Keynote speakers

Welcome Keynote Address
(Sunday 30 November 2014 @ 5.30 pm)

“Monitoring and Enhancing Human Performance using 3D Printing” - Sponsored by the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science


Gordon Wallace 250 250Professor Gordon Wallace [FAA, FTSE, FIOP, FRACI]
ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science
Intelligent Polymer Research Institute
University of Wollongong
Australia
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Professor Gordon Wallace is currently the Executive Research Director at the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science and Director of the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute. He previously held an ARC Federation Fellowship and currently holds an ARC Laureate Fellowship. Professor Wallace’s research interests include organic conductors, nanomaterials and electrochemical probe methods of analysis, and the use of these in the development of Intelligent Polymer Systems. A current focus involves the use of these tools and materials in developing bio-communications from the molecular to skeletal domains in order to improve human performance via medical Bionics. With more than 700-refereed publications, Professor Wallace has attracted some 17,000 citations and has a h-index of 61. He has supervised 77 PhD students to completion at the Intelligent Polymer Research Institute and currently co-supervisors 30 PhD students. Professor Wallace is an elected Fellow at the Australian Academy of Science, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Institute of Physics (UK) and the Royal Australian Chemical Institute. In addition to being named NSW Scientist of the Year in the chemistry category in 2008, Professor Wallace was also appointed to the Korean World Class University System, and received the Royal Australian Chemical Institute HG Smith Prize. In 2004, Professor Wallace received the Royal Australian Chemical Institute Stokes Medal for research in Electrochemistry, after being awarded an ETS Walton Fellowship by Science Foundation Ireland in 2003. The Royal Australian Chemical Institute awarded Professor Wallace the Inaugural Polymer Science and Technology Award in 1992. We are privileged to have such an esteemed scientist present the Welcome Keynote Address for ABC9!

Keynote Address
(Monday 1 December 2014 @ 9.00 am)

“Origins and Migration of Homo Sapiens within and out of Africa”

Zenobia Jacobs
Dr Zenobia Jacobs
Centre for Archaeological Science
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
University of Wollongong
Australia


Dr Zenobia Jacobs is an archaeologist and ARC Queen Elizabeth II Research Fellow in the Centre for Archaeological Science and School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Wollongong. Her technical speciality is geochronology, with a focus on the development of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods for individual sand-sized grains of quartz and their application to archaeological questions of global significance. Dr Jacobs’ work has concentrated on providing a reliable timeline for modern human evolution in South Africa, but her current interests also include archaeological questions in North Africa and southern Europe, as well as geological topics such as long-term changes in sea level and climate. She is presently collaborating with archaeologists in Africa, Europe and the USA to generate high-resolution OSL chronologies for when and where Homo sapiens first showed signs of symbolic behaviour, and whether Neanderthals developed similar behaviours independently. Such information will help shed light on the important turning points in human evolution and what factors triggered the first wave of human migrations out of Africa to populate the rest of the world, including Australia. In recognition of Dr Jacobs’ outstanding contributions to developing and applying single-grain OSL dating techniques to archaeological questions, she was awarded the Sir Nicholas Shackleton Medal by the International Union for Quaternary Research in 2009, as well as a prestigious L’Oréal Australia For Women in Science Fellowship to investigate when people first settled Australia.

Keynote Address
(Tuesday 2 December 2014 @ 9.00 am)

“Achilles Tendon Anatomy and Biomechanics: What does it do?” - Sponsored by the International Society of Biomechanics


Professor Toni Arndt
Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences
Stockholm
Sweden

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Toni Arndt is currently a Professor in Biomechanics at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences in Sweden. After gaining a Bachelor of Science in Biology at Auckland University, Professor Arndt spent several years travelling internationally and improving his skiing ability. This combination formed the basis of his Master of Science project, completed at the University of Wollongong, in which he studied the 3D kinematics of mogul skiing. Professor Arndt then obtained a PhD scholarship at the German Sport University in Cologne, where he completed his thesis on research concerning asymmetrical loading in the Achilles tendon. Both his MSc and PhD research were based strongly on innovative biomechanical methods, which continue to be a vital ingredient in his current research. Following the completion of his PhD, Professor Arndt moved to Sweden, where he completed a Post-doctoral Fellowship at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, focusing on foot and ankle biomechanics, covering topics of metatarsal deformation, intrinsic kinematics and continued work on Achilles tendon loading. During his 15 years at Karolinska Institute, Professor Arndt was also Program Director for Scandinavia’s first undergraduate program in Podiatry. Since September 2013 he has been a Professor in Biomechanics at the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences, also located in Stockholm. His present research areas are continuing work on developing methods for studying Achilles tendon loading, tendon and muscle biomechanics in sports and in particular in cycling. Professor Arndt is currently Secretary General and an elected member of the Executive Council of the International Society of Biomechanics (ISB). He has also been elected as Chairperson of the ISB Footwear Biomechanics Group (2013-2015). We are delighted to have Professor Arndt return to the University of Wollongong, where his biomechanics background began.