Speakers

Confirmed speakers:

Mr Zoran Angelkovski

Mr Zoran Angelkovski

Zoran Angelkovski was appointed to the position of President and Chief Executive for Continental Pty Ltd (formerly Siemens VDO Automotive Pty Ltd) in June 2005.

Continental Pty Ltd in Australia is a leading supplier of electronics and mechatronics to the four Australian car manufacturers and key supplier to BMW in Germany of Australian designed and manufactured instrument clusters for a range of BMW motorcycles.

Internationally Continental is a major development partner with world's leading vehicle manufacturers, introducing new advanced technology and innovative products designed to improve driver comfort, safety and engineering performance and reduce emissions.

Zoran Angelkovski joined Continental Pty Ltd in November 1984 and has filled various engineering and management roles for the company both in Australia and overseas, with appointments in Malaysia and Babenhausen, Germany, where he spent eighteen months in a senior management role with responsibilities for engineering and production.

Returning to Australia in 1995 Zoran took up the position of Vice-President manufacturing with VDO Australia introducing various manufacturing processes, including electronics manufacturing, coating and injection moulding. He was instrumental in setting up the plant to conform to 'just in time" and he has also been a key player in establishing customer relationships both locally and internationally.

Zoran holds a Bachelor of Engineering qualification from Swinburne University and has undertaken various Senior Management and Leadership training programs within Siemens internationally.

He is currently the Federal President of the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers (FAPM), a member of the Institute of Engineers of Australia and the Australian Institute of Management.

Zoran is actively involved in the Macedonian community and was voted Macedonian of the year in 2006. He dedicates his spare time speaking at various events encouraging the youth of today to achieve their goals in life. His other interests include reading and spending quality time with his family.

Mr John Conomos

Mr John Conomos

Mr John Conomos has a 40 year history with the automotive industry and was appointed President of the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries in March 2006. Previously, Mr Conomos had been FCAI Treasurer from 1994 and was granted Life Membership of the Federal Chamber in 1995. He has also served as President of the Chamber of Automotive Industries, NSW.

In July 2009, Mr Conomos was appointed Automotive Industry Envoy by Senator the Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.

Following his retirement as Executive Chairman of Toyota Australia and Managing Officer of Toyota Motor Corporation of Australia, positions he held since 2004, Mr Conomos was appointed Chairman Emeritus and Principal Policy Adviser to Toyota Australia, the new position becoming effective 1 July 2006. Simultaneously, Mr Conomos continued on the Board of Toyota Financial Services, and Toyota New Zealand. In August 2006, Mr Conomos was appointed Chairman, Hino Motor Sales Australia Ltd., a position he held until August 2009.

Previously Mr Conomos was Senior Executive Vice President of Toyota Motor Corporation Australia from 1993. Prior to joining Toyota (Thiess Toyota Pty Ltd) as Chief General Manager in 1981, he was employed by British Leyland Motor Corporation within the commercial vehicle division and in 1974, established Daihatsu Distributors in Australia. In this latter role, Mr Conomos was responsible for the introduction of a range of small passenger cars, which as a new brand were previously prohibited due to quantitative policy restrictions of the Australian Government.

With the implementation of the Australian Government's Automotive Plan (Button Plan) in 1984, John served on the board of United Australian Automotive Industries (a TMC Japan and GMC America joint venture in Australia - set up to comply with the fundamentals of automotive industry policy) until its dissolution in 1996. He was a member of the Business Consultative Group for APEC 2007.

Mr Conomos was awarded the Order of Australia in the Queen's Birthday Honours List in June 2005.

Mr Conomos was born in 1943, is married to Barbara, and has two daughters and three grandchildren. His interests include water sports, golf and snow skiing.

Ross Davies

Ross Davies

Ross is a specialist Senior Business Advisor on Sustainability for BlueScope Steel. Ross has over 20 years experience in the steel industry and his background includes previous roles in sales, marketing, business management and change management before moving into the sustainability area four years ago.
Ross represents BlueScope Steel on a number of industry groups including Australian Steel Institute Sustainability Committee, Steel Stewardship Forum and the Building Products Innovation Council ICIP project and was recently a member of the Green Building Council's Steel Expert Review Panel.

