The global pandemic has been a catalyst for disruption and change across many interconnected socio-technical systems. Expertise in the domains of systems engineering and test and evaluation is uniquely placed to have a broad and far-reaching impact on enabling and realising resilient systems across domains.

Join us at the Systems Engineering Test and Evaluation (SETE) Conference from 12 – 14 September as we explore the theme, ‘enabling resilience through disruption.’ This year’s SETE Conference will be held in conjunction with the Australian Systems Engineering Workshop (ASEW) as a combined hybrid conference.

SETE is the premier conference for the Systems Engineering Society of Australia (SESA) and the Southern Cross Chapter of the International Test and Evaluation Association (ITEA). It is a forum for participants to extend networks, share current and future practice across domains, and learn from leading practitioners and academics.

Tutorial Day – 12 September

• Systems 101 – An Introduction to Systems Thinking and Systems Engineering – Mr Jawahar Bhalla, Dr Andrew Madry
• Engaging Non-Engineering Executives in Systems Engineering Using a Learning Framework – Dr Richard Hodge
• The Beginner’s Guide to Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) – Mr Dan Spencer
• Cyberworthiness Evaluation and Management Toolkit (CEMT): A model-based approach to cyberworthiness assessments – Mr Stuart Fowler
• Machine Learning and Systems Thinking – Dr Andrew Madry, Mr Jawahar Bhalla
• Design of Public Transport Systems Using Thread-based MBSE Techniques – Mr Mark Eggler, Dr Daniel Eggler
• Lethal Autonomy and a human-centric view of complex military and safety critical systems – FLAWS vs Human CLAWS – Dr Malcolm Tutty
• Designing a digitally enabled T&E program for a collaborative system of systems – Mr Tim Grabert, Mr Bernie O’Neill, Ms Jamie Smith, Mr Rob Starbuck

Site Visits

• NASA: Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex
  Monday 12 September, 13:30-17:15 AEST. Cost: $30.00. Includes bus pick-up and drop-off from the QT Canberra.
• Advanced Instrumentation Testing Centre – ANU’s Space Simulation Facility at Mt Stromlo
  Monday 12 September, 18:15-20:30 AEST. Cost: $30.00. Includes bus pick-up and drop-off from the QT Canberra.
• Canberra Light Rail Depot
  Wednesday 14 September, 13:00-15:35 AEST. Cost: $30.00. Canberra Light Rail ticket to be purchased by each participant.

Keynote speakers

Mr Christopher C. Collins

Director of Developmental Test, Evaluation, and Assessments
United States Department of Defense

Mr Christopher C. Collins is the Director of Developmental Test and Evaluation, and Assessments (DTE&A) within the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense (Research and Engineering). DTE&A provides support to DoD acquisition programs in the use of innovative and efficient DT&E strategies to ensure production readiness and fielded systems meet Warfighter/User needs; improve the Defense Acquisition T&E workforce “practice of the profession”; and advance T&E policy and guidance. DTE&A also conducts Independent Technical Review Assessments (ITRA) and Milestone Assessments for major acquisition programs.

Mr Collins was appointed to the Senior Executive Service in April 2020. Prior to his appointment, he was the COMNAVSEASYSCOM Deputy for Test and Evaluation. He has also served within various engineering and test leadership positions in the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense Program within the Missile Defense Agency, and also completed a one-year experiential assignment with the U.S. Air Force on the Headquarters Staff.

Major General Kathryn Toohey AM CSC

Head Force Integration
Australian Department of Defence 

In June 2019, Major General Kathryn Toohey was appointed Head Force Integration, within the Vice Chief of Defence Force Executive.

Major General Toohey joined the Australian Army in 1987, graduating from the Royal Military College – Duntroon in 1990. She served in the 7th Signals Regiment (Electronic Warfare), the 1st Brigade Headquarters and the Strategic Operations Division of Headquarters Northern Command. Her other appointments have included a posting as an instructor at the Royal Military College – Army and as the Aide-de-Camp to the Governor-General of Australia.

