms in mobile robot navigation. He then joined Sensen Networks, working on automatic license plate recognition, real-time surveillance video analysis, as well as designing their real-time image processing backend software architecture. He also held research positions at Melbourne University and NICTA, working on a number of diverse projects, including MRI image processing, cell lineage tracking in microscopy images, and stroke rehabilitation patient monitoring, as well as a virtual receptionist.
Leo Grogan is currently on assignment at the Melbourne School of Engineering’s Careers and Industry Unit. Previously, he was associate director of careers services at Melbourne Business School, building relationships with leading companies in the energy, resources, telecommunications and ITS sectors. Commencing as careers consultant at MBS, Leo delivered individual coaching and programs to 1000+ MBA candidates and alumni – the majority of whom were eager to fast track their career opportunities.
Ray Keefe is the founder of Successful Endeavours Pte. Ltd. He is an electronics designer and embedded software developer with an honours degree in electrical and electronic engineering and additional studies in physics and chemistry. Successful Endeavours has been nationally and locally recognised with several awards, notably the Electronics News Future Awards in 2012 .