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3rd AustralAsian Cleantech Forum Speakers
Key speakers include:
- Dr. Alexandra Birrell, Private Client Services, Commercialisation PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Peter Chaffey, Manager Business Melbourne, City of Melbourne
- Jan Dekker, Managing Director, Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies
- Ivor Frischknecht, Investment Director, Starfish Ventures
- Dr. Paul Hogan, Manger Sustainable Business, Sustainability Victoria
- Christian Jensen, Portfolio Manager, CVC Sustainable Investments
- Rachel O'Neill, Director, Carbon Solutions Group, Institutional Banking, nabCapital
- Theo Theophanous, MP, Minister for Industry and State Development, Small Business and Major Projects,State Government of Victoria
- Fiona Wain, Chief Executive Officer, Environment Business Australia
- Peter Martenson, Division Director Macquarie Funds Management, USA
- Jamie Taylor, Director, Equity Capital Markets, WilsonHTM
- Gerry Morvell, Assistant Secretary Energy Futures Branch, Australian Greenhouse Office, Department of the Environment & Heritage
- Michael O'Sullivan, Investments Manager - Environmental Infrastructure, JF Infrastructure
- Peter Castellas, Managing Director, Clean Technology AustralAsia Pty Ltd
- Terry Tamminen, Special Advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
- The Right Hon John So, Lord Mayor City of Melbourne
- Michael Liebreich, CEO, New Energy Finance
- Stephen Manallack, CEO, Australia India Business Council
- Sean Lucy, Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers
- Clint Wilder, Author "The Cleantech Revolution", Clean Egdge, USA
- Rob Fowler, Managing Director, Abatement Solutions Asia Pacific
- Ian Robertson, Trustee, Local Government Superannuation Scheme
- Nick Lattimore, Deputy CEO and Head of Investment Orgination, JF Infrastructure
- Dr. Ron Ben David, Deputy Secretary – Office of Climate Change – Sector Improvement Group, Department of Premier and Cabinet
- Somak Ghosh, President Corporate Finance & Development Banking, YES Bank, India
- Jon Ward, General Manager, Business, Innovation and Technology, Sustainability Victoria
- Richard Caldwell, Head Corporate Finance, Tricome Equities
- Glenn Fozard, Investment Advisor
- Steve Gibbs, Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme
- Danny Mills, CEO, Environmental Clean Coal Technologies
- Craig Chambers, General Manager, GridX Power
- Nigel Murphy, Managing Director, Earth Systems Technologies
- Attilio Demicheli, Chief Executive Officer, Katrix
- Dr. Timothy Finnigan, Chief Executive Officer, BioPower Systems
- Colin Gillam, Managing Director, Alternate Fuels & Energy
- Raja Rajagopal, Chief Executive Officer, Microflow
- Sylvia Tulloch, Managing Director, Dyesol Limited
- Chris Officer, President & CEO, Anzode NZ
- Dr. John White, Chairman, Global Renewables
- Stuart McConnell, Executive Director of Science and Technology, EPA Victoria
- Mark Kelleher, Managing Director, Roaring 40's
- Michael Cook, Group Executive - Special Projects, Investa Property Group
- Kate Vinot, General Manager, Corporate Strategy for South East Water
- Parth Ghandi, Partner, Fursa Funds
Speaker Profiles

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Dr. Alexandra Birrell Private Client Services, Commercialisation PricewaterhouseCoopers
A member of the PricewaterhouseCoopers private client services team, Alex specialises in assisting companies to commercialise their technology and manage rapid growth. Alex has expertise in strategy and business planning/investment presentations, project management, attracting and sourcing capital and commercial due diligence for technology and start up/high growth companies. She has worked with companies at different stages of their life cycle from early stage to “mid – cap” or exit stage.
She brings to the team valuable experience, knowledge and an understanding of the complex management issues these companies face at varying time points in their growth. She has extensive experience in advanced engineering technology, information communication and medical sectors. Alex has a research and commercialisation background which is invaluable for understanding the nature and underlying motives of the inventor/founder. She also has depth of expertise in strategy and planning, project management, and commercial due diligence for technology companies. Alex supports our internal audit as an industry specialist in health, medicine, research, technology and commercialisation.
Alex has a PhD in medicine and an MBA (majoring in financial and business modelling) from the AGSM.
PricewaterhouseCoopers is committed to supporting fast growth companies, and the firm has a global program in place to support Companies with Extraordinary Potential (CWEP). PricewaterhouseCoopers have an experienced team with a passion and focus on working with businesses with high growth potential and ambitious goals. The team provide companies with a key focal point through which all of their needs can be anticipated and satisfied as they move through the growth phases.
The CWEP team includes specialists in accounting, audit, tax, legal and strategic advice, working together to offer comprehensive solutions in areas as broad as IP, grant applications and tax structuring for acquisitions or IPOs to name a few. This is supported by the firm’s industry expertise and external commercial network which is invaluable for identifying potential opportunities to support growth.
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Peter Chaffey Manager Business Melbourne, City of Melbourne
Peter currently leads the Business Melbourne team in the City of Melbourne. Business Melbourne implements many economic development programs and activities aimed at encouraging a prosperous and innovative city.His 25 year career has traversed a broad range of senior management, consulting, policy development and research responsibilities in both the public and private sectors. Within these roles his major focus has been on local and regional economic development, business and trade support services and corporate and strategic planning.
Peter holds a Master of Business, (Organisation Behaviour) degree from the Swinburne University of Technology and first graduated from Monash University with Honours in Arts, (Geography/Politics majors). He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member and past-President of the Economic Development Association of Victoria.
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Jan Dekker Managing Director, Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies
Jan Dekker has been the Managing Director of the Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies since it commenced operation in July 2003. The Centre manages an investment fund aimed at developing and commercialising new sustainable energy technologies. Prior to joining the Centre, Jan was a Director at SEDA responsible for more than 40 sustainable energy sector projects involving capital raising and commercialisation of R&D. Jan has formal qualifications in Science and Environmental Law.
The Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies is a private company managing a pool of funds allocated to it from the Victorian Government. The fund invests in emerging sustainable energy cleantech technologies that reduce net greenhouse gas emissions. The Centre currently has a portfolio of 11 investee companies.
By identifying and attracting development projects that require investment to reach the demonstration or commercialisation stage, the Centre in conjunction with co-investors aims to generate commercial returns by meeting the growing Australian and global demand for these technologies.
