Future Life Conference

Professor Sarah Bekessy leads the ICON Science research group at RMIT University which uses interdisciplinary approaches to solve complex biodiversity conservation problems. She is particularly interested in understanding the role of human behaviour in conservation and in designing cities to encourage ‘every day nature’ experiences. She co-developed the Biodiversity Sensitive Urban Design protocol that has now been used by numerous developers, governments and non-government organisations to design innovative urban biodiversity strategies.

A true believer in maintaining and incorporating the human voice, Sarah-Tilly is the Design Thinking Lead for GHD Digital’s D-Lab team. Having worked across several industry sectors including tier one clients in higher education, utilities and facilities management, Sarah-Tilly collaborates with her clients to create valuable, intriguing and innovative products, services, capabilities and cultures.

Eager to share her passion for human centred design, innovation and Design Thinking, Sarah-Tilly is an active member within the higher education sector, working as a sessional lecturer at RMIT Online and guest lecturer at the University of Melbourne.

Amanda is the CEO of The Next Economy and founder of the Centre for Social Change. She has spent nearly 25 years working with inspiring people all around the world to create positive change on issues as diverse as livelihoods and economic development; health and wellbeing, women’s empowerment; and climate change action.
Over the last five years she has been working with communities across Australia to strengthen regional economies by embracing the transition from fossil fuels to a zero emissions economy. Amanda has a PhD in Human Geography from The Australian National University and is an Associate of the University of Queensland and the Sydney Policy Lab.

Dr Ollie Cotsaftis is a post-disciplinary and speculative designer whose practice sits at the intersection of the human evolution, the built environment and the realm of creative biotechnologies. An RMIT School of Design Industry Fellow and Lecturer, his research addresses climate resilience and social innovation in speculative urban futures. Ollie is also the founder and creative director of future ensemble studio, the co-founder of Melbourne Speculative Futures—the Melbourne Chapter of The Design Futures Initiative—experiments with new ideas through his visual art practice, and most recently started a column on speculative and critical design for the This is HCD network.

ThoughtWorker, Social Scientist at SuperProductive; blogger & podcaster; agility, systems-thinking and lean-doing advocate; passionate garage musician & cyclist.

Kate is an associate professor in engineering at RMIT University. Kate is an experienced biomedical engineer working at the interface between engineering and medicine for over 10 years. Kate works used 3D printing to develop novel materials for biomedical manufacturing. Kate is a Superstar of STEM, Vic Tall Poppy and 2019’s Engineers Australia’s Most Innovative Engineer. She has worked on a number of cool projects such as the Bionic Eye and in her current challenge she is trying to 3D print diamond and put CT scanners into helicopters.

Tim is focused on growing Tesla’s presence in the residential storage market across Asia Pacific. He has spent the last 4 years at Tesla building and supporting a network of Certified Installers across Australia and New Zealand, with a goal of helping their customers transition to solar and battery technology. He has a background in Industrial Design which is where he developed a passion for products that have the ability to change the world. Before joining Tesla, he worked at Apple for 8 years in Business Development and Consumer Sales in both Australia and Malaysia. More recently while at Tesla, he has been working on the roll-out of Tesla’s first Virtual Power Plant projects outside of the US.

Gus is an AWS Machine Learning Hero has an extensive experience in Deep Learning and also loves speaking on AI and future tech related topics at various AI conferences.

Pete co-founded the first Australian technology platform able to create personalised meal plans with clinical accuracy. He is a Victorian Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, EU-Australia Emerging Leader, World Economic Forum Global Shapers Advisory Council member and Australian of the Year nominee.

Viki and Gabor are the people behind the conference and they will act as the MCs for the day.