Major General Toohey holds an Executive Masters in Business Management, a Masters of Management in Defence Studies; a Graduate Diploma in Information Technology and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (Hons). She is also a graduate of the Australian Joint Command and Staff College. In 2017, she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the Australian Defence Force in the fields of capability development and education.

Enrico Palermo

Head of the Australian Space Agency

Enrico has led the Australian Space Agency since January 2021 from its headquarters in Adelaide. Since his commencement, Enrico has overseen a number of major milestones. Under his leadership the Agency has reached an agreement with NASA for an Australian designed, built and operated rover to be included in a future mission to the Moon. The first launch permit and launch facility license under the new Australian Space (Launches and Returns) Act have been issued, and there has been the first commercial launch attempt.

Andrew McNaughton FREng CEng FICE

Infrastructure Partner
Aczel

Andrew recently joined Aczel as a Partner. Aczel is a consultancy specialising in strategic change management and complex project delivery across multiple sectors.

From June 2016 Andrew served as Chief Operating Officer of the Systra Group, a French headquartered company with 7000 staff, globally, specialising in transport engineering and consultancy services. Andrew was previously Director of Engineering and Construction for Tidal Lagoon Swansea Bay Plc. Andrew has over 35 years’ experience of delivering major infrastructure in the UK and overseas. As both a project manager and an executive officer he has been responsible for the delivery of many of the country’s major infrastructure projects over that time.

Professor Emma Sparks

Dean and Rector
UNSW Canberra

Professor Emma Sparks is an experienced leader within education and Defence, having worked across the two sectors for over twenty years. Before joining UNSW Canberra, Emma was Professor of Systems Engineering Education at Cranfield University and Director, Programme and Portfolio Delivery. She is passionate about innovative educational practice underpinned by research, having led the development of Level 7 apprenticeships within Systems Engineering at Cranfield. Building on her Systems Engineering academic base where she specialises in Human Systems and enterprise architecture, she has a track record in strategic planning, managing change and building teams. She was awarded Top 50 Women in Engineering in the UK in 2018.

Jane MacMaster (keynote panellist) FIEAust CPEng EngExec NER MRAeS

Chief Engineer
Engineers Australia 

As Chief Engineer, Jane McMaster leads Engineers Australia’s engagement and policy discussion with industry, government, academia and other stakeholders; and plays an important role in delivering the organisation’s strategic vision.

Ms MacMaster has worked as an aerospace, mechanical and systems design engineer in Australia and internationally, focusing on supersonic flight vehicle design, operations research and rapid prototyping in the defence sector. She has worked as a senior adviser within the strategy unit of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, and as a management consultant in the financial services sector. Prior to joining Engineers Australia, she developed a generalised approach for complex problem solving, which she taught across all faculties at universities, and to staff from Commonwealth, and state and territory government departments. Ms MacMaster has a Masters in International Relations. She is a board member of the Australian Council of Professions and the Engineers Australia Accreditation Board.

Additional Speakers

Thomas Boxoen EngExec CPeng

Director, Systems Engineering
Transport for NSW

An Engineering Executive and Chartered Professional Engineer in Systems Engineering, Asset Management and Leadership & Management, Thomas has over 20 years’ international experience in various senior roles in large and complex public and private sector organisations in asset-intensive, technology-driven and mission-critical environments in Transport, Defence and Aerospace. Currently Director Systems Engineering at Transport for NSW, Thomas has practised and managed systems engineering across all phases of the lifecycle of multimodal infrastructure projects as well as highly complex systems, including submarines, aircrafts, rail digital systems and rollingstock.

Peter Munro

MTR Australia

Peter manages MTR Corporation’s Operations and Asset Engineering services for the international business in Australia, leading O&M offerings for new business, providing shareholder executive support for existing Australian operations and operator-focused leadership to the construction and integration teams. An executive with MTR’s subsidiary Metro Trains Melbourne before this, Peter was responsible for the infrastructure of Melbourne’s train network. He also led the Operations division, overseeing 3000+ train drivers, customer service, authorised officers, train control and planning team. Peter holds an MBA  and an MSc in Railway Systems Engineering & Integration from the UK.