The Centre for Energy and Greenhouse Technologies provides investment funds and support services for the development of new sustainable energy technologies. The aim of the Centre is to facilitate investment in new sustainable energy and greenhouse gas reduction technologies and capitalise both on Australia's specific energy sector requirements and the existing clear global export opportunities.
Technology application can be across the entire energy spectrum from generation, transmission and distribution to end use applications - focussing on energy efficiency and greenhouse gas reduction outcomes.
While the Centre's investments are across the entire Research, Development, Demonstration and Commercialisation (RDD&C) spectrum, the main focus is on the Development to Demonstration phase, bridging the gap between R&D and Commercialisation. Research has shown that a significant gap exists in investment in this area as it rests between the well-funded R&D stage and the focus of industry and investors on the commercialisation of proven new technologies and market opportunities.
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Ivor Frischknecht Investment Director, Starfish Ventures
Established in 2001, Starfish Ventures is an Australian owned venture capital fund manager seeking superior returns through active investment in innovative technology companies. Starfish Ventures has over $150 million in funds under management and has made investments in over 20 companies to date. Starfish seeks investments in emerging Australian businesses across all technology sectors including, communications, biotechnology and life sciences, industrial technology and material sciences. The team's track record includes Australian technology success stories ResMed, Moldflow, Preston Aviation Solution and Sirtex Medical.
Ivor Frischknecht has broad business experience as a company founder, board director, manager, consultant and investor. He joined Starfish Ventures in 2005 after 15 years of hands-on management and investing experience. His focus is on Cleantech investments-companies that develop energy, water and environmental technologies.
Prior to joining Starfish, Ivor was a Director of the New Ventures Group at Idealab, a California-based firm that incubates and invests in early stage technology companies. At Idealab, he evaluated and developed business plans and helped the CEOs of existing investments grow and finance their companies. Two of the companies developed clean energy technologies.
Prior to Idealab, Ivor was a senior operating executive, including CEO, of several Silicon Valley startups in the energy technology, enterprise software and the Internet sectors. He was CEO of H2onsite, a hydrogen generation technology company, and COO of DMFCC, a micro fuel cell company. He co-founded a software company, Angara Database Systems, built it from zero to sixty employees over five years, raised US$40MM of top-tier venture capital and debt, and eventually merged it with a public company. Ivor has a strong international network of sources of capital, having secured lead investments from several top tier venture capital investors. He has helped companies grow as an independent investor, consultant and advisor, from incorporation through several rounds of financing.
Prior to working in California Ivor was a strategic management consultant with Bain & Company in Sydney, Boston and San Francisco. He also worked for the law firm Minter Ellison, and was a research scholar at the Reserve Bank of Australia and Harvard University. Ivor holds an MBA from Stanford University and Bachelors of Economics (Hons) and Law from the University of Sydney.
Ivor serves on the Board of Directors of the following portfolio companies: Senviro and Space-Time Research.
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Dr. Paul Hogan Manger Sustainable Business, Sustainability Victoria
Paul leads the Sustainable Business team at Sustainability Victoria. His background includes ten years in the commercialisation of technology primarily in the wine industry, and process design. Paul also spent four years in corporate finance with PricewaterhouseCoopers advising clients on the valuation of emerging technologies and business investments
Paul brings experience in the commercial analysis and evaluation of business investment opportunities. Paul commenced with the Sustainable Energy Authority in August 2003. He has a B.E.(Hons), Ph.D., MBA, Grad Dip Applied Finance and Investment.
Smart businesses recognise that using resources more productively makes good business sense. Sustainability Victoria is working with industry to eliminate barriers and stimulate markets to create the right environment for investment in clean technology solutions, and grow new industries based around sustainable business practices.
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Christian Jensen Portfolio Manager, CVC Sustainable Investments
Christian Jensen is the Portfolio Manager responsible for the management of CVC Sustainable Investments Limited (CVCSI). CVC SI, part of the CVC Group is an unlisted equity fund focused specifically on environmentally sustainable investment. The company has been in operation since 2002 and is at the forefront of environmentally sustainable investment in Australia. Mr Jensen commenced his career as a Chartered Accountant with Ernst & Young working within their restructuring and insolvency division. Since starting with CVC in 2001, Mr Jensen has spent considerable time working with companies on the development and implementation of restructuring and growth strategies across a variety of investment stages and sectors. He has extensive experience across a range of investment structures including MBOs, MBIs, expansion capital and listed investment and has been involved in a number of initial public offerings. He has experience as a board member of both listed and unlisted companies.
CVCSI is a specialist Australian clean technology investment fund. CVCSI is a specialist environmental investment fund whose objective is to create a diversified investment portfolio that generates exceptional returns to investors while delivering meaningful and measurable environmental benefits. We are targeting companies whose operations are dedicated to addressing environmental problems, are developing or utilising clean technologies or whose operations cause little or no environmental damage. The Fund has been in operation since 2002 and has an existing portfolio of investee companies across diverse range of environmental sectors. CVC is a leader in environmental investing in Australia and has significant skill in investment selection, management and exit across a variety of sectors.
CVCSI has a wide range of experience in investing across all 'cleantech' sectors. CVCSI is part of the CVC Group of investment companies and shares an investment manager with CVC Limited, the best performing private equity fund on ASX over 5 years.
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Rachel O'Neill Director, Carbon Solutions Group, Institutional Banking, nabCapital
Rachel O'Neill was instrumental in establishing this new group which will focus on the evolving carbon finance market, seeking opportunities to build new capabilities and deliver client solutions. The CSG will work closely with other areas of nabCapital and the greater NAB Group by acting as a centre of excellence for all matters relating to carbon financing, including renewable energy, alternative energy efficiency, and other clean technologies.
Rachel has over 14 years of banking experience , the latter six years in Institutional Banking specialising in the energy and utilities sector in credit risk management and client relationship management roles. She holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Queensland.
nabCapital, a division of National Australia Bank provides risk management, funding and investment solutions to clients across NAB Group and manages the relationships of selected corporates on a global basis.
nabCapital has recently formed a Carbon Solutions Group ("CSG") to act as a centre of excellence for matters relating to carbon financing. The CSG will provide clients (from small, medium enterprises through to large corporates) with the best financial tools to manage their businesses in a carbon constrained economy.