Mr Qiu Deya

Mr Qiu Deya

Mr. Qiu Deya is the Minister Counsellor for Economic and Commercial affairs of Chinese Embassy in Australia.

Mr.Qiu has been serving in Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Corporation and Ministry of Commerce of China Since1977, and worked in a number of positions as deputy director, director, deputy director general and director general of different departments in above two ministries.
Mr.Qiu has extensive experiences in foreign trade, foreign economic corporation, foreign investment and foreign aid.

Mr.Qiu also served in Chinese embassies in foreign countries such as Liberia, Israel and Sweden. This is his fourth term working abroad.

Mr.Qiu's wife, Ms. Tianying is the first secretary of Chinese Embassy in Australia, Their daughter is working in Beijing, China .

Mr Robert Dravers

Mr Robert Dravers

Robert Dravers is Director, SME Business for Export Finance and Insurance Corporation. EFIC provides specialist finance services to Australian exporters and Robert has extensive experience in both finance and trade. He was in investment banking for over 10 years, in Sydney and London. He also has experience at Austrade, in Australia and overseas, working with new exporters and was GM Sales & Marketing for a listed medical products company with operations in Australia, the US and Europe.

Mr Saul Eslake

Mr Saul Eslake

As the ANZ's chief 'number-cruncher' for nearly 14 years, it's been Saul Eslake's job to look at vast reams of economic data, and make sense of it. He has a knack for explaining economics in terms mere mortals can understand, which is why he's always in such high demand as a speaker and commentator.

Saul Eslake joined the Grattan Institute, a newly established 'think tank' affiliated with the University of Melbourne in August 2009. He also undertakes a range of speaking, writing and consulting engagements.

Prior to joining the Grattan Institute, Saul Eslake was for 14 years Chief Economist of the Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd (ANZ), one of Australia's 'big four' commercial banks, and one with a sizeable presence in Asia. In that role he became one of Australia's most widely recognized economic analysts and commentators.

Saul began his career as an economist at the Australian Treasury in Canberra. He subsequently held positions as Chief Economist at McIntosh Securities, a stock broker (now Merill Lynch Australia), and as Chief Economist (International) at National Mutual Funds Management (now Axa Australia).
Saul has a first class honours degree in Economics from the University of Tasmania, and a Graduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia. In 2003 he completed the Senior Executive Program at the Columbia Graduate School of Business in New York.
He is a Senior Fellow of the the Financial Services Institute of Australia, a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian representative on the International Conference of Commercial Bank Economists.

Saul Eslake has served a number of governments over the past 15 years. In 1992-93 he was Chief Executive of the Victorian Commission of Audit, which conducted a wide-ranging inquiry into the State of Victoria's public finances for a then newly-elected State administration. He also served as a director of the Victorian Government-owned natural gas utility, Gascor, and a network of public hospitals in Melbourne's north-eastern suburbs, in the mid-1990s. From 1995 until 2009 he was a member of the Tourism Forecasting Council, and from 1998 until the end of 2005 he was a non-executive director of the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute.

He was a member of the previous Australian Government's Foreign Affairs Council and Trade Policy Advisory Council. He has been appointed by the current Australian Government to its National Housing Supply Council and was a member of its Long-Term Tourism Strategy Steering Committee. He was also one of 1000 Australians participated in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's '2020 Summit' in April 2008.

In his home State of Tasmania Saul is a director of the University of Tasmania Foundation, a director of Hydro Tasmania (Tasmania's electricity generating company) and Chairman of the Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board (which advises the State government on the distribution of financial assistance to artists, arts organizations and institutions).

He is also a member of the Advisory Panels for the Economics Schools of the University of Tasmania, Monash University and RMIT University.

Mr Barrie Finnin

Mr Barrie Finnin

Barrie's main areas of expertise are Non Ferrous Metallurgy and Business Development
He also has substantial interest in manufacturing technologies (casting, extrusion, forging), modelling, characterisation and creating new ventures.

