Cancelled: Dean's Research Seminar Series: Is the COVID-19 crisis an opportunity for agricultural manufacturing?
- Date: Thu, 26 Nov 2020, 5:30 pm - 7:00 pm
- Location: Horace Lamb Lecture Theatre, North Terrace, or join us online
- Cost: Free
- Contact: Marian Maclucas engage_ecms@adelaide.edu.au
Unfortunately, this event has been cancelled. We apologise for any inconvenience.
Watch out for the Dean's Research Seminar Series in 2021.
Hear from visionary thought leaders about how we're 'Building Back Better' in agribusiness and manufacturing despite the impact of COVID-19.
Global crises in the past have led to supply chain shocks, which had major direct and indirect impacts on the agricultural manufacturing. Different from financial crises of the past, COVID-19 has added a global isolation of countries and their trade. The desire for a resilient and self-sustained production has been accelerated. A new thinking has emerged on how to avoid major disruptions in supply chains, and food security in general.
The United Nations raised this issue and have installed the UN Committee for Food Security (CFS). Their principle of 'Building Back Better' (BBB) is generally understood to use a disaster (such as a pandemic) as a trigger to create more resilient nations and societies than before.
We invite you to come along or tune in live to hear from a panel of visionary thought leaders who will discuss how we can use the pandemic as a catalyst for positive change in agribusiness and manufacturing.
Our industry speakers and researchers will share their vision of innovations already available to create a more sustainable and resilient circular economy that will provide economic and environmental benefits as well as reducing risk when it comes to the next big “event”.
About the speakers
Peter Wadewitz
Managing Director, Peats Soil and Garden Supplies
Peter has been commercially processing compost for over 40 years. He is also the inventor of the BiobiN®, a waste management in vessel composting system offering an alternate solution for businesses when it comes to dealing with their organic waste.
Over the years he has been involved with many organisations such as Waste Management Australia, Compost Australia, Compost for Soils and the newly formed AORA group. He also won South Australia’s Environmentalist of the year award in 2006. Peter’s commitment to the growth and prosperity of the organics recycling industry has led to appointments to the Barton Group’s Export Task Force and the Prime Minister’s Science, Engineering and Innovation Council. Peter was also a leading figure in developing the Australian Compost Industry Roadmap. Peter’s current projects involve a biodiesel plant and an anaerobic digester. His vision is to be a sustainable facility that generates its own electricity and Bio-Fuel.
Phil Morle
Partner, Main Sequence Ventures
Phil is a member of the Board of the Food Agility CRC where he also Chairs the Investment Committee. He currently sits on the boards of Main Sequence Ventures Fund 1 portfolio companies v2food, Maxwell Plus, RapidAIM, Nourish Ingredients, Coviu, and Q-CTRL.
Prior to being a Partner at Main Sequence Ventures, Phil was the founder of Australia’s first Silicon Valley style incubator, Pollenizer, and played an instrumental role in developing the startup ecosystem across the Asia-Pacific region. Phil was also CTO at Kazaa, a peer-to-peer file sharing application which at one stage was responsible for most traffic on the internet, and served on the Telstra CTO Advisory Board between 2015 and 2017.
Phil’s contribution to the startup ecosystem has been recognised through awards including the Founder Institute Mentor of the Year in 2015, and the Deloitte Fast 50 in 2010 for Pollenizer.
Greg Butler
Managing Director, Clean Carbon Pty Ltd.
For 25 years Greg has developed sustainable technologies and management systems that have proven valuable for primary producers, their supply chain partners and society at large.
Greg is the inventor and patent author for an emerging sustainable farm technology, AquaTill®, that is being developed by the Shape Technologies Group. He is also the Research and Development Manager of the SA No-Till Farmers Association, an organisation focused on improving productivity through the development and adoption of superior environmentally sustainable technologies.
Professor Seth Westra
School of Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering, University of Adelaide
Seth is a chartered engineer with research and consulting experience across both academia and industry. He has contributed to the fields of hydrology, water resource assessments and climate risk, and has published over 80 journal and conference papers on these topics. Seth is a past recipient of the SA Climate Leaders Award, which recognise the achievements of individuals who take action to address climate change in South Australia.
Professor Martin Cole
Head of the School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide
Professor Martin Cole is Head of School of Agriculture, Food and Wine at the University of Adelaide and an internationally recognised food scientist with expertise in food safety, food trends and innovation, processing and nutrition, and the translation of science into community and commercial outcomes. Prior to joining the School in October 2019, Martin has held positions including Director of CSIRO Food and Nutrition, and Director of the US National Center for Food Safety and Technology, the largest and most successful centre of excellence of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Professor Gus Nathan
Director of The University of Adelaide’s Centre for Energy Technology
Under his leadership the Centre has identified novel approaches with strong potential to make a breakthrough in the delivery of low-cost, clean energy technologies and has engaged with partners spanning industry, international research institutions and government agencies. Gus is a Fellow of the Combustion Institute, a recipient of a Discovery Outstanding Researcher Award from the Australian Research Council and an ATSE KH Sutherland medalist. He has led the development of 3 technology platforms to ongoing commercial use, including the ceremonial flame technology that was first implemented in the Relay Torch for the Sydney Olympic Games. He presently leads Solar Fuels program in the ARENA funded Australian Solar Thermal Research Institute and another ARENA funded program that is targetting cost-effective methods with which to implement up to 50% solar thermal energy into the Bayer alumina process. He has published some 200 papers in international journals, 250 peer reviewed conferences and 11 patents. He is a Fellow of the Combustion Institute, an ARC Discovery Outstanding Researcher, and the inaugural AIE-SA Energy Professional of the Year.