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Theo Theophanous, MP Minister for Industry and State Development, Small Business and Major Projects,State Government of Victoria
Minister Theo Theophanous has been the Member for Jika Jika Province since 1988 until November 2006 when he became the Member for Northern Metropolitan Region and is currently the Minister for Industry and State Development, Minister for Major Projects and Minister for Small Business.
He was born in Cyprus and was educated at Glenroy High School and then Latrobe University where he achieved a Bachelor of Arts (Honours, First Class) in Politics and Sociology.
Parliamentary and Portfolio Positions
· Minister for Industry and State Development, Minister for Major Projects, Minister for Small Business (Nov 2006 – Present)
· Minister for Energy Industries and Resources (Nov 2002 – Nov 2006)
· Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Innovation and Regional Development (2002)
· Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Employment and Training (1999 – 2002)
· Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council (1993 – 1999)
Current Community Memberships
· Australian Labor Party
· Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria
· Australian Workers Union
· Fabian Society
Theo Theophanous has been the Member for Jika Jika Province since 1988 until November 2006 when he became the Member for Northern Metropolitan Region and is currently the Minister for Industry and State Development, Minister for Major Projects and Minister for Small Business.
He was born in Cyprus and was educated at Glenroy High School and then Latrobe University where he achieved a Bachelor of Arts (Honours, First Class) in Politics and Sociology.
Parliamentary and Portfolio Positions
· Minister for Industry and State Development, Minister for Major Projects, Minister for Small Business (Nov 2006 – Present)
· Minister for Energy Industries and Resources (Nov 2002 – Nov 2006)
· Parliamentary Secretary for Industry, Innovation and Regional Development (2002)
· Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Employment and Training (1999 – 2002)
· Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council (1993 – 1999)
Current Community Memberships
· Australian Labor Party
· Greek Community of Melbourne and Victoria
· Australian Workers Union
· Fabian Society
Mr Theophanous plays a key role in shaping and delivering the State's overall framework for growth as set out in the Victorian Government’s 2004 Economic Statement, Victoria: Leading The Way and 2002 Business Statement, Building Tomorrow’s Businesses Today. Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development delivers a range of policies, programs and initiatives to drive the growth, productivity and international competitiveness of key Victorian industry sectors such as manufacturing, financial, professional and technical services, transport distribution and logistics, food, education and tourism.
Policies to be released in 2007 include the Victorian Manufacturing Strategy, the Defence Industry Roadmap and the Automotive Manufacturing Plan, combining to reaffirm the commitment to Victoria’s strategically important “pillar” industries.
Minister Theophanous also takes the lead in Victoria’s investment attraction activities, which includes Invest Victoria, a network of overseas offices and high profile international showcases and missions in key markets.
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Fiona Wain Chief Executive Officer, Environment Business Australia
Fiona Wain has been the CEO of Environment Business Australia (EBA) for six years. She has successfully built the association into a powerful industry development body, 'think tank', and advocacy organisation. Representing the proactive voice of industry on sustainability, environment industry competitiveness in international markets, and business development issues, she is a national and international spokesperson for the sector, has authored many articles, and is a frequent conference speaker.
Fiona is a member of various advisories on trade, sustainability, climate change, eco-labelling, environment and energy. At the World Summit for Sustainable Development (Johannesburg 2002) Fiona chaired the sustainable production and consumption working group for the umbrella organisation Business Action for Sustainable Development. In Australia she convenes and chairs the Business and Sustainability Summit, an annual high-level meeting on sustainability for business leaders.
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Peter Martenson Division Director Macquarie Funds Management, USA
Peter is a Division Director based in the United States. He is primarily responsible for the firm’s investment activities in primary funds, secondary funds and co-investments in the United States. This includes sourcing, due diligence, negotiating terms and researching industry trends and opportunities.
Prior to joining Macquarie, Peter was a Director at Pacific Corporate Group LLC, a private equity advisory group, working with large public pension plans in constructing their private equity portfolios and selecting private market managers. Peters investment experience spans 13 years, 8 years of which were in private equity. His areas of focus include energy, clean technology, venture capital, secondaries and special situations as direct, co-investment and partnership investments. Prior to joining PCG, Peter was a U.S. Naval Officer attached to the National Security Agency and to the USS Valley Forge where he was involved in strategic consulting and operational management.
Peter received his MBA from Yale University, holds a BSc from the U.S. Naval Academy, and is a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College.
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Jamie Taylor Director, Equity Capital Markets, WilsonHTM
Prior to joining Wilson HTM, Jamie had a 15 year career in Australian Institutional Equity Sales including Director at Patersons Securities and 10 years in London when he returned to Sydney in 2001. Jamie ran Corporate Broking and then was co-head of Equity Capital Markets for Merrill Lynch. While at Patersons in the Corporate Finance Department Jamie led the firm's push into the clean technology and sustainability sectors which has included the appointment of a dedicated research analyst in these sectors. Jamie is now leading WilsonHTM Cleantech investing initiative and is a member of the AustralAsian Cleantech Advisory Board. Jamie holds a Bachelor of Economics from Monash University.
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Gerry Morvell Assistant Secretary Energy Futures Branch, Australian Greenhouse Office, Department of the Environment & Heritage
Gerry is responsible for policy and program advice to Federal Ministers on climate change and stationary energy supply issues. These include development of renewable energy and low emission technologies, the Mandatory Renewable Energy Target (MRET) and carbon capture and storage.
He has been appointed Co-Chair of the Asia Pacific Partnership Renewable Energy and Distributed Generation Taskforce. He joined the AGO after working at the United Nations Headquarters as the business focal point and head of communications in the Secretariat for the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development.
Prior to that he held executive positions in the federal Environment Department where he was responsible for environmental impact assessment, coastal and marine policies and climate change science and impacts.
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Michael O'Sullivan Investments Manager - Environmental Infrastructure, JF Infrastructure
Michael O’Sullivan
Investment Manager – Environmental Infrastructure
Michael O’Sullivan has involved in project finance and infrastructure investment for over nine years and in 2003 was instrumental in establishing the environmental infrastructure investment portfolio for James Fielding Infrastructure. Since then, Michael’s focus has been on managing and growing this area of JF Infrastructure’s business. Mirvac Funds Management is the property funds management arm of the Mirvac Group. Mirvac is a leading diversified property group focusing on property investment, development, funds management, property and hotel management.
