Hon Alannah MacTiernan MLC
Minister for Regional Development; Agriculture and Food; Hydrogen Industry
Alannah MacTiernan is Western Australia’s Minister for Regional Development, Agriculture and Food; and Hydrogen Industry. As Minister for Planning and Infrastructure from 2001 to 2008, Ms MacTiernan was responsible for major projects across the State including the Mandurah rail line, the Forrest Highway, the Geraldton port and rail expansion and the Armadale town centre and Champion Lakes developments. She champions opportunities to support infrastructure development, innovation, accelerate emissions reduction, and create new long term job opportunities, particularly in regional Western Australia. Since coming to office in 2017, Minister MacTiernan has been instrumental in driving the establishment of a renewable hydrogen industry in Western Australia.
Professor Andrew J Deeks
Vice Chancellor & President Murdoch University
Andrew Deeks was appointed to Murdoch University from University College Dublin (UCD), where he was the first Australian and only second non-Irish person to lead an Irish university. He was appointed President of UCD in January 2014 and developed a strategy which led to significant improvements across a range of areas, including student satisfaction; quality, quantity, and impact of research; and local, national, and international engagement.
Prior to his role at UCD, he was a Pro-Vice-Chancellor at Durham University, where he led the Science, Engineering and Technology division and contributed to the development of extensive international and industry partnerships. Before joining Durham, he was the Winthrop Professor in Civil and Resources Engineering at The University of Western Australia and was Head of School from 2004 to 2009.
He is a Fellow of the Irish Academy of Engineering, the Institution of Engineers Ireland, and the Institution of Engineers Australia.
Frank Wolak
President & CEO FCHEA
Mr. Wolak is the President and CEO of the Washington DC based Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Association (FCHEA), an organization that represents over sixty leading international and domestic companies and organizations that are advancing innovative, clean, safe, and reliable energy technologies.
Prior to FCHEA, Mr. Wolak was a Senior Vice President at FuelCell Energy, Inc. (FCE). At FCE Mr. Wolak initiated and developed some of the most innovative and largest fuel cell technology applications in the world. In addition to his business successes, Mr. Wolak worked closely with the US Department of Energy, Congress and state agencies to define and sustain programs for hydrogen and fuel cells throughout the US.
Mr. Wolak has experience in all facets of energy including executive positions outside the fuel cell and hydrogen industry at an international energy services company, a power development and investment company, public energy resources corporation and as management consultant providing insight to clients in emerging technology and utility segments.
Adam Osseiran
President of Hydrogen Society of Australia
Adam OSSEIRAN is President of the Hydrogen Society of Australia, Co-Founder and Chairman of Innovate Australia, Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board of BrainChip, an AI neuromorphic company. He is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia. Adam got a PhD in microelectronics in Grenoble, France. He then completed a post-doc at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) where he became a Senior Research Fellow. He was headhunted in 2002 to participate in the creation of the Australian microelectronics industry. Adam was involved in several start-ups in Europe, the USA and Australia. In 2018 Adam won the WA Innovator of the Year Award.
Tania Urmee
Professor, School of Engineering and Energy
Tania Urmee is a Professor at the School of Engineering and Energy, Murdoch University. Tania has expertise in Sustainable energy planning, energy modeling, and energy policy analysis. Tania is involved in developing the energy planning for ASEAN and the Pacific countries to address the Sustainable Development Goals. She was one of the pioneers in disseminating solar home systems using micro-finance in Bangladesh and wrote a book on the holistic approach of rural electrification using Solar Energy. Tania is currently leading the Perth and Peel Hydrogen Technology Cluster and researching using biopower to produce hydrogen. She has authored over 70 journals and conference papers, two books, and several book chapters.
Peter Kasprzak
Co-Founder and Director, Innovate Australia
Peter Kasprzak is Executive Director at ABACUS Policy Institute, an Australian-focused think tank. He also is a Co-founder and Director of Innovate Australia, Co-founder, Director, and immediate past President of the Hydrogen Society of Australia, and a past President of the Inventors Association of Australia.
Peter headed the 2010 bid group to create the Sustainable Electric Transport Cooperative Research Centre and is the author of the original proposals for Australia's first Electric Highway, Hydrogen Highway and the Zero Emission Highway for heavy transport vehicles, using both battery and fuel cell technologies.