Barrie joined CSIRO in 2002 after 20 years in the non-ferrous metals manufacturing industry. He brings to CSIRO a deep understanding of industry needs gained from his many roles, including: ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, product design, software development, R&D management, quality management, sales and marketing, supporting markets from building products to automotive and aerospace.

Barrie has been involved in the formation of 7 start-up entities (4 since joining CSIRO). In 1998, Barrie and his family relocated to North America to take up a new role as President, director and founder of Forgecast U.S.A., Inc. and Forgecast de Mexico, SA de CV, a new non-ferrous metal component manufacturing venture in Tijuana, Mexico. He has a number of patents and inventions ranging from casting technology to industrial chemical processes, new alloys and extrusion and forging technologies, as well as storage devices for gaseous fuels.

Since joining CSIRO, Barrie has fulfilled roles in research team management and business development prior to taking on his current role of General Manager of the Advanced Engineered Components theme, which interfaces with automotive, aerospace and defence manufacturing industries. Barrie leads CSIRO's Green Car Research activities and works closely with government and industry. He acts an alternate director on the board of VCAMM and is a member of the Auto CRC Project Review Committee and the End of Life Vehicle Management Board. Barrie also sits on the Automotive Industry Innovation Council and the Steering Committee for the Auto 2020 technology roadmap.

Mr Lincoln Hall

Mr Lincoln Hall

In May 2006 Lincoln stood on the peak of Everest. Only hours later he was left for dead on the mountainside. Inexplicably he was found alive the next morning after a night alone without shelter or oxygen.

In Lincoln’s keynote presentations he shares insights into his remarkable survival during an Everest climbing season that took 11 lives. His focus is on resilience, determination, and the importance of people understanding their strengths and weaknesses. He has climbed over 40 mountains in 7 countries, and such experiences have taught him to navigate through a minefield of mountain dangers. Broader recognition comes from being awarded an Order of the Medal of Australia (OAM) for his services to mountaineering.

Lincoln has great stories to tell, stories that have relevance to our everyday lives. It is no surprise that he is a prize-winning author with international and Australian awards and with his books sold in 5 countries. Dead Lucky, his bestselling book about his 2006 Everest ordeal, has been the subject of 2 documentaries – NBC’s Emmy Nominated Rescue on Top of the World, and multi-award winning Miracle on Everest, which premiered to 900,000 viewers on ABC TV in Australia in 2008. The film continues to be screened internationally on TV and at film festivals around the world.

Lincoln is a founding Director of the Australian Himalayan Foundation, dedicated to improving the lives of Himalayan peoples and their environments. He is a member of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area Advisory Committee, and a resident of the Blue Mountains region west of Sydney.

Mr Stewart J Leslie

Mr Stewart J Leslie

Stewart Leslie qualified for admission to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia in 1977, and pursued a career in professional practice, providing advisory and assurance services to a varied clientele. He was a partner in the Melbourne office of Big Four Chartered Accountants KPMG from 1986 to 2001. While he was at KPMG he was Chair of that firm's Automotive Industry Focus Group.

Since leaving KPMG, Stewart has continued to provide consulting services to the automotive industry. He has been appointed by the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers as Supplier Assistance Coordinator to encourage rationalisation in the automotive supply chain. Other assignments in the automotive industry include feasibility studies, the provision of strategic advice and the preparation of detailed reports on trends in automotive manufacturing and aftermarket sectors.

Stewart's other roles include membership of SME advisory boards and Board positions at the Royal Women's Hospital and the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority (Victoria).

Roger La Salle

Roger La Salle

Roger La Salle is professional engineer, a director of a number of companies and a successful business entrepreneur. Roger developed and documented his special way of thinking, now referred to as Matrix Thinking, in the four books he has now written based on this simple but effective approach.

Matrix Thinking is now licensed in more than 26 counties and to one of the world's largest consulting firms and is delivered in this form as e-learning modules the world over. Not only does Roger talk on innovation and business building, Roger is also actively involved in business and over the years has created four companies based on his own ideas.

In 2004 Roger was and expert panellist on the ABC TV show the New Inventors and in 2005 was appointed as "Chair of Innovation" at the prestigious "The Queens University" in Belfast. He does guest lecture spots in universities the world over.