Prior to joining JF Infrastructure, Michael’s was deeply involved in both sides of the more traditional economic and social infrastructure financing transactions, with Lend Lease Corporation and then PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Prior to moving into a career in finance, Michael completed his MBA at Cornell’s Johnson School in the United States following a career of more than ten years as a consulting engineer throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
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Peter Castellas Managing Director, Clean Technology AustralAsia Pty Ltd
Peter is the joint founder and Managing Director of Clean Technology AustralAsia, a business established to accelerate the investment in and deployment of clean technologies in the Asia Pacific region. Throughout Peter's 20-year entrepreneurial career, he has worked at the leading edge of the sustainable development agenda and has advised leading corporations, governments and financial institutions. He has designed and run successful Cleantech Finance & Investment Initiatives in Australia and China and conceived and developed the 1st India Cleantech Forum. Peter is currently leading a major international project for the Asia Pacific Partnership for Clean Development and Climate to develop a Strategic Action plan to increase the investment in and deployment of renewable energy in India.
Peter is also the Fund Manager of the Sustainable Melbourne Fund an initiative that provides innovative financing to projects that contribute towards Sustainable Development at the State and municipal level. Peter has pioneered a number of innovative financing models and turnkey solutions for the upgrade and retrofit of commercial buildings.
Peter and has held roles including the Sustainability Advisor for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Head of International Business Development for Melbourne University Private, National Environmental and Engineering Manager for Dunhill Management Services and Managing Director of Cultural Diversity. Peter is currently a National Councilor for Environment Business Australia and a Director of Global Knowledge Ventures. He is a regular presenter at national and international conferences and graduated in 1986 with a Bachelor of Education in Environmental Studies.
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Terry Tamminen Special Advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Terry Tamminen, Special Advisor to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger
Global Warnings: Cleantech Solutions for the Climate Change Challenge
As a growing body of evidence details the worldwide environmental and economic impacts of global warming, air pollution, water pollution, and sprawling land use, there is also a robust movement to solve these problems from some unlikely leaders. Terry Tamminen offers hope that we can successfully tackle the defining issues of our time - and prosper in the process.
At the 3rd AustralAsian Cleantech Forum in Melbourne, Mr Tamminen will use the experiences from many nations and the “living laboratory” of California, and will outline the steps underway, and those still needed, to win the battle over human-caused climate change. As the Secretary of California’s Environmental Protection Agency, Terry was the architect of several Cleantech programs, including the Hydrogen Highway Network, the Climate Action Plan, and the $3 billion “Million Solar Roof Initiative”, all of which will play a key role in ending our dependence on fossil fuels and combating global warming.
A United States Coast Guard-licensed ship captain, Terry has long been drawn to the undersea world, starting in the 1960s with a family-run tropical fish breeding business in Australia and continuing with studies on conch depletion in the Bahamas, manatee populations in Florida coastal waters, and mariculture in the Gulf States with Texas A&M University.
On land, Terry managed the largest sheep ranch east of the Mississippi, assisting the University of Minnesota in developing new methods of livestock disease control. Terry also managed a multi-million dollar real estate company, owned/operated a successful recreational services business, and assisted the west African nation of Nigeria with the creation of their first solid waste recycling program.
An accomplished author, Terry’s latest book, Lives Per Gallon: The True Cost of Our Oil Addiction (Island Press), is a timely examination of our dependence on oil and a strategy to evolve to more sustainable energy sources. He has also authored a series of best-selling “Ultimate Guides” to pools and spas (McGraw-Hill) and several theatrical works on the life of William Shakespeare. Terry is an avid airplane and helicopter pilot and speaks German, Dutch and Spanish.
In 1993, Terry founded the Santa Monica BayKeeper and served as its Executive Director for six years. He co-founded Waterkeeper programs in San Diego, Orange County, Ventura, and Santa Barbara. He also served for five years as Executive Director of the Environment Now Foundation in Santa Monica, CA and co-founded the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic at the School of Law, University of California Los Angeles.
In the summer of 2003, Terry helped Arnold Schwarzenegger win the historic recall election and become Governor of California. He was appointed as the Secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency in November, 2003 and Cabinet Secretary, the Chief Policy Advisor to the Governor, in December, 2004. He currently lectures and provides private consulting services to a variety of clients, including advising the Governor on energy and environmental policy.
Terry has received countless awards and honors for his achievements and has served on numerous civic and charitable boards and commissions, including the Southern California Wetlands Recovery Project, the U.S. Navy Pt. Mugu Naval Air Station Restoration Advisory Board, the Los Angeles/Long Beach Harbor Safety Committee and the Wishtoyo Foundation, a group that preserves natural resources through Chumash Indian traditional teachings.
Mr. Tamminen will also illustrate his views with stories of his work with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Prime Minister Tony Blair, and others. His unique insights will examine the true cost of our fossil-fuel addiction, but explain why we can be hopeful that we will kick the habit in time by Cleantech inventing - - and investing - - our way to a brighter future – including addressing the issues of clean coal and the nuclear power technologies.
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The Right Hon John So Lord Mayor City of Melbourne
Lord Mayor John So was the first directly elected Lord Mayor of the Melbourne City Council in 2001, and was re-elected in November 2004 for a second term.
A businessman and Justice of the Peace, he has qualifications in science and education from the University of Melbourne.
Actively involved in tourism and ethnic community welfare issues, he was a Commissioner of the Ethnic Affairs Commission (1991-93) and a former Councillor of the City of Melbourne (1991-96 and 1999 - 2001).
He has also been Vice President of the Melbourne Chinatown Traders Association.
The Lord Mayor’s vision for Melbourne includes creating closer links between the city and the water including the Yarra River and Docklands.
Lord Mayor So also looks forward to celebrating Melbourne’s expanding links with Asia, particularly Council’s sister city relationships with Osaka, Japan and Tianjin, China, increasing the number of direct flights to and from Melbourne, and being an active member of the Business Partner City Network combining 12 global cities.
Sound financial management and setting low annual property rates will be also be a priority for the Lord Mayor.
The Lord Mayor believes Melbourne’s parks and gardens and waterways, our infrastructure and friendly attitudes are the best things about Melbourne.