John Clifton
Manager of Strategy and Innovation DevelopmentWA
John Clifton leads DevelopmentWA’s Strategy and Innovation team and oversees the agency’s corporate planning, program management, research and innovation strategies. John also leads DevelopmentWA’s Sustainability Reporting, creation and implementation of a Reconciliation Action Plan and Aboriginal business engagement activities. More recently John’s team created DevelopmentWA’s first Net Zero Transition Plan.
In his role, John has stewarded an innovation strategy and catalysed a number of demonstration project initiatives including: WGV – a One Planet Living accredited urban infill project; Cool Earth – a household geothermal energy trial in Perth; the Australian Automation and Robotics Precinct; and Colliecrete – an applied research collaboration with Murdoch to investigate the case for geopolymer concrete made from Collie fly-ash.
John has a degree in Finance and Economics, a post graduate qualification in Applied Finance and Investment and is a WA member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia.
Andrew L Dicks
BSc DIS PhD CChem FRSC FAIE Convener, the Australian Hydrogen Research Network, Consultant and Adjunct Principal Research Fellow, Griffith University
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”.
He continues to be active in hydrogen related research and currently leads the Australian Hydrogen Research Network (AHRN).
Abigail Dombey
Chair, Hydrogen Sussex
Abigail Dombey (CEng CEnv) is an energy and sustainability engineer at Net Zero Associates, and is Chair of Hydrogen Sussex. Abigail has an extensive background in carbon reduction projects in the public sector, having spent 10 years as Head of Sustainability at the University of Brighton. She is working on a number of decarbonisation projects focusing on hydrogen in the manufacturing and maritime sectors, and is currently leading on a UK Government funded Industrial Fuel Switching project to trial firing bricks in a kiln using hydrogen as a fuel source.
Dr Alireza Keshavarz
Discipline coordinator of the “Chemical, Energy and Resources” program Deputy director of the “Centre for Sustainable Energy and Resources”
Dr Alireza Keshavarz is the discipline coordinator of the “Chemical, Energy and Resources” program and the deputy director of the “Centre for Sustainable Energy and Resources” at Edith Cowan University. His research focuses on sub-surface energy systems, energy sustainability and security, hydrogen geo-storage and CO2 sequestration. He has published over 100 journal articles in top-tier journals in the field and has led and served as a chief investigator of several projects, sponsored by industry. Prior to joining ECU, Alireza was a postdoctoral research scientist in CSIRO-Energy business unit where he focused on developing subsurface energy resources and CO2-sequestration.
Ghazal Avijegon
Steering Committee member Hydrogen Society of Australia
Ghazal Avijegon is an experienced Hydrogen Business Development and technical management professional offering demonstrated record of achievement in Hydrogen value chain, coupled with a strong academic background. Ghazal has a PhD from UWA, with a thesis on CO2 capture from natural gas using adsorption technology along with a postgrad qualification in Environmental Assessment and Management.
Ghazal has been involved in hydrogen projects as part of Woodside-Monash Energy Partnership with experience in H2 liquefaction, storage and transportation, including tank design, boil-off gas management as well as economic and energy intensity aspects of hydrogen value chain. Ghazal is a member of the Steering Committee of Hydrogen Society of Australia (HSA) and a strong advocate of clean energy and sustainable energy transition.
Mike Houlahan
Chief Financial Officer Horizon Power
Mike Houlahan is Horizon Power’s Chief Financial Officer and leads the Finance and Corporate Services division, holding responsibility for finance, corporate strategy, environmental sustainability, procurement and supply chain portfolios.
Under Mike’s leadership, the teams are embracing the growing involvement of customers in a distributed energy system which include not only solar and traditional energy storage, but electric vehicles and their infrastructure.
Horizon Power is delivering a Hydrogen Demonstration Project in Denham in Western Australia, to test if renewable hydrogen energy can be used to produce baseload power in a remote microgrid.
The project is an opportunity to establish how microgrids globally can be migrated to hydrogen and potentially 100% renewable energy supply, at lower economic cost than current diesel-based generation.
Marc Senders
Opportunity Manager – H2 Perth
Marc is a Dutch Civil Engineer who came over to Perth in 2003 to do his PhD at UWA under 2013 WA Scientist of the Year Mark Randolph. His PhD looked into a foundation type for offshore wind turbines. He later met a local, married and started a family.