A stimulating, engaging and entertaining speaker, who walks and talks as he lays out the simple principles of thinking and business building - not a single overhead or PowerPoint for this fellow. You will be you spell bound as you see opportunities materialise before your very eyes as Roger speaks and draws on a white board.

Keynote Topics include:
" Innovate of Perish
" The Innovation Imperative
" Taking your business to the next level
" Services - Can these be Innovated
" Innovation - what is it and how do you do it
" Marketing - how to remove the single biggest risk in business
" What is an opportunity - how do you systematically search for one
" Moving your people from operators to opportunists
" Business trajectory - the future
" Getting your people involved in the journey
" Inspiration in Business - how you do it

Mr John Mellor

Mr John Mellor

John Mellor is not so much a car enthusiast as a car business enthusiast.

In a 45-year career as a publisher, writer, commentator, innovator and analyst, John maintains the editorial direction of the GoAuto editorial team which produces Australia's leading motor industry publication - GoAutoNews and the leading independent consumer web site - GoAuto.com.au.

Mellor's career spans four decades starting as a cadet at the Melbourne Herald in the 1960s and includes an appointment as a feature writer for The Sun in London.

In the 1970s, he was a motoring writer and feature writer on The Herald before moving to Motor Manual magazine as editor. In the 1980s he started his own motoring editorial service to other publishers as well as his own publishing ventures and worked closely with the industry consulting group, Martec, and with the leading motor industry newsletter, Automotive Industry Matters (AIM).

John founded the Automotive Business section in The Australian newspaper in 1990 in a joint business enterprise with News Limited and was its producer and editorial director until 1998 when his motoring newsroom team was appointed to produce the automotive content for a planned Yellow Pages Online automotive portal.

GoAuto.com.au and GoAutoNews were launched soon after.

In the 1990s John was the driving force behind the production of Australia's premier motor industry seminars - the GoAuto Business Briefings and since 2002 John used the Briefings format as a keynote speaker at industry forums, conferences and management briefings. He is a key presenter for the annual Industry Overview road show conducted by Deloitte Motor Industry Services to industry guests in each capital city.

John's research for his commentary pieces and for his public speaking engagements give him access to the world's leading car industry executives. Each year he interviews the managements of the most innovative car companies, car dealers and dealer groups to bring intelligence back to the key players in the Australian motor industry.

He is highly respected for his knowledge about the significant changes taking place in the way cars are sold.

John is passionate about the car business and is a strong admirer of the men and women who deliver the complex matrix of services to the motoring public.

Professor Danny Samson

Professor Danny Samson

Danny Samson is Professor of Management at the University of Melbourne (since 1988), was Head of the Department of Management in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce for three years (2002-4), and Director of the Foundation for Sustainable Economic Development there. He has an honours degree in chemical engineering (UNSW) and a PhD in management from the Australian Graduate School of Management. His work history includes being an engineer at ICI Australia, appointment as a lecturer at AGSM, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at the University of Illinois and ten years as the Professor of Manufacturing Management at the Melbourne Business School, University of Melbourne. He was Associate Dean (Development) in the Faculty of Economics and Commerce from 1998 to 2001. His research, teaching and consulting work is related to leadership and management factors related to business competitiveness, including operations management, quality management and innovation.

Mr Steven Schubeck

Mr Steven Schubeck

Steven M. Schubeck recently joined Terry Barr Sales as Director of Team Australia Automotive assigned to lead the effort in identifying and securing new business opportunities for TAA member companies. Prior to joining Terry Barr Sales, Mr. Schubeck worked for Shiloh Industries as Sr. Manager for New Business Development where he managed the Chrysler account. Before joining Shiloh, Mr. Schubeck worked for Magneti Marelli Electronic Systems as Commercial Manager where his role, as sole representative in North America, was to identify and develop new business opportunities with all major OEMs in N.A. Mr. Schubeck began his career with Lear Corporation where he spent 11 years in various positions with increasing responsibility. During this time, he took on assignments in Sweden where he assisted with the ownership transition of a seating facility from SAAB to Lear, and in Germany where he managed a project to build a new seating facility, hired and trained the staff, and oversaw the start of production to supply seats to GM Opel in Eisenach. He later spent time working in Melbourne and Adelaide, Australia as Operations Manager assigned to indentify a Greenfield site for future development and to initiate discussions to supply seat assemblies in line sequence to GM Holden's Elizabeth Plant. With 25 years of direct experience in the automotive industry, Mr. Schubeck has a strong record of sales growth, new business development, lean manufacturing, and supply chain management. Mr. Schubeck currently resides in Troy, Michigan with his wife and two children.