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Michael Liebreich CEO, New Energy Finance
Michael Liebreich is the Founder and CEO of New Energy Finance Limited, a specialist provider of financial information and services to investors in renewable energy, low-carbon technologies and the carbon markets. Services include the New Energy Finance Briefing, the New Energy Finance Desktop (which is the world’s largest database of clean energy investors and transactions), the New Carbon Finance Deep Dive, subscription-based streams of research, analysis and forecasting, reports and consultancy.
Michael is an experienced venture capitalist and entrepreneur who has helped build more than 25 companies. Before founding New Energy Finance early in 2004, he was UK Managing Director of a division of Groupe Arnault which invested $700m of technology venture capital. From 1995 to 1998 Michael was Deputy Managing Director of Associated Press Television and Founding Director of Sports News Television, the world’s leading wholesale provider of sports news video. At the same time he acted as non-executive director of Interactive Investor prior to its IPO on the London Stock Exchange. Before that, Michael spent 5 years with McKinsey & Company in their London office focusing on operations and finance.
Michael has a Master of Arts in Engineering with First Class Honours from the University of Cambridge, where he won the Wyatt Prize for Engineering and the Ricardo Prize for Thermodynamics. He has MBA from Harvard Graduate School of Business, where he was a Harkness Fellow and Baker Scholar. Michael speaks fluent German and French, and good Spanish. From 1986 to 1993 he was a member of the British Ski Team, competing in the World Cup and in the 1992 Albertville Olympic Games.
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Stephen Manallack CEO, Australia India Business Council
Stephen Manallack is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australia India Business Council and is also director of Manallack Pty Ltd, financial public relations consultants. He is the author of You Can Communicate (Pearson 2002) and writes on leadership and communication for India's biggest business website, www.domain-b.com Stephen has led and participated in several trade missions to India.
Manallack Pty Ltd is a boutique PR consultancy specialising in communications strategy, media relations and branding for financial services and professional services firms. Manallack provides advisory services to firms engaged in trade between Australia and India.
Manallack Pty Ltd has worked in financial and professional services for over 10 years. It is a niche we enjoy, which shines through in our achievements for many clients including fund managers, accounting firms, stockbrokers, financial planners, industry specialists and superannuation.
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Sean Lucy Director, PricewaterhouseCoopers
Sean Lucy is an environmental lawyer with PricewaterhouseCoopers. While Sean works across all areas of environmental law, his area of expertise in the operation of environmental markets, including carbon and water trading systems. An active contributor to industry forums, Sean is frequently called upon to provide comment on the business implications of new policy developments in this area.
A Director on the Board of the Australian Business Council of Sustainable Energy, Sean plays a key role in contributing to the ongoing public debate on sustainability, and has authored a number of key publications.
Sean has a BSc (Hons) and LLB (Hons), from Monash University.
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Clint Wilder Author "The Cleantech Revolution", Clean Egdge, USA
Clint Wilder, contributing editor, is a veteran award-winning technology and business journalist. His book The Clean Tech Revolution - the next big growth and investment opportunity (with co-author Ron Pernick) will be published by Collins, an imprint of HarperCollins, in June 2007. Before joining Clean Edge in 2002, he was editor-at-large and columnist for Optimize magazine, CMP Media's monthly journal for high-level business technology executives. As editor-at-large and columnist for Information Week magazine before that, he won the 2002 American Society of Business Publication Editors gold award for best feature series, as well as numerous CMP editorial awards. A frequent speaker and panelist at industry events, Wilder also worked as a writer and editor at Corporate Computing and Computerworld.
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Rob Fowler Managing Director, Abatement Solutions Asia Pacific
Rob is recognised globally as an expert in the design and implementation of market-based mechanisms to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Based in Sydney, Australia, he is a regular presenter at international climate change conferences and workshops across Europe, North America and Asia.
Through his role with AS-AP, Rob provides a range of services covering climate change policy, capacity building, offsets frameworks, project structuring, and carbon strategy development. Active engagements include:
· Advising on the design of a market mechanism for New Zealand;
· Facilitating CDM projects in China, including project discovery, methodology development and deal negotiations, for a major broker;
· Advising on the design of the offsets mechanism within the Australian National Emissions Trading Scheme (developed by States & Territories),
· Assisting with the development of a new Verification Strategy for the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (in collaboration with Ecofys)
· Assisting with the development of Marginal Abatement Cost Curves for the New Zealand economy (in collaboration with ICF International).
Rob is also an active member of the UNFCCC’s expert register and provides advice to the CDM Executive Board on new methodologies, registration of projects and accreditation of verifiers. He has contributed to the development of standards and protocols including the WBCSD/WRI GHG Project Protocol, the recently approved international standard ISO 14064, and the Australian Standard for carbon accounting in forests.
Closer to home, Rob is best known for his work with the Australian State-based “New South Wales Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme” (GGAS), where from August 2003 to June 2006 he drove the implementation and development of many of the scheme’s abatement frameworks, including coal-fired power generation, forest-based carbon sequestration, and the distribution of small energy efficiency devices. He trained auditors, developed administration workflow tools, and educated a wide variety of participants on the workings and opportunities of this innovative scheme.
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Ian Robertson Trustee, Local Government Superannuation Scheme
Union official - public sector (PSA 10 years), mixed (GISOF) and local government Secretary depa (www.depa.net.au) since 1984. Union covering health, building, planning professionals in NSW local government Trustee director on Local Government Superannuation Scheme (NSW) since established in July 1997.
Member Investment Committee and Chair Determinations Committee LGSS. On LGSS pursued and achieved:
. sale of tobacco shares in 1998,
. establishment of sustainability overlay on $1.5 billion Aussie equities which, since 2004 has made $6 million - chiefly from selling Gunns, Aristocrat
. improved sustainability of directly held property portfolio with reduced power, water, carbon footprint
. Membership of ACSI, adoption of UN Principles of Sustainable Investment,
Participant Carbon Disclosure Project 2007
Secretary of AIST since February 2002
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Nick Lattimore Deputy CEO and Head of Investment Orgination, JF Infrastructure
Deputy CEO and Head of Orgination and his role at JF Infrastructure is leading the Investment Origination Group in sourcing and executing acquisition and disposal transactions on behalf of JF Infrastructure's institutional clients and funds such as the Australian Sustainable Investmemts Fund which is managed by JF Infrastructure's Investment Management Group.
Mr Lattimore has 27 years experience in the Australian banking and finance markets having spent his career in project and structured finance across a broad range of markets including Social and Economic Infrastructure, cquisition Finance, Project Finance, Resource Financing, Forestry and Agribusiness, and Energy and Renewable Energy.
