Staff
Professor Len Sciacca
Director
len.sciacca@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Len Sciacca has over 27 years research and industrial experience in embedded real-time control and computing, sensor design, sensor networks and senior management roles in Government and industry sectors. He has worked for CSIRO as the Engineering Systems Manager of the Parkes Radio-Telescope; the Universities of Newcastle and Melbourne and was Technical Director of TUNRA. Professor Sciacca was instrumental in the development of the Earth station satellite tracking systems industry in South East Asia having developed expertise in the design and operations of large steerable antennas and satellite tracking products. In the mid 1990’s he held positions in DSTO leading distributed sensor systems and advanced radar signal processing.
Professor Sciacca was the Engineering Manager of Tenix Electronic Systems and developed new approaches to industry R&D portfolio management in the early 2000s. He held the position of Chief of the Electronic Warfare and Radar Division of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation leading a research Division of over 200 scientists, engineers and technicians with specialist expertise in RF systems, Electro-Optics, Radar and signal processing. He lead substantial multi-million dollar international collaborations, industry alliances and the commercialisation of innovative technologies. He established the Centre of Expertise in Networked Decision and Sensor Systems with the University of Melbourne in sensor networks and research in adaptive sensor design with important military and civilian outcomes. In 2008 Len became the inaugural Chief Operating Officer of DSTO leading business, process and governance reform of a large R&D organisation. In 2011 Professor Sciacca took up the role of Director of the Defence Science Institute at the University of Melbourne leading collaborative programs between universities, industries and research agencies in Australia and overseas.
Professor Sciacca is a Fellow of the Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and until recently was Chair of the Australian Research Council College of Experts for Mathematics, Information and Communication Sciences. He obtained his BE from QUT and his ME and PhD in Electrical Engineering from the University of Newcastle, NSW
Professor Bill Moran
Research Director
wmoran@unimelb.edu.au
Professor Bill Moran, from the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, has been appointed as Research Director of the Defence Science Institute (DSI), a joint venture between the University of Melbourne and the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO).
Professor Moran is an expert in radar technology, coding and information theory, waveform adaptive sensing, information geometry and compressive sensing, high resolution radar for environmental monitoring, scalable robust video surveillance over constrained networks, mathematics of distributed radar, radar on a chip (ROACH), detection and tracking of targets using distributed antenna, sonar simulation modelling, rapid prototyping, and sensor networks.
Professor Moran is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA), a Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, and a Member of the London, Australian and American Mathematical Societies.
Mr Terry Friend
Business Development Manager
terence.friend@unimelb.edu.au
Terry Friend holds a first class Honours degree in Commerce and a Diploma of Education (Tertiary) from the University of Melbourne, and a Master of Arts (Economics) from the University of Hawaii in conjunction with the East West Centers Resource Systems Institute.
From 1981 to 1994 Terry Friend was an executive with Shell Australia, beginning as an Energy Economist in Corporate Planning, and then progressing through various field marketing and business development roles. During this aspect of his career he developed his passion and enjoyment for small and medium sized business, with several years of first hand exposure to Shell Distributors and Retailers, franchising, and small business development.
In 1994 he was appointed General Manager of StrathAyr, an international supplier of turf products and sports turf technology. This appointment included operational responsibility for Australian turf production, and further development of the franchised sports turf concept through the U.S.A. and U.K.
Terry Friend joined Symonds Henderson in 1996, a management consultancy specializing in transport, logistics and supply chain management.
In 1998 he was recruited to head Celsiunator Industries, a division of the Norwegian based Wilhelmsen Investments Group. His achievements included re-structuring and re-positioning the business via acquisition and merger, as well as assuming the role of interim GM of Wiltrading (fire protection, safety and marine products), a further operating company within the Wilhelmsen stable.
From 2004 to 2010 he was a Consultant and Senior Consultant in Mergers and Acquisitions and Succession planning with Corporate Business Brokers and HWZ Partners. In 2010 he was recruited to the position of General Manager, Business Development, Tasmanian Ports Corporation, based in Hobart.
A return to Melbourne in late 2011 has had Terry take up the position of Business Development Manager with DSI.
Jenny Mohn
Executive Officer
jenny.mohn@unimelb.edu.au
Himashi Fernando
Finance Officer
himashi.fernando@unimelb.edu.au