Ms Linsey Siede

Ms Linsey Siede

In September 2007, after more than 30 years working in the global corporate arena, Linsey established Likatibro Consultants. Although working in a variety of industry and government sectors since then, his main role has been as Director of the Automotive Supplier Excellence Australia (ASEA) program.

Born in the small country town of Euroa, Linsey graduated in 1976 with Distinction from Swinburne University in Melbourne, completing a Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He joined GM-Holden's and held numerous positions, and attended Kettering University in the USA on a 1 year GM Fellowship program.

In 1985 Linsey left Holden to become the first local employee of AC Spark Plug Overseas Corporation, which was later to become Delphi. He quickly rose to become Managing Director in 1990, following a one year assignment in the USA with his family. Linsey lead the Australian manufacture of catalytic converters, catalysts, and electric fuel pumps, and during that time Delphi won many accolades including 2 Automotive Industry Supplier of the Year Awards.

In 1997 Linsey was promoted to be the Asia Pacific Director of Marketing, Planning, Technical & Communications for Delphi Automotive Systems, and this time relocated to Singapore with his family for 3 years.

In 2001 he moved to become a Director and Group General Manager at ANCA Pty Ltd, reporting directly to the Board, with responsibilities encompassing all global operations including the HQ in Australia, ANCA offices in the US, UK and Germany, and agents in more than 25 countries. ANCA expanded rapidly under Linsey's guidance doubling sales and opening offices in China, Japan, Taiwan, Italy and Brazil, as well as a manufacturing plant in Thailand.

Linsey is currently also a Non-Executive Director of "Frigrite" which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, "MIGfast" and "Kangan Institute".

Mr Evan Thornley

Mr Evan Thornley

Evan Thornley is CEO of Better Place Australia. Better Place Australia is an electric vehicle network and services provider with a mission to end the world's dependence on oil.

Mr Thornley was one of Australia's most successful young business people and co-founded and led LookSmart Ltd (NASD:LOOK) from inception through a successful NASDAQ listing - the only Australian IT company to achieve that position and deliver a 100x return on investment to venture capital investors.

Mr Thornley was personally recruited by then Premier Steve Bracks to join the Victorian Government in 2006 and was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier - a position he held until appointment to Better Place. Prior to LookSmart, Mr Thornley was a management consultant with McKinsey & Company in their Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur and New York offices. He maintains an active interest in public policy and is Chair of the Board of the Per Capita Think Tank, a Board Member of the Brotherhood of St Laurence and was a founding director of www.getup.org.au - an online network that now has 380,000 members.

Mr Thornley has degrees in Law and Commerce from The University of Melbourne where he also served as student body President and a member of the Council of The University.

Mr Hayden Williams

Mr Hayden Williams

Global Leader, Automotive and Advanced Manufacturing
Australian Trade Commission (Austrade)

Mr Hayden Williams is the Global Leader of Austrade's Automotive and Advanced Manufacturing Global Network. Austrade is the Australian Government's trade and investment promotion agency. The Global Network assists Australian industry and foreign investors in the automotive, aerospace, defence, security, marine and rail industries.

Mr Williams joined Austrade in 1986 and was based in its Kuala Lumpur office from 1991 to 1992 and from 2000 to 2003. He was also located in Bangkok from 1994 to 2000.

He has been primarily responsible for the automotive industry since 2004 and helped implement Team Australia Automotive in 2006 and High Performance Brands, AutoLink Australia and the Automotive Market Access Program team in 2009. Hayden is a member of the Automotive Industry Innovation Council.