He was previously the Head of the Banking Division of NM Rothschild & Sons (Australia) Pty Limited and is currently on the Boards of Superior Coal Limited (Chairman) and LinQ Resources Trust.
Prior to joining Rothschild in 2001, Mr Lattimore was the Head of Project and Structured Finance at Deutsche Bank Australia Limited and Joint Deputy Head of the Investment Banking Division. In this role, he was actively involved in providing advice, arranging and structuring senior and mezzanine debt, and lending for some of Australia's largest greenfields and brownfields infrastructure assets across the energy (electricity and gas generation, transmission and distribution) resources, water and transport (rail, road, airports and ports) sectors.
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Dr. Ron Ben David Deputy Secretary – Office of Climate Change – Sector Improvement Group, Department of Premier and Cabinet
Ron Ben-David joined the Victorian Public Service in 1998, initially working in the area of tax reform policy in the Department of Treasury and Finance. After a short stint as an economist for the Department of Premier and Cabinet, Ron was appointed as the Project Director for the Victorian Government’s Latrobe Valley Ministerial Taskforce. This was a ground breaking, whole-of-government initiative that resulted in over $100 million being committed to the revitalisation of the Latrobe Valley.
In July 2001, Ron returned to the Department of Premier and Cabinet and has held positions in the Department's Economic Policy Branch, the Resources and Infrastructure Branch and the Policy and Cabinet Group. In early 2004, Ron played a leading role in the development of Victoria: Leading the Way ? an action plan for driving economic growth in Victoria over the medium term.
Since May 2004, Ron has been the Deputy Secretary, Sector Improvement in the Department of Premier and Cabinet. In this role, he oversees the development of whole-of-government policies in a diverse range of areas including public administration, legal policy, information management, security, communications and the Office of the State Architect.
In December 2005, Ron proudly became a Fellow of the Victorian Division of the Institute of Public Administration Australia.
From February to September 2006, Ron acted in the role of Deputy Secretary, Strategic Policy and Projects, Department of Sustainability and Environment.
Ron is also the Deputy Secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet’s newly formed Office of Climate Change.
Ron’s first university qualification was a Bachelor of Science in Optometry. After practising and travelling for a number of years, he returned to university and gained an Honours Degree in Commerce. This was followed by a PhD in Economics from the University of Melbourne in 1999. His thesis uses game theory to explore the relationship between fiscal and monetary policy-makers.
Ron is married to Lauren. They have three children.
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Somak Ghosh President Corporate Finance & Development Banking, YES Bank, India
Somak Ghosh is the President, Corporate Finance and Development Banking at YES BANK. He is spearheading the Corporate Finance practice in the Bank, which comprises four distinct Product Groups – Infrastructure Banking, Structured and Project Finance, Realty Banking and Financial Restructurings. He is also responsible for the Development and Knowledge Banking function, which includes focus on Food and Agri Strategic Advisory and Research (FASAR), Agri, Micro & Rural Banking, Corporate and Social Responsibility (Responsible Banking) and Strategic Initiatives – State Governments.
Somak is part of the Executive Management Team at YES BANK and a member of the Bank’s ALCO (Asset Liability Committee) and the Management Credit Committee. Somak also has a deep professional interest in the area of sustainability and provides leadership to the Responsible Banking initiative at YES BANK. He has been instrumental in reviving interest in financing renewable energy projects in India by the commercial banking community and has represented on various international forums on topics covering inter-alia, CDM and Project Financing, Renewable Energy Financing in India, Sustainable Infrastructure and the Role of Banks.
Prior to joining YES BANK, he was a Director with Rabo India (100% subsidiary of Rabo International, the Dutch Banking major). He has over 13 years of experience in various capacities in India and Europe and in leading organizations like ICICI Ltd, Reliance Industries and Ispat Europe.
Somak is a member of various industry associations, including FICCI, CII and Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others.
Somak holds an MBA Degree in Finance from FMS Delhi and B.E Chemical Engineering from the University of Mumbai.
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Jon Ward General Manager, Business, Innovation and Technology, Sustainability Victoria
Jon Ward has over 25 years experience in environmental management, resource efficiency and behaviour change. This has included 12 years with EPA Victoria in policy development and enforcement roles, 9 years with the United Nations leading projects in Asia and the Middle East and 5 years with EcoRecycle Victoria and now Sustainability Victoria.
He took up his current role as General Manager of Business , Innovation and Technology with Sustainability Victoria, in 2006. This role is responsible for Sustainability Victoria’s business programs covering , resource recovery, sustainable manufacturing and commerce, the built environment , renewable and distributed energy, product stewardship and design for sustainability.
Jon is a member of the National Waste Working Group, Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production, sits on advisory boards to the Swinburne National Centre for Sustainability, Australian Sustainable Industry Research Centre and the Plastics Council of Australia.
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Richard Caldwell Head Corporate Finance, Tricome Equities
Richard Caldwell (BEc LLB ASIA)
Non-Executive Chairman
Richard is currently Head of Corporate Finance and Equity Capital Markets ('ECM') at Tricom in Sydney. Tricom provides a broad range of financial and investment banking services and is an active participant of the Australian Stock Exchange. Richard has an established record in listing and providing ongoing corporate advice to many successful Australian emerging growth companies, particularly in the telecommunications, technology and rewables sectors. In addition, he has a strong transaction history in the oil & gas, resources and infrastructure sectors. Before joining Tricom, Richard spent seven years at Burdett Buckeridge Young where he became a significant shareholder and held the position of Head of ECM. During his twenty year career in financial markets Richard has also held senior management positions at Citibank, Sydney and J. P. Morgan, London. There he was responsible for debt origination, trading and risk management.
Outside of the finance industry, Richard is a founder and director of AiMedics Pty Ltd, a biomedical devices spin-off of the University of Technology, Sydney specialising in non-invasive diagnostics in diabetes and he is President of the Medical Foundation, Sydney University - Australia's largest private medical research foundation. Richard is also a visiting fellow of Macquarie University where he lectures in ECM.
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Glenn Fozard Investment Advisor
Glenn Fozard - BA(Psych.)/B.Bus(Int.Trade), ADA 1&2
Investment Advisor
Glenn provides specialized advisory services for those investors seeking entry into the Cleantech and Sustainable Responsible Investment (SRI) field. His 8 years of experience in the financial services and advisory industry supports his dedicated and passionate approach to identifying early stage companies on the verge of commercialiazation as well as more mature companies with established SRI principles of business.