In 2007 he joined Woodside. After a number of roles, including Woodside’s inaugural Climate Change Manager, Marc joined Woodside’s growing new energy area in late 2020, where he has led the H2Perth opportunity for the past year.
Marc is passionate about creating a better future for everyone and strongly believes hydrogen has an important role to play in it.
Katie Cook
Director at JTSI Renewable Hydrogen Unit
Katie Cook is an experienced project manager, advisor and engineer in the energy industry, in the hydrogen, renewables and oil and gas markets.
She is a Director at the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation in the Renewable Hydrogen Unit. Her responsibilities include coordination and managing the implementation of the Western Australian Renewable Hydrogen Strategy, including the administration of the Renewable Hydrogen Fund, leading the Hydrogen Value Chain Model, hydrogen hubs development, managing key stakeholders and developing policy and technical advice. She was key in recommending the Renewable Hydrogen Strategy goals be accelerated from 2040 to 2030 and developed the Unit's Action Plan, Roadmap and governance structure in her first 6 months.
Prior to joining the government, she worked around the globe with Arup, a multinational consulting firm, for over 12 years. Katie led Western Australian industry interviews and co-authored the National Hydrogen Hubs Study, as part of the work conducted to support the Australian National Hydrogen Strategy.
Ashton Burton
Engineering & Design Division Manager
Ashton is currently leading the Engineering Division in a holistic delivery focused design approach across the suite of current and pipeline projects.
He commenced his career conducting end-to-end design for multi-discipline turnkey mining projects, later provided consultancy services for developers, investors, government. Services included leading techno-economic studies, power system studies, regulatory review and owner’s engineering.
During his time at Hybrid Systems, he has developed the engineering and design process over the course of projects ranging from stand-alone power systems, integrated microgrids, network connected battery and renewable systems, and power station brownfields and green fields development.
Ashton’s passion is for the delivery of safe, cost effective and reliable energy technologies to support clients in achieving their goals in a sustainable and forward-thinking manner.
David Cavanagh
Chief Hydrogen Officer of Hydrogen West and Hydrogen East Managing Director of Integrated Energy
David Cavanagh is Chief Hydrogen Officer of Hydrogen West and Hydrogen East, and founder, owner and Managing Director of Integrated Energy. Integrated Energy is a renewables, resources and energy consulting group with experience in twenty countries around the world. David is a recognised expert in hydrogen, as an author of Australian standards for Hydrogen Mobility on land, air and sea, and represents Australia on International Hydrogen Standards Committee ISO 197/WG 24. His company is currently supporting green hydrogen projects in all Australian states with value exceeding thirty billion dollars, a preferred supplier to government, and also active in UK and New Zealand.
Stephen Gauld
Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer Infinite Green Energy
Stephen has over 20 years’ experience in the Energy sector working for some of the largest global service companies and operators such as Baker Hughes GE, Weatherford, ENI, ExxonMobil, Chevron RocOil and Woodside. Stephen designed and executed the world’s first multi production zone completions for the Tidepole gas field in the North West Shelf. He has designed and built several renewable waste-to-energy plants in Australia & New Zealand, including the behind-the-meter plant for CBH Group in Bordertown. Stephen is highly experienced in managing project delivery and cash flow from working on these pioneering renewable energy projects and has established a deep understanding of the factors to ensure project success.
Brian Haggerty
Co-founder/Chair of the Hydrogen Society of Australia Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia.
Brian is Co-founder/Chair of the Hydrogen Society of Australia.
Brian has been involved in hydrogen projects for 20 years. Coming from the natural gas industry, he developed knowledge of hydrogen production and processing whilst leading the front-end engineering of Shell’s Qatar Pearl gas to liquids project. At Woodside Brian was involved in early development of hydrogen concepts as part of the energy transition. The Hydrogen Society of Australia was given the responsibility for the development of Western Australia’s Technology Cluster for Hydrogen (WATCH2) of which Brian is Co-Founder and Past Director.
Brian is actively promoting development of the hydrogen industry through roles in: university sector; Director of Australian Gas Industry Trust; WA Immediate Past-President Engineers Australia and; as Member of the Programme Committee for LNG 2023 in Vancouver. He holds a position as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Western Australia.
Stephen is highly experienced in managing project delivery and cash flow from working on these pioneering renewable energy projects and has established a deep understanding of the factors to ensure project success.