Where
P514Science and Engineering Centre (P Block)
Cost
FreeListen to Urban Art Projects discuss the re-birth of Australian manufacturing, changes in the workplace, and what can be achieved when humans work with robotics.
You could be forgiven for thinking that Australian manufacturing has long since left our shores for cheaper labour markets. However, thanks to robotic technology, a quiet revolution is occurring in our manufacturing sector as particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) begin to adopt this technology. Unlike the earlier robotic technologies, which transformed large companies designed for production lines requiring high volume and low variation, such as car manufacturing, these robots will work collaboratively with humans in the workplace.
At the forefront of these changes is a Brisbane-based firm Urban Art Projects (UAP) who fabricate major public art works, furniture and architectural elements including the iconic column designs that mark the entryway to the recently opened W Hotel in Brisbane, Judy Watson’s Tow Row sculpture at GOMA and Ned Kahn’s shimmering silver sculpture on the façade of Brisbane Airport’s domestic car park. UAP Technical Design Manager Bruce Blundell, along with Cori Stewart and Jonathan Roberts, will discuss the re-birth of Australian manufacturing, the changes in the workplace and show examples of what can be achieved when humans work with robotics.
Chair
Malcolm Middleton
Speakers
Bruce Blundell, Cori Stewart and Jonathan Roberts
Acknowledgements
Urban Art Projects & QUT Science and Engineering Faculty
Bio
Malcolm Middleton OAM LFRAIA
Malcolm Middleton was appointed as Queensland Government Architect in July 2011 and in this role he is an advocate for the recognition of the value to all projects through well considered design processes. He provides project advice and undertakes design reviews for projects across many areas of government as well as chairing the Queensland Urban Design and Places Panel and is also chair of Brisbane Open House Ltd.
He represents the interests of government on many external panels including the Prime Ministers Official Residences Advisory Committee, the Development and Design Integrity Panel of Brisbane Airport Corporation and the Professional Advisory Board of UQ Architecture School and many other appointments.
Malcolm has an honours degree in Architecture from the University of Sydney, a master’s degree in urban design from QUT and is a Life Fellow of the Australian Institute of Architects. He is a former member of the Queensland Heritage Council, served on the South Bank Design Advisory Panel for many years and is a former Queensland State President of the Property Council. He came to Brisbane in 1981 and prior to his appointment as Government Architect had been a private practitioner for almost 30 years.
Jonathan Roberts
Jonathan is a Professor in Robotics at QUT, is a Chief Investigator at the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision (ACRV), and is currently QUT’s Robotics and Autonomous Systems Discipline Leader. His main research interests are in the areas of Field Robotics, Medical Robotics, Performance Robotics and more recently Design Robotics. Jonathan graduated from the University of Southampton, UK, in 1991 with an Honours degree in Aerospace Systems Engineering. Jonathan furthered his interest in computer vision while completing a PhD (1991-1994) at the University of Southampton where he also developed skills in parallel computing.
In 1995 Jonathan joined CSIRO (Australia’s largest government research agency) to work in the area of mining robotics where he worked on numerous large robot machines including 3,500 tonne draglines, 30 tonne underground haul trucks and autonomous underground explosive loading vehicles. His work with his colleagues on the navigation system of semi-autonomous Load-Haul-Dump (LHD) vehicles was commercialised by Caterpillar. He was appointed a Science Leader at CSIRO in the area of Robotics and then went on to lead the Autonomous Systems Laboratory also at CSIRO where he was Research Director.
Cori Stewart
Associate Professor Cori Stewart is a strategic leader who co-innovates with industry, government, research institutions and the community. She has held senior appointments across many of these sectors where she has specialised in building complex cross-sector partnerships, raising funds, and overseeing portfolios of programs and projects.
Cori is currently the Bid Developer for the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing Hub (ARM Hub) and Associate Professor in Creative Industries. Her research expertise is in public policy and she is currently researching innovation policies in manufacturing and the future of creative work. Cori has a PhD in Creative Industries and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.