UniSC Industry Showcase - Big Issues in Energy

Future Directions for Energy in Queensland

Queensland is positioning itself as a leader in renewable energy, with significant investments in solar, wind, and hydrogen technologies. The state aims to achieve a 50% renewable energy target by 2030, driven by its vast renewable resources and commitment to sustainable growth. We hope to gain a better understanding of how this transition will occur and how Queensland is working to ensure a reliable and low-emission energy future for its residents and industries.

Join us for an engaging panel discussion exploring the future of energy in Queensland. 

In person registration is now sold out. Please join the waitlist and/or register to attend the live stream.

Date: Tuesday 11th February 2025 
Venue: The UniSC Auditorium - Innovation Centre, 90 Sippy Downs Drive, Sippy Downs
Time: Arrive at 4pm for a 4.30pm start – 6pm
Tickets: Free of charge thanks to our sponsors Energy Queensland, Regional University Industry Collaboration Program and the event host, UniSC’s School of Science, Technology and Engineering.

A complimentary welcome drink and canapés provided.

Limited places available. Registration will close once sold out.

Panel Members:

Roly Jarrett, Grid Transformation Engineer, Energy Queensland

Roly is an electrical engineer with over 12 years of experience in electrical distribution in a variety of roles including Power Quality, Asset Management, Distribution Planning and currently Future Network Strategy. He has a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical), a Master of Engineering Management and is a Registered Practising Engineer of Queensland. Roly came to EQL as a mature age graduate after a 20 year career in IT. This brought useful skills and insights to his electrical engineer career, with major contributions to engineering software and systems projects. Roly’s current areas of focus are the adoption of microgrids in the Queensland electrical distribution networks, the development of a GIS map to publicise network hosting capacity, and supporting the upgrade of the tools and systems to improve EQLs Grid Planning capability.

Roly is an enthusiastic supporter of EQLs student engineer placements having supervised many students over the years. As a Sunshine Coast resident, Roly is on the UniSC Engineering Industry Advisory Committee, is EQLs research liaison for UniSC, and works to grow the ties between our two organisations.

Marianna O’Gorman, Independent Board Member, Stanwell Corporation and ARENA

Marianna works on investments and clean tech for the future economy in the energy, transport, mining and manufacturing sectors. She is a company director with governance roles across the public and not-for-profit sector including with Stanwell Corporation, the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, the McKell Institute and Chief Executive Women. Prior to serving as a board director, Marianna worked at the World Bank, as an adviser to the Prime Minister, with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and co-founded the McKell Institute in Queensland. Marianna holds a Masters of Climate Change and a Bachelor of Law (Hon).

Dr Andrew Dicks, CEO, Australian Hydrogen Research Network

Dr Andrew Dicks has led hydrogen and fuel cell research in industry and universities in the UK, Canada and Australia. He has played an active role in the development of hydrogen industry in Australia since 2008, when he chaired the World Hydrogen Energy Conference in Brisbane. His wealth of knowledge in technology and the international hydrogen industry is exemplified as the lead author of the acclaimed textbook Fuel Cell Systems Explained. Andrew currently is CEO of the Australian Hydrogen Research Network, is Adjunct Principal Research Fellow at Griffith University, and advises companies such as Lion Energy and Stralis Aircraft in the emerging hydrogen industry.  Andrew is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Chartered Chemist.

Dr Savindi Caldera, Lecturer in Environmental Management, UniSC

Dr Savindi Caldera is a Lecturer in Environmental Management at University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia. She has over ten years of experience working with industry and government partners on interdisciplinary projects transforming construction and manufacturing practices through lean, green and circular strategies and has secured research funding of over $ 4 million. Dr Caldera is an expert in sustainable business practice, waste management, circular economy and resilient infrastructure with over 75 peer-reviewed publications in enabling professionals and students to contribute to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. A recipient of several prestigious early-mid career academic awards, including the Inspector-General of Emergency Management (IGEM) Excellence in Research Award 2023, Highly Commended Award for Excellence in Teaching 2020 (Griffith University) and Vice-Chancellor’s Performance Award 2017 (QUT).

Dr Charith Rathnayaka, Senior Lecturer in Mechanical Engineering, UniSC

Charith is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of Science, Technology and Engineering at UniSC. In a broader sense, his work focuses on developing and understanding technically, environmentally, and economically sustainable processes for energy, power and food, which are all critical for our civilisation as well as survival. In doing so, he teaches fundamentals and concepts of energy to engineers through thermodynamics and heat transfer and utilises his cutting-edge computational modelling research to demonstrate the importance and necessity of sustainable and minimalist energy consumption practices.

James Trevorrow, Strategy Manager at CSIRO Futures

James Trevorrow is a Strategy Manager at CSIRO Futures, the strategic and economic advisory arm of CSIRO, within the Energy Transition unit. Prior to joining CSIRO, James was a Manager in the Climate & Sustainability practice at Deloitte, an Engineer at Arup, and a researcher at the University of Queensland (UQ). He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from UQ and a Professional Certificate in Corporate Finance from Columbia University.  James recently led CSIRO’s Hydrogen Electrolyser Manufacturing study, a publicly released strategic report launched in December 2024. The report explores Australia’s emerging electrolyser manufacturing industry, estimates its economic potential, and outlines pathways to position Australia as a leader in clean-tech manufacturing.

MC / Panel Moderator:

Dr Gareth Forde, Principal Engineer, All Energy

Dr. Gareth Forde helps businesses to use innovative technology to develop industrial processes that are financially and technically viable whilst simultaneously reducing GHG emissions. Gareth has been a Principal Engineer at All Energy Pty Ltd since 2014 and is a Registered Professional Engineer in the areas of Chemical and Environmental Engineering.

Most recently, Gareth has enjoyed progressing industrial ecology projects including green ammonia utilising energy from waste and generating thermal energy for a renewables hub. Gareth has been a Registered Greenhouse and Energy Auditor (administered by the Australian Government’s Clean Energy Regulator) since 2010, holds a BE(Chem) from the University of Queensland, a PhD(Engineering) from Cambridge University (UK) and is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers.

Some recent accolades for All Energy Pty Ltd include:

- Australasian Winner Institute of Chemical Engineers, 2024 Industrial Project for a multi-fuel biomass boiler.

- Telstra Business Awards QLD finalist 2024 "Promoting Sustainability" for works on digital twins of green ammonia and low emissions H2 industrial facilities.

- Global IChemE Awards 2023, Highly commended for a water recycling project for the food manufacturing industry.

We extend our sincere thanks to Energy Queensland and Regional University Industry Collaboration Program for their generous sponsorship of the event, as well as to the other participating organizations for their support.