“Investing in Cleantech companies are a chance for the investment community to drive the development of society towards one which balances the competing principles of profitability and sustainability. Its easy to get excited about investing in a company that has the potential to enure water security or eliminate greenhouse gases. But its not so easy to ensure that it can be done in an efficient and cost effective fashion, with a credible roadmap to commercialization and a management skillset to execute the plan successfully. We aim to connect the two.”
“The principals of SRI do not just provide for an investment filter guided by ethics but also serves as a criteria for identifying outperforming companies on the sharemarket. Those companies which rate highly for environment, society and corporate governance are less prone to the risk of financial and public relations shocks. Shocks which can decimate a brand or destroy a business model.”
Glenn is a member of the Ethical Investment Association and Rotary and offers all investors in SRI and Cleantech companies a 5%-10% rebate of brokerage costs to charity. Rotary members also have the option of allocating this rebate to their home club.
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Steve Gibbs Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth Superannuation Scheme
Steve Gibbs
Chief Executive Officer
Since his appointment in February 2000, Gibbs has driven the modernisation of Australia’s federal government super funds which today manage over $17 billion funds on behalf of 298,000 members and 266 Australian Government employer-agencies.
Gibbs has taken a leading role in putting investment governance and sustainability on the investment industry agenda in Australia.
In 2003, he was named Fund Executive of the Year by Australian industry body Fund Executives Association Limited (FEAL) for his ‘leadership on governance issues, not just for the sake of his fund but across the industry’.
Gibbs was formerly Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) and has broad experience in industrial relations and superannuation in both private and public sectors.
He sits on a number of Boards and superannuation committees including as Chairman of the ACT Division Committee of the Australian Superannuation Funds Association, and the Committee of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (ACSI) which he also represents on the ASX Corporate Governance Council.
He holds a Bachelor of Economics and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) from Monash University.
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Danny Mills CEO, Environmental Clean Coal Technologies
Danny has more than 30 years significant energy industry experience, through senior operational and business development executive roles with major energy organisations.
With his significant knowledge base in the energy sector, Danny was a key contributor to CLP Power Australia’s business development activities, leading the power generation developments for the group in the ANZ region.
Danny has held various managerial positions at Yallourn Energy, which operates Australia’s second largest open cut coal mine and power plant producing approximately 25% of Victoria’s electricity.
More recently, Danny has lead clean coal technology market development activities for major international technology companies GE Energy & Siemens Limited and has a very solid understanding of the local and international markets for ECT’s technologies and products.
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Craig Chambers General Manager, GridX Power
Throughout his career, Craig has been responsible for new business development within the Cogeneration and District Energy Industry within Australia. He has worked primarily in providing distributed generation solutions for utilities within Australia and the UK.
Utilising this in-depth understanding of the many drivers within the Australian energy industry for Distributed Generation and district energy; as well as his strong strategic development skills Craig with his colleagues founded GridX Power some 5 years ago.
GridX has developed a unique sustainable energy model that is paving the way for Developers to meet their energy requirements within power constrained areas whilst complying with the environmental requirements for their developments.
Craig has a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Sydney in addition to a Diploma in Sustainable Development and has also completed a Masters of Engineering at the University of Technology, Sydney. He is also a member of Business Council for Sustainable Energy, Electricity Supply Association of Australia as well as a Fellow Member of Australian Institute of Energy.
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Nigel Murphy Managing Director, Earth Systems Technologies
Nigel Murphy is the Managing Director of Earth Systems Technologies.
He has a Bachelors Degree (Hons) in Earth Sciences and Masters Degree in Environmental Science from Monash University. He started his career with CRA (Rio Tinto) in 1985 before co-founding Earth Systems, an environmental research and consulting company, in 1993 with Dr Jeff Taylor.
At Earth Systems, Nigel has been responsible for business management and development as well as providing technical and project management skills. During the last 5 years Earth Systems has grown at greater than 30% per annum and now has four offices (2 international) and 35 staff.
Nigel has worked in more than 10 countries throughout the Asia-Pacific region and has been responsible for the establishment of operations and companies in a number of these.
He is also a Director of Earth Systems Lao, Chairman of Earth Systems China and has honorary roles as the Chair of the Certified Environmental Practitioner Board of Australia and New Zealand (CEnvP) and the Victorian National Councillor of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. He has also been a Director of Environment Business Australia.
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Attilio Demicheli Chief Executive Officer, Katrix
Attilio has 22 years experience in technology commercialisation including multi-million dollar R&D project management, I.P. management, international licensing, business & commercial development. He has held executive management roles spanning from a venture capital funded Biotechnology Company to major corporations (FH Faulding, CSL Limited), to consulting services, provided under the Victorian Government Technology Commercialisation Program. Attilio was instrumental in introducing project management to CSL and was part of the senior management team at CSL during its privatisation and IPO listing on the ASX.
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Dr. Timothy Finnigan Chief Executive Officer, BioPower Systems
Dr. Timothy Finnigan is the Founder and CEO of BioPower Systems, a clean technology company that is commercialising award-winning nature-inspired ocean power conversion systems. Dr. Finnigan’s career in ocean engineering spans fifteen years, with the past eight years focussed specifically on ocean power conversion. From 2000 to 2005 he was the Technical Director at Energetech Australia where he led a team working on ocean energy technologies. He has a broad range of experience in engineering and technology commercialisation, and has worked in both consulting businesses and academic institutions.
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Colin Gillam Managing Director, Alternate Fuels & Energy
8 years doing R&D, consulting and lobbying to develop a Biodiesel industry in Australia, including successfully lobbying to reduce the Biodiesel excise from 38 cents per litre to 19 cents per litre and extend the rebate period from 2008 to 20011 and phasing out in 2016.
Approached by the United Nations who recognised the potential of our solar heater and have purchased units for Afghanistan that are being installed and trialled.
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Raja Rajagopal Chief Executive Officer, Microflow
Senior international executive with 20 years experience covering venture capital, healthcare, consumer goods and service industries. Proven track record in addressing strategic needs of companies to define, identify, set up, restructure and manage business opportunities under challenging conditions.
