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Innovative Planet

AFRAN Forum - 7 & 8 December 2022 at Swinburne University of Technology


Each year, the Australian-French Association for Research and Innovation (AFRAN) Inc. runs a Forum to exhibit and discuss current cooperation and areas of future cooperation upscaling potential. The 2022 AFRAN Forum will be held on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 December 2022 at Swinburne University of Technology.


The theme for 2022 is “Innovative Planet”.


As every year, this Forum aims at broadening the discussion and including multiple voices.


This Forum will explore the challenges and opportunities driven by the energy transition, with a panel on hydrogen to decarbonise the industry and mobility, and one on low emission technologies. It will discuss innovative health, with global and local health issues, climate change adaptation, the opportunities for monitoring and managing the environment with Earth observation. It will also question digital innovation with discussion around AI ethics, governance, environmental impact... Finally, it will highlight current and future opportunities for strengthening French and Australian research and innovation cooperation.





Program



Wednesday 7 December


9:00- 9:30 am: Welcome to the 2022 AFRAN Forum

Chair: Prof Karen Hapgood, Deputy Vive Chancellor Research, Swinburne University of Technology


Forum opening

  • Prof Pascale Quester, Vice Chancellor Swinburne

  • Mr Boris Toucas, Head of the Scientific, Educational and Cultural Cooperation at the Embassy of France in Australia

  • HE Mr Jean-Pierre Thébault, Ambassador of France to Australia (video)

  • HE Mrs Gillian Bird, Ambassador of Australia to France (video)


Welcome and introduction to AFRAN and the 2022 Forum

  • Prof Katherine Daniell, AFRAN President


9:30-10:30am: Keynotes

Chair: Prof Virginia Kilborn, Swinburne Chief Scientist


Accelerating global climate R&D effort

  • Dr Gilbert Brunet, Chief Scientist and Group Executive Science and Innovation, Bureau of Meteorology, Chair of the Science Advisory Panel, World Meteorological Organization

Humans-Autonomous Agents Teaming

  • Prof Cedric Buche,Professor in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. International Research Laboratory CROSSING / Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Brest


10:30-11:00 am morning break


11:00am-12:00 pm: Panel 1 - Climate change adaptation in agriculture, food and water systems

Chair: Prof Katherine Daniell, AFRAN President


  • Mr Vincent Hebrail, Agriculture counsellor at the Embassy of France in Australia: France’s strategy on reducing agriculture’s climate footprint

  • Dr Jean-Francois Hocquette, Scientific Officer for Australia & New-Zealand at INRAE(French Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food and the Environment): Climate change adaptation in agriculture and food systems: which future for livestock and meat?

  • Dr Lisa Ehrenfried, Manager, Resilience and Liveability at Yarra Valley Water

  • Prof Ruth Nettle, Leader of the Rural Innovation Research Group, Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne: Social science approaches in climate change adaptation in agriculture in Australia


12:00-13:00 pm: Panel 2- Hydrogen decarbonising mobility

Chair: Mr Gordon Chakaodza, Director of the Victorian Hydrogen Hub


  • Prof Francois Aguey-Zinsou, Director of the Australian Association for Hydrogen Energy, Co-director of the Australian-French Research Network FACES and the ARC Training Centre for Hydrogen GlobH2E, and Chief Investigator of Hy-Supply

  • Ms Prune Bokobza, International Expert in Hydrogen & Renewable Energy at Expertise France

  • A/Prof Mahnaz Shafiei, Associate Professor; Vice-Chancellor's Women in STEM Fellow; Lead, Hydrogen Sensing Research at Swinburne University of Technology

  • Mr Niels Leemput, Technical Manager for Engie Impact

13:00-14:00 pm lunch break


14:00-15:30 pm: Panel 3- Tools for and success in collaborations

Chair: Prof Thierry Corrège, Attaché for Science and Higher Education at the Embassy of France in Australia


  • Prof Jean-Paul Toutain, Regional director, CNRS Representative Office for OCEANIA: Presentation of the French Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) tools for collaboration

  • Prof Jean-Philippe Diguet, CNRS International Research Laboratory CROSSING (French-Australian Laboratory for Humans-Autonomous Agents Teaming): Presentation of the French-Australian Laboratory - success and challenges of Australian-French collaboration

  • Prof Arnan Mitchell, Director of the Micro Nano Research Facility and Director of the Integrated Photonics and Applications Centre: Presentation of the RMIT Europe PhD student exchange AUFRANDE

  • Dr Jean-François Hocquette, Scientific Officer for Australia & New-Zealand at INRAE(French Institute for Research in Agriculture, Food and the Environment): The International strategy of INRAE and an example of success story: Presentation of the International Meat3G Foundation

  • Dr fLorence Cotel, Founder of the Association BLISS Science and Innovation Inc, and AFRAN Alumni leader: Inspiration and Communication as Powerful Tools for Collaboration