Grace Kennedy

Research Fellow Systems Engineering
University of Wollongong

Grace is a Systems Engineer with over 12 years’ experience in the infrastructure, rail, healthcare and Defence research sectors in Australia and the UK. Research Interests and Expertise: Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE), Organisational Systems Engineering (how to model “soft”/human aspects within the context of enterprise systems). Enterprise modelling and architectures. Human Systems Integration. Systems Ergonomics. Human Reliability Assessment. Systems Resilience for Critical Infrastructure Systems.

Fiona Love

General Manager Workforce Development
Australian Railway Association

Fiona is an experienced senior leader with a proven record in strategic change management and educational leadership. She has extensive experience in designing and implementing capability development solutions. Fiona took an executive educational role with Transport for NSW in 2012 and worked over eight years to transform operational and engineering training in the rail industry. Over the last three years, Fiona has focused on building risk, digital and systems literacy in a wide range of roles across the rail industry. Fiona is now General Manager, Workforce Development with the Australasian Railway Association (ARA). She is an experienced rail simulation specialist and a passionate supporter of systems engineering. Fiona holds a Master of Arts Degree as well as Diplomas in Education and Training & Assessment.

Jawahar Bhalla

PhD Candidate / Principal Systems Engineer
JB Engineering Systems / Shoal Group

Jawahar is a passionate systems professional with over 30 years’ experience across multi-national organisations in technical and strategic leadership roles. He contributes to the advancement of systems thinking, systems engineering and M&A locally and globally. Jawahar has a BE in Aerospace Engineering and a BSc in Computer Science from UNSW, a Master’s in Systems Engineering from UNSW@ADFA, and is a current PhD candidate on an Australian Government Research Training Program scholarship, with industry partner Shoal Group at the University of Adelaide. He has published 24 papers and delivered numerous presentations, tutorials and workshops on systems concepts, systems engineering and M&S.

Rachel Horne

Assurance of Autonomy Lead / Director of Autonomy Accreditation
Trusted Autonomous Systems

Rachel is the Assurance of Autonomy Activity Lead at Trusted Autonomous Systems, where she leads two QLD Government-funded projects aimed at improving the assurance and accreditation journey for autonomous systems in the air, maritime and land domains. She implements innovative and impactful initiatives to address key regulatory barriers to the uptake of autonomous technology, supporting the autonomous systems ecosystem and the development of Australian sovereign capability. Rachel draws on her significant legal, regulatory and policy experience to deliver outcomes that are placing Australia on the world stage for regulatory initiatives supporting the use of autonomous systems.

Melanie Olsen

ReefWorks Project Director
Australian Institute of Marine Science

Melanie leads ReefWorks – Australia’s Tropical Marine Technology Test Range at the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS). She has 15 years’ experience in delivering new capability systems with AIMS and the Department of Defence. With a Master’s in Electronic Warfare Systems Engineering from UNSW and Computer Systems Engineering degree from JCU, Melanie has a strong background in autonomous systems, electronics and cyber-security. She has led the Australian engineering effort and represented multi-national teams during cutting-edge product design & development. Melanie’s interest is to integrate new technologies to deliver sovereign capability outcomes efficiently.

Clare East

Managing Director
East Consulting

Clare East is the Director of East Consulting Services. Clare is a lawyer by background with significant expertise in modern regulatory approaches, and has helped a range of different organisations respond to and harness the challenges and opportunities posed by rapid change. Clare has more than ten years in public policy and regulation, having started her career at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet before moving on to a number of private and public sector roles, including as Manager, Maritime Regulation at the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and Director, Regulatory Standards and Policy at the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.

WGCDR Michael Gan

Deputy Director Artificial Intelligence – Air Force
Jericho Disruptive Innovation

Wing Commander Michael Gan commenced his role as Deputy-Director Artificial Intelligence at Air Force’s Jericho Disruptive Innovation in September 2018. His previous experience in air mobility operations – particularly in humanitarian aid and disaster relief – and in critical thinking and ethics in professional military education has strongly influenced his approach to the development of AI in the Royal Australian Air Force. His main focus had been on developing and exploring the AI foundations of education, ethics and assurance, while exploring Defence applications for computer vision and imagery analysis, natural language processing and AI/Data analytic decision support tools.