In January 2007 Raja assumed the position of Chairman &CEO to Microflow after providing consulting support for early development of the company; preparing business and strategic marketing plan; negotiating licensing and JV deals; leading fund-raising efforts.
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Sylvia Tulloch Managing Director, Dyesol Limited
Sylvia is a materials scientist with over twenty five years experience in establishment and management of high technology business. She is experienced in the process of listing on the ASX and the demands of public company governance and fund raising. Responsibilities have included the strategic development of the company and contributing to the scientific developments and the successful move of DSC from development to production.
Past roles included CEO of a window manufacturer and business manager of an advanced technology multinational defence company. Sylvia has been active in government liaison, both at company and industry levels. She was the last President of the Sustainable Energy Industries Association of Australia, Chair of the Renewable Energy Action Agenda Implementation Group and on the committee guiding the Australian Renewable Energy Technology Roadmap, and a Director of the Australian Business Council for Sustainable Energy. She holds a Master of Science degree from the University of NSW.
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Chris Officer President & CEO, Anzode NZ
Prior to Founding Anzode in 2003, Chris had a 20-year international management, consulting, & business development career delivering strong, sustainable capital, revenue & profitability growth in highly competitive markets. He has had wide international experience as a senior manager, in both public and private companies, including: Australasia’s largest public e-commerce consulting firm, a public multinational software company, a $400 million revenue division of a sector dominant private company.
His entrepreneurial experience includes founding, company that developed a successful software product, Internet-based training school, a management consulting firm.
He has had repeated success with the unique challenges of start-up, turnaround and high-growth companies, particularly those with a technology focus and international markets.
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Dr. John White Chairman, Global Renewables
John has extensive experience in the leadership and strategic development of organisations in the engineering and manufacturing sector. John was chief executive of Transfield Defense Systems from 1988 to 1996 and then global chief executive of the recycling and packaging group, Visy Industries.
He was subsequently managing director of the building products and hardware distribution group, Siddons Ramset until the successful takeover by Illinois Tool Works of USA. John holds a PhD in Engineering from the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom.
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Stuart McConnell Executive Director of Science and Technology, EPA Victoria
Stuart McConnell is the Director - Science and Technology at EPA Victoria. In this role his focus is on building EPA's science and technology capabilities to drive improvements in resource efficiency and continued reductions in the impacts of emissions. Over his 9 years at EPA, he has worked across areas including waste strategy, regional service delivery and environmental auditing. Prior to joining EPA, he worked in the consulting sector focussing on environmental risk assessment. Stuart has qualifications in chemical engineering and public health.
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Mark Kelleher Managing Director, Roaring 40's
Mark Kelleher is the inaugural Managing Director of Roaring 40s, a joint venture company between Hydro Tasmania and CLP Asia. Roaring 40s is a leading renewable energy business – currently investing, developing and operating renewable energy assets in Australia, New Zealand, China and India.
Mr Kelleher has been in this role since September 2005. Previously, he was General Manager, Renewables Development for Hydro Tasmania.
Mr Kelleher was with Hydro Tasmania for 12 years, holding a number of positions in financial and strategic areas of the business, and was responsible for a number of major projects including corporate restructure, the 600MW undersea electricity inter-connector - Basslink, conversion of Bell Bay Power Station to gas, and establishing Hydro Tasmania’s new wind generation business (Roaring 40s), including the development of national and international wind projects.
Prior to this, Mr Kelleher was with Telstra, where he held a number of key positions in financial and strategy areas.
In his current role Mr Kelleher is responsible for overseeing the development of new business opportunities for Roaring 40s nationally and internationally, and successfully growing Roaring 40s to become the leading renewable energy business in Asia and Oceania.
Mr Kelleher is a Bachelor of Commerce (University of Tasmania), a CPA, a Fellow of the Institute of Company Directors, and a graduate of the senior executive program at London Business School.
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Michael Cook Group Executive - Special Projects, Investa Property Group
Michael joined Investa in June 2003 with responsibility for the Principal Office Fund. Michael joined Investa from Hong Kong where he was the General Manager of the $5billion IFC Project. Until November 2002, Michael was the Manager of Commercial Asset Management at AMP Henderson Global Investors with responsibilities for co-owned and AMP Office Trust assets. Prior to joining AMP in April 2000, Michael spent more than 8 years in a senior Asset Management role with BT Funds Management with responsibility for both wholesale and BT Office Trust (Principal Office Fund) assets.
Michael’s present role at Investa is Group Executive, Special Projects, with responsibility for major transactions, the evaluation of international opportunities and the management of Investa’s extensive investment portfolio.
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Kate Vinot General Manager, Corporate Strategy for South East Water
Kate Vinot is Co-Chair of the Commissioner's Reference Group and General Manager, Corporate Strategy for South East Water.
In her current role, Kate is responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of South East Water's corporate strategy including policies and programs that promote the innovative use and reuse of water resources, continuously improve South East Water's environment and sustainability footprints, and support existing and new business and policy initiatives through sound research and development.
Kate previously held the role of General Manager, Environment with Visy Industries from early 2000. In 2004 Visy was awarded the Gold Banksia Environmental Award for environmental excellence and leadership and Visy and has been recognised for its excellent environmental and broader sustainability performance in national surveys of Australian business from 2000 – 2004.
Kate holds degrees in civil engineering and economics and has post-graduate qualifications in business administration. Kate has strategic and practical experience in environment/sustainability programs across range of industries in many countries including Cameroon, Sweden, France, Germany, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Vietnam, the USA and NZ.
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Parth Ghandi Partner, Fursa Funds
Mr. Gandhi is part of the Asia based team at Mellon HBV Alternative Strategies based out of the Mumbai, India office. Mr. Gandhi was previously a Managing Director at Navigator Group LLC. a buyout fund focused on the manufacturing industry in the United States. Prior to that Mr. Gandhi was a Senior Manager in the Strategy & Transformation practice of Cap Gemini Ernst and Young where he led several engagements in CRM Strategy and corporate strategy development for Fortune 500 firms. Mr. Gandhi is a graduate of the University of Bombay (BS degree, with honors, in Electrical and Computer Engineering) and Michigan State University (MBA). Mr. Gandhi is actively involved with the Michigan State Alumni Association, the Society for Automotive Engineers and The Society for Manufacturing Engineers and the American Marketing Association. Mr. Gandhi serves on the board of H2Gen Inc, Aon Research Private Limited and is a board observer at Reva Electric Car Company.
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