  • Dr Jody Gerdts, Founder and Managing Director, Bee Scientifics: Presentation of the Victoria Prize for Science and Innovation Victoria Fellowship and AFRAN Associate Award Experience, 2020



15:30-16:30 pm: Laboratory tour


Option A:

  • Digital Construction Lab - Mr Kia Rasekhi

  • Factory of the Future includes:

    • Industry 4.0 - Dr Abhik Banerjee

    • SHADE AIR Hub project - Mr Mark Hallam

    • 3D printing of long fibre reinforced composites - Mr Jiahui Li

    • SPEE3D cold spray additive manufacturing - Prof Suresh Palanisamy


Option B:

  • MedTechVic’sLivingAT Lab - Mr Andrew McConachy

  • Digital Anatomy Lab - Mr Patrick Michael

16:30-17:00 pm: afternoon break


17:00-18:00 pm: Early Career Researcher posters

Networking opportunities and rewards!


18:00-19:00 pm: AFRAN Forum networking cocktail


19:00-19:30 pm: AFRAN French Hub

Chair : A/Prof Frederic Cherqui, A/prof at INSA Lyon, Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and AFRAN France Hub leader


  • Introduction from the Australian Embassy in France: Ms Megan Anderson, Deputy Head of Mission and Australia’s Ambassador to UNESCO


  • Presentation of the French hub:A/Prof Frederic Cherqui, A/prof at INSA Lyon, Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne, and AFRAN France Hub leader

  • Australia’s priorities for science collaboration with France: Ms Deciana Speckmann First Secretary at the Embassy of Australia in France

  • Conclusion of the day: Prof Katherine Daniell, AFRAN President


Thursday 8 December


9:00-9:30 am: Keynotes

Chair: Prof Pascale Quester, Vice Chancellor Swinburne


Innovation ecosystems

Ms Aude Vignelles, Chief Technology Officer at the Australian Space Agency

9:30-10:30 am: Panel 4 - Innovation in Earth Observation

Chair: Prof Alan Duffy, Director, Space Technology and Institute, Swinburne University of Technology

  • Dr Olivia Sackett, Director for Space at Deloitte

  • Dr Trevor Dhu, Asia Lead for Sustainability Science at Microsoft

  • Ms Aude Vignelles Chief Technology Officer at the Australian Space Agency

  • Mr Rémi Andreoli, Director of Space Applications - BLUECHAM SAS


10:30-11:00 am: morning break


11:00 am-12:00 pm: Panel 5 - Innovative Health

Chair: Prof Peter Revill, Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory (VIDRL), Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. Co-Founder of the International Coalition to Eliminate Hepatitis B


  • Prof Deb Williamson, Director, VIDRL, RMH at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity and expert in diagnosis and management of infectious diseases.

  • Dr Romain Ragonnet, Monash University, Expert in Infectious disease modelling

  • Dr Jean-François Hocquette, French National Institute for Agriculture, Food, and Environment (INRAE) | INRAE: Presentation of the PREZODE project: Preventing zoonotic disease emergence

  • Prof Rachael McDonald, Swinburne University of Technology,Director, MedTech Vic Hub, Disability and Chronic Disease Lead Iverson Health Innovation Institute.



12:00-13:00 pm: Panel 6 - Low emission technologies

Chair: Ms Prune Bokobza, International Expert in Hydrogen & Renewable Energy at Expertise France

  • Dr Quentin Meyer, Fuel Cell Cluster Leader, Nanoelectrochemistry group, University of New South Wales

  • Mr Alex Pinte, Founder of Wildlive Entertainment

  • Prof Gary Rosengarten, Director of the Sustainable Development Technologies and Systems Enabling Capability Platform

  • Mr James Seymour, CEO of C4NET



13:00-14:00 pm: lunch break


14:00-15:00 pm: Panel 7 - Innovation and humans

Chair: Prof Benoit Clement, International Research Laboratory CROSSING: French-Australian Laboratory for Humans-Autonomous Agents Teaming


  • Prof Cedric Buche, Professor in Artificial Intelligence and Robotics. International Research Laboratory CROSSING / Ecole Nationale d’Ingénieurs de Brest: Human-machine interaction

  • Dr Jessica McLean, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, at Macquarie School of Social Sciences: Environmental costs and benefits of digital technologies

  • Prof Jane Farmer,Director of Swinburne Social Innovation Research Institute: AI and people

  • Dr Nardine Alnemr, Research Fellow at the UWA Minderoo Tech & Policy Lab, Law School, University of Western Australia: AI and chatbots for democracy? Blind spots and opportunities


15:00-15:30 pm: Forum Closing Session

Best ECR Poster Award, thanks and presentation of 2023 AFRAN Forum


For AFRAN Members only:

15:45-16:15 pm: AFRAN AGM

you have until 6 December 2022 to express your interest and nominate to join AFRAN committee

Interested? Join us or contact us to